With simple ingredients and a little technique, you can pull out a gorgeously golden-brown loaf of fresh focaccia from your oven. Our focaccia recipe is uncomplicated and straightforward so you can learn the basics, and we’ve sprinkled in tips and tricks from our pro bakers to walk you through the process.
Once you’ve mastered this easy focaccia recipe, you can make it your own by customizing it with your favorite toppings.
Focaccia Ingredients
- Active dry yeast: New to baking with yeast? It’s essential to any focaccia bread recipe, so get familiar in our guide on how to use yeast!
- Honey: No need to splurge on the best honey here. There’s such a small amount that you won’t even taste it, and it really only acts as food for the yeast. Use what you got!
- Olive oil: We do, however, recommend you buy one of the best olive oil brands. Olive oil is probably one of the most significant ingredients in a focaccia bread recipe, so go for a good one!
- All-purpose flour: Focaccia bread should be tender, which is why we opt for all-purpose flour instead of bread flour.
Directions
Step 1: Proof the yeast
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water (about 100° to 110ºF) and the honey. Let the mixture stand until it’s frothy and bubbling, about five minutes.
Editor’s Tip: If the mixture does not froth here, discard it and start over. Make sure your yeast isn’t expired, and use a cooking thermometer to check the water temperature. (No honey? No problem! Use 1 tablespoon granulated sugar instead.)
Step 2: Create the dough
Add the flour, 1/4 cup olive oil, kosher salt and the remaining 3/4 cup warm water to the yeast mixture. Using a wooden spoon or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, stir everything together until the dough is smooth, stretchy and somewhat wet.
Editor’s Tip: There’s no need to knead. By mixing, we’re ensuring the focaccia will have a tender texture. Over-kneading the dough develops too much gluten, resulting in dense, tough bread.
Step 3: Proof
Scrape down the sides of the bowl until everything falls in the middle. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel, and let the dough rise in a warm place until it’s doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
Editor’s Tip: If your dough is having a hard time rising, follow our bread-proofing tricks.
Step 4: Prepare the pan
Preheat your oven to 425°. Using a pastry brush or your fingers, brush a 13×9-inch baking dish or a 12-inch cast-iron skillet with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.
Editor’s Tip: If you’re using a baking dish instead of a cast-iron skillet, we highly recommend sticking with a metal pan. A metal pan conducts heat better, resulting in an evenly baked, golden-brown focaccia.
Step 5: Add the dough to the pan
Gently scrape the dough out of the bowl and directly into the prepared pan. With oiled hands, gently spread the dough to all the edges of the pan. If the dough springs back, wait 10 minutes and stretch it again.
Using the tips of your fingers, make indentations in the dough.
Editor’s Tip: Press down enough so you feel the bottom of the pan, but don’t break through the dough.
Step 6: Proof again
Now is the time to add any toppings if you’d like, but you can keep it simple and just use olive oil. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil on top of the dough. Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, 30 to 40 minutes.
Step 7: Bake
If desired, sprinkle with sea salt. Bake the focaccia until it’s golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Cut the focaccia into squares, and serve warm.
Focaccia Toppings
- Make a gorgeous garden design: With a few simple herbs and vegetables, you can design a beautiful, flowering garden scape on the top of your focaccia. Lay down flat-leaf parsley for flower stems, and create flower buds using kalamata olives. Arrange sliced bell peppers and banana peppers around the olives in a flower-petal design. Here’s our in-depth tutorial on how to make garden focaccia.
- Utilize fresh herbs: Parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary and oregano make gorgeous focaccia toppings. Just make sure these delicate herbs are slicked with olive oil so they don’t burn in the oven.
- Add almost any vegetable: Fresh garlic’s pungency gloriously seeps into focaccia’s crevices. If you pick just one vegetable, make it minced garlic. Otherwise, we love fresh or sun-dried tomatoes, salty olives, bright peppers, summer squashes sliced into rounds, very thinly sliced potatoes and aromatic shallots or leeks. You can use asparagus, but know that they might char.
- Yes, you can add protein: We might be getting more into pizza territory on this one, but small rounds of pepperoni or anchovy fillets add the perfect salty bite on focaccia.
- Indulge in cheese: We’re granting you permission to bring more cheese into your life. Sharp cheddar, low-moisture mozzarella, rich Gruyere and, of course, nutty Parmesan or pecorino are all great cheeses for focaccia.
How to Store Focaccia
Storing bread so it stays fresh is the number-one priority after taking a loaf out of the oven. Allow the focaccia to cool completely to room temperature. Wrap the cooled bread in storage wrap, or place slices in an airtight container. Keep the bread at room temperature for up to four days.
Focaccia Recipe Tips
Why isn’t my focaccia rising?
Your focaccia might not be rising for a few reasons. The most common cause is the yeast: it’s expired, the water wasn’t warm enough, or the yeast wasn’t tested properly. Your yeast should be very foamy before moving onto the next step. If it’s not, try again, using all the steps on how to proof yeast the right way.
Another cause of a focaccia not rising could be a mishap in the proofing step. The dough needs to rise in a warm place, so don’t stick it in a dark corner. Also, if you’re in the colder months, the dough may need to rise for more than 45 minutes. After the 45-minute mark, keep checking on your focaccia dough every 30 minutes until you have reached the two-hour mark of total rising time.
What should I do with my focaccia?
There is so much to do with this focaccia that you might find yourself baking it on regular occasion! Of course, our easy focaccia recipe makes a bread that’s delicious all on its own. Serve it with an easy dip recipe for a little extra something.
To build out a meal, cut the focaccia into triangular pieces, and serve it alongside a really great tomato soup or our contest-winning shakshuka. We also love to make mile-high focaccia sandwiches. Bonus points if you toast the sandwiches!
If you let the focaccia sit out too long and the bread dries out, that’s the perfect time to learn to make croutons. Cube the bread, and turn it into delicious croutons—or even breadcrumbs for meatballs!
