Cheesy Garlic Bread Dippers

Cheesy, garlicky, buttery and so crunchy, these Cheesy Garlic Bread Dippers are just what your next bowl of soup or plate of pasta needs!

My oven broke. For like a week. I was crushed! I can’t do winter without an oven. No breads? Or biscuits? No desserts or casseroles? NO LASAGNA!? Let’s just say, it wasn’t working for me. Stovetop meals are great and all, but I can only go so long without following the instructions, “Preheat oven to 350F.” Those are integral words in my life. The four most common activities in my kitchen are chop garlic, grate cheese, melt chocolate, and preheat oven. Granted, almost never in the same recipe, but you get me.

There was a lot of soup making and pasta cooking going on. I love those things, but they absolutely require some sort of bread-product sidekick. So in a fit of carb-craving desperation, Cheesy Garlic Bread Dippers were born. I’ve seen the grilled cheese version of these all over Instagram and TikTok. And they’re seriously good. We love them. But I don’t want grilled cheese with my vodka sauce. So, a little swap on the cheese choice, some garlic powder and Italian seasoning in the butter for frying, and you have Cheesy Garlic Bread Dippers, and they are fabulous! They’re ready in only a couple of minutes and perfect for pasta night, soup night, or, just because you want a snack and cheesy bread is always a good option!

Ingredient Notes

• Bread – Plain old squishy white bread. Don’t get fancy here. Whole-grain, artisan and sourdough breads are all delicious, but they don’t have the same easily flattened and still soft enough to roll up texture. The classic is still the best for this application.
• Cheese – Shredded mozzarella. You can make all kinds of dippers with this technique, and any good melting cheese will make you happy. For Garlic Bread Dippers, I just used mozzarella. It melts easily, has that satisfying pull when you bite it (no kidding, I missed the best shot ever yesterday when my kid bit one of these! He got a solid foot out of that cheese pull and I didn’t catch it.). You could use pre-shredded cheese. But don’t. The cellulose used the keep the cheese from clumping together affects how it melts. You only need 1/2 cup of cheese, it’s just not enough labor to sacrifice the end result to avoid it.
• Butter – For frying the dippers to that glorious golden-brown crunchy exterior. Don’t skimp, don’t sub. You’ll be disappointed if you do.
• Garlic – Powder, please. I’m a huge fan of garlic. Real, whole garlic that you have to peel and chop and makes your fingers smelly and is generally labor-intensive to deal with. As Anthony Bourdain said, “Too lazy to peel fresh? You don’t deserve to eat garlic.” The only downside is how quickly raw garlic goes from toasted and amazing to burned and bitter. These dippers have to be in a skillet long enough, and at a temperature high enough, to brown the outside of the bread and melt the cheese rolled inside. Real garlic will burn and ruin the flavor of these dippers. The result will be most definitely not delicious, and you will be sad. Use garlic powder. You’ll be okay, I promise.
• Italian seasoning – A sprinkle in the melted butter before you fry your dippers.

How to Make Cheesy Garlic Bread Dippers

• Prepare the bread.
  • Place four slices of bread on a cutting board.

• Remove the crusts from each slice.

• Use a rolling pin to flatten each piece of bread. The flatter the bread, the easier to roll up. Just make sure you don’t tear through the bread slices.

• Add your cheese. Sprinkle each slice with shredded mozzarella, leaving a 1/2 inch border along the top. You will need this in order to seal the rolls up.

• Roll up the dippers. Starting at the bottom, roll the dippers up to encase the cheese. When you get to the end, press the seam firmly shut.

• Melt butter in the frying pan over medium heat. I used my favorite cast iron skillet, because it always does such a great job browning anything. Add your garlic powder and Italian seasoning to the butter and give it a swirl to spread the seasonings evenly.

• Place your Cheesy Garlic Bread Dippers in the pan, rolling them in the butter as you place them.

• Pan fry, turning each one until golden brown and crunchy on all sides.

• Serve hot with soup, pasta, wine, netflix shows, etc.

Not sure what to serve these with? Try our Creamy Tomato Risotto, or Cheesy Chicken Noodle Soup!

Cheesy Garlic Bread Dippers

Course: BreadsCuisine: American

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Cheesy, garlicky, buttery and so crunchy, these Cheesy Garlic Bread Dippers are just what your next bowl of soup or plate of pasta needs!

Ingredients

• 4 slices white bread

• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

• 3-4 tbsp butter

• 1/2 – 3/4 tsp garlic powder, to taste

• Pinch of dried Italian seasoning

Directions

• Place four slices of white bread on a cutting board and remove the crusts.
• With a rolling pin, flatten each slice of bread.
• Top each bread slice with 1/4 of the shredded mozzarella cheese, leaving a 1/2 inch border at the top.
• Starting from the bottom, roll each slice of bread up to encase the cheese. Press firmly along the edge to seal.
• In a skillet or frying pan over medium heat, melt butter and then add garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Swirl to spread the seasonings evenly into the butter.
• Place the garlic bread dippers into the frying pan, rolling to coat in the seasoned butter.
• Fry dippers 8-10 minutes, turning to brown all sides.
• Serve hot with soups, pastas, etc.

I love to see what you’re cooking. Tag me at #jessiescozykitchen or @jessiescozykitchen on Facebook and Instagram!