Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread
This easy knockoff recipe for Macaroni Grill rosemary bread is soft, fluffy, and infused with the best fresh rosemary flavor.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Better than Macaroni Grill!!! My husband said it was the best bread he has ever tasted! Took the second loaf to my Aunt’s and it was gone within seconds! Thank You!! -Nadia
How to Make Rosemary Bread at Home
Rosemary is added to the dough and also sprinkled on top before baking. The key to this bread is making sure to use fresh rosemary – the bright fragrant flavor makes all the difference.
- Mix together the dough ingredients until the dough forms a ball that clears the sides of the bowl.
- Let the dough rise until doubled.
- Separate the dough into two pieces and form each piece into a taut loaf shape.
- Use a sharp baking lame or razor to slash the dough several times across the top.
- Brush the tops of the loaves with butter and then sprinkle with fresh rosemary and coarse salt.
- Let the loaves rise until very puffy.
- Bake the bread until golden.
I wish you all the self-control in the world to wait to cut into the bread until it is fully cooled. I do not have the same self-control. A warm slice of this bread slathered with butter (or herb butter!) is just about the most delicious thing on planet earth.
Easy Sourdough Variation
Here is an easy way to make a delicious sourdough discard variation of this Macaroni Grill rosemary bread:
- Reduce the water to 1 cup.
- Reduce the yeast to 1 1/2 teaspoons.
- Reduce the flour by 1/2 cup.
- Add 1 cup of sourdough discard in the first step, and proceed with the recipe.
The bread will be ultra-fluffy with a wonderful depth of flavor. It’s my favorite way to make this bread!
This recipe has hundreds of 5-star reviews for good reason. I’ve been making this bread for over ten years, and it still remains one of my favorite recipes of all time and is highly requested by family and friends.
I grow a rosemary plant just for this bread and make dozens of loaves every year! So much better than the restaurant version and so easy to make at home!
Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups warm water, 105 to 110 degrees F.
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast or 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 3 ½ to 4 cups all-purpose or bread flour (see note)
- 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped, divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- Coarse salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the water, sugar, and yeast. If using active dry yeast, let the mixture stand until foaming and bubbly, about 5 minutes. If using instant yeast, proceed with the recipe.
- Add 2 cups of the flour, 2 tablespoons of the chopped rosemary, and the salt, and mix to combine.
- With the mixer on medium speed, gradually add flour until a soft dough is formed that clears the sides and center/bottom of the bowl and knead for 4 to 5 minutes. The exact amount of flour will depend on several factors, so judge the amount of flour needed by the look and feel of the dough. The dough should be slightly tacky to the touch and form a ball without leaving a lot of doughy residue on your fingers.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased or oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 to 2 hours.
- Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper, lightly grease with cooking spray, and set aside.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly greased countertop and divide in half.
- With lightly floured or greased hands, take each piece of dough and fold it in half, pressing the bottom seam to seal. Move your hands to the rough ends and do the same. Continue this process until a taut loaf is formed, making sure to pinch any seams to seal.
- Place the loaves equal distant apart on the prepared baking sheet with plenty of room in between them for rising and baking.
- Use a sharp razor blade or baking lame to gently slash 2 to 3 lines across the top of the loaves.
- Brush the melted butter evenly across the top of the loaves. Continue brushing on the butter until it is gone (the loaves will be well-saturated).
- Sprinkle the remaining chopped rosemary and a pinch or two of coarse salt over the top of the loaves.
- Cover and let rise until puffy and nearly doubled, 45 to 60 minutes.
- Toward the end of rising time, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Bake for 20 to 22 minutes until golden.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from a collection cookbook given to me by my sister-in-law Erin W., as well as a recipe sent to me by my other sister-in-law, Mary G.
Recipe originally published March 2012; updated June 2026 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
This was very dry snd dense
Any idea why the second rising wouldn’t work? After I split in two, brushed with butter and rosemary – it did not rise. The dough spread to the side and basically made a flying saucer.
The taste is there but the dough needs help. My flour is fresh, my yeast as well. Problem I have is if I add more flour then I end up with very dense bread so I’m hesitant to keep adding more to help it rise.
Hi Joni, if your bread rose out instead of up, add more flour to the bread. The flour will add structure to help the bread rise up.
I tried this recipe tonight and let it rise almost 2 hours in a microwave with a cup of hot hot water as it’s cold here in the house.
When I cut the dough in half, added the butter and rosemary, it didn’t rise again. I did add the hot water back to the microwave with it. After 1 hour it had spread out so much it was turning back into one loaf but wasn’t rising at the same time. Any ideas?
just received a starter for sour dough and have been reading your old blog on it sour dough and also some of your recipes. I especially like the rosemary bread recipe….but when do you add the sour dough and how much?
I am so new to this.
Thank you
Hi Glenda, I add sourdough to this recipe at the beginning. The rule of thumb is that for every 1 cup of sour dough starter you are adding, decrease the flour by 1/2 cup and the water by 1/2 cup in the recipe.
Do you have a recipe for the garlic and herb whipped butter? This is on my thanksgiving menu this year!
Hello,
I love your receipes, Jessica, and thank you for them. Now, this time I made this bread, it didn’t raise again after adding the buttter/rosemary/salt, but it did it before that.
Do you have any idea why that might have happened?
Hi Liana, I’m not sure why that would have happened. You’re saying that once it was shaped into loaves, the loaves didn’t rise again? How quickly did the dough rise before shaping into loaves?
Very good
My family loves this. We have been making it for a few years now it is wonderful!
I made this following your adaptations for sourdough (added 3/4 cup fed starter, decreased yeast to 1/2 T). I don’t think my life will ever be the same! It was truly amazing. My husband said “I don’t know how much butter you cooked this in but the crust is flaking and buttery and delicious like a croissant!” He was shocked to find out each loaf only had 1 Tb of butter and no oil in the dough. We’ll be making this on repeat for sure. Thanks for another winner (and a good use of my wildly overgrown rosemary plant in the garden)!
Yay, Aubrie! Thanks for taking the time to let me know! I agree, this bread + sourdough is AMAZING.
Thanks so much for this Recipe Mel! I have been making it for years now. It is soooo much better than macaroni grill bread. I grow rosemary especially for this bread 😆 I always make a little dip with olive oil and cracked black pepper or parm for it and we just ripe pieces off to dip Will have to try the herb butter. Sooo yummy 😋
Hi Mel,
Thanks so much for this recipe. I’ve just made your French bread rolls (delicious!), and would like to try these as well. Do you think this would work OK as rolls instead of bread? I’m serving both with our Easter dinner.
Happy Easter to you and your family.
Sorry for the delay, Sheila! But yes, I think these would make great rolls.
I made this and followed the recipe but for some reason my bread did not brown or have a crispy crust. Any ideas on what went wrong? It still tastes really good.
Hi Janica, try increasing the oven temperature by 25 degrees and/or moving an oven rack to a higher position in the oven. That usually helps browning!
I bake a fair amount of bread so I’m used to recipes with starters. That takes planning! I realized that I needed a loaf just a few hours before dinner last night and I was able to whip it up easily. It has outstanding flavor & texture for a bread with so little proofing time. Thank you for a great recipe! Will make this again. (I have no idea if this tastes like the Macaroni Grill bread.)
This bread was so easy to make and very delicious! Could barely wait until it was cooled and before we new it the 1st loaf was almost gone hehe, you weren’t kidding about that. Love your recipes as always!
Great recipe. I made 2 changes. I used Bread Flour which made it rise a bit higher and I added 1 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil which made the bread a bit moister. Thanks for your wonderful website.
I love Mel’s kitchens recipes! I made this bread today. However I used a new baking pan and it twisted about 3 minutes into the baking process. So my lovely raised bread fell. I was so sad. But I finished baking it and sliced it. I would say it is accidental focaccia bread as the dipping sauce with Costco balsamic vinegar, EVOO, basil and chili pequin made the bread go down like candy. Can’t wait to try it again and use a better baking pan to get the correct result. Mel is right. You can eat way too much of this bread before realizing it. Try it! You won’t be disappointed.. at least not in the bread. Be careful of the pan you use lol
Do you have a calorie count on this bread
Delicious bread! Mine did not brown like your picture so I will put it on a higher shelf next time. Few things so satisfying as kneading bread by hand!
Could this bread be shaped into traditional French bread loaves?
Sure
SOOOO good and so easy! I didn’t have fresh rosemary, so I used the dried in the measurements you listed. Will definitely be making this again! It is wonderful!
I absolutely love this recipe and have made it multiple times. I do the dough in the bread machine and then bake it in the oven. Fantastic!
This was absolutely delicious! We made this, along with the Rosemary Ranch Chicken, and it was a huge hit. We made the bread again the next day for a family event and, again, everyone loved it. My brother-in-law suggested making them into rolls for Thanksgiving dinner and I couldn’t agree more. Now I just have to figure out how, haha! 🙂
Hi, I noticed that you didn’t recommend Bread Flour. Do you think it would not be as good in this recipe? Thanks for your help!
Hi Sandra, yes you can use bread flour in place of the all-purpose flour.
Made this tonight with some adjustments: I used 2 c. sourdough starter in place of 1 c flour + 1 c water, halved the yeast, and used mainly whole wheat flour for the remaining flour. Instead of two small loaves, I made one boule. Let it rise on a piece of parchment paper in a bowl while I heated a dutch oven at 425 for an hour. Slashed the dough, transferred it with parchment to dutch oven, covered, and baked for 30 minutes. Uncovered and baked 10 more minutes. House smelled amazing and bread was delicious!
This taste nothing like the macaroni grill’s bread
I was reading every review to see if anyone had actually eaten the original bread from Macaroni B & G. I have tried several recipes and have never been able to duplicate that bread! I go to that restaurant just for the bread. I eat it all and they bring another loaf! It is fabulous and I wish that I could even come close to that flavor!
But was it still good?
I am wildly in love with this bread. Everyone in my family loves me when I make it, and I have made it many, many times. I have a problem, though. Every time I make it, it is super flat. The dough doubles both times when I let it rise, but somehow by the time I pull it out of the oven, it has spread out to make a slightly puffy oval. IT IS STILL DELICIOUS and I continue to make it despite this flaw. Can someone please tell me what I’m doing wrong? I am very much a novice bread maker. I use active dry yeast from a little jar I keep in the refrigerator (is that the problem?) and a KitchenAid stand mixer. And all-purpose flour.
Hi Andrea, try adding 1/2 cup more flour, give or take, when making the dough. That should help it not flatten in the oven.
I made this bread twice in the past two days. I am not sure what the issue is but I have found that both yesterday and today, 18-20 minutes was just not long enough to bake the bread in my oven, this could be possibly my oven? I have found that I need to bake the bread at least 28 – 30 minutes at 450 degrees. Yesterday even after cooking this length of time the crust did not brown enough for my liking. I tried a few things today to see if I could achieve a darker crust. I placed a pan of water in the bottom of the oven to create steam and throughout the baking I misted to the top of the loaves. I also baked the bread in the top third of the oven. All of this by the way, did not seem to do the trick when it came to browning the crust. What worked for the browning was simply to turn the broiler on for the last 3-4 minutes creating a nice dark brown crust and the bread turned out delicious, so I think this is the method I will use in the future, however again, at least in my oven I found that the baking time was closer to 30 minutes. I will also attempt making this in the bread machine as I just received a new one for christmas!
Should salted or unsalted butter be used? Thanks in advance!
I always use salted butter
This was my first time making a bread of any sorts and I gotta say I was 100% pleased and excited about how mine turned out! I could eat this every day! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
How do you get your bread to turn dark brown? When I made the recipe, it ended up being a tan color. I even cooked it for an extra couple of minutes. The flavor was delicious and I will continue to make it. Just wondering if there is some sort of trick or if maybe it’s just my oven. I’m fairly new to bread baking. Thanks for your help!
Sometimes increasing the oven temperature by 10-15 degrees can help as well as moving an oven rack up higher in the oven.
I have also heard that placing a plan of water in the bottom of the oven to create steam works and also to cook at a high temperature.
This bread was absolutely delicious!! I paired it with some pasta and it couldn’t have been better. Thank you. 🙂
Made this bread for the first time yesterday and it was soooo delicious. Husband loved it especially with your whipped herb butter recipe. And I think you are right, it’s easy to eat almost a whole loaf of this bread In one sitting with the herb butter. I used Caputo “00” flour instead of all purpose flour and it came out nice and soft except it didn’t look as shiny and brown as the pictures of your bread. Still very delicious though and will definitely make this again. Thanks for the recipe!