Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread
This Macaroni Grill rosemary bread is not complicated in the least and is free-formed, eliminating the need for bread pans – truly, it is worth making!
Ok, admittedly I’ve never actually eaten the rosemary bread at the Macaroni Grill restaurant but lately it seems like the famed bread has come up in multiple conversations I’ve had with random people.
Ashamed I’d never made the much-talked about bread, I cast my memory upon a knock-off recipe my sister-in-law, Mary, sent me months ago, as well as one I had spied in a collection cookbook I’ve had for years. And I merged and adapted and variated recipes…and made the bread.
Let’s just say, this bread is definitely everything everyone said and more.
Light and tender with the delicious aroma and flavor of rosemary combined with the subtle crunchy saltiness from the coarse salt, this bread is over-the-top tasty…plain or dipped in balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
It’s hard to admit to you, my friends, how many slices of this bread I ate slathered in whipped herb butter. I have always loved a good bread/butter combo but this wonderful rosemary bread pretty much exceeded all my carb cravings.
And I can’t believe I’m actually admitting this, but for the first time in my entire existence, I would take a slice (or four) of this bread smothered with the garlic and herb butter concoction over an offer of dark chocolate.
I’m not sure I know who I am anymore.
The bread is not complicated in the least and is free-formed, eliminating the need for bread pans – truly, it is worth making!
I just hope when you make it, one of the two loaves makes it into the freezer…or to a neighbor…or to some worthy cause…because it’s all too easy to down both loaves before realizing what exactly happened.
One Year Ago: San Francisco Chops {Slow Cooker}
Two Years Ago: Tomato Bisque Soup
Three Years Ago: Toasted Orzo with Peas and Parmesan
Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast or 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 ½ cups warm water
- 2 ¾ – 4 cups all-purpose flour (see note)
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped and divided
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- Coarse salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- In a large bowl (or the bowl of an electric stand mixer if you have one), combine the yeast, sugar and water. 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 two cups of the flour, salt and 1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons of the chopped rosemary. Mix. Continue adding flour, gradually, until a soft dough is formed. Judge the dough based on texture and feel versus how much actual flour you’ve had to add based on the recipe. The dough should be slightly tacky to the touch but should hold its shape while still being soft and smooth. Knead the dough by hand or with an electric mixer for 4-5 minutes, adding additional flour only if the dough is overly sticky and not clearing the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, approximately 1-2 hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. Once doubled, gently deflate the dough and divide in half. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, a silpat liner or lightly grease with cooking spray. Shape the dough into two smooth, oval shaped loaves and place them on the baking sheet, one on each half of the tray so they have room to rise and bake without touching. Use a brush to slather the melted butter over 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 over the top of the loaves, patting down gently to set into the dough, if needed. Cover the loaves with lightly greased plastic wrap and let them rise again until puffy and nearly doubled, about an hour (again, the exact time will depend on temperature so judge the dough by how it looks).
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly sprinkle coarse salt over the top of the loaves. Bake the loaves for 18-20 minutes until browned and baked through. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
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.
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!
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!