With only 5 ingredients and just 5 minutes hands-on time, you can make the most delicious homemade focaccia! Make this dough up to 48 hours ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator until you're ready to bake - this yields a focaccia with amazing flavor! You can also make this focaccia the same day, from start-to-finish in 3 hours.
Prep time: PT5M
Cook time: PT24M
Total time: PT749M
Rating
4.67 stars (3 reviews)
Keywords
focaccia, focaccia recipe
Ingredients
2 ¾ cups plus 2 Tablespoons warm water ( 90°F/32°C)
2 teaspoons instant yeast* ((see notes))
7 cups bread flour
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
½ cup high quality extra virgin olive oil
1-2 Tablespoons sea salt flakes (to taste)
Optional: 1-2 Tablespoons dried rosemary to taste
Categories
Breads
Cuisine
Italian
Steps
In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, yeast, flour and fine sea salt. You can mix initially with a wooden spoon or danish dough whisk, but will need to finish up by hand. Pinch dough together until no dry bits remain. Mixture will be thick and sticky.
In a separate large bowl, drizzle 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil to coat the bottom. Transfer the dough to the oiled container. Turn the dough so that all sides are coated in olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap or lid. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Refrigerate for 12-48 hours. Dough will rise to double in size.
Remove from refrigerator and allow to rest for 30 minutes in the container, slightly warming up.
Prepare a half sheet baking pan (18x13-inches) by coating the bottom and sides with 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil. Turn the dough out from the container and onto the oiled pan and flip so that the smooth side is facing up.
Gently stretch the dough to fill the pan. Use the backs of your hands and knuckles to stretch the dough without tearing it. If the dough is springing back and not staying in place, let it rest 10 minutes and come back to it. Cover the dough lightly with plastic wrap or a dome plastic pan lid. Let rise until it reaches the level of the pan, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the final rise time, preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C.
Uncover and lightly oil your fingertips. Gently dimple the dough by pressing into it with your fingertips. Press all the way to the pan. Create a moderate amount of dimples throughout the dough without depressing too many of the air bubbles. Sprinkle 1-2 Tablespoons of sea salt flakes on top.
Bake 18-24 minutes or until golden brown.
Brush the top of the focaccia with 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil.
Remove focaccia from the pan with a large spatula and slide onto a wire cooling rack. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Store any leftover focaccia in an airtight container. Best served the day of, but will remain fresh for up to 2 more days.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 279 kcal
Carbohydrates: 43 g
Protein: 8 g
Fat: 8 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 934 mg
Sugar: 0.2 g
Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
Reviews
Justan Nelson on 2026-05-02 (5 stars): This recipe is so amazing ! Focaccia was so light and crisp on the outside bit pillowy soft on the inside. Leaving it proof overnight in the fridge was a game changer. Developed such a complex beautiful flavor. Everyone loved it . Definitely making again. Thanks Heather !!
Mike B on 2026-01-01 (4 stars): Hi Heather,
I made this recipe over yesterday and today. It was all very easy to follow and it turned out great - especially since I haven't made focaccia before. The sheet pan I bought was a little too big (15x23) so I was concerned about it being too big. It turned out fine with one side of the bread being a bit thinner since it was allowed to relax in the extra space of the pan. The rise time in the pan was x2 hours for me but it's been quite cold recently so that makes sense. I topped it with dried rosemary, salt and some crushed (canned) roma tomatoes.
Thanks - I'll be keeping this recipe handy!
Mike
Skoshie on 2025-12-20 (5 stars): I tried this out for a Christmas dinner party last Friday. The guests raved about it! We paired it with my husband's potato soup.
I used King Arthur bread flour and instant yeast. I think my pan must have been too small because my bread was very thick, and parts very dense--still fluffy and yummy though! My toppings of choice were grape tomatoes cut into halves to be flower petal shaped, rosemary sprigs for stems, thyme sprinkled over it, with Cajun seasoned white cheddar bits baked into it. Definitely should have just grated and sprinkled it on. I went heavy handed with the olive oil and still took it out of the oven halfway through to add more onto it. No such thing as too much oil on a focaccia!
