Little Caesar's Italian Cheese Bread is one of our favorites! This is my copycat version of it! Made from scratch and ready in under an hour! This cheesy garlic bread will have you ditching the takeout and making it yourself!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Less expensive and more servings than Little Caesar Pizza sells!
- If you love those pizza kit fundraisers from Little Caesars, you'll love this easy recipe!
- Compliments any Italian dish like Pizza Rolls or Three Cheese Manicotti!
- Better than Crazy Bread!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Olive Oil - vegetable, canola, or coconut oils work great too!
- Butter - Either salted or unsalted butter is fine.
- Flour - All-purpose, not self-rising
- Italian Cheese Blend - This blend of cheese comes in most brands and is available in most grocery stores. It usually contains shredded Romano, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, and provolone cheese.
- Italian Seasoning - is a blend of Italian spices like basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, and thyme.
Step by Step Instructions
- Measure the yeast, sugar, and warm water into the base of a stand mixer or a regular mixing bowl to start the pizza dough for the cheese bread base.
- Let it stand for 3-5 minutes and allow it to get foamy.
- Add the salt, olive oil, and flour to the foamy yeast.
- Mix until a very sticky dough comes together.
- Add enough additional flour for the dough while kneading to make a very soft ball of dough that is still sticky to the touch after being kneaded.
- Kneading in the additional flour should only take a minute or so.
- Cover the dough with a clean dish towel and let rise for 20 minutes.
- Press the risen dough into a 9x13 baking dish that has been lined with foil and sprayed with non-stick spray. Lining with foil allows you to lift the cheese bread out of the pan to cut it into sticks.
- NOTE- I find that a cookie sheet is not quite deep enough.
- YES! This is enough dough to cover the bottom of the baking dish. Once pressed out, it will only be ¼ to ½ inch thick, about the same as when you roll out cookie dough.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and let the dough rise while your oven preheats.
- Once the oven is preheated, sprinkle 2 cups of an Italian blend of pre-shredded cheese over the top of the dough.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. The top of the cheese should be golden brown, especially on the edges of the crust.
- Melt 3 Tbs. butter in a microwave-safe container.
- Pour the melted butter over the top of the cheese bread while brushing it around with a pastry brush.
- Sprinkle garlic salt and Italian seasoning blend over the top of the cheese bread.
- Lift the hot Italian cheese bread out of the baking dish and set it on a cutting board.
- Cut into 12 cheese sticks with a pizza cutter. Serve!
Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips
Can this recipe be done without a stand mixer?
Yes, absolutely! I use a stand mixer because I'm a bit on the un-muscular side, but you can make this recipe by hand too!
This doesn't look like enough dough to cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan!!!
Yes, trust me, there is enough dough. When pressed out into the bottom of the baking dish, it's only ¼-1/2 inch thick, about the same as when you roll out cookie dough.
What goes well with this cheese bread?
We like to eat these breadsticks with some homemade Pizza Sauce or fresh Alfredo Sauce or some Lasagna cooked in my crockpot. If you want to go for a bit lighter meal, try this Layered Green Salad or this Chicken Pasta Caesar Salad.
How long is it good for?
It's best to consume this cheese bread within 2 days.
Does it need to be refrigerated?
Yes, please refrigerate any leftovers. Reheat carefully in the microwave.
Have you tried this recipe? If so, leave me a rating and a comment below! And don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter to get my latest recipes sent right to your email! You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram!
Copycat Italian Cheese Bread Recipe
Little Caesar's Italian Cheese Bread is one of our favorites! This is my copycat version of it! Made from scratch and ready in under an hour! This cheesy garlic bread will have you ditching the takeout and making it yourself!
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
- 2 teaspoon Sugar
- 1 Cup Warm Water
- 2 Tbs. Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 Cups Flour
- 2 Cups Italian Blend Cheese pre-shredded
- 3 Tbs. Butter
- Garlic Salt
- Italian Seasoning blend
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast with the warm water and sugar in your mixing bowl.  Let stand to activate for 5 minutes.
- Add the olive oil, salt, and 2 cups of flour.
- Mix together and knead until a sticky dough forms. It will be a softer dough and won't come together in a firm ball. Add more flour if you need it.
- Cover the dough and let rise until doubled, about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Line a 9x13 baking dish with tin foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Lightly press the risen dough into the prepared baking dish and cover to let rise for 10-15 minutes while your oven preheats.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Once your oven is preheated, sprinkle the 2 cups of Italian cheese blend evenly over the dough.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. The cheese will be mostly golden brown.
- Melt the butter and brush it across the top of the hot cheese bread.
- Sprinkle garlic salt across the top. We like a generous amount.
- Sprinkle the Italian seasoning across the top.
- Lift the hot cheese bread out of the baking dish and place it on a cutting board.
- Slice into 12 pieces with a pizza cutter.
- Serve.
Notes
- You might think there isn't enough dough to cover the bottom of the pan, but yes, trust me, there is enough dough. When pressed out into the bottom of the baking dish, it's only ¼-1/2 inch thick. About the same as when you roll out cookie dough.
Nutrition
Calories: 170kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 6gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 94mgPotassium: 17mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 1IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 77mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Thanks for stopping by! Before you go, be sure to check out a few of my most popular recipes!
Jeff
Very good
Sharon
Can you use the bread machine for the dough? Will that work?
Mindee
No, I don't believe a bread machine would work.
Jessica
My dough on the bottom stayed soft. I extended the time, but then the cheese started to brown too much. How do I avoid that? It is still cheesy and garlicky good! Just with a soft bottom.
Mindee
I would lightly cover the cheese with tin foil once it's brown enough to stop the browning but allow the bottom to cook more.
Julie Clapp
My husband and I are big fans of Little Caesars pepperoni bread, but with the restaurant industry's labor shortage our Little Caesars is not offering it right now. We added pepperoni before baking, but followed all of the other steps and this recipe is BETTER than the original. You are going to save us so much money
Mindee
That's so awesome! So glad you enjoyed it!
Landon
What if I just used regular ingredients instead of the italian kind? Would it change the taste a lot?
Mindee
Which ingredients are you referring to?
Hannah
Love this recipe! Been making it for several years since I first discovered it. How do you get your cheese so brown??
Mindee
I'm not sure. My cheese always just browns well. I usually use the walmart brand italian cheese blend.
Melinda Sue Thu
OH MY GOD! This bread is amazing! So fluffy and Cheesy. I doubled the butter to top it with, used a ton of real garlic and real freshly chopped herbs. Oh my gosh. Thank you thank you and thank you again for this recipe.
Mindee
You're so very welcome!!!
Kyra Robertson
I always add a little too much salt.... any recommendations to help me out
Mindee
Cut down the amount of salt by half 🙂
Adil
Do you think you could leave this to ferment for a couple days for when you have to rise it?
Mindee
No, I don't recommend doing that.
John
May I ask why?
Mindee
Of course! Just to clarify... I found the above question a little confusing. I took the question to mean allowing the the unrisen dough to sit in the fridge for a couple days until being ready to use. In that case, I don't recommend doing so because in that time the yeast would over inflate and the dough would over-rise, collapse and not rise again when baked. If that's not how you understood the question feel free to re-state the question you have and I'd be happy to answer it!
Barbara A Mason
I loved this recipe! It was exactly like Lite Caesar's!! The only thing I did was put too much cheese. It will take away from the taste. That was totally on me.
judith judge
how does this freeze
Mindee
I haven't tried freezing it because I don't think the cheese would thaw out well.
Trish
Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe! The closest copycat italian cheese bread that I found. A lot of recipes show skimpy skinny breadsticks, but this one is VERY similar to Little Caesars and also easy to make. I did cut the dough in half and used a square baking dish instead, and turned the other half into crazy bread and both came out wonderful. I also used a combination of mozzerella and colby jack cheese since that was what I had on hand. Great job!
Mindee
Thank You!!!
Luis Alonso
Hi, I'm assuming you are using Farenheit and not Celsius, right?
Mindee
Yes, Fahrenheit.
Crystal
Made twice now, using the suggestion of another commenter of 2:1 mozzarella & muenster cheeses. A small sprinkle of Parm on top also goes a long way. The ONLY thing is I have found its easier to skip the foil and just grease the pan, it makes the bottom more crisp. Otherwise, FANTASTIC recipe!
FIsh
Just so you know, Little Caesars uses a 1 part muenster and 2 part mozzarella mix. While your mix is good, its not at all little caesars. Worked there for 7 years.
Karis
Great recipe! I made balls from the dough and stuffed em with mozzarella and pepperoni! Let it rise for over an hour, I didn’t like how the first batch came out after the short rise time.
Deborah Hook
will this dough work for pizza also?
Mindee
It should 🙂