Cheesy Crescent Roll Garlic Knots are the easiest and tastiest app you’ll ever make. These easy garlic knots use crescent roll dough brushed with garlic butter and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and fresh herbs, then baked until golden brown and delicious. It's an easy recipe that goes great with any Italian meal!
In This Post
Why This Recipe Works
This garlic knot recipe is an easy way to make a quick appetizer or the perfect side dish for pasta night. Here's why I love it.
- Quick and easy. Because this recipe uses crescent dough, half the work is done for you! Simply roll them out, brush with garlic butter and fresh garlic, sprinkle with an Italian cheese blend and fresh herbs, and tie into knots. It's a simple way to make a delicious app and will have your home smelling like homemade garlic bread. Done.
- Cheesy and delicious. Parmesan is the star of the show here, but I also added some mozzarella cheese to make these extra cheesy.
- Perfect party food. These little garlicky bread knots are the perfect finger food for parties and great for the garlic lover in your family. Add some marinara sauce for dipping and you’re good to go.
- Goes great with any meal. These of course are a great addition to any Italian meal and will make your house smell like a delicious Italian restaurant. But they're also a great amped-up bread side for dishes like this garlic parmesan chicken pasta recipe, turkey meatloaf, or this Lipton meatloaf recipe.
Ingredients
Because this recipe uses crescent dough, it’s the ingredients are simple:
- Crescent roll dough. This makes this delicious recipe so easy! Crescent roll is easy to use and comes precut into rectangles so you don’t have to worry about making fresh dough yourself. (Unless you want to of course!)
- Fresh garlic cloves. For that delicious garlic bread flavor.
- Butter. Using butter here makes these little
- Italian seasoning. A blend of parsley and basil gives these buttery garlic knots just the right amount of seasoning.
- Cheese. Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese turn these little knots into cheesy bites of buttery goodness.
Substitutions and Variations
The beauty of this recipe is that you can totally customize it to use whatever flavors or textures you’re after. Here are some ideas for substitutions or variations:
- Use a different dough. I used crescent roll dough, but you could easily use store-bought pizza dough, biscuit dough, or breadstick dough if that’s what you have available. And if you’re feeling really ambitious, you could make your own homemade dough! Whatever you use, the idea is to just be able to roll the dough into strips, and then tie them into knots.
- Change up the herbs. I used a simple blend of parsley and basil here but you can easily change out the herbs to make these even more interesting. Try using a little bit of rosemary, thyme, marjoram, or oregano as an addition or substitute. You can also add the herbs to any remaining melted butter mixture to make a delicious herb butter for dipping.
- Use a different type of cheese. This recipe uses mozzarella cheese and Parmesan but you could really use whatever you have on hand that will melt well and add some good flavor to these homemade garlic knots. Try using some Pecorino Romano, aged gouda, gruyere, or even feta to give the knots a slightly Mediterranean vibe.
- Spice it up! Crushed red pepper is a great option for giving these a little kick.
- Add some meat. Some Italian sausage or some mini pepperoni would be a great addition to these buttery garlic knots.
- Swap the butter for olive oil. If you don't have butter on hand (or don't want to use it), you can always use olive oil instead.
How To Make Cheesy Crescent Roll Garlic Knots With Parmesan
- Make the garlic butter. Add the butter and minced garlic to a small saucepan. Allow the butter to melt completely and sautee the garlic for about a minute, or until fragrant. Remove the pan from heat.
- Mix the cheese. Mix your mozzarella and Parmesan cheese in a bowl and set aside.
- Chop the herbs. Chop your parsley and basil, and combine in a small bowl.
- Unroll your dough. Remove the crescent roll dough from the tubes and roll them out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Cut the dough. Use a pizza cutter to slice your crescent roll dough into strips. This makes it super easy to get the dimensions just right. They will look like small rectangles. Cut each rectangle in half lengthwise. This should leave you with 8 strips total per tube of dough.
- Add the butter, cheese, and herb filling. Use a pastry brush to brush each strip of dough with the garlic butter, then add a sprinkling of the cheese and herb mixtures to each strip.
- Form the knots. Roll each strip into a tube, doing your best to stuff the cheese and herb mixture inside. Tie each strip into a knot by crossing the ends over each other, then tucking one end under the other to form a knot.
- Bake. Bake the buttery garlic knots on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper until golden brown on the top.
- Brush with garlic butter. Remove the garlicky knots from the oven and immediately brush the top of the knots with the remaining butter mixture. Sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese and extra herbs if desired.
Helpful Tips
- Keep the dough cold. Keeping your dough in the fridge until you’re ready to use it will make it much easier to manage. Once it starts warming up, it can easily separate and break and become harder to handle. Have all your ingredients ready before you start rolling out the dough.
- Don’t fill your “tubes” too full. You don’t want to overstuff the ropes of dough because they will be harder to form into knots.
- Don't worry if they aren't perfect. You may have a little filling that escapes the tubes, but don't sweat it. The knots will still bake up beautifully.
Frequently Asked Questions
No! Crescent roll dough makes this garlic knots recipe easy since it’s already cut into rectangles, but you could also use pizza crust dough, or homemade dough to make these delicious garlic knots.
I like the way the fresh garlic tastes in the garlic butter, but if you’d rather not mess with it you could always add a small pinch of garlic powder and garlic salt to the melted butter instead.
There are a lot of great options here. Marinara sauce makes a great dip for these, but you could also do more garlic butter, a cheese sauce, or even a ranch dipping sauce.
If you have any leftover garlic knots, allow them to come to room temperature, then store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They should last for about 4 days in the fridge.
To reheat these cheesy garlic knots, place them in the oven then set the oven to 380. Once the oven reaches temperature, the garlic knots should be heated through.
Alternatively, you could also reheat the garlic knots in an air fryer at 350 degrees F for about 4 minutes.
Sure! The crescent roll dough already comes cut into triangles (you just have to cut the rectangles along the perforated line) so you could easily just brush your butter mixture onto the crescent triangle, add some cheese and herbs, and roll them up as normal.
If you make these delicious Cheesy Crescent Roll Garlic Knots, please let me know what you think in the comments. And don't forget to tag me @frontrangefed on Instagram - I love to see your creations!
More Easy Appetizers
- Easy Mediterranean Charcuterie Board
- Roasted Garlic Dip
- Fried Mashed Potato Balls With Bacon And Cheese
- Cheddar Cheese Straws
- Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
- Baked Pasta Nests With Meatballs
- Pear And Cheddar Hand Pies
Recipe
Cheesy Crescent Roll Garlic Knots With Parmesan
Ingredients
- 2 8 oz tubes of crescent roll dough
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- 2 tablespoon fresh basil chopped
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the butter and garlic to a small saucepan. Heat it over low heat for about 1-2 minutes, until the butter has melted and the garlic is slightly softened.
- Remove the crescent roll dough from the tubes and roll it out into rectangles. Cut each rectangle in half lengthwise. This should leave you with 8 dough strips per tube (16 total).
- Add the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese to a small bowl and combine well.
- Brush the butter and garlic mixture evenly over each dough strip, then sprinkle with parsley, basil, and the cheese mixture.
- Roll each strip rectangle into a tube, with the buttery cheese and herb mixture inside.
- Tie the tubes by crossing one end over the other, and tying them into a knot.
- Arrange the knots on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the knots are golden brown and fully cooked.
- Remove the knots from the oven and brush the tops of the garlic knots with the remaining garlic butter. Sprinkle with the extra shredded Parmesan cheese, extra herbs, and a pinch of salt.
Notes
- Keep the dough cold until you're ready to roll it out. Cold dough is much easier to handle and won't tear as easily.
- Don't fill your "tubes" too full. Adding too much filling will make it hard to tie the tubes into knots.
Candy says
I made them for Thanksgiving and they turned out really great! So delicious! I'm excited to make them again for Christmas. I'm sure it'll be a hit to the whole fam.
Sarah Jenkins says
Thanks Candy! So glad they worked for you!!