No trip to the Olive Garden would be complete without their signature garlicky, buttery breadsticks! This Copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks Recipe is super simple and pairs well with your favorite soup, pasta, or salad! 

Let’s face it. We all go to the Olive Garden for the delicious breadsticks, am I right? I mean, the other stuff is good, too, but it just wouldn’t be The Olive Garden without those golden brown breadsticks covered with garlic butter.

Luckily, you can make them at home, and it’s super easy!

Ingredients for Olive Garden Breadsticks

• warm water
• active dry yeast
• sugar
• salt
• oil (olive oil is preferred, but any kind of vegetable oil can be used)
• flour
• butter 
• garlic powder

As you can see, all these ingredients are readily available, and you probably always have them on hand.

How to make Copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks

You can make these in a stand mixer (like a KitchenAid) with a dough hook, or you can just make them in a large mixing bowl and use a wooden spoon and your hands for kneading.

Either way, you’re going to start out by activating your yeast. You’ll add your yeast to your warm water along with your sugar and wait about 10 minutes until the yeast is frothy.

Then you’ll add your oil, salt, and part of the flour and mix it up.

Add the rest of the flour and either use your dough hook on your stand mixer, or take the dough out of the bowl and knead it by hand on a clean, floured surface.

When you’re done, your dough will be soft and elastic, and only slightly sticky.

Now cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size. The amount of time this takes will depend on how warm your kitchen is.

Also, I find that covering loosely with plastic wrap helps dough to rise faster than just putting a towel over the top. I feel like it traps the heat better.

When your dough has doubled, it’s time to punch it down.

Now you can let it rest for about fifteen minutes. This helps the gluten to relax so that when you roll out your breadsticks, they don’t contract and shrink back in on themselves.

Put the dough onto a floured surface and divide it into 12 equal portions.

You can just eyeball it, or if you want to be super precise, you can weigh each piece of dough. (My pieces each weighed about two ounces).

Now just roll each piece of dough into the shape of a short rope. The length is up to you, but six to eight inches is a good rule of thumb.

Place each piece of rolled dough onto a parchment-lined or silicone mat-lined baking sheet. (You can also place them directly onto a baking or cookie sheet, but be sure to grease it first if you do this. The silicone mats and parchment paper don’t need any grease).

Cover loosely with a towel and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes.

Then bake for just 12 minutes! They should be a lovely golden brown color.

As soon as they come out of the oven, brush with melted butter, or simply take a cube of butter and rub it over the tops and sides of the breadsticks.

Immediately sprinkle liberally with garlic powder, and then lightly with kosher salt.

(If you prefer, you can sprinkle the breadsticks with garlic salt instead of garlic powder and kosher salt).

To dress them up even more, give them a good sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Serve warm and enjoy! If desired, you can dip them in Alfredo Sauce or Marinara Sauce.

This recipe adapted from Olive Garden Breadstick Recipe from Lil’ Luna.

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Copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks Recipe

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Rise Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 17 minutes

These delicious breadsticks are super soft with a butter and garlic topping.

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Ingredients

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of warm water
• 1 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt (plus more to sprinkle on top)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil (or vegetable oil)
• 3 to 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• sprinkle of kosher salt

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Allow to proof until frothy.
2. Add the teaspoon of salt, olive oil, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix well.
3. Add the remaining cup of flour and mix with a dough hook or wooden spoon (if mixing by hand). Knead by hand or with the dough hook until dough is smooth and elastic. It will pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl but still stick to the bottom. Add up to an extra 1/4 cup of flour if needed. Dough should be soft and only slightly sticky.
4. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a towel and set in a warm place to rise. (About an hour).
5. When dough has doubled in size, punch it down and turn it out onto a floured surface. Allow to rest for 15 minutes.
6. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll into a short rope shape, 6-8 inches long.
7. Place on a greased baking sheet, or an ungreased baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Allow at least an inch between the breadsticks.
8. Cover with a towel (if using plastic wrap, lightly spray the tops of the breadsticks with non-stick cooking spray first) and let rise for about 30 minutes.
9. While the breadsticks are rising, heat your oven to 425 degrees F.
10. Bake the risen breadsticks for 12 minutes.
11. Immediately after coming out of the oven, brush them with melted butter, or rub a stick of butter over the tops and sides of the hot breadsticks.
12. Sprinkle with garlic powder and kosher salt. Serve warm.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 185Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 220mgCarbohydrates: 79gFiber: 3gSugar: 1gProtein: 11g

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