Easy Focaccia Recipe

Baked focaccia bread with rosemary and sea salt flakes on the crust.

With only 5 ingredients and just 5 minutes hands-on time, you can make the best 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! This easy focaccia recipe can also be made the same day, from start-to-finish, in 3 hours. (This recipe was updated Sept 2026, scaling it down to fit a 9x13-inch pan.)

4.20 from 5 votes

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Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 24

Resting Time: 12

Total Time: 12 29

Servings: servings

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Equipment

1 9x13-inch non-stick pan see notes for other options

Ingredients

Dough

455 g warm water 100°F/37°C (1¾ cups)
1½ teaspoons instant yeast (7g) *see notes
554 g bread flour (4½ cups, plus 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon fine sea salt (15 g)
75 g high quality extra virgin olive oil divided (5 tablespoons)

Topping

1 tablespoon flaky sea salt (I like Maldon brand or Fleur de Sel)
dry or fresh rosemary leaves to taste

Instructions

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. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Pinch the dough together several times to build some dough strength and also make sure no dry bits remain. Mixture will be thick and sticky.
455 g warm water
1½ teaspoons instant yeast
554 g bread flour
1 tablespoon fine sea salt
In a separate large bowl, drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil to coat the bottom. Transfer the dough to the oiled container. Turn the dough coating all the sides in olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap or lid. (I like to use a clear container so I can see how far my dough has risen.)
For overnight focaccia, let the dough rise for 30 minutes, and then place the dough into the refrigerator for 12-48 hours.
For same day focaccia, let the dough rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 90 minutes to 2 hours.
15 g (1 tablespoon) olive oil
Prepare a 9x13-inch nonstick metal baking pan by coating the bottom with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Turn the risen dough onto the oiled pan and flip it over so that the smooth side is facing up and both sides are oiled. (If using refrigerated dough, allow it to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature before placing in the pan.)
20 g (2 tablespoons) olive oil
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 pan with plastic wrap. Let it rise until it doubles in size, about 1-2 hours. Towards the end of the final rise time, preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C.
Uncover the pan and drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over the focaccia (If you have an olive oil sprayer, it works great for this!). 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 number of dimples throughout the dough without depressing too many of the air bubbles. Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of sea salt flakes on top and dried or fresh rosemary leaves.
15 g (1 tablespoon) olive oil
1 tablespoon flaky sea salt
dry or fresh rosemary leaves
Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. After it comes out of the oven, brush the top of the focaccia with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
15 g (1 tablespoon) olive oil
Remove focaccia from the pan with a large spatula and slide onto a wire cooling rack. If the focaccia is slightly sticking to the pan, loosen it around all the edges with the spatula and then slide it out. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Focaccia is best served warm, freshly baked. Store any leftover focaccia in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Notes

I prefer using a nonstick metal pan for focaccia. If your pan is not nonstick, add 1-2 more tablespoons olive oil to the bottom of the pan. Use your fingers to rub the bottom and sides with olive oil, making sure all the surface is coated.
*You can use active dry yeast instead of instant yeast. If using active dry yeast, add the yeast to the water first and let it sit for 10 minutes until it bubbles. Then add to the rest of the recipe.
Sourdough Version: Decrease the amount of water by 90g and decrease the amount of flour by 90g. Add 1/2 cup ripe starter (180g) to the water and break it up with your fingers. Add the mixture to the flour and salt and mix. You may want to complete 2-3 sets of stretch and fold before bulk fermentation. Continue recipe as instructed. Rise times will be at least doubled but will vary.

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