Caprese Garlic Bread

I don’t know about you, but for me the best part of any Italian-style meal is the bread. What can I say, I’m a carb-lover!

So what I’ve done with this recipe is combine my love of bread, specifically garlic bread, with my other love, caprese flavors!

For the sake of convenience, I use store-bought bread, but if you wanted to make this with some of my No-Knead Artisan Bread, I certainly wouldn’t stop ya.

If you’d like to save even more time, feel free to use your favorite frozen garlic bread, cooked a bit less than directed on the package.

Then just top with the mozzarella, bake a bit more, until the cheese is melted. Top with tomatoes, basil, and a generous drizzle of balsamic glaze!

What do I need to make this recipe?

• Bread – I prefer to use a crusty Italian loaf, as the crustier breads hold up well to the heavy toppings.
• Butter – for this recipe you can use salted or unsalted butter.
• Garlic – we love the bold garlic flavor, so there’s a good amount of minced garlic in this recipe, but feel free to alter it to your tastes.
• Garlic salt – if you don’t have garlic salt, you can use 3/4 tsp garlic powder and 1/4 tsp salt.
• Onion powder – if you really don’t love the flavor of onion powder, you can omit this ingredient.
• Dried basil – in place of the dried basil, you could use an equal amount of dried Italian seasoning.
• Tomatoes – use whichever tomatoes look the best to you at the store.
• Mozzarella – I prefer the flavor and texture of using fresh mozzarella, but you can use shredded mozzarella instead.
• Basil – if you can’t find good fresh basil (sometimes the ones in the store are definitely past their prime), you can substitute with some lightly dried basil (Gourmet Garden is a good brand).
• Balsamic glaze – this adds the sweet tang that’s traditional in caprese. There’s generally several store-bought options, or you an make your own (directions are in the “variations of this recipe” section below).

How to make caprese garlic bread:

This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.

1. Make garlic butter. No need for fancy tools, you just need a bowl and rubber spatula.
2. Spread onto bread. Slice the loaf of bread in half, then spread the garlic butter on the bread with a butter knife or rubber spatula.
3. Add cheese. Top the garlic butter with the slices of cheese.
4. Bake. This doesn’t take long, just enough for the cheese to melt.
5. Add toppings. This is the tomatoes and fresh basil.
6. Drizzle. I love a liberal drizzle of balsamic glaze.

Variations of this recipe

• Types of garlic – if you’d prefer to use pre-minced garlic from a jar or squeeze tube, you absolutely can. Just use about 3 tsp.
• Garlic amount – the amount of garlic in this recipe is what my family and I enjoy, but if you’d like more (or less), feel free to change it up.  This is YOUR bread.
• Roasted garlic – if you’ve never had roasted garlic before, you’re in for a treat! Check out how to make it in this post.
• Tomatoes – normally I use roma or campari tomatoes, but when tomatoes are in season, I love to use some great heirloom tomatoes. Use any tomato you like best.
• Mozzarella – fresh mozzarella is our preferred cheese, but if you can’t find fresh, you can use shredded, just use a similar amount.
• Crunchier – for a crunchier texture, before adding the cheese, bake the bread for about 10 minutes at 400°F. Then top with cheese and bake about 5-10 more minutes, until the cheese melts.
• Balsamic glaze – to save time, I typically buy a bottle of balsamic glaze from the grocery store, but you can certainly make your own if you’d like. In a skillet, add about a cup of balsamic vinegar and cook it over a medium-low heat. The exact time will vary, but you want the vinegar to reduce down and turn into a syrupy consistency.

Making garlic bread ahead of time

Since this garlic bread comes together so quickly, the only thing I regularly make ahead of time is the garlic butter mixture.  Just keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

To be completely safe though, you’ll want to either eat it within a few days, or freeze it.

Freezing

While I don’t recommend freezing the bread with the cheese, tomatoes, basil, and balsamic glaze, you can ABSOLUTELY freeze the assembled (but not baked) garlic bread ahead of time!

1. Slice bread in half so you have two long pieces of bread.
2. Spread garlic butter mixture on each slice of the bread.
3. Place bread slices on a baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour, until frozen solid.  Then remove from baking sheet, wrap individually with plastic wrap and/or foil.  Add to resealable freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
4. To bake: remove from plastic wrap and foil, place on baking sheet and bake in a preheated 350 F degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until heated through.
5. Proceed with the rest of the recipe as directed.

Storage

Leftovers should be kept in an airtight container (normally I use a resealable plastic bag), refrigerated, and consumed within 3 days.

I do recommend storing the bread with the tomatoes and basil removed.