Easy Focaccia Bread Recipe (No-Fail Homemade Bread)
This easy focaccia bread recipe makes bakery-style bread with a crispy golden crust and a soft, airy center. Made with simple pantry ingredients and olive oil, this homemade focaccia is perfect as a side dish, sandwich bread, or appetizer. Whether you’re new to bread baking or already love homemade bread, this recipe delivers delicious results every time.
Focaccia is a traditional Italian flatbread made with a dough similar to pizza dough, but enriched with generous olive oil for its signature texture and flavor. Often called Pizza Bianca, or “white pizza,” focaccia is known for its crisp edges, airy crumb, and delicious savory taste.
Making focaccia bread at home may seem intimidating at first, but this step-by-step recipe makes the process simple and approachable. I’ll show you exactly how to get a soft interior, golden crust, and beautiful airy texture.
Once you try homemade focaccia, you’ll be surprised how rewarding and delicious it is. If you enjoy baking bread, be sure to try my Japanese Milk Bread recipe next.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Better than store-bought bread
- Crispy outside, soft inside
- Beginner-friendly method
- Great for sandwiches or dipping
- Uses pantry staples
Ingredients You’ll Need
This easy focaccia bread recipe uses simple pantry staples to create soft, airy bread with a crispy golden crust. Here’s what you’ll need:
- All-Purpose Flour
Use all-purpose flour for a soft yet chewy texture. I do not recommend self-rising flour for this recipe. - Salt
Salt enhances flavor and helps balance the richness of the olive oil. - Active Dry Yeast
Yeast helps the dough rise and creates focaccia’s light, airy texture. - Sugar
A small amount of sugar helps activate the yeast and encourages beautiful browning. - Olive Oil
Olive oil adds flavor, moisture, and the signature richness focaccia is known for. You’ll use it in the dough and on top before baking. - Flaky Sea Salt
Sprinkled on top, flaky sea salt adds crunch and boosts flavor. - Rosemary (Fresh or Dried)
Rosemary adds classic savory flavor and pairs perfectly with olive oil.
Optional Toppings
- cherry tomatoes
- garlic
- parmesan
- olives
- caramelized onions
How To Make Focaccia Bread
Making focaccia bread at home is easier than you think. Follow these simple step-by-step instructions for soft, airy bread with a crispy golden crust.
Step 1
In a large bowl, combine warm water, sugar, yeast, and olive oil. Add the flour and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough begins to come together.
Step 2
Add the salt and continue kneading until the dough becomes smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky.
Step 3
Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean towel and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
Step 4
Gently press down the dough to release excess air.
Step 5
Transfer the dough to a greased 7-inch round pan or oven-safe skillet. Stretch the dough evenly using your fingertips. Cover again and let it proof until puffy.
Step 6
Drizzle a little olive oil over the surface. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and rosemary. Use your fingertips to press dimples all over the dough.
Step 7
Bake on the middle rack for 12–13 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp on top. Cool slightly before slicing this homemade focaccia bread and serving it.
Expert Tips for Perfect Focaccia
Use these expert tips for the best homemade focaccia bread every time:
1. Use Good Quality Olive Oil
Since olive oil is one of the main flavors in focaccia, choose a good-quality olive oil for the best taste. It adds richness, aroma, and helps create a beautiful golden crust.
2. Let the Dough Rise in a Warm Spot
This recipe uses a double rise, so place the dough in a warm draft-free area for the best texture and rise.
3. Generously Oil the Pan
A well-oiled pan prevents sticking and helps create focaccia’s signature crisp, golden bottom crust.
4. Don’t Skip the Dimples
Use your fingertips to press dimples into the dough before baking. This helps hold olive oil and creates the classic focaccia texture.
5. Finish with Flaky Salt
Sprinkle flaky or coarse sea salt over the dough before baking for extra flavor and crunch.
6. Watch the Bake Time
Bake until golden brown. Overbaking can dry the bread.
What To Serve With Focaccia Bread
Focaccia bread is incredibly versatile and can be served in many delicious ways. Here are some of my favorite ideas:
- Slice into squares and serve with dips like olive tapenade, roasted red pepper dip, hummus, or balsamic olive oil.
- Slice the focaccia horizontally and fill with deli meats, grilled vegetables, cheeses, or your favorite sandwich fillings.
- Serve warm focaccia alongside soup, stew, or chili for dipping into broth and sauces.
- Toast slices and top with tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, and balsamic glaze for an easy appetizer.
- Use focaccia as a thick pizza crust. Add sauce, cheese, and toppings, then bake until melted and bubbly.
- With Pasta Night. Serve alongside pasta dishes with olive oil or garlic butter.
Easy Focaccia Bread Variations
This focaccia bread recipe is delicious as written, but it’s also easy to customize. Try one of these flavorful variations:
- Sundried Tomato and Olive Focaccia: Add chopped sun-dried tomatoes and sliced olives for a savory Mediterranean-style focaccia packed with flavor.
- Garlic and Parmesan Focaccia: Top with minced garlic and grated Parmesan cheese for a rich, savory version with bold flavor.
- Caramelized Onion and Gruyère Focaccia: Add sweet caramelized onions and nutty Gruyère cheese for an elevated bakery-style variation.
- Herb Focaccia: Use rosemary, oregano, thyme, or basil for a fragrant herb focaccia that pairs with many meals.
- Cherry Tomato Focaccia: Top with halved cherry tomatoes and flaky sea salt.
Focaccia Bread FAQ
Yes. You can use the same amount of instant yeast. It may rise a little faster, so keep an eye on the dough.
Yes, you can replace part of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. Using only whole wheat flour may make the bread denser.
Dense focaccia is usually caused by not letting the dough rise long enough or adding too much flour.
Yes. You can refrigerate the dough overnight for deeper flavor, then bring it to room temperature before baking.
Use enough hydration, allow proper rising time, and handle the dough gently so the air stays inside.
Yes. Let it cool completely, wrap tightly, and freeze for up to 2 months.
Rosemary, flaky sea salt, garlic, olives, cherry tomatoes, onions, and Parmesan are all delicious options.
More Bread Recipes to Try
How To Store Focaccia Bread
- Store leftover focaccia bread in an airtight container or tightly wrapped at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- To freeze, wrap the bread tightly and place it in a freezer-safe bag or container for up to 3 months.
- Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature for a few hours.
- To reheat, warm in a 300°F oven for a few minutes until heated through and crisp again.
⭐Did You Make This Recipe?
If you tried this focaccia bread recipe, I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a star rating and comment below to share your experience.
Homemade Easy Focaccia Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup warm water you may need less
THE TOPPING
- Flake sea salt
- 1 tablespoon rosemary fresh or dry
- 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add the water, sugar, yeast, oil, and flour. Knead the mixture for 5 minutes then add the salt and continue kneading until the dough is smooth.
- Sprinkle the dough with a little olive oil and cover with a plastic wrap. Keep in a wamr place for the dough to proof and rise. It will take an hour to an hour and half.
- Pat the dough down to remove air. Transfer the dough to a greased 7 inch round pan or a skillet.
- Spread the dough to evenly fill the skillet. Cover with a plastic wrap to proof again for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 374F/190C.
- Drizzle the dough with a little olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary and flakes of sea salt. Using your fingertips make a few dimples on the surface of the dough.
- Bake the focaccia bread for 12 to 13 minutes on the middle rack, until it is golden in color and has reached your desired crispness.
- Place the baked focaccia bread over a cooling rack to cool.
Video
Notes
- You can use olive oil infused with garlic to give this focaccia bread recipe more flavor.
- A great snack can be made using focaccia by toasting it and spreading roasted garlic and parmesan on top.
- You can prepare the dough a night ahead. Place the dough in a large container and cover tightly, then refrigerate. The dough will rise slowly while in the fridge. When about to bake the dough, take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature first. Knead the dough for a minute, and it will be ready for the next rise.
This looks like perfect focaccia. This is by far one of my favorite breads!
Can I freeze focaccia
Yes, you can place the bread in a Ziploc bag and freeze it for three to four months.
It’s my favorite, glad you liked the pics!
You did such a great job Muna! I love focaccia and yours look incredible!
My mouth is watering just by looking at it!!!
Gorgeous focaccia, Muna! This is one thing I’ve wanted to try making for a long time, but I still haven’t got the chance. Thanks for the reminder of how delicious it is! Your photos are stunning!
Thanks guys, I appreciate your kind words!
This has always been a favorite bread…looks fantastic!
Looks Fabulous…
Focaccia has always been my favorite….
You did a great job.
Thanks, I’m still working on my photography skill 🙂 believe me this bread looks even better than the picture.
looks brilliant munaty! very nice series on bread (:
Thanks Shu, I want to add more bread recipes, I love baking so much 🙂
Beautiful! This focaccia is perfect.
Cheers,
Rosa
No luck with this recipe! One cup of flour is not enuf. I just kept adding til I got the right consistency. Also baking temp was too low. My bread never did brown. It’s not a keeper for me!
Hi Lori, This recipe is for a small size Focaccia bread, hence I have mentioned that it can be baked in a 6-inch pan. You can simply double the ingredients for a bigger Focaccia bread! Usually, the bread doesn’t brown because the heat in the oven is not evenly distributed, you can turn off the oven and turn on the broiler 3 minutes before the baking time is up to help the bread brown evenly. Hope this helped.
I’m just curious why the video shows the steps almost completely backwards off what the written recipe says to do?
Hi Aaron! The result will be the same but I had some readers complaining about the dough not rising and I know that the salt is the culprit, so in the video, I added the salt later while kneading, but if you following the written recipe and the video will result in a delicious Focaccia bread 🙂
Easy and delicious recipe. Does not make enough for my family so will double the recipe next time.
Yes, I followed the written directions. I did not watch the video until I was done. Different directions in the video.
Does it matter which oil I use? I never ever have olive oil on hand! Thanks so much ❤️
Olive oil brings out a flavorful Focaccia bread, but yes, you can use any cooking oil to make this bread.
Love all your recipes, my 13 year old daughter always follow your recipes.
Wow! Thanks for making my day, I’m happy that your family enjoyed my recipes 🙂
Just made this recipe for the third time and it turned out great. I have shared as a tear off with dipping oil twice. Going to use with soup today. Nice job !
Hi Beth, thanks for trying the recipe. I’m glad that you have enjoyed it 🙂
The Focaccia bread looks good to taste. You really described the recipe in a straightforward manner.
This looks simple and easy to do. I haven’t tried baking bread before but this recipe I’d definitely consider making plus all the ingredients are available in the kitchen except for the active dry yeast and rosemary. Can I use fresh oregano leaves as substitute for the rosemary?
Hi Aleeza! You can use oregano and the bread will still taste good. Let me know how you like it 🙂
Wow! This is timely. I have always wanted to make my focaccia bread and here I stumbled upon your post. Thank you for sharing this recipe. Can’t wait to try making one. Wish me luck. 🙂
I hope you enjoy it as much as we did, and if you have any suggestions, I would like to hear it 🙂
It looks so fresh and yummy. I like how it turned out. It’s definitely worth the try.
Focaccia is amazing, at times I use the dough when making pizza. I hope you give it a try!
It looks so nice to eat. I have never tried this bread but now I might fr your recipe of this bread soon.
Hi Khushboo, you should give it a try! This recipe is for a small size bread, so you can practice making it 🙂
Totally addicted to focaccia bread and always order copious amounts at any Italian restaurant. The herbs and oil just add to its deliciousness.
Same here Kemi, I love focaccia and try to make different versions of it!
Oh my goodness this looks delicious. I’m going to have to save this to try for my husband, he loves bread!
I’m sure he will enjoy this bread!
I have never made a bread at home but my neices love baking breads. And focaccia bread is one of my favourites. I will share this recipe with them.
Thanks Monidipa 🙂
Ouuu thanks for sharing. I will have to try this.
Made this tonight. Loved the ease of the ingredients. For my first time making bread it came out pretty good, not as brown as I would have hoped. But will be trying it again. Thank you so much’
You are welcome Roobye, glad you liked baking this focaccia bread!
Tried focaccia when I was in Pisa. Never cooked at home. Thanks for the recipe. I will definitely try!
The ingredients are easy to follow, but I have realize that one cup of flour was not enough. It was so sticky that it did not come into a smooth texture. I actually had to double the flour. But after the kneading with the flour increased, and adding the oil it seem to be the right consistency. I hope that it rises! I will keep you updated on how it turned out.
Hi Lexi, when kneading it’s best to add the liquids gradually while kneading since every brand of flour requires more or less liquid. This besides kneading the dough for a longer time (7 to 10 minutes) will turn it into a smooth dough. Adding more flour and oil will result in a dense bread. I hope this helped!
Made this with dinner tonight and it was wonderful! I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfect! I did not have rosemary, so I sprinkled an Italian Herb mixture on top. Perfect! Thank you!
Thank you for trying the recipe and for your feedback Nana, I’m glad that you have enjoyed it 🙂
I have already tried this recipe 3 times…. delicious each time.. thanks so much for posting. I was wondering, could I use this recipe as a pizza dough? I thought of doubling the ingredients…what do you suggest? Thanks 😊😊
I do use it as a pizza dough and my family love it, go ahead and try it, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the flavor 🙂
What a great way to start out the new year! I’ve never made focaccia at home.
Glad you liked it 😊
Love how fool proof this recipe is. Turns out perfect every time 🙂
Thank you so much for the feedback 😊
Haven’t tried the recipe yet – I’m trying to watch the video, but the “video” link doesn’t seem to be working. Do I need to subscribe to something in order to watch? I’d be very grateful for anyone’s help with this!
Hi Nadia, I have tried the video, and it is working fine. It is located in the recipe card but if you have activated an Ad Blocker then you won’t be able to view it.
Hi Muna,
This recipe is amazing.
I tried it last night. As I was making it I realized that there was not enough dough to fill the rectangle pan I wanted to use so I made 3 separate balls in 3 separate bowls. After the first rising period I put one ball in to a 7 inch iron skillet and then the other two balls I put in to the rectangle and and then just spread the two balls in to that. The focaccia was AMAZING so light and tasty and delish. I did have to cook it for 25 minutes (not 12-14 mins) but I know every oven is different. (25 mins on 375)
I am in the process of making it again tonight, two balls that I have spread in to one larger rectangle pan. It just came out of the oven and it looks and smells amazing.
QUESTION: In order to make just one big ball of dough to fit the larger rectangle pan should I just DOUBLE ingredients? so for example 3 teaspoons of yeast, 1 cup of warm water, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3 table spoons of oil and 2 cups of flour? Then let first proofing be for 1 1/2 hours as per original recipe?
Thank You so much,
Lindsey
Hi Lindsey, Thank you for the comment. For a large pan, I think it is better to tripple the recipe. The time of roofing the dough should stay the same 😊. Hope this helped
i love this little focaccia recipe, perfect for a household of 1 or 2! and easily doubled if you want to make ahead and freeze one.
Thank you so much Lauren, I’m glad you liked my recipe 😊
Fast easy and I just add different things to the top. I add cheese sliced grape tomatoes fresh basil and occasionally kalimada (sp) grapes
Thank you so much for your comment, I’m happy that you liked the recipe 😊.
Super simple and easy recipe, quick also.I’ve made it numerous times with different toppings. Always with great results! Delicious and tender.
Hi. Made this tonight was a little bit pale looking but the bottom turned a nice crispy brown bottom since I cooked it at the bottom rack for 5 minutes before I moved it up to the top. Anyway to make this world golden brown the next time?
If you have a fan in your oven, turn it on for better circulation, otherwise, the last two minutes of baking turn on the broiler.