Vegan Garlic Bread

Pre-made garlic bread has a lot to answer for. You know the kind — pale, barely-there garlic flavour, slightly soggy in the middle, never quite what you were hoping for. This is not that.

This vegan garlic bread is ready in 15 minutes, properly garlicky all the way through, and gets its flavour from Wilson’s Foods Garlic Flavoured Oil rather than butter — which means it’s completely plant-based without any compromise on taste. And if you want a little heat alongside all that garlic, a dash of Wilson’s Foods Peri-Peri Flavoured Oil in the spread takes it somewhere really interesting.

Why the Oil Makes All the Difference

Traditional garlic bread relies on butter to carry the garlic flavour into the bread. The problem with going vegan is that most plant-based spreads don’t have the same depth — so you end up compensating with more garlic, more herbs, more everything, and the result still tastes like it’s missing something.

Using Wilson’s Foods Garlic Flavoured Oil solves that. The garlic flavour is already built into the oil — rounded, warm, and consistent — so it carries through every part of the spread and soaks into the bread in a way that fresh garlic alone never quite manages. You still add fresh garlic and garlic powder alongside it, because this is garlic bread and it should taste like garlic bread. But the oil is what ties everything together.

It also has a practical advantage over butter: it mixes with the plant-based spread more easily at room temperature, spreads more evenly across the bread, and soaks in rather than sitting on the surface. The result is garlic bread that’s flavoured all the way through, not just on top.

The Herbs

Dried parsley, oregano and basil go into the spread alongside the garlic powder and onion powder. It sounds like a lot, but each one does a specific job — parsley adds freshness, oregano adds earthiness, basil adds a faint sweetness. Together they give the bread a rounded, Italian-style herb flavour that feels complete rather than one-dimensional.

The onion powder is the one people sometimes question, but don’t skip it. It adds a quiet savoury depth in the background that makes the whole spread taste more complex. You won’t taste it as onion — you’ll just notice that something is missing if it’s not there.

Add the Peri-Peri if You’re Feeling Brave

This is optional, but it’s worth mentioning separately because it genuinely changes the character of the bread. A small dash of Wilson’s Foods Peri-Peri Flavoured Oil stirred into the spread adds a warm, slow heat that builds as you eat. It doesn’t overpower the garlic — it sits alongside it and adds another layer.

Start with a small amount, taste the spread, and add more if you want more heat. The Peri-Peri Flavoured Oil is built on the same canola-olive oil blend base as the Garlic Flavoured Oil, so the two work together naturally. If you’re making this for a braai and you know your crowd likes a bit of spice, go generous. If you’re not sure, keep it subtle — the heat is there in the background without announcing itself.

Oven or Braai — Both Work

Wrap the bread loosely in foil and give it 8 minutes in a 200°C oven — or on a medium-hot braai grid. The foil traps the heat and lets the spread melt completely into the bread without the outside burning before the inside is ready. Then open the foil for the last two or three minutes to get the edges golden and just starting to crisp.

On the braai it works especially well alongside something that needs a few minutes of resting time — lay the foil parcel on the grid while the meat rests and it comes out exactly when you need it.

Full recipe below: Vegan garlic bread with Wilson’s Foods Garlic Flavoured Oil — serves 6, ready in 15 minutes.

Vegan Garlic Bread

Forget the pre-made stuff. This vegan garlic bread is ready in 15 minutes, properly garlicky, and gets all its flavour from Wilson's Foods Garlic Flavoured Oil. Add a dash of Peri-Peri Oil if you want a little kick.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Servings: 6

Course: Side Dish, Starter

Cuisine: Italian, South African

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 Large baguette halved lengthways
• 60 ml Wilson's Foods Garlic Flavoured Oil
• 30 ml Plant-based spread margarine
• 2 cloves Fresh garlic crushed
• 5 ml Garlic powder
• 3 ml Onion powder
• 5 ml Dried parsley
• 3 ml Dried oregano
• 3 ml Dried basil
• Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 10 ml Wilson's Foods Peri-Peri Flavoured Oil optional, for a kick

Method

 

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C or heat your braai grid to medium-high.
2. Mix the Wilson's Foods Garlic Flavoured Oil, plant-based spread, crushed garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, oregano and basil together in a small bowl until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. If you're going for the kick, add the Peri-Peri Flavoured Oil now and stir through.
3. Spread the mixture generously over both cut halves of the baguette — don't be shy, you want it soaked right in.
4. Wrap loosely in foil and bake for 8 minutes until the bread is warmed through and the spread has melted completely into it.
5. Open the foil and return to the oven or braai for a further 2–3 minutes until the edges are golden and just starting to crisp. Serve immediately.

Garlic bread doesn’t need butter to be good. It needs garlic — properly, generously, all the way through the bread. Wilson’s Foods Garlic Flavoured Oil does exactly that. Make it once and you’ll stop buying the pre-made stuff for good.