Air Fryer
Air Fryer Cheesy Garlic Bread
Cheesy garlic bread in five minutes. Softened butter to the edges, mozzarella grated fresh, 180°C (355°F) for 5 minutes, and the two-minute rest that makes the cheese pull instead of slide.
Ingredients
- 1 baguette or small French loaf (about 250g)
- 75g butter, softened
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tsp dried Italian herbs
- 100g mozzarella, grated
- 2 tbsp parmesan, grated (optional)
- Pinch of salt
Method
- Split the baguette lengthways, then cut it into lengths that fit your air fryer basket.
- Mash the softened butter with the crushed garlic, parsley, dried herbs and a pinch of salt until smooth.
- Spread the garlic butter over the cut faces, right out to the edges.
- Scatter over the grated mozzarella, and the parmesan if using.
- Air fry at 180°C (355°F) for 5 minutes, cheese side up, in a single layer, until the cheese is melted and blistered and the edges are crisp.
- Rest for 2 minutes before tearing or slicing, so the cheese sets enough to pull.
Notes
- The butter has to be properly soft. Cold butter tears the crumb instead of spreading over it.
- Single layer, cheese side up, never stacked. The cheese needs the hot air hitting it directly to blister.
- Hotter and faster also works: 200°C (390°F) for 3-4 minutes. Watch it closely, the crust edges catch quickly at that temperature.
- Grate your own mozzarella if you can. Pre-grated is dusted with starch to stop it clumping in the bag, and it melts less smoothly.
- The two-minute rest matters. Straight out of the basket the cheese slides off; rested, it pulls.
- Air fryer models vary. Treat the times as a guide, go by colour and crispness, and adjust the seasoning to your taste.
Watch it
More Air Fryer Cheese
Air fryer models vary in power and basket size, so treat the times here as a guide — go by colour and crispness rather than the clock, and adjust the seasoning and glaze to your taste.
Recipe source: Method corroborated across published air-fryer cheesy garlic bread recipes: Cook With Manali (cookwithmanali.com), Chili to Choc (chilitochoc.com) and Food Banjo (foodbanjo.com). All three split a baguette or French loaf lengthways, spread a softened garlic butter, top with about 100g of grated mozzarella and air fry in a single layer, cheese side up, until the cheese is melted and golden. Temperature is where they differ - 176°C (350°F) for 4-6 minutes, 193°C (380°F) for 4-5, and 200°C (390°F) for 3-4 - so 180°C (355°F) for 5 minutes is taken as the middle of that range and the hotter, faster option is given in the notes.