11 focaccia recipes that deliver the dough (even if you’ve never baked bread before)

Get some puffy, stretchy bread-making bliss happening with these recipes for the much -loved Italian bread.

Focaccia Pugliese Credit: Jono Fleming

— See Luca Ciano making potato focaccia in season 3 of Luca's Key Ingredient, airing Sundays at 6pm from 31 March on SBS Food, with episodes available at SBS On Demand after they air. Seasons 1 and 2 are also streaming at SBS On Demand. —

Focaccia is a dough-meets canvas: the Italian bread that can turn into a simple snack or a work of art, a side, a sandwich or a share-table star.

It's also a gateway for new bakers. As chef Raymond Blanc says, "Making focaccia is a brilliant, easy way of getting into bread-making and mastering the mysteries of yeast, which of course creates the magic of the fermentation within the bread."

Here are some of our favourite recipes for making it.

Beginners and overnight bakers, start here

What's better than a tray of hot bread? A tray of hot bread with crispy olive oil edges. Credit: Camellia Aebischer

If you've not baked much bread before, or you're looking for a way to fit breadmaking into life, try Camellia Ling Aebischer's "make focaccia while you sleep method". This is simply a case of mixing the flour, yeast, salt, olive oil and water to make a sticky dough, then letting it sit in the fridge for one to three nights. No kneading, just a well-hydrated dough and time, and then some shaping and baking, and you have a fluffy bread with give-me-more crusty edges.

Change it up, so many ways

If you don't have time to let your dough sit overnight, don't worry - many of the recipes that follow can be made in a day. They also demonstrate how very versatile focaccia is. Give one a go, and then explore all the variations.

Focaccia with red onion and rosemaryfocaccia

Paul West's fresh, homemade foccacia is a real treat. Credit: Sharyn Cairns

Focaccia has spread from its Italian origins to win fans around the world, each putting their touch on the final bake. Paul West tops his focaccia with red onion, chilli flakes and rosemary.

Focaccia Bari-style (focaccia Barese)

Focaccia Bari-style (focaccia Barese) Credit: Paola Bacchia

You say potato, I say ... focaccia? That might depend on where you are. This Italian bread has many regional variations. In Bari, it's often made with potato. Try this recipe from Poala Baccia, with its crisp outer, moist inner and topping of sweet tomato and salty olives.

Smoked garlic focaccia

Credit: Headline / Jean Cazals

Raymond Blanc, the French chef who's built an award-winning career in England, describes this recipe as a testimony to the multiple cultures that have influenced his cooking. "I’ve allied my national beloved bulb of fragrance and Frenchness with an Italian classic as homage to a bread that I ate in Italy, one of the greatest I tasted in my life – it was pure delight: rustic and topped with caramelised garlic cooked in balsamic vinegar. ...This hearty, simple version of focaccia has an unusual smokey tang."

Matthew Evans' olive and rosemary focaccia

Olive and rosemary focaccia Credit: Alan Benson

Matthew Evans says of focaccia that it's "remarkably delicious, especially on the day it’s baked". From season 4 of Gourmet Farmer, this version of the simple, pressed-out flatbread is topped with pitted olives, rosemary leaves and a good drizzle of olive oil. It's also a little quicker than some of the other recipes, as the dough is only left to rise once.

Potato focaccia

Potato focaccia. Credit: Luca's Key Ingredient

Luca Ciano describes this focaccia as soft and fluffy with a little crunch on the edge. Eat as this tomato-topped bread as it is, or split and fill, perhaps as Ciano has done with prosciutto, cheese and chilli jam.

Gluten-free focaccia

Credit: My Market Kitchen

This recipe from Elena Duggan puts a gluten-free spin on the Italian favourite. She tops it with cheese, onion, olive and herbs but encourages experimenting with your favourite toppings and cheeses.

Gluten-free fig and pecorino focaccia

Gluten free fig and pecorino focaccia Credit: Jono Fleming

Who could resist the description of this recipe from Silvia Colloca: When you're blessed with ripe figs, this focaccia is a great way to celebrate them. Little puddles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar bring peppery and tart flavours, and shaved pecorino adds a salty finish.

Focaccia tomato burrata

Focaccia tomato burrata Credit: Kitti Gould

This recipe from Adam Liaw is simple but spectacular. It's a classic combination of tomato, bread and cheese, but with a little extra wow. The proved dough is cooked in one pan, the tomato in another, and both are served with creamy burrata. This is another recipe that uses fridge time to work on the dough, making it easier to fit into your cooking plans.

Focaccia two ways

Credit: Savannah van der Niet

Can't decide what flavours you want to try? There are two different ideas here: asparagus- and mushroom-topped focaccia, and anti-pasto-stuffed focaccia.

Walnut focaccia

Credit: Nadiya's Fast Flavours

Nadiya Hussain has fun with her breadmaking in this recipe, taking inspiration from the winning coffee and walnut combo often found in a cake.

Looking for more baking fun? Visit the homemade bread recipe collection.