Home » Recipes » Copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks Recipe

Copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks Recipe

4.59 / 5 ( 12 Reviews )

8 Comments Jump to Recipe

If you've ever wanted to make homemade Olive Garden breadsticks, look no further! This copycat recipe is right on!

Jun 13, 2019 The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure

Copycat olive garden breadsticks recipe

Homemade Olive Garden Breadsticks Recipe

This is an awesome copycat Olive Garden breadsticks recipe that you can make from scratch at home! These beauties take more time to rise than my go-to breadsticks, but it is fun to change it up every once in a while.

The thing I love above these homemade breadsticks is that all of the ingredients are quite simple – you could probably just whip these up today if you want to! All it takes is warm water, yeast, sugar, flour, salt, and oil.

I use instant yeast, but you can use active dry. You just need to let active dry yeast dissolve and proof before adding the flour.

Speaking of flour, I happen to have bread flour on hand right now, so that is what I used. Bread flour will provide a more chewy texture, but all-purpose flour will work fine as well.

How to Make Olive Garden Breadsticks at Home

Ready to start baking? There are only five steps needed for these homemade Olive Garden breadsticks!

Kneading olive garden breadsticks batter

Step 1. Make the Dough

Start with 3 cups of flour total and only add more if needed. The dough should pull away from the sides and bottom of the bowl while kneading. It will become smooth, elastic, and only slightly sticky.

It will probably take about 7 minutes of kneading in the mixer. You can knead by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer, but plan for the kneading to take longer.

Step 2. Let the Dough Rise

The dough is all ready to be covered and start rising!

Homemade olive garden breadstick dough

Step 3. Measure the Dough

I like to use a kitchen scale to ensure that each breadstick will be the same size. Uniform size means they look better and bake more evenly (you can eyeball it though if you want). You should get 12-13 breadsticks.

Step 4. Shape and Bake the Breadsticks

Tuck each dough piece into a ball (to help remove air bubbles and make it easier to roll evenly), then start rolling out the snakes. In case your play dough days are long gone and you are out-of-practice with the rolling, I find it helps to use two hands and gently stretch outward while you roll.

Side note: This homemade play dough is supposed to be awesome!

Copycat olive garden breadsticks on pan

Step 5. Finish Up

Once you have your breadsticks shaped and on your pan (they should all fit on one pan), cover them and let them rise for an hour. Then, place them in the oven!

While they’re baking you can whip up the salt and garlic powder mixture. After they’re done baking, spread butter on them immediately and sprinkle the salt mixture on top. Done!

Salt and garlic mixture

Final Thoughts

I even brought home some breadsticks from Olive Garden to make sure this recipe was on point. My verdict? No need to look further! This recipe is a fantastic copycat for Olive Garden breadsticks!

I heard that Olive Garden actually uses a frozen breadstick, then adds the topping. True? I don’t know. But I do know that Olive Garden uses margarine on top (I use butter though) and that palm oil is used in the dough.

If you’re someone who loves the breadsticks at the Olive Garden, you’ve definitely got to try this recipe out. I think you’ll really enjoy it!

Olive garden breadstick recipe

Baking Mat We Used in the Recipe

If you’ve never tried using baking mats, check out our guide on baking mats for more in-depth info! This is one of my favorite brands:

Artisan Silicone Baking Mats

Homemade olive garden breadsticks

Would you like to see more of our recipes? Subscribe to our weekly recipe email.

How to make olive garden breadsticks