Give Your Garlic Bread More Flavor With One Striking Ingredient

Just when you thought garlic bread couldn't get any better, black garlic shows up to prove everyone wrong. As it turns out, this striking ingredient might be the key to elevating your garlic bread to new and delicious heights. Oh, and it has the power to make this tasty dish all the more appealing, too.

Black garlic is garlic that has been aged through a process of fermentation and heat to create a sweet, chewy, and dark-colored variant. In terms of flavor, black garlic is a bit milder than fresh garlic and is a tad sweeter and funkier. Its taste is also reminiscent of balsamic vinegar, which can introduce a new blast of flavor to whatever you pair it with — including garlic bread. It's also said to be pretty good for you, too, as it's high in antioxidants. Who knew?

While it's rarely a great idea to mess with a tried-and-true recipe, black garlic can help elevate your garlic bread to new heights in terms of taste, texture, and even aesthetics.

Making your garlic bread with black garlic is pretty much the same as preparing your typical garlic bread recipe. After cutting your fresh bread, combine butter (or mayonnaise), parsley, parmesan cheese, and black garlic (roughly three cloves) and generously lather the mixture on top. From there, bake the garlic bread until it's crispy, bubbly, and golden — around 10 minutes. Then, it's time to share with your friends and family (or just enjoy solo).

The black garlic will add a visually appealing element to your garlic bread, as its distinctive color grabs the eye. Not only that, but black garlic introduces a new, funky twist to your garlic bread: Once cooked, black garlic has a similar savory taste, but tastes caramelized with more umami flavor. It also has an appealing sweetness to it that goes perfectly with the sharp and pungent taste of parmesan cheese. Plus, paired with butter and herbs, black garlic stands out as a unique element to this otherwise classic dish.

Aside from taste and looks, black garlic is a fantastic way to elevate the texture of your garlic bread. Normal garlic is a bit firmer and has some crispness to it, while the fermentation process that creates black garlic gives it a soft, sticky, and slightly chewy texture (think of it along the lines of dried fruit or caramel). Paired with the crispy and crunchy bread, black garlic introduces a chewy texture that's complex, appealing, and bound to have you and your loved ones reaching for more.