Easy Homemade Focaccia
This soft chewy flatbread is an Italian classic and makes a delicious starter, side, or snack. Our Easy Homemade Focaccia recipe is simpler to make than you might think while still being an impressive bread to serve from scratch!
When it comes to making your own bread at home, keeping it as simple as possible, but also impressive is what we’re all about! Super complicated does not necessarily mean better. Our latest Easy Homemade Focaccia recipe is all this, while also, of course, being incredibly delicious, too! This classic Italian flatbread requires a bit of time, but it’s mostly hands-off, making this no-knead flatbread one of the easiest homemade breads you can make that’ll be sure to impress!
What is Focaccia?
Foccacia is a flat-yeasted Italian bread that can come in many different shapes and sizes. You’ll often find it as a side dish but it can also be used as sandwich bread or sometimes even the base of pizza. Easily recognizable from its dimpled appearance, and classic oily texture and flavor, this classic Italian bread is surprisingly easy to make and will elevate any meal or snack board!
Ingredients Needed
- Flour – Bread flour is our go-to but it is also just as delicious with all purpose.
- Olive Oil – This is key to getting that classic focaccia flavor!
- Active Yeast, Water, and Sugar – Just a little sugar to activate that yeast. You can also use instant yeast.
- Fine Ground Salt – This is the salt for in the dough.
- Coarse Ground Salt – This is the finishing salt as you’ll want something that stands out more. And this brand is our absolute favorite!
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- You can find all of my kitchen essentials here!
Stand Mixer – You can of course make this dough without a stand mixer and just by using a large spoon or spatula to mix by hand, but a stand mixer will make it much easier and faster!
Rimmed Baking Sheet – We use a 12X16 baking sheet, but you can use smaller (for a slightly thicker focaccia) or larger for either a thinner focaccia or an oval or a round shaped focaccia.
Extra Large Bowl – We use the largest of our nested glass mixing bowls for this to give this dough plenty of space to proof.
Pastry Brush – To give that final brush of oil. Kitchen Scale – This is one of our most used kitchen tools! Measuring flour and other dry ingredients is key for ensuring proper measurements.
Easy to Make
Activate the Yeast
Step one, and one of the most important steps when making bread, is to activate your yeast. Use warm water and a little sugar to get that yeast ready to do its thing. You’ll know it’s ready when it’s nice and foamy.
Make Dough and Let It Proof
Once the yeast is ready, then it’s just adding the flour and fine ground salt and letting your stand mixer do all the work. No stand mixer? No problem, this can also be mixed by hand. No need for a lot of kneading, so just mix it all until a very sticky dough is formed.
Then it’s time for the long rise, and the first step of really developing that olive oil flavor in this easy focaccia recipe. Get the largest bowl you have (to give this dough plenty of space to grow) and then add oil. Add your super sticky dough to it and give the dough a turn in the oil to coat. Cover and store in the fridge for overnight (8-18 hrs) to rise. This slow rise with allow for the flavor of the dough to develop and produce the best texture of the crumb.
Second Rise
The second and final rise happens on an oiled-rimmed baking sheet. Spread that soft oily dough out on the sheet, pulling and stretching it so that it fills your sheet, and then let it rise again. This is where you can use a larger baking sheet and shape it into an oval or even a circle if you prefer those shapes.
Dimple, oil, salt, and bake!
Now for the fun part of homemade focaccia, adding those signature dimples to the top of the bread. Add a bit of oil to your fingers and press them into the top of the dough lengthwise down with both of your hands.
Give a final brush with more oil, sprinkle with your favorite coarse ground salt, and then bake.
Done! Easy Homemade Focaccia! Salty, chewy, slightly oily, and oh so delicious!
Recipe Tips
This easy focaccia recipe dough is sticky when it’s first mixed. That’s ok! Once it rises, it will become soft and manageable and it doesn’t require any kneading! So just use an oiled spatula to get that dough out of your mixing bowl and into your oiled bowl.
While not 100% necessary, there truly is a difference in texture and flavor when this focaccia dough is given that extra time for a nice slow rise. But if you don’t have the time, no problem, you can do a shorter quicker rise, just see the recipe notes.
It may seem like a lot of oil, but trust me, using plenty of oil throughout the whole prep and baking process is key to getting this classic Italian bread right with the right flavors.
This is a great recipe for a basic homemade focaccia and the perfect base for any additions you want to make! Add some fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme. Add some chopped garlic to the dough. Or, bust out your creative side by making focaccia art!
Our Easy Homemade Focaccia recipe will get you a beautiful soft crumb in a thin bread that has all of the salty olive oil goodness you want in a classic focaccia! All made with minimal effort and just a few simple ingredients.
You Also Might Like
- Dan’s Como Bread
- Easy Crusty French Baguette
- No Knead Rosemary Garlic Bread
- Homemade Hawaiian Rolls
- Easy White Sandwich Bread
- Garlic Naan From Scratch
Enjoy! As always, if you make this recipe or any of my others, I love to hear what you think! Leave a comment below, email me, or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
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Easy Homemade Focaccia
Equipment
- large bowl
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 teaspoon active yeast 9 g
- 1 3/4 cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon sugar 14 g
- 4 cups all purpose flour 515 g
- 1 teaspoon fine ground salt
- 6 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 2-3 teaspoons coarse finishing salt
Instructions
- Activate Yeast: Add warm water and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and give a quick whisk to dissolve the sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit to activate, about 5-10 minutes. The yeast will be activated when it starts to foam.
- Create Dough: Measure out flour, add salt, and mix. Add half of the flour and with the dough hook attachment, mix on medium. Add the second half of the dough and continue to mix until a sticky dough is formed.
- Slow Proof: Add 2 tablespoons to a very large bowl (that will fit in your fridge) and add dough to the bowl. Turn dough in oil. Cover and store in the fridge overnight or for at least 8 hrs.
- Second Rise: Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a rimmed baking sheet. Once the dough has at least doubled in size, add dough to the baking sheet. It should be soft and pliable. Stretch to fill the baking sheet, or into desired shape. Gently cover with a clean linen kitchen towel. Add a little oil to the top of the dough if the towel rests right on the dough. Let rise for another 60-90 minutes.
- Preheat Oven: Preheat Oven to 375 degrees F.
- Dimple, Oil, and Salt: Once the dough has risen, add a little oil to your fingers, and using both hands, gently press your fingers into the top of the dough to dimple the dough in even rows down the length of the dough. Use a pastry brush to brush with final 2 tablespoons of oil and sprinkle with coarse salt.
- Bake: Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.
- Cool: Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack. Enjoy warm!
I always loved homemade Focaccia. I remember my grandmother making this for us for breakfast. Yum!
Aw I love those foods that bring back Grandmother memories!
I have never thought how easy to make this Focaccia recipe.
Gathering all the ingredients to make this. Thank you!
Enjoy, Jamie!
Homemade are always the best, i tell you. This recipe is simple but delicious, thank you for this!
Thank you, DK!
This Easy Homemade Focaccia is a game-changer in my kitchen! The golden crust, infused with aromatic herbs and olive oil, creates a masterpiece of flavor and texture.
So happy to hear your enjoyed it, Savita! Thanks for sharing!
I made this today following your printed recipe/instructions. It cam out really good & I will make it again for sure! Question about step #7. Do you use ALL of the remaining olive oil with garlic? I brushed a good coat on but all of it seemed too much.
Hi Gina! Oh no just use what you think looks good!! If it seems too much for you, don’t use it – it’s all for taste!
Have you ever seen the episode of Salt Fat Acid Heat (Netflix) of Samin learning how to make Focaccia? The way the breakmaker works the dough is so sexy! I’m not kidding – I was watching it and thinking, ‘I want to be that dough!!’ The trailer doesn’t do it justice, you have to watch the actual episode for the full effect!
Oh my god I haven’t but I’m adding it to my list now!!! 😀