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Rosemary Focaccia Bread

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This delicious Rosemary Focaccia Bread recipe is easy to make, and topped with fresh rosemary, olive oil and flaky sea salt.

Rosemary Focaccia Bread Recipe

Meet my all-time favorite focaccia bread recipe. ♡

It was actually one of the very first bread recipes that I learned to make years ago, and still continues to be a fave because it is so simple to make. And most importantly, it’s just so dang good.

It’s perfectly soft and fluffy and satisfyingly chewy. It’s sprinkled with lots of fresh rosemary and crunchy flaky sea salt, and drizzled with extra olive oil just before serving, which soaks perfectly into all of those little classic holes that you have poked in the bread. It’s easy to make by hand, or even easier to make with the help of a stand mixer. It also happens to be naturally vegan, and can be shaped into a free-form round or pressed into a rectangular baking dish. And best of all, it is just the ultimate cozy carbohydrate comfort food. I know you’re going to love it.

Also, if you happen to be new to working with yeast in bread, please don’t let that deter you from making focaccia! This recipe is a great place to begin when working with yeast, and I will walk you through each step of the process so that all of your questions are answered. You’ve got this.

Let’s make some rosemary focaccia!

Fresh Rosemary for Focaccia Bread

Rosemary Focaccia Bread Ingredients:

To make this rosemary focaccia bread recipe (pronounced “foh-kah-chah”, by the way), you will need:

  • Warm water: Since we are working with active dry yeast in this recipe, it’s important that we use warm water to dissolve it. I highly recommend using a cooking thermometer to double-check the temperature of the water if possible. (It should be around 110°F.)
  • Sugar or honey: Whichever you have on hand, to give the bread a hint of sweetness and help to activate the yeast.
  • Active dry yeast: You will need one packet (or 2.25 teaspoons) to make this focaccia bread.
  • Flour: Basic all-purpose flour will be great!
  • Olive oil: Some of which we will mix into the actual bread dough, plus extra for drizzling on top once the focaccia has baked.
  • Flaky sea salt: Some of which we will mix into the actual bread dough, plus extra for sprinkling on top of the dough before baking. If you don’t have flaky sea salt on hand, you can use fine sea salt, but be sure to reduce the amount by half so that the bread isn’t too salty.
  • Fresh rosemary: To sprinkle on top of the dough and add that delicious earthy rosemary flavor. (Feel free to finely chop the fresh rosemary if you would like smaller rosemary sprinkles.)

Easy Focaccia Bread Dough

How To Make Focaccia Bread:

Here are the basic steps to make this rosemary focaccia bread recipe (full instructions included in the recipe below, as always):

  1. Proof the yeast. In the warm water and sugar. (I highly recommend using a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water, so that it is not too hot or too cold.)
  2. Knead the dough*. Gradually add in the flour, olive oil and salt. Then knead for 5 minutes using the dough attachment or a stand mixer, or knead the dough by hand.
  3. First dough rise. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a greased mixing bowl, and cover with a damp towel. Let the dough rest in a warm location for 45-60 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.
  4. Second dough rise.  Shape the dough into a large circle or rectangle until that the dough is about 1/2-inch thick*. Cover and let the dough continue to rise for another 20 minutes.
  5. Prepare the dough. Heat oven to 400°F. Transfer the dough to a large parchment-covered baking sheet (or press it into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish). Use your fingers to poke deep dents — like seriously, poke all the way down until you touch the baking sheet — all over the surface of the dough. Then drizzle a tablespoon or two of olive oil evenly all over the top of the dough, and sprinkle evenly with the fresh rosemary needles and sea salt.
  6. Bake. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the dough is slightly golden and cooked through.
  7. Serve. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with a little more olive oil if desired. Slice, and serve warm.

*If you do not have a stand mixer, no prob! Just complete step 1 in a large mixing bowl. Gradually stir in the flour, olive oil and salt until a shaggy dough begins to form. Then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 5 minutes until smooth, adding extra flour if the dough feels too sticky, and continue on with the recipe as directed.

How To Make Focaccia Bread with Rosemary

Possible Recipe Variations:

Want to customize this recipe? Feel free to…

  • Add garlic. Finely mince and mix a large clove of fresh garlic into the dough to give it some extra garlicky flavor.
  • Add Parmesan. This focaccia would also be delicious with some Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top!
  • Use different fresh herbs. In place of (or in addition to) the fresh rosemary, feel free to use fresh tarragon or sage.
  • Use dried herbs. If you don’t have fresh herbs on hand, you are welcome to use dried herbs instead (such as dried rosemary or Italian seasoning). If you use dried herbs, I recommend kneading them into the dough itself rather than sprinkling them on top so that they do not burn in the oven.

Focaccia Recipe

More Favorite Bread Recipes:

Interested in doing some more bread-baking? Here are a few of my favorite easy bread recipes on the blog:

Easy Focaccia Bread Recipe

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Rosemary Focaccia Bread Recipe

Rosemary Focaccia Bread

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 408 reviews
  • Prep Time: 75 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 95 minutes
  • Yield: 8 -12 servings 1x

Description

This Rosemary Focaccia Bread recipe is ultra-comforting and delicious, and kicked up a notch with the addition of lots of fresh rosemary and flaked sea salt.  See optional instructions below for how to mix the dough by hand if you do not have a stand mixer.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/3 cup warm water (about 110°F)
  • 2 teaspoons sugar or honey
  • 1 (0.25 ounce) package active-dry yeast
  • 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • 2 teaspoons flaky sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling*
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Instructions

  1. Proof the yeast. Add warm water (about 110°F, which you can measure with a thermometer if you want to be sure it’s the right temp) and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough attachment, and stir to combine.  Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water.  Give the yeast a quick stir to mix it in with the water.  Then let it sit for 5-10 minute until the yeast is foamy.
  2. Knead the dough.  (See alterate instructions below to knead by hand.) Set the mixer to low speed, and add gradually flour, olive oil and salt.  Increase speed to medium-low, and continue mixing the dough for 5 minutes.  (If the dough is too sticky and isn’t pulling away from the sides of the bowl, add in an extra 1/4 cup flour while it is mixing.)
  3. First dough rise. Remove dough from the mixing bowl, and use your hands to shape it into a ball.  Grease the mixing bowl (or a separate bowl) with olive oil or cooking spray, then place the dough ball back in the bowl and cover it with a damp towel.  Place in a warm location (I set mine by a sunny window) and let the dough rise for 45-60 minutes, or until it has nearly doubled in size.
  4. Second dough rise.  Turn the dough onto a floured surface, and roll it out into a large circle or rectangle until that the dough is about 1/2-inch thick*.  Cover the dough again with the damp towel, and let the dough continue to rise for another 20 minutes.
  5. Prepare the dough. Preheat oven to 400°F. Transfer the dough to a large parchment-covered baking sheet (or press it into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish).  Use your fingers to poke deep dents (seriously, poke all the way down to the baking sheet!) all over the surface of the dough.  Drizzle a tablespoon or two of olive oil evenly all over the top of the dough, and sprinkle evenly with the fresh rosemary needles and sea salt.
  6. Bake. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the dough is slightly golden and cooked through.
  7. Serve. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with a little more olive oil if desired. Slice, and serve warm.

Notes

Flaky vs. fine sea salt: If you do not have flaky sea salt on hand, no worries, you can definitely sub in fine sea salt.  Just be sure to use about half the amount of salt (if using fine sea salt) so that the bread is not too salty.

To knead the dough by hand: Complete step 1 in a large mixing bowl.  Gradually stir in the flour, olive oil and salt until a shaggy dough begins to form.  Then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 5 minutes until smooth, adding extra flour if the dough feels too sticky.  Continue on with the recipe as directed.

Bread thickness: I like my focaccia to be a bit on the thicker side.  But if you prefer yours thinner, just roll it out a little more.  It will rise up considerably while baking.

 

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733 comments on “Rosemary Focaccia Bread”

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  1. hello, would you happen to have the measurement for the ingredients in metrics (by weight) please? thank you!

    • @Angela
      316 g water
      8 g sugar
      7 g yeast
      508 g flour
      33 g oil
      11 g salt

    • A cup of all-purpose flour is 120 g. This is in three different websites so three and a half cups would be 420 grams. Try to check your specific flour type (all-purpose vs bread vs…) The weight of flour can even vary by brands.

      A cup of water is 250 ml.

      I hope this helps.

  2. I love this recipe! I have been baking this almost weekly whilst in quarantine and it is great! The whole family love it and it is not too complicated.






    • If I were to use instant dry yeast instead, what amount would i measure? (I’m no good at measurement conversion)

  3. I have made this recipe about 4 times maybe 5. Every time it has turned out amazing. I’ve started mixing in different herbs and spices. Oregano, thyme, and a pinch of sage with some roasted garlic is my favorite so far. Hoping to mix in some parmesan next time.






  4. This recipe is simple, easy to follow and delicious! My go-to when making Focaccia.






  5. Turned out great! Had to use canola oil instead of olive but just as delicious. Also added nutritional yeast :)






    • The focaccia smells and taste like heaven. Hard to screw up. I even forgot to have the dough hook on for most of the kneading and it still came out great. Will definitely make again.






  6. Easy and delicious recipe. I added toppings of sundried tomatoes, red and green onions, sliced garlic, green and black olives and Everything Seasonings.






  7. Really easy to follow recipe and it was a big success. My daughter did an amazing decoration on the top using various vegetables and I posted it and tagged it with #gimmesomeoven on Instagram. We did add some chopped garlic to the dough too.






  8. Liked this recipe, but I felt the dough was too dry?! Couldn’t get it smooth like the dough in the picture. Should I have just added more water until the dough was the right consistency?






    • Did you ever get anywhere with this? I’ve just made it and mine is rising. The dough was super sticky I had to add more flour to it and now I’m nervous maybe that was a bad move ??‍♀️ I couldn’t knead it at all it was so loose when I tried to turn it from the bowl

    • This happened to me upon my first attempt. It’s important to remember that sugar encourages yeast growth while salt inhibits it. Make sure you add some flour before adding the salt in. It left my following attempts perfect!

  9. Thanks for the Delicious recipe, everyone loved it… I will add sun dried tomatoes next time.

  10. Thank you for this recipe. It has never failed me! I have used it over and over again to rave reviews. It is always a big hit. You have a winner here??






  11. I’m a pretty good cook, but when it comes to baking, I’m inexperienced and frankly, a blithering idiot! I made your Focaccia Bread and it came out great. My only modification was that I added minced garlic before baking, in addition to olive oil salt and rosemary. Fabulous. I’ll definitely make it again.

    Thanks for the easy, great recipe.






  12. Any chance you could give alternate instructions for using instant yeast? I would love to make this!

  13. I usually love your recipes but sadly focaccia turned out very dry and dense… my sister made it as well and had similar results.
    Still will come to you for many other perfect recipes!






    • Try using a different brand of flour…….I usually find this to be the culprit. Different regions of the US have flours made specifically for their climate, altitude and humidity variations which don’t always translate well. Years ago there used to be a chart comparing many different flour companies……I’ll try to find it. Happy baking!

  14. Easy recipe to follow. Came out great.






  15. This was amazing! My first time making bread and this was so delicious. Thanks for the great recipe and easy directions!






  16. My first time making Focaccia, turned out SO GOOD!






  17. I’m making this now in my bread machine! I know there is salt on top but I was wondering why no salt was added to the recipe? I’ll let you know how it turns out!

  18. I have made this a few times and it always turns out well! I add about 4-5 cloves of minced garlic to the dough, along with another 2 sprigs of rosemary finely chopped, and a few twists of black pepper. I’ve been making a take on caprese sandwiches with this–cream cheese whipped with sundried tomatoes on top, fresh tomato, mozzarella, and basil in the middle, and pesto spread on the bottom (warmed in the oven, wrapped in foil, until cheese is melted). Delicious!






  19. Incredible focaccia!






  20. This is an amazing recipe. I first made it last week as written and its delicious. Right now I’m making it again to accompany fresh gazpacho i made this morning. This time I’m going to put some herbs into the dough, and then just before baking I will put thinly sliced red bell pepper, shallots and kalamata olives along with a sprinkle of parm. I hope its delicious.
    Thank you for a wonderful recipe.






  21. Made this last night for the first time. (Yeast is very hard to come by where I live by so my BFF’s dear husband mailed some to me. What a guy!) It was easy and quite delicious. I haven’t baked yeast bread in maybe 30 years and this was a breeze. I agree with others that tossing in herbs, spices, olives, and/or cheese would Jazz it up some. But it’s wonderful just by itself.

  22. Delicious! I split the dough into two to make two different breads. The first was the same rosemary bread as listed in the recipe. The other I topped with Everything Bagel Seasoning….which was to die for! So yummy!






  23. THE STANDARD WATER TEMP FOR ACTIVATING YEAST IS 100-110* degrees F






  24. Just put yet another loaf of this delicious focaccia bread into the oven…this is my fifth time making this recipe in the last few months. It is EASY and it is absolutely DELICIOUS! Thank you for this amazing recipe! It is quickly becoming a staple in our home.






  25. Made this tonight and it was delicious. Easy to follow recipe and it’s fun to add different spices, etc. I used Arthur Flour. Definitely making this again.






  26. Wow! This was amazing. Not difficult. My family devoured it.






  27. I loved this recipe.
    I put some garlic salt, garlic butter and fresh minced garlic on it and it was gone by the next day. I highly recommend this recipe






  28. Great recipe and instructions but don’t understand ‘cups’ a measurement.
    How do you convert cups into ounces or grams or litres?
    Any help appreciated
    Regards Paulo

  29. very tasty and an easy recipient to follow with helpful tips along the way . thank you.






  30. Wow! Put garlic in the dough, kneaded by hand, and topped with grated parmesan. It was amazing. Thanks!






  31. Is this 1/3 cup or 1 1/13 cups of warm water?

  32. best focaccia bread recipe i’ve tried so far!






  33. Delicious! I put dill and Himalayan Garlic Salt on top and it was so good!Easy recipe!






  34. Made it today it was simple and delicious, but did take 45 min to bake

  35. Great recipe! I confit garlic in the olive oil and let it cool then add that infused oil to the dough and to top it off. Delish!

  36. Hoping to try this focaccia bread recipe soon. Thanks Ali!
    Here is a link to my ‘go-to’ CONVERSION CHART. I use it all of the time (bookmarked for quick reference) as I find baking/cooking so much faster and more accurate using a kitchen scale. I love using King Arthur flours as the employees are also involved in the ownership of the company. Plus, you will find more conversions on this chart than just flour. Bon Appetite!
    https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart
    P.S.
    Should you need a kitchen scale, Amazon sells them in many price ranges. I’ve found it handy to have a kitchen scale that measures grams and ounces.

  37. We loved this for a super quick recipe. I made it twice and the second time I decided to sift my flour once to see if it made a difference- it really did! Much better texture! I added puréed garlic, cayenne and oregano to the dough before first rise. Sprinkler thin red peppers, fresh basil, Maldon and pepper on top before baking. Baker in a 9×13- Turned out like heaven

  38. This was so easy to make and turned out heavenly too! Bliss, for a recently turned vegan who was missing baking! ?






  39. I made this with my kids and they loved making it and eating it! I was surprised that my daughter, who is usually picky about herbs in her food, ate it up!






  40. I caramelize onions, roasted red peppers in a pan, deglaze with a teaspoon of red wine vinegar and spread over the dough, adding thin sliced Roma tomatoes before baking…yum yum yum.






  41. First time making focaccia…not sure I’ve ever had eaten focaccia before either so not even sure how it’s SUPPOSED to taste but…this was delicious right out of the oven for a capicola + provolone sandwich. I topped the dough with some rosemary and purple basil from my garden along with minced garlic, feta, & sliced cherry tomatoes – no design this time because I wasn’t sure how it would come out so didn’t put too much effort into it. Pretty easy – my dough was SUPER sticky and I ended up adding more than 1/4 cup when I finally said “forget it” and decided to knead by hand to form the ball. Oh I also used a combo of EVOO and Coconut oil since I didn’t quite have enough EVOO for 1/4 cup + drizzle so saved the rest of my EVOO for the drizzle and did 1/2 OIive-1/2 Coconut in the dough itself.
    WILL BE MAKING AGAIN — and pretty Insta’Famous designs here we come :D






  42. This was delicious. I added garlic. We ate it in one day. I will definitely make this again.






  43. Have made this 5-6 times and everyone is always so impressed. Definitely prefer making it in a pan vs parchment. I butter then oil the pan. I have made with both AP unbleached flour as well as Bread Flour and both work well. Lastly, I loosely cover with a piece of foil to prevent the top from over browning.

    I remove from pan immediately to slightly cool on rack and then cut into cubes and serve with olive oil dip bowl. So simple. And just delicious.






  44. Could you tell me how I make with instant yeast?

  45. Can you do this in a cast iron skillet instead?

    • I’ve made this recipe 3 times. The 3rd time I split the dough into 2 cast iron pans. It was easier and it turned out even better imho. This is a very approachable recipe for a timid baker like myself.

  46. Can you make this the day before? What is the best way to warm it before serving?

  47. Delicious and easy to make. Really good with Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning mixed in.






  48. This recipe has saved relationships for real. Definately qualifies as one of my favorites!






  49. This recipe made a delicious bread! It was so thick and fluffy! It tasted amazing fresh from the oven. I really enjoyed the rosemary and salt flakes. About to make it for the second time!!!






  50. First time I made this recipe . I don’t know why my dough was too sticky , I have added The extra 1/4 cup And yet it was too sticky so I kept adding extra flour, until maybe like a extra 1 cup. I couldn’t make a nice non sticky ball. I have a stand mixer and use the dough attachment . So I don’t know exactly if it is there is too much water ? 1cup and 1/3 of warm water and 3 1/2 of flour are not ideal for me I don’t know why it didn’t turn well. I have managed to do the focaccia though but I am not sure if it is the right quantity . I was disappointed especially after reading all the good comments , I thought it would turned well for me . And I am huge baker I bake all the time . Too bad for me . I will try it next time again ..