Wait! What? Focaccia you don't need to knead? Yes! This super easy No Knead Focaccia is virtually foolproof. As long as you are able to stir some ingredients together in a bowl & turn on the oven you can do it. And nothing, and I mean nothing, can beat the smell & taste of fresh focaccia straight from the oven! ♡
Shockingly easy No Knead Focaccia! If you're not a bread baker, hold tight because you are about to become one!
Good bread is one of my favourite foods, especially when it is fresh from the oven and slathered in my Easy Vegan Butter. And as much as I love it, I realize that when it comes to yeast and bread baking a lot of people have some kind of irrational fear.
I guess it stems from the fact that there is so much room for error. Everything is so variable with traditional bread making and no matter how good a recipe is, it takes practise to be able to get good results.
Reader feedback
This Easy No Knead Focaccia Bread is different though. It is virtually fool proof and gets fantastic feedback from readers.
Liz said - "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!" ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mary Ann said - "Could not believe how easy this recipe was. Even better than that…it was absolutely delicious. It made me look like a real star in the kitchen!" ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rachel said - "WOW is this delish! I followed the recipe to the letter and it turned out perfect both times! Only problem I have is NOT eating the whole thing in on one sitting…!!" ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
If you are able to put some ingredients in a bowl and stir them all together then you've got this. There is nothing more to it than that.
Fresh homemade focaccia, here we come!
How to make No Knead Focaccia
(For detailed measurements and instructions, see the printable recipe card).
You can make this Easy No Knead Focaccia Bread in a few easy steps:
All you need is a large bowl, a spoon, a metal pan 9like an 8 x 8 inch square, or an 8 x 12 inch, or a round 8 or 9 inch cake pan) and some patience.
Step 1 - Put the dry ingredients and the oil into a bowl and mix them together. There's no need to be neat like me ... just throw it all in ...mine's just for photo purposes! ;O)
Step 2 - Add the water.
Step 3 - Mix it all up with a spoon to the point that you can't see any dry flour.
Step 4 - Cover & leave at room temperature for up to 8 hours until it looks puffy, bubbly and swollen.
Step 5 - Scrape the dough out and into a lined pan, flattening it out as best you can.
Step 6 - Dimple the dough and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary and sea salt then bake.
Step 7 - Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting.
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 have to leave the mixed up focaccia dough to rest for at least seven hours but up to nine will be ok and it's all completely hands off/mind off it time.
Patience is everything when you make bread. It is impossible to get immediate results but every minute spent waiting is so worth it. I promise!
You can mix it up before you go to bed at night 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 an 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 an 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 fridges 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.
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.
How to serve
This rosemary focaccia is wonderful served warm from the oven or completely cooled. It makes the perfect accompaniment to soups like my Vegan Potato Soup, my Easy Tomato Basil Soup, or my Red Lentil Soup with Lemon. Or stews, pasta dishes 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
This 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 then pop them in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes on 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.
Want more easy bread recipes?
For more great bread recipes, check out these very popular reader favourites:
- Easy Flatbread Recipe
- No Knead Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread
- Easy Whole Wheat Bread
- Homemade Pita Bread
- Sourdough Starter
📖 Recipe
No Knead Focaccia
Author:
Ingredients
- 500 g / 3¾ cups plus 4 ½ teaspoons 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)
- 10 g / 1 very full tablespoon instant yeast or quick rise yeast . , (if you only have active yeast see recipe notes)
- 10 g / 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (see the recipe notes if you limit your oil intake)
- 450 mls / 1¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons / 15.2 U.S oz COLD water not warm water
- 60 mls / 4 tablespoons good olive oil for drizzling Just drizzle as much as you feel comfortable with on top - I like a bit more ;O
- 2 tablespoons fresh or dried rosemary
- sea salt flakes or crystals 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 or a clean shower cap and leave on the kitchen counter for a minimum of 7 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 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
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
Manasi says
Thank you so much because i have rediscovered my love for baking breads with this recipe.... I have been baking whole-wheat (indian whole-wheat flour) version of your blockbuster recipe after adding 2 tablespoons each of honey and yogurt. I wished to ask if it would be okay to move the mixed up dough ball to a parchment lined baking tin straight away, let it rise and then straight into the oven ? I hate to breakup all the aeration when i moved the dough from the mixing bowl to the baking tin.
Thanks again!!
Manasi
New Dehi, India
Melanie McDonald says
I'm really pleased you are enjoying the recipe! I think that would be fine although the finished bread will end up much thicker. As long as you are ok with that then go ahead and give it a try.
Katherine says
Can I use a 9-inch round springform pan? Also, can I sprinkle some Roma tomatoes and mozzarella in addition to the Rosemary and salt?
A Virtual Vegan says
You can use a round cake pan, but be careful with a springform one because the olive oil might run through the bottom. I would imagine the baking parchment might stop it from happening but put it on a baking sheet to protect your oven just in case. And yes, cheese and tomatoes are great additions for the top.Cherry tomatoes are great or slices of bigger ones.If you use cherry tomatoes poke them down into the dough to stop them rolling about.
jpjp says
I don't bake with yeast very often but when I do, I'm used to adding warm (around 105 degrees F) water to the recipe. I trust your recipe development and testing process, but could you please explain why cold water is used in this focaccia recipe? Is it because we use instant or quick rise yeast? I always use the active dry kind? Thank you.
A Virtual Vegan says
You need to use cold water because the dough is left for so long before baking. Using anything warm in it would speed up the yeast action and could mean that by the time you got around to baking it, the yeast would have used up all of its reserves. Then you would get no oven spring, or it might collapse and you would end up with a flat dense bread. I haven't actually tested this recipe with active dried yeast because I make all of my bread with instant yeast, just because I can buy great big packets of it really cheaply here. You could just buy a couple of sachets of instant/quick yeast to make this recipe, but I think you will be fine to use your active dry yeast without activating it. Just use it as you would instant/quick yeast and follow my recipe instructions exactly. It has so much time to get going in this recipe that it should be fine.
There is actually a school of thought, that active dried yeast has changed over the years and that the particles now are much smaller than they used to be, and despite what it says on the packet, there is no need to activate it anymore for any recipe. You might find this article interesting. I did! https://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2015/09/25/active-dry-yeast/ Hope that helps!
jpjp says
Thank you for your reply!
Ellen A says
Can I use almond flour or Cassava flour if I’ll
Attempting to make a grain free bread
A Virtual Vegan says
Neither of those will work in this recipe. The gluten formation is essential to its success. Sorry.
Nnu says
Do you think I can mix the rosemary into the dough instead of just on top? Or would it disturb the dough somehow? Sorry, I’m a novice!
A Virtual Vegan says
I don't advise mixing it into the dough. Rosemary in particular can enhance the yeast growth and because this is a no knead loaf and gets left for so long there's a chance that the dough would rise then collapse because the little yeast organisms would get worn out. Then you'd end up with a flat, dense loaf. Hope that helps!
melissa says
this really was easy and delicious! thanks for posting - my family gobbled it up
Cooking grandma says
I have made this a few times and it always turns out beautifully!! I don’t have to worry about it going stale as it never lasts beyond the day I make it!
A Virtual Vegan says
Ha ha, thank you. We have the same problem with it not hanging around long enough to go stale too!
Denise says
I made the exact recipe x 2. for a party we were planning to go to today. The breads turned out perfectly but unfortunately the party was cancelled. We dived into the first bread and OMG so delicious! I plan taking the second bread round to my daughter tomorrow but wonder whether it can be reheated without ruining the texture?
A Virtual Vegan says
Sorry I'm only just seeing this Denise. I'm so pleased you enjoyed the first loaf. It reheats really well as long as it hasn't been cut. It does get a little crustier on the outside but that's actually quite nice. You can drizzle a little extra olive oil on top to moisten it up a little if you like.
Hangry MC says
Made this and turned out delicious! So easy to make. Thanks.
Corissa says
Do you think I could use a cast iron pan?
A Virtual Vegan says
It will probably be fine although it might cook a little quicker. Make sure the pan has the same capacity as an 8 x 8 inch pan that's about 2 inches deep though.
Ashleigh says
My family and I loved this! I can’t wait to play around with different toppings.
Mike S. says
Have returned to say that I've made this again. This time, I put rosemary and thyme in the bread, rather than on top. Also, I put the risen dough into my pan before warming the oven, just to allow a bit of proofing time. The result? This bread is DOPE! It's now the only kind I'll make.
Janice says
I said that I would let you know about making it gluten-free. It tastes good, but it didn't raise very much and is much more dense. It's something I'm able to eat and it's hard to find tasty gluten-free bread!
CAM says
Can you use an 8x8” Pyrex glass pan instead of the metal type and, if so, is there a need to adjust cooking times?
A Virtual Vegan says
Metal is always best for baking bread, but you could use a glass one. You will likely end up with a softer crust though. I have never baked bread in glass but maybe add an extra 5 minutes to the time to account for it. I think that should be fine.
Mary Gimigliano says
OMG! I can’t believe a recipe this easy could be soooooo good. The bread is fluffy and light unlike my previous bread attempts. Thank you so much for posting this. It’s gonna be on my Christmas table.
A Virtual Vegan says
That's awesome Mary! I'm so pleased you had excellent results. It is very worthy of a Christmas table spot!
Puneeta says
What a fabulous recipe! Thanks so much for sharing this! It gives me confidence that I could actually pull this off!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you. You can pull it off for sure. It's just about impossible to go wrong. I hope you enjoy it when you get around to trying it!