There is nothing better than freshly baked bread. This rosemary focaccia bread is so fragrant, comforting, and full of delicate herby flavors.
I am so excited to share this recipe with you guys because it’s one of my favorites! I love freshly baked bread, especially savory breads. This rosemary focaccia bread is so flavorful. Seriously, every bite is like a piece of heaven. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I’d still want more!
Making focaccia might seem daunting, but it’s actually pretty easy. All it takes is time for the dough to rise.
The Basics of Focaccia
So, focaccia is made with yeast, which means you have to let the dough rise after kneading. Focaccia, just like most breads, needs to rise twice for about 1 hour each time. The second rise will give it a finer texture, more structured shape, and better bread flavor as the gluten continues to develop.
Check out my post on How to Proof Yeast and Let Dough Rise to learn more about yeast! 🙂
After the second rise, it’s all about dressing it with more olive oil, rosemary, and sea salt. The risen dough will already have lots of olive oil flavor, but a final olive oil drizzle, plus freshly chopped rosemary and sea salt flakes are what will bring all the flavors together for extra deliciousness. Then, in the oven it goes for about 20 minutes, and done!
House smelling great: check. Happy tummy: check. Happy heart: check.
Life is good.
My husband and I finished an entire sheet pan of rosemary focaccia in 1 day. We also made a focaccia turkey sandwich with sundried tomato pesto and fresh mozarella, which was to die for.
The bread is light, with a perfect balance between olive oil and rosemary flavor.
Ideas for Serving Rosemary Focaccia
- Sandwiches! Focaccia goes well with freshly shaved deli turkey or simple marinated vegetables.
- With soup! It would go well with a bowl of minestrone. Yum.
- As is! With some olive oil for dipping.
Thanks for reading and please don’t forget to pin this recipe!
Kitchen Tips
- Make sure you knead the dough until smooth and elastic. To quickly test if you’ve kneaded it enough, poke it with your finger – if it springs back, you’re all set.
- Create a warm and draft-free environment for the dough to rise beautifully. Check out my guide on proofing yeast for tricks to do this.
- This recipe calls for lots of olive oil, so be generous with it. Trust me, it will only make your focaccia taste better.
- Use good quality extra virgin olive oil. Olive oil is one of the stars of this recipe.
- Use fresh rosemary for best results. Dried rosemary is more potent and could make the focaccia taste too strong.
Rosemary Focaccia
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups warm water - (between 110 to 115 degrees F)
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 (0.25 ounce) package active-dry yeast
- 4 ¼ cups all-purpose flour - plus more as needed
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil - plus more for pan and drizzling
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt for topping
Instructions
- In a bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, combine warm water (110 to 115 degrees F), yeast, and sugar. Stir to combine and let sit for 10 minutes until foamy. See more about proofing yeast.
- Add 4 cups of the flour, salt, olive oil, and Kosher salt to the yeast mixture, and mix/knead at low speed to combine. Increase to medium speed, and continue mixing/kneading until dough is smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. If too sticky, add the remaining ¼ cup flour.
- Remove dough from bowl and shape dough into a ball with your hands. Oil a large bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl, making sure to coat the dough with the oil. Cover with bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1.5 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Once dough has doubled in size, oil a 15x10 inch sheet pan with more olive oil, about 2 tablespoons. Dump the dough onto the prepared sheet pan. Using all your fingers, stretch to a rectangle, turning the dough over a few times to make sure both sides are covered with oil.
- Deliberately, with all your fingers, press down almost all the way down to the bottom of the pan (yes, you heard me!) without creating large holes.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap again, and let rise for 1 hour in a warm and draft-free place.
- While dough is rising, preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Remove plastic wrap. Drizzle more olive oil (I know, it’s a lot!) on the dough, about 2-3 more tablespoons. Sprinkle the top evenly with rosemary and ½ teaspoon flaked sea salt.
- Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes on the middle rack. Remove from oven and brush with more olive oil, and let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Kristie says
This recipe was fantastic! It was hard not to eat the entire pan in one sitting. I cant wait to try it again and experiment with different flavors!
Tania says
Thanks for trying my recipe, Kristie!
Rhonda says
I officially love you lol thank you so much for all the advice and showing things step by step!!! I love the page about proofing, you’ve taught me so much!!!!
Tania says
So happy to hear, Rhonda! Thank you for your kind words!
Alexandra Moskowitz says
I recently made this recipe for my boy friend and we annihilated the entire thing. I added kalamata olives to mine along with the rosemary. This is definitely a recipe I will be using again!
Tania says
So happy to hear this! Thanks so much!
Lisa Jewel says
I don’t have that size of sheet pan. Can you recommend another size?
Mine is 13” X 17” would this still work? Thank you!
Tania says
Hi Lisa! You can use a standard 9×13 baking pan or sheet pan too, if you have that. If not, you could also use your 13×17 sheet pan but not stretch the dough all the way to fit the size of the pan – just keep the dough at a little less than 0.5 inch thick as you stretch it (it will keep rising during the 2nd rise). Hope that helps!
Lisa Jewel says
Thank you!! Can’t wait to try!
Joanne says
I’ve made this bread at least 5 times and it is always delicious. Thank you for the simple, yummy recipe!
Any tips on making this into a deep dish pizza? We are trying this week and I’m thinking I should spread it out a bit thinner (half to two-thirds normal thickness), but otherwise we will just add some toppings and will check at the 20 min mark.
Tania says
Hi Joanne, thank you so much! That is a wonderful idea, I think I’m going to try that too! Yes, you can use two-thirds of the dough and add toppings. Check after 15 minutes (instead of 20). Since you’ll be using less dough, you may not need the full 20 minutes. Let me know how it turns out!
Allison says
This is my go-to recipe for focaccia. I’ve made it so many times and we LOVE it. I saw the comment about deep dish pizza and decided to make this into Detroit-style. I made the same amount of dough as in the recipe, and then split it in half and let it rise in two separate bowls. After the first rise, I put one into a 9×9 pan (to make a normal focaccia) and the other into a 9×11 pan (for a pizza). Did the second rise; baked the 9×9 per the recipe. For the 9×11 pizza, I covered the dough with a mix of mozzarella and smoked gouda (some cut into small cubes) going all the way to the edges & touching the side. Put a small jar of pizza sauce over the top of that (did my best to spread it, but really just glopped it on), and then covered with pepperoni. Baked at 475F for 20 mins (started checking it at 15) and let it stand for 5 mins before cutting. While it was a little bready-er than a Detroit-style, we thought it was delicious!
Tania says
Thank you so much!
Judith kaiser says
How can I make it if I don’t have a stand mixer with a dough hook! Can a hand mixer with a hook can be used?
Thank you, Judy
Tania says
Hi Judith, you can do it by hand! Just need to knead a few minutes longer, probably.
Tammy Mitchell says
I have made this recipe so many times. It’s the best!!!’ I add. a little Parmesan with the rosemary. It’s amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with everyone.
Kathy says
This was the second time I made this recipe and while it was very easy to make and came out great I’ll stick with my other focaccia bread recipes. Unlike most recipes this one calls for 1/3 C of olive oil to be added as a liquid and not just drizzled on the top. I did not like the texture of the bread – it was too “fine” – more like sandwich bread than the coarse artisan bread I was anticipating.
Janet C. says
Oh my gosh….can’t wait to make this bread…& your sandwich you made…simply put,,,savour the flavour with each bite. Just know this is going to be our to go bread for many recipes to go with it. And just pinned bunches of your recipes, one being your Strawberry bread. In scrolling on Pinterest I came across your site,,,then boom,,,You most definitely have a new subscriber Tania.
Tania says
Oh, thank you so much Janet!!
Adam V. says
I have made this twice so far and it turned out delicious both times. Thank you!
Tania says
So happy to hear. Thank you Adam!
Michelle says
Made this quite a few times now during lockdown. My parents n i really enjoy it. Thank you!
Tania says
Thank you for making it! So happy to hear!
Judy says
Love this recipe! Is there a point in the directions where one could put the dough aside to bake later in the day?
Tania says
Hi Judy! You can let the dough rise overnight in the refrigerator: in step 3, after you cover the bowl, place it in the fridge…and after 1-2 hours, punch the dough down. Then, put it back in the fridge, and let it rise overnight or until doubled in size (if you notice the dough is rising too much, punch it down again). You can then proceed with the next steps in the recipe. Note: In step 6 (the 2nd rise), you will need to let it rise in a warm environment, as directed in the recipe.
Mary Steele says
Tania, I have made this recipe twice and it is wonderful! I would make it every day but my daughter-in-law said, please don’t! It’s too good!
Tonight I’ll serve it with homemade turkey soup. Thanks again!
Tania says
That’s awesome! Thank you for the kind comment, and yes, it would pair really well with a warm bowl of soup! Love it 🙂
Paulette says
What herb could be used
Tania says
I’d recommend using rosemary! Other good options would be fresh oregano or thyme.
Chelsey says
This focaccia looks amazing! Love rosemary so I’ll definitely be trying this!!
Tania says
Thanks so much! it’s one of my favorites 🙂 Hope you like it, Chelsey!!
Nancy says
My sister gave me some rosemary from her garden, so I just had to try this recipe. It’s wonderful! I forgot to drizzle it with olive oil before baking (how could I forget that??) so I brushed some on the hot bread after baking and it’s fabulous. Great recipe!
Tania says
That’s awesome, Nancy!! I am so happy to hear this! Glad your rosemary focaccia turned out good 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing!