The Easiest Bread You Will Ever Bake: Sourdough Focaccia from Scratch

If sourdough intimidates you, there is one place to start: focaccia. It is the most forgiving bread in the entire sourdough world. You do not need to shape it. You do not need to score it. You do not need a Dutch oven, a banneton, or a bench scraper. You just need a sheet pan, some olive oil, and a willingness to get your hands a little messy.

This focaccia is the kind of recipe that stays in a weekly rotation once you have baked it a few times. It is easy to carry to a potluck, it needs no special equipment, and it wins over more sourdough skeptics than any other beginner bake.

Why Focaccia Is Perfect for Beginners

Most sourdough anxiety comes from shaping and scoring, two skills that take practice and can feel high-stakes when you have been nursing a dough for twelve hours. Focaccia eliminates both of those steps entirely. You just pour the dough into an oiled pan and dimple it with your fingers. That is the shaping. That is also the scoring. The dimples serve the same purpose as score lines: they create controlled weak points where the dough can expand.

Focaccia is also incredibly tolerant of timing variations. Over-proofed a little? Your focaccia will be slightly flatter but still delicious. Under-proofed? It will be a bit thicker and chewier, which many people actually prefer. It is almost impossible to produce a bad result.

The Recipe

This makes one half-sheet pan of focaccia, enough for a family of four with leftovers for sandwiches the next day.

Ingredients

• 500 g bread flour (all-purpose works fine too)
• 375 g water at about 85°F (29°C)
• 100 g active sourdough starter
• 10 g salt
• 4-5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• Flaky sea salt for topping

Day One: Mix and Bulk Ferment

In a large bowl, combine the flour, water, and starter. Mix with a spatula or your hand until no dry flour remains. Cover and rest for 30 minutes (this is the autolyse, and it helps the flour fully hydrate).

Add the salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Use wet hands to squeeze and fold the dough until everything is incorporated. Then do four sets of stretch-and-folds, spaced 30 minutes apart. Each set is just four folds, north, south, east, west. You will feel the dough get smoother and more elastic with each round.

After the last set of folds, cover the bowl and let the dough bulk ferment for another 3-4 hours at room temperature. You are looking for it to grow by about 50-75% and feel puffy and airy.

Day Two: Dimple and Bake

Pull the pan out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours. The dough will relax and spread. Now comes the fun part: oil your fingers and press them into the dough, dimpling it all the way out to the edges of the pan. If the dough springs back and does not want to stretch, wait 15 minutes and try again. It will eventually cooperate.

Drizzle another 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top. The oil pools in the dimples and creates those gorgeous golden pockets. Sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt.

Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 22-28 minutes, until the top is golden and the edges are deeply crispy. Let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Topping Ideas

Plain focaccia with just olive oil and sea salt is already outstanding. But if you want to get creative, add your toppings right before baking:

• Classic rosemary. Fresh rosemary sprigs pressed into the dimples. Timeless for a reason.
• Cherry tomato and garlic. Halved cherry tomatoes and thinly sliced garlic tucked into the dough. They roast beautifully.
• Caramelized onion. Slow-cooked onions spread across the top. Sweet, savory, and deeply satisfying.
• Everything bagel seasoning. Scatter it over the oiled surface. Sounds odd, tastes incredible.

What to Do with Leftovers

Focaccia makes the best sandwich bread you have ever had. Split a square horizontally, layer on deli meats or roasted vegetables, and press it in a pan like a panini. It is also excellent torn into pieces and dipped into soup, or cubed and toasted into croutons for salads.

But honestly? The best thing about this bread is how it makes you feel when you pull it out of the oven, golden, bubbling, smelling like an Italian bakery. That payoff is available to you right now, no special skills required. Just get your hands in the dough and trust the process.