These Homemade Breadsticks are light and tender breadsticks that are coated with a Parmesan butter. This really is the best breadsticks recipe!

A side of bread is my favorite! These breadsticks are the perfect side, but you’ll also love these Crescent Rolls with Cheese, French Bread, Potato Bread, or this Dinner Roll Recipe.

Any other carb lovers out there?

My family has come to expect some sort of bread. Especially when we sit down for Sunday dinner, whether it’s something simple like Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits, or something a little more complex. These Homemade Breadsticks are at the top of the list of favorites.

They are perfect alongside a big bowl of Zuppa Toscana or alongside this Penne Pasta Bake or Pasta with Alfredo Sauce. We even have them with Grilled Chicken or even alongside a steak.

In other words, they go pretty well with just about everything!

Ingredients

Yeast: I like to use active dry yeast. You can also use instant yeast and skip the proofing step, but I like to always proof just to make sure my yeast is still good.
Sugar: This recipe does have a bit of sugar in it, but the end result does not taste overly sweet to me. I have not tried cutting back the amount of sugar, but my guess is that you could cut the amount by half and be ok.
Water: You want the water to be just warm, about 110ºF.
Oil: I use vegetable oil, but any neutral oil will work.
Egg: This recipe uses one large egg. It does make a lot of breadsticks (18 of them!) and it’s hard to halve because of this one egg. But these always disappear so fast at my house that the number of breadsticks is never a problem.
Salt: For flavor and balance! I like to use kosher salt or sea salt.
Flour: I have always used all-purpose flour in this recipe, but bread flour would work just fine.
Butter: This is for brushing on the breadsticks when they come out of the oven. It acts as the “glue” to keep the garlic and parmesan on the breadsticks.
Parmesan: I prefer freshly grated parmesan in this recipe. But really, this is one instance where you could probably use the canned parmesan if you’d like.
Garlic Powder: If you want to use fresh garlic, I would suggest adding it to the butter and let it sit for a bit to infuse the butter. Otherwise, I would stick to the garlic powder because it’s easier to evenly distribute.
Salt: Add this to taste. I think 1/4 teaspoon is perfect, but you can adjust to your likes.

How to Make Breadsticks

1: Start by combining the yeast, 1 tablespoon of the sugar and 1 cup of the water. You’ll want to let this sit until it start to bubble and foam.

2: Add in the oil, egg, salt, 2 cups of the flour, and the remaining sugar and water. Mix, then continue to add flour until your dough is soft and tacky – but you don’t want it to be overly sticky. You may need more or less of the flour called for in the recipe. Knead the dough, either using the dough hook in your mixer or by hand, until the dough is soft and smooth.

3: Place the dough in a large greased bowl.

4: Cover and let it rise until doubled.

5: Punch the dough down and pour out onto a counter.

6: Divide the dough into 18 equal pieces. Sometimes I will weigh the dough and divide it so that they are all even, but most of the time, I keep it pretty rustic and just eyeball it.

7: Shape the dough into long breadsticks and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat liner. I will usually do 2 baking sheets with 9 breadsticks on each sheet to give them room to rise.

8: Let the dough rise again, until doubled.

9: Bake the breadsticks until they are golden brown.

10: Once they come out of the oven, brush them with melted butter, then sprinkle on the parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and salt.

Additions and Changes

This is a pretty basic breadstick recipe. You can even leave the parmesan and garlic off of the top to keep it easier.

You can also add some garlic into the dough to get the flavor throughout.

Add some fresh rosemary or other herbs of choice to the dough.

If you have a favorite herb mix, sprinkle that on top instead of the parmesan and garlic.

Tips and Tricks

I used to roll the dough out and then use a pizza cutter to cut it into the breadsticks. But I have found that I like the texture of the breadsticks better when I shape the dough by rolling it into its log shape.
I usually like to bake things one tray at a time so that they will bake more evenly. If you do want to bake both trays at the same time, I would suggest rotating them halfway through the bake time. You may need to add on an additional minute or two to the bake time, as well.
These are definitely best served the day they are made. But if you do have leftovers, store them in an airtight container. I would suggest reheating before serving.
The best way to reheat the breadsticks is to wrap them in foil and bake in a 350ºF oven for about 10 minutes.
Fully baked breadsticks can be frozen, as well. Once they come back to room temperature, reheat as written above.