Little Caesars is a household name and one of America's best pizza chains. They're famous for their "Hot-and-Ready" pizzas, and in 1982, they were the first pizza chain to sell a side of bread with their pizza (according to QSR Magazine). They called it "crazy bread" because the concept of adding parmesan cheese to garlic bread was, well, crazy. The bread is fantastic on its own, but it's even better when paired with their crazy sauce (a spiced-up marinara dipping sauce).
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Since then, Little Caesars has introduced, discontinued, and reintroduced a stuffed crazy bread (a cheese-stuffed version of crazy bread), but the original order is still our favorite. What makes these garlic-flavored breadsticks so good, and can you make them on a whim at home? We're happy to report that yes, yes you can!
What is Little Caesars Crazy Bread Made Of?
Lindsay D. Mattison
We always start our copycat recipes by reading the ingredients list on the company's website. Little Caesars nutrition facts detail everything that's in the crazy bread: prepared dough, crazy bread spread, and Parmesan cheese mix. It doesn't get easier than that!
Here's where things get weird, though. The crazy bread spread ingredients show it's made with soybean oil, natural and artificial flavors, and a lot of preservatives (like soy lecithin and sodium benzoate). Surprisingly enough, there is no butter and no garlic listed in the ingredients. We should have been tipped off when the crazy bread is described on the menu as having "flavors of butter and garlic." We did try to make a version of the crazy bread without those two ingredients, but it didn't turn out anywhere close to the original. So, we did something we normally never do when creating copycat recipes: We ignored the information from the source and built the recipe from scratch using just our taste buds.
When we created a combination of butter, salt, and garlic powder and brushed it on the breadsticks after they cooked, it tasted exactly like Little Caesar's crazy bread. So we don't know what kind of madness they're working on behind the scenes, but the recipe we created somehow works.
Do You Have to Make Your Own Dough for Little Caesars Crazy Bread?
Lindsay D. Mattison
The next big debate was whether we should make our dough from scratch or use a store-bought dough to save time. So we took to Reddit to see what Little Caesars employees had to say about how to make the crazy bread. In one PWWA (People Who Work At) thread, user GreenStrong says, "I worked there ~20 years ago, it was a pizza crust with garlic butter and Parmesan cheese." Another recipe thread confirms this, and user JayTS says, "I worked at Little Caesars for a year in college. Their crazy bread is just their pizza dough cut into strips..."
So, we decided to use a store-bought tube of pizza dough as the base for these breadsticks. Because let's be real: Little Caesar's isn't exactly a gourmet restaurant using a 100-year-old sourdough starter; they're receiving pre-made dough at each chain location. If you love making everything from scratch, feel free to use your favorite recipe instead of the store-bought pizza dough. Here's a really good recipe for homemade pizza dough, if you're looking for one.
Little Caesars Crazy Bread Substitutions
Lindsay D. Mattison
Our Little Caesars crazy bread contains dairy and gluten, but you can make a few small modifications to make it allergen free. To make this recipe dairy-free, you'll need to swap in olive oil for the melted butter and use a dairy-free Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast. You can also use other types of cheese if you're out of Parmesan, like Romano, Grana Padano, or asiago.
If you want to make gluten-free breadsticks, the substitution is as simple as using gluten-free pizza dough. We've never tried turning cauliflower crust into breadsticks, so you'll want to do some trial-and-error if going that route.
READ MORE: Little Caesars is the Best Pizza Chain in the Country, According to Americans
Copycat Little Caesars Crazy Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 10-ounce tube pizza dough (or homemade dough, if you prefer)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Roll out the pizza dough and cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Lightly roll the dough so each one is shaped like a round breadstick.
- Place the breadstick pieces onto a baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown.
- Meanwhile, place the butter, salt, and granulated garlic in a microwave-proof bowl and microwave on high in 10-second bursts until the butter is melted. Stir to combine.
- When the breadsticks are finished baking, brush them with the garlic butter sauce.
- Top the breadsticks with grated Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
