Completely foolproof No Knead Focaccia bread. It is so easy! Mix everything up in a bowl with a spoon, leave for a few hours, then bake!
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Good bread is one of my favorite foods, especially when it is fresh from the oven and slathered in my Easy Vegan Butter or dipped in good olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
I realize that when it comes to yeast and bread baking a lot of people are wary because they think it's difficult. And that can be right. Some breads are difficult to make.
But, this easy focaccia is different. It is virtually foolproof. If you can put some ingredients in a bowl and stir them all together then you've got this. There is nothing more to it than that.
The rosemary-infused focaccia bread smell that permeates your house while this little miracle bakes is the stuff of dreams. It smells amazing! When you break into that salt and rosemary scattered crust you will find a soft and fluffy interior that is just begging you to eat it. All of it. Now.
Ingredients
Success tip - Use a good quality extra-virgin olive oil for the best flavor.
How To Make No Knead Focaccia
All you need to make Easy No Knead Focaccia Bread is a large bowl, a spoon, a metal pan (like an 8 x 8-inch square, or an 8 x 12 inch, or a round 8 or 9-inch cake pan), and some patience.
Here's how it's done in a few easy steps:
- Add everything to a bowl, starting with the dry ingredients and ending with the water. Mix it all up with a big spoon (I like to use a wooden spoon) to make a sticky, wet, slightly lumpy dough.
- Cover and leave at room temperature for about 8 hours. It will be risen and full of air bubbles.
- Transfer the dough into the prepared pan. Just scrape/spoon it out with a silicone spatula or spoon.
- Dimple it with your fingers then pour over olive oil, sprinkle flaky sea salt and herbs, then bake.
It really is that easy! The only hands-on time needed is a couple of minutes to mix the flour, yeast, salt, and water together with a spoon, and later, a couple of minutes to scrape the dough into a pan and drizzle with olive oil then sprinkle with rosemary and salt. No kneading. No shaping.
You can mix it up before you go to bed at night and then bake it in the morning, or you can mix it up in the morning, head off to work, then bake it when you get home. Either way, you are this close to fresh Rosemary and Sea Salt Crusted Focaccia perfection!
How Long Can You Let No Knead Bread Rise?
Because you aren't kneading the bread, time is needed to develop the gluten. The sweet spot is about 8 hours in a 20 °C (68 °F) kitchen but it's pretty flexible. You still get a good result if you bake it a little earlier or later.
If it's hotter where you are you can get away with less time. Use my progress pictures for a guide as to how it should look at each stage and judge accordingly when it's ready to bake.
You can extend the resting time if you need to by putting the bowl of dough in the fridge. You could probably get away with leaving it there for up to 24 to 48 hours dependent on your fridge's temperature. The lower temperatures slow down the activity of the yeast which helps to delay things. If you try this though I advise keeping an eye on it the first time you do it, and baking it once it has just about doubled in size. Once you've done it once you'll have a good idea of how long you can get away with leaving it.
Variations
Go with the rosemary and sea salt option or switch things up. Some ideas include:
- Whole cherry tomatoes or large tomato slices & fresh basil
- Roasted garlic cloves with rosemary or thyme
- Pitted olives
- Caramelized onions and fresh thyme
- Melty vegan cheese
- Roasted red pepper, swirls of pesto and vegan parmesan
How To Serve
This No Knead Rosemary Focaccia is wonderful served warm or cool. It makes the perfect accompaniment to pasta dishes like spaghetti and Vegan Marinara Sauce, my Vegan Vodka Sauce Pasta, soups like Vegan Potato Soup, Easy Tomato Basil Soup, or Red Lentil Soup with Lemon. Or stews and casseroles. It is also great used to make sandwiches (try it with my White Bean & Artichoke Sandwich Filling) and makes the most wonderful paninis.
Storage, Freezing & Reheating Tips
No Knead Focaccia Bread is best on the day it's baked but leftovers can be wrapped and kept for a day or two. They are best warmed before eating though. I like to wrap them in foil and then pop them in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes at about 350° F. Or if you are in a hurry you can microwave for 20 or 30 seconds.
The bread also freezes well. Wrap very well and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Popular Bread Recipes
Recipe
No Knead Focaccia
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
- 500g (4 cups) all purpose flour or bread flour cups measured by spooning the flour into the cups and levelling off with the back of a knife - do not scoop and do not compact the flour down by pressing on it as you fill the cup (in the UK use strong bread flour)
- 10g (1 very full tablespoon) instant yeast or quick rise yeast . , (if you only have active yeast see recipe notes)
- 10g (2 teaspoons) fine sea salt
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil , divided
- 450mls (1¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons) COLD water not warm water
- 2 tablespoons fresh or dried rosemary
- flaky sea salt for scattering
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, yeast and salt then add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Add the water and mix well until you can see no more dry flour and you have a wet, slightly lumpy looking mess. Make sure to scrape right into the bottom of the bowl. (See my picture in the collage near the top of my post above for reference).
- Cover with cling wrap, a clean shower cap or a wet dish towel and leave on the kitchen counter for a minimum of 6 hours and a maximum of 9 hours. Do not refrigerate and do not leave anywhere really warm. Just normal room temperature is fine.
- About 20 minutes before the time is up preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C) and line a cake pan or brownie pan with parchment paper. (any pan from 8 x 8 inch to 8 x 12 is fine or an 8 or 9 inch round cake pan - just ensure it's metal. Don't use silicone). You can even spread the dough out on a parchment paper lined regular baking tray if that's all you have.
- When the oven is at temperature, scrape the dough out of the bowl and into the pan. I use a dough scraper but a silicone spatula or spoon will be fine. It will be clingy and sticky but that is normal.
- Once it's all in the pan, flatten it out so it's as even as you can get it all over, then using fingers dipped in olive oil, make dimples all over the top.
- Drizzle over the olive oil (be as generous as you feel comfortable with) and sprinkle on the rosemary and salt.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 37 - 40 minutes.
- When done it will be starting to go golden brown in places on the top. If you want it a little crustier you can bake it for another 5 minutes but no longer as otherwise it will become dry.
- Remove from the oven, lift out using the paper as handles and place on a cooling rack.
- Leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting.
NOTES
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Julie says
This was super easy and super delicious!’ Thank you!!!
Christine says
Do you think using 1/2 whole wheat flour would work ok? It’s a delicious bread and so easy! I’ve made it several times! However after the first time I used a bigger pan because it rose so high it was a little to thick. Thx
A Virtual Vegan says
You can use half whole wheat. Don't use anymore than that though. It won't be quite as light and fluffy but will still be good.
Marina C says
I didnt mix the dry ingredients... :( and added wrt and the yeast is not streaking the bread rather than growing in it, its not rising at all after 4 hrs. What can i do? Thank you
A Virtual Vegan says
It's more important that you mixed it all up well once the water was added. As long as you did that it will be fine and everything will be distributed. I don't know what you mean when you say the yeast isn't streaking the bread because you aren't able to see it once it's mixed. At this stage I'd just leave it.
This is one of my most popular recipe with millions of people making it and I've not had anyone have a bad result yet. It's so easy. Just be patient and wait it out. You're only half way through the rising time and as long as you measured all the ingredients correctly, haven't changed anything and mixed it well after adding the water it should be fine!
Marina c says
Its risen!!! I did mix it well after I realized i didnt mix dry. Thank you for the quick response im so excited to bake it and eat! Thank you ? stay safe
Julie says
I have been very eager to bake bread and my first sourdough starter didn’t survive! :(
Can’t wait to try this! I don’t have any metal pans, can I just use a glass tray and line with parchment?
A Virtual Vegan says
You can. It might need 5 or 10 minutes longer in the oven cooked in glass though. Just leave it in 'til it's nice and golden!
Chloe says
This recipe is delicious but the parchment paper sticks to the bread so when we made it we couldn’t eat the sides or bottom as it was impossible to separate. Any idea why this would be?
A Virtual Vegan says
This isn't something that's ever happened to me and I've never had a report of it happening to anyone else either. I think this is likely due to the brand of parchment paper you are using. Good parchment paper should be really non stick.I buy the Kirkland Non Stick Culinary Parchment from Costco. I've never had anything stick to it yet and I bake some really high hydration sourdough bread on it. If you've got membership it might be worth you picking some up next time.
Worth asking just in case, you didn't use wax paper by mistake did you?
Jessica says
I totally used wax paper the first go around. Oops! But made it again with parchment paper and no sticking!
Alice Toth says
This focaccia turned out fantastic! Thick, fluffy and soft! I made it with bread flour and instant yeast. Didn’t have rosemary so I used herbs de Provence instead, fantastic!!!! I can see making this a couple times a month because I was so easy!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm really pleased you enjoyed it Alice! It's such a flexible recipe. You can top it with all sorts of things. My favourite way at the moment is whole cherry tomatoes pushed into the top of the dough. Raw very thinly sliced potato brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with herbs all over the top is lovely too!
Darlene Good says
looks wonderful, although have not tried it yet.
Question: I only have Pyrex pans-will they work?
Can't be buying right now...
A Virtual Vegan says
Bread is always best when baked in metal pans but Pyrex will do. It jusT won't get as crusty. It might take 5 - 10 mins longer to get golden too. Hope that helps!
Darlene says
baked as a thank you for our neighbor who's been buying our groceries-she asked for the recipe, so guess it was good-was a beautifully attractive loaf!
A Virtual Vegan says
That's great Darlene. I'm really pleased your neighbour enjoyed it!
Liz S says
We made this focaccia bread yesterday and it turned out amazing! We followed the recipe exactly, My teenage boys and I ate almost the entire loaf warm out of the oven. Sooo good! Glad I found your recipe!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm really pleased you enjoyed it Liz! We have the same problem of it disappearing way too fast too!
Tracey says
Hi there! This looks amazing and I can't wait to try it. Can you freeze this? If so, how long will it keep in the freezer? Thanks so much!
A Virtual Vegan says
This bread is at it's very best fresh and warm from the oven. But you can freeze it too. Allow it to cool completely and put it in a plastic bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Let it defrost on the counter or in the fridge overnight. Then you can warm it in the oven if you want to. Pop it on a baking tray, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes.
Zoe says
Is it possible to do this recipe with whole wheat flour? It’s the only kind that was left at my local grocery store :(
A Virtual Vegan says
It will be fine but it won't be as light and fluffy.
Mathew Oommen says
Came out well , a metal pan may be better than a silicone pan that I used.
Would definitely recommend
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
A Virtual Vegan says
Glad you enjoyed it. I do not recommend silicone for baking bread or cakes. You need a metal pan for really good results.
Rebecca Abu-Sanu says
I made a double batch of this this week, except I used active yeast because it was on hand. Due to this variation I slightly reduced the liquid content and I allowed the dough to sit for an extra hour (10hrs total). Lastly, I used some wide loaf pans so my bread was rectangular in shape. For this I had to bake an extra 10 minutes or so. This bread recipe is wonderful and worth the wait! Thanks for sharing!
Sarah says
Hi there, do you think it would be affected to have it sit on the counter overnight?
A Virtual Vegan says
The dough is supposed to be sitting out on the counter all night. Or do you mean once it's baked? If so it will be ok if you cover it. Then you can pop it back in the oven to warm it up before serving if you like.
Aaron Lyle Gelbman says
What about fresh yeast (instead of dry yeast)? I have fresh yeast available at home, in the refrigerator.
A Virtual Vegan says
I haven't tried it with fresh yeast. It will probably be ok but it does tend to work a bit more quickly than dried yeast so you might need to adjust the timings and you will definitely need to adjust the yeast quantity. Without trying it I can't say by how much though.
Liz John says
Oh my gosh my friend , Mary, made me this tonite and it was amazing!!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! I'm really pleased you enjoyed it Liz!
Michelle says
I'm an avid cook and even used to bake Julia Child's French bread every week in a commercial kitchen on an upscale small boat and I have to say this focaccia recipe is fabulous! It's so easy and addictive. I have taken it to dinner parties as a hostess gift, potluck and served it at home and it's always a hit!
As a new vegan some things truly stumped me like many dairy items and kid favorites. Thank you for the cookbook as I love the Garlic Ranch and frankly every single thing I have tried. Your cookbook and blog make vegan easy!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much Michelle! I'm really pleased you are enjoying the focaccia and my book/website too. And thanks so much for stopping by to leave a review. It's much appreciated!