The Canned Ingredient You Can Use To Make Pillowy Garlic Knots In A Pinch

Buttery garlic knots never disappoint, whether they're gobbled up as a standalone snack with marinara or served as the ultimate side to complement an old-school pasta dish. The problem is they eat up a lot of time if you make them from scratch. Thankfully, if garlic knots are tugging at your heartstrings but you'd rather spend time finessing your main course, there's a canned ingredient that can get you soft, flaky garlic knots in a fraction of the time it normally takes to make them.

Take canned biscuits to transform into garlic knots. Separate the biscuits just as you would if you were baking them as is, then take each portion of dough and roll it into a 10 to 12-inch rope. Tie the rope into a knot, folding the excess dough underneath. That's it. From there, all that's left to do is brush on some flavor.

Melted butter and garlic, whether it's freshly minced or in powder form, are essential, but don't stop there. Adding Italian seasoning grants welcome herbaceous notes, and including parmesan makes them taste as if they came from your favorite pizza joint. A pinch of salt in the mix will make all those flavors pop. Once they're generously brushed with butter and seasonings, place them on a baking tray and bake them for about 15 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. You'll know they're ready to be enjoyed when they have a gorgeous golden brown exterior.

Although these little gems are conveniently made from canned biscuits, that's not to say they can't be elevated. By adding ingredients or adjusting the cooking method, you can make the scrumptious bites change the way you look at garlic knots forever.

One simple way to give the garlic knots a leveled-up treatment is to give them a crispier exterior. Brushing on a mixture of baking soda and water before they go in the oven will crisp up the outside, giving the side dish a pretzel-like quality. You could also get a crispier texture by cooking them in the air fryer. The trick is to lower the temperature to 330 degrees Fahrenheit so the center fully cooks without scorching the surface. Air fry for roughly six minutes, flip them, and give them an additional four to seven minutes in the appliance. Use the toothpick test to ensure the center is cooked.

An arguably better way to upgrade canned biscuit garlic knots is to stuff'em. Once you've rolled the dough into a strand, flatten it out a bit and place mozzarella or a similarly soft cheese across the center. Then just fold the dough over the cheese and tie the garlic knots you normally would, and cheesy garlic knots are on the menu. The same concept works for infusing the dough with herbs or even red pepper flakes to give the garlic knots a little heat. Or do both for an herbaceous, cheesy, buttery side dish in minutes for Italian night.