The inside of a good garlic knot should be soft and steaming, and disguised by a perfectly browned, oiled, and seasoned outer layer. I’m want a strong flavor, and a sexy dough. I want my hands to be covered in Parmesan crumbs and olive oil. And though restaurant-tier garlic knots are good, I wanted to know if there was a better option out there. I decided the best way to find out was through making my own – do homemade garlic knots stand up to the greatness of restaurant takeout? Read more to follow my garlic knot-making, taste-testing journey.
Setting The Garlic Knot Standard
Photo by Meredith Holser
To begin my taste-testing adventure, I tried some restaurant-quality garlic knots before I started making my own – just to set precedent and have something to compare my homemade garlic knots to.
Though these garlic knots (that I fittingly ordered from a place literally called The Garlic Knot) were giving me takeout realness, they didn’t deliver on big flavor like I thought they would. They turned out to be... justknots. There was a slight trace of garlic, but I was left craving more.
The biggest shortcoming of these restaurant garlic knots was definitely the lack of flavor – but the bread’s pull-factor made up for it. The dough, when pulled apart, was light and airy – just what I’d expect from a great garlic knot.
Making My Own Garlic Knots
Image via Feel Good Foodie
Now that I had my first taste, it was time to make my own garlic knots. I decided to use this recipe from one of our favorite food blogs, Feel Good Foodie. The recipe was quite easy – I only needed four ingredients for the dough, and was able to make the oil-spice mixture with what I had at home.
Ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves finely minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
- Marinara sauce for serving
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the greek yogurt and stir to combine.
- Transfer dough onto a flat, lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and stretchy, about 2 minutes. Cut into 8 equal pieces.
- One at a time, roll each piece out into about a 10-12-inch log. Tie each log into a knot and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, garlic, parsley and parmesan cheese. Brush the olive oil mixture on each garlic knot.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the garlic knots puff slightly and become lightly golden, about 15-18 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and enjoy with marinara or dipping sauce of choice.
Photo by Meredith Holser
I wish I could better convey the look on my face when I took my first bite of the homemade garlic knots through writing – but just know it was a mix of pure shock and pure love. The texture of the homemade garlic knots definitely shone through as the winning quality. They were so pillowy, yet dense, and every bite was so soft. Furthermore, they had a lot more flavor to them, which was exactly what I wanted! Not only was the parmesan-oil-parsley mixture visible by the eye, it was also visible by taste.
The Garlic Knot Comparison: Takeout vs. Homemade Knots
Based on this fun little food tasting-testing experiment, it’s safe to say that garlic knots are good in all forms, until you make them at home – then they’re great.
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Header image by Meredith Holser
