No need to be jealous of gluten eaters. We can make our own Gluten Free Olive Garden Style Breadsticks and, ya'll, they are TO DIE FOR!!!!! Soft, garlicky, and buttery, we'll never have to do without them again.
I can't even remember the last time I stepped foot into an Olive Garden. I do know they have a gluten free menu, but it doesn't really impress me much. And it's missing the breadsticks, so there's that.
But we don't have to worry about that anymore because, guys, these are the REAL DEAL!!!! My daughter, who goes to Olive Garden frequently, says she can't tell the difference between ours and theirs. I'd say that's a stamp of approval, wouldn't you?
WHERE TO START
I'm forever trying to make the absolute BEST gluten free bread and goodies I can, so when I thought to try out these breadsticks, I had a couple of recipes in mind already. My Fabulous Gluten Free Italian Bread and Best Ever Gluten Free White Sandwich Bread were the main ones in the running.
I'm torn between these two breads for good reason. They're the best of the best. Of course, my cinnamon roll dough from the Ultimate Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls is great, too, but that's a sweet dough so it's not even in the competition. And my Gluten Free Artisan Bread is fabulous, but we needed a little bit more enrichment to make these breadsticks. Using the tangzhong from the sandwich bread in the Italian bread was EXACTLY what was needed to make these the most incredible, soft and light breadsticks!!
THE LIST OF INGREDIENTS
- Kim's gluten free bread flour blend -- as with all my breads, I strongly suggest you use my bread flour blend. If you don't, I can't tell you what kind of results you'll get.
- Whole milk
- Yeast
- Sugar
- Salt
- Butter
HOW TO MAKE GLUTEN FREE BREADSTICKS
- Make the tangzhong. Combine a very small amount of the gluten free bread flour with a small amount of the milk from the recipe in a saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until a very thick paste develops. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In bowl of stand mixer, combine the rest of the bread flour, yeast, salt, and sugar and whisk. Add tangzhong and slowly pour in the rest of the milk and butter. Increase speed to medium high and blend for 5 minutes.
- Remove bowl from mixer and cover with plastic wrap. Place in warm, draft-free location to rise for 1-2 hours, or until dough has at least doubled in size. Place in refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Knead dough on well-floured surface (using extra bread flour). Pull off 2-ounce pieces (about the size of a large golf ball) and roll into a log about 6-7 inches long.
- Place on parchment-lined baking sheet about 2-inches apart (you may need to use two baking sheets). Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for an hour, or until doubled in size.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Brush with garlic butter and serve warm.
Olive Garden Style Breadstick FAQs
Yes, they can, but you may need to play around with the liquid amounts. Those who have tried to modify other bread recipes to be dairy free have found success by reducing the dairy-free milk amounts by ¼ cup (60ml) or more. Dairy-free butter can be substituted for the butter in both the dough and topping.
It really is best to let the dough chill out in the fridge overnight. The reason is this gluten free dough shapes so much better when it's cold. Without it, the dough will be quite sticky and you'll feel the need to add a lot more extra flour that is unnecessary.
Because of the tangzhong method in the dough, these breadsticks will stay soft much longer than the typical 1-2 days for gluten free breads. However, for longer storage I would suggest flash freezing them individually on a sheet tray and then storing them in a freezer ziptop bag with as much air as possible removed.
What to Serve with Gluten Free Breadsticks?
- Alfredo sauce -- my Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo sauce is sooooooo good for dipping these breadsticks into. When I used to eat at Olive Garden years ago, we would always order an appetizer of alfredo sauce to go with the breadsticks.
- Pasta -- we all know the traditional fettuccine alfredo, but I like a short noodle, such as penne or rigatoni myself. Add blackened chicken to make it blackened chicken alfredo and serve it alongside the breadsticks.
- Spaghetti and Meatballs -- these breadsticks also go great with any pasta and sauce, and spaghetti and meatballs are one of our favorites.
- Salad -- it's not necessary to serve any pasta with the breadsticks. Have you ever ordered just the Olive Garden salad with breadsticks and nothing else? They used to offer it (not sure if they still do) and it was a great light lunch.
We don't have to miss out on these wonderful breadsticks anymore!! It takes almost no hands-on time to make these beauties and they are SO GOOD!
Gluten Free Olive Garden Style Breadsticks
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 3 tbsp (26 g) Kim's gluten free bread flour blend
- ½ cup (120 ml) milk
Dough
- 3 cups (420 g) Kim's gluten free bread flour blend
- 2 tbsp plus 1 teaspoon (29 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 tbsp (5 g) whole psyllium husks (or 1 ½ teaspoon psyllium husk powder)
- 1½ cups (360 ml) milk
- 4 tbsp (half stick or 56 g) butter, melted
- tangzhong, cooled to lukewarm
Topping
- 3 tbsp (42 g) butter, melted
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
Make the Tangzhong
- Add the flour and milk to a small saucepan and place it over medium heat. Whisk until the mixture thickens into a heavy paste, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool to lukewarm.
Make the Dough and Bake the Breadsticks
- Add flour, sugar, salt, psyllium husks, and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk. Using the dough hook, turn mixer on low and add the slightly cooled tangzhong followed by the the milk and melted butter. Continue to combine on low until dough comes together.
- Increase speed to medium high and knead dough for 5 minutes.
- Cover the bowl and place in a warm, draft-free area to proof (rise) for 1-2 hours, or until doubled or even tripled in volume. A great place for rising is in an oven that's been turned on to the warm function and then turned off quickly.
- Refrigerate the dough for at least six hours, preferably overnight (the colder the dough, the easier it is to work with).
- Remove dough from fridge and knead on well-floured surface (using extra bread flour blend). Pinch off large golf ball-sized portions (about 2-ounces each) and roll into a log that is about 6-7 inches in length.
- Place on parchment-lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart (you may need to use two baking sheets). Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size.
- At the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°. Throw a few ice cubes onto the bottom of the oven and bake the breadsticks for 10 minutes.
- While breadsticks are baking, combine topping ingredients in small bowl.
- Remove breadsticks from the oven and immediately brush with butter/garlic mixture. Allow to cool slightly before serving warm or at room temperature.
Mia
Mine look nothing like this. More like mini crispy breads, lol
Amber Williams
I have used this recipe for years and I love it! Today I used the function to double the recipe and there is an error. The weight measurements do not increase from the original recipe but the volume measurements do. Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes!
Kim
Yes, unfortunately, because people still want the volume measurements it screws up the servings slider. The only way I could make the servings slider functional would be to remove all of the volume measurements from my recipes and switch everything to weight.
Suzanne Scheib
Hi Kim, I LOVE all of your recipes and have never been disappointed yet! I made the dough for these bread sticks yesterday, and even after a day in the fridge, it's still runny. I made the tangzough correctly (as least, I made it the same way I did for your other recpies, and it worked there...) How much exyta flour is it safe to add before the flavor or texture are damaged? I didn't use the dough hook when mixing because the dough was basically the consistency of cake batter, so there wasn't a need- could that have been the problem? I will be baking hem on Thursday, but would appreciate any insight you have !
Kim
Hi, Suzanne. I'm not sure exactly what went wrong, but somewhere along the way something didn't work either in the making of the bread flour or the dough. The dough should not be runny at all and it shouldn't matter whether you use the dough hook or the beater blade as both will work just fine. Were there any substitutions within the recipe (flour blend or dough)? If so, I would look there first. Whether the dough could still be salvaged, I'm not sure. If you can shape it okay without adding TOO much extra flour, I would try it and see. I hope this helps 🙂
Judy
How manybreadsticks does this recipe make?
Lorraine
Hi Kim,
Could this dough be used for a pizza pop? I am supposing it would have to be baked , or do you think it could be deep fried? Or what do you suggest to make a pizza pop dough?
Kim
I've never heard of a pizza pop. What is it exactly?
Lorraine
It is a little bun that is filled with cheese and pepperoni or salami and tomatoe sauce, then deep fried.
Also have you ever heard of cream cheese dough ? It is used for turnovers
Filled with different things. The recipe is 1c flour , 3 C . butter and 2 , 8 oz pkgs cream cheese . I don’t know how to convert this to a GF. Dough.
Elizabeth Raptis
I printed this recipe out a few months ago and that recipe contains no psyllium husk. Have you added that recently to the recipe? Mine came out beautifully as well as the pepperoni rolls! I also wanted to know if I can refrigerate the dough for more than one day. Thank you!
Kim
Yes, I did do an update to the recipe, adding psyllium husk, which is optional but provides better stretch to the dough and makes for easier shaping.
Because there are no eggs in this dough, you can refrigerate it for up to five days!
Amanda Wyss
Made these exactly as directed and oh my gosh…. They SLAP. My husband has Celiac and I don’t, so I can still eat regular Olive Garden breadsticks, and no joke, these are better.
You’ve done it again Kim. Just. Wow!
Kim
Awe, thanks so much, Amanda! I'm thrilled you're enjoying my recipes 🥰
Kathy Taylor
OMG!! Hubby has been gluten free for over 20 years. There have been a couple of commercial breads that have been deemed "OK" but nothing wonderful. A couple of weeks ago he wished for breadsticks. He was thinking of those crunchy hard sticks you can buy in grocery store. But, today, I made your Olive Garden breadsticks. It made his day. Absolutely grand. We feel the same about your Cinnamon Rolls, too.Thank you for all the time you have put into developing your recipes.
Kim
Awe, yay!! I'm thrilled you and your hubby enjoyed them (and the cinnamon rolls) 😍
Kathy
So, your recipe wasn't a fluke. I've made breadsticks with half recipe and English Muffins with other half. He is so happy. We are having the breadsticks tonight for Beef Burgundy with "glutinous" company, I wonder if they will even notice?
Cat
WELLLLLLL.... THIS is ANOTHER winner. I have a non GF friend spending the night tonight (yay for homeschooling where you can do week-night sleepovers) - I made these and she was asking for more. She said that they are almost better than Olive Garden. Seriously people, I cannot make this up! I have gone through the 20 cup batch of flour ALREADY and had to make MORE of the mix so I could keep going! HAHAHAHAH!!!! We are doing GF personal pizzas (with the regular pizza dough) for dinner and then doughnuts (with the GF cinnamon roll recipe) in the morning. I can't tell you how amazingly wonderful it has been to be able to make EDIBLE GF concoctions.
With this recipe, I didn't have time to do it all the way the recipe suggested - As in - I am a lost minute kinda gal and don't end up starting early enough to let it rise, chill and then rise AGAIN.... soooooooo... I put the dough in the freezer for about 30 minutes and it was workable, Because of my lead time, I had to sacrifice the 2nd rise time. Mine collapsed due to this, but they are still AMAZING. Like AMAZING AMAZING!!!! I want to eat them all- this website is going to be BAD for my waist line.
After YEARS of trying to bake GF- I finally feel like I can do this and do it where my daughter has REAL food - not the cruddy GF substitutes that are out there.
cat
Booooo... after a few minutes sitting out they fell... follow the recipe folks - don't skip the second rise. Still super tastey
Kim
Awe, yay!!!!!!!!! I'm so thrilled you are enjoying baking your way through my website (and eating all your bakes)! 😍😍😍 Sorry for your waistline 😂🤣
Shara
Yes, yes, YES!!!! Will definitely make again!!
K. B.
Is there anything that can be used instead of milk? We are gluten, diary, and egg free :(. These look amazing and I would love to give it a try.
Kim
I'm sure dairy-free milk would work just fine 😊
Mary Mayes
Major question. I am so anxious to try these. I have the ingredients already set out and just reviewing the recipe before I start. When do you add the psyllium husks? To the flour blend?
Kim
Yes! I'm so sorry, Mary. I didn't realize I failed to put that in the step by step instructions. It's in there now.
Again, I apologize.
Mary Mayes
Thanks so much. I was wondering. I’ve had the dough in a warm oven for 2 hours now and just peeked. It seems a bit runny. We live in Colorado Springs with high altitude. I used your flour blend and measured by weight as directed. My yeast is well within the date to be used. I’m going to run an errand so will leave it in the oven while I’m gone. Any other ideas? Thanks.
Kim
The dough starts out pretty soft, but once it goes into the fridge for a long duration it firms up and is able to be kneaded. But without the fridge time, it will be very sticky and fluid and not able to be kneaded and shaped properly.
Mary Mayes
Thanks Kim for all the help! I turned the oven on 170 and let them rise on top of the stove. We had them for Thanksgiving. They flattened out when taken out of the oven and weren’t as pretty as yours, but it was nice to have a gf option for bread on the table!
Mary Mayes
When do you add the psyllium husks? To the flour blend?
Faye Chambers
What can I use to replace the psyllium husk or powder?
Kim
There is nothing that will replace psyllium husk, but you can leave it out and reduce the milk by 1/2 cup (120 ml). I originally didn't include the psyllium husk, but the dough was very sticky and hard to shape. With the addition of the psyllium husk, it makes a world of difference in being able to shape the breadsticks. You can still make a fabulous breadstick without it, but they are hard to shape so I would suggest placing the dough in the freezer for a few minutes if it becomes too sticky and hard to shape.