Have you ever been to Carrabba’s Italian Restaurant? I just love their wood fire pizzas and bread dipping oil. So much so I made my own Copycat Carrabba’s Olive Oil Bread Dip!
Get the special blend of spices to make Carrabba’s Olive Oil Bread Dip at home! I bet you already have everything you need in the pantry for this Italian bread dipping oil.
Just a basic mix of spices this classic Carrabba’s recipe. Olive oil bread dip wows every time even though it is literally one of the easiest recipes I make.
When entertaining, I like to serve mine with a variety of breads and crackers on an Ultimate Cheese Board, however I personally prefer either Italian or rosemary focaccia.
This olive oil bread dip isn’t just for breads either. The spice blend will brighten up any pasta dish, especially a plain white or Alfredo sauce.
It can be sprinkled on a salad coupled with a few dashes of red wine vinegar or used to season chicken, beef or pork.
You can even use it as a marinade or baste is on grilled vegetables. Clearly, these aren’t just bread dipping spices, they are really an all-purpose Italian blend of deliciousness! Homemade Italian seasoning!
Olive oil bread dip is also one of my favorite DIY gift ideas. Dry mix can be made ahead and stored at room temperature in an airtight container for several weeks. The salt is a natural preservative.
If you know it won’t be used for a long time, omit the fresh garlic and add a teaspoon of garlic powder instead. Or you can include a cute note asking to “just add fresh garlic to serve”.
I like to use festive twine to attach a gourmet bottle of olive oil and voila, you have the perfect hostess gift straight from your kitchen!
You really don’t even need to mention that it is a Carrabba’s recipe. Heck, the restaurant isn’t even popular in much of the country. Just label it as Bread Dipping Oil or Olive Oil Bread Dip and everyone will know what you mean.
Carrabbas clearly uses dried spices, but you can also use a variety of finely minced fresh herbs and spices. You can even mix and match fresh with dried and add a few of your own, like thyme or a dash of dried minced onion or garlic for more texture and crunch.
Pair this delicious bread dipping oil with one of our favorite Italian recipes:
- Italian Meatloaf
- Artichoke and Lemon Pesto
- Easy Alfredo Sauce
- Best Italian Meatballs
- Tomato Basil Mozzarella Pasta

- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
- 1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 3 cloves fresh crushed garlic
- extra virgin olive oil
Combine crushed red pepper, black pepper, oregano, basil, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, rosemary, sea salt and crush garlic. Mix well.
- If serving immediately, place dry spice mixture in a shallow plate. Drizzle desired amount of extra virgin olive oil over, serve. Wait to combine extra virgin olive oil and dry spices until right before serving.
If you've made this recipe at home, come back and let us know how it was!
Recipe Video

Havent made it yet,I had it at Carrabb’s,and it was the best I have ever had.Hope when I make mine taste this good
It is pretty good, Debi, hope you like it!
Sooooo good!!!
THAAAANK YOUUUU! <3
Your recipe was the first to pop up in a google search but I think you are leaving out thyme.
Hi K! While I don’t add thyme to mine, you can certainly add it to yours! It is very verstile.
Just tried this recipe with grilled steak and shrimp dinner. Tasted exactly like Carrabba’s and this was my first try making this. It was so easy. I highly recommend for anyone wanting to duplicate the dry mix in olive oil like Carrabba’s.
Thanks.
Made this stuff, and, as a little snack before dinner i ate a buncha bread with this on it, which i would rather not have done, but, this recipe is very, very,very good! Highly recommended!
It always seemed like the fresh garlic and herbs were SAUTÉED. The garlic was light golden brown.
Hi Mrs. Blair, really? I’ve always had dry herbs and fresh garlic. They seem a little wet because it was tossed in fresh garlic juice. I even asked our server last time we were there and she confirmed it was raw. Maybe it was tinged a different color because it was sitting with the other herbs?
Making sure I have this correct.
Garlic powder,onion powder, and course sea salt read 1/2 Tablespoon. Is this correct or should that be a 1/2 of teaspoon. Because there is no 1/2 of Tablespoon that would be 1 1/2 tsp. .I just want to make sure which one is correct before making this awesome dipping sauce. Thank you in advance for your reply
(??) My measuring spoons include a 1/2 Tablespoon. Much quicker than doing 1-1/2 teaspoons.
So it is only half a tablespoon of the ingredients that say 1 1/2. 😞I read it as 1 1/2 of each. It is misleading the way it is written.
I Sharon- I’ll go back and refine it- thanks you for the feedback!
This looks so amazing. My husband is going to be so excited when I make this for him. He love fresh bread and the dipping oils. Thanks a million!
Cheese and crackers! This tastes EXACTLY like Carraba’s!
This is really the only reason I go to Carraba’s!!!! Love it!!