Made with simple ingredients, the tender crumb of this homemade bread elevates any meal, transforming a single slice into a tantalizing treat!
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❤️ Why we love this recipe
- Save your wrists—no kneading!
- Bakes in a Dutch oven or on a regular cookie sheet.
- Great recipe whether it's your first time making bread or your fiftieth!
This rustic Italian bread recipe is easy to follow and results in a delicious, golden brown loaf every time.
It's one of my favorite breads to serve with soup.
🧾 Ingredients
This is an "at a glance" list of ingredients. You'll find the list and the measurements in the printable recipe card below.
🔪 Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and yeast.
- Stir in the warm water.
- Blend the ingredients together with a spoon until bread dough forms.
- Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rest in a warm place.
- Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size.
- Place dough onto a lightly floured surface—it should deflate a little.
- Grease your hands, then shape dough into a round ball.
- Slash the top of the dough with a sharp knife. Brush with olive oil, bake, and enjoy your homemade rustic Italian bread!
🥫 Storage
Try to consume your Italian loaf of bread within a couple of days—though, the first day is preferred. It tastes heavenly when warm, straight out of the oven, so it's not likely you'll have leftovers, anyway!
However, if you do, you can store the bread in a paper bag, or wrapped in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. For best results, store it at room temperature.
Homemade bread recipes only stay fresh for about a day, and crusty bread does start to lose its crisp crust the longer it's stored. However, a quick toast in the microwave revives and warms it back up beautifully.
🧑🏻🍳 Baker's notes
⭐ Expert Tip: For proper yeast activation, the water should be around 105-115 °F. Make sure it's not too hot or too cold, as yeast bread is a little bit picky!
- Handling wet doughs can be intimidating, but it's easy as long as you are prepared. Rather than using additional flour which can dry out Italian bread, I prefer to grease my hands with a bit of olive oil or cooking spray—it works like a charm!
- Don't be afraid when cutting the top of the loaf. Make a deep, lengthwise slash, and then another, to allow the bread to properly rise.
- Some recipes say to use a razor blade to slash the dough, but only if it's cleaned and used just for cooking. Otherwise, a knife works just fine.
- If you don't have an oven-proof bowl, put some water in a casserole dish, a baking sheet, or a cast iron skillet. Just make sure the water and the dish are warm already. Though you shouldn't let cast iron soak for an extended period of time, it's okay to use it to create the steam that gives rustic Italian bread its signature crisp, hard crust.
- If you have a pizza stone or baking stone, you can use that instead of a cloche or baking sheet. If not, use your heaviest cookie sheet for even heat distribution.
- Unsure if your crusty Italian bread is finished baking all the way through? If you can, carefully lift up the hot loaf, turn it over, and knock on the bottom. Yes, like knocking on a door. The bread should sound more hollow and sharp than dull and soft.
- Still wondering? Bread is 190F on an instant read thermometer pushed into the center of the bread when it's done.
💡Great Idea: Not sure you'll eat an entire batch of this rustic Italian bread? Before transferring to the baking sheet, separate the dough into two sections and form each into a small loaf. After the baked bread loaves have cooled, wrap one in two layers of plastic and freeze for up to three months! Thaw at room temp and enjoy!
✨ FAQs
Sure thing! Bread flour has a little bit more protein which makes for a chewier rustic bread recipe. However, sometimes the extra protein requires a bit more moisture. So, if your dough seems too dry (if it's suspiciously too easy to handle) add a bit more water.
Good question! It's not usually too cold in my Texas kitchen, but when it gets chilly, I'll preheat my oven to the lowest setting possible—that's generally somewhere in the 100- to 150-degree range. Once it's preheated, I turn it off. Yep, that's important: turn the oven/heat off. Then, place your dough inside the oven and shut the door. It creates a warm (but not too warm) environment, ideal for rising perfect bread.
To enjoy basic Italian bread with that "baked fresh daily" taste (without actually baking it fresh every day) cut your slices from the middle of the loaf and work your way out. This way, you can press the two halves together, before wrapping them for storage, which helps keep the moisture sealed inside. If you just start slicing from one end, you'll be left with a large exposed section that lets dryness permeate.
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Rustic Italian Bread
Equipment
- baking sheet
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups all purpose flour and a bit more more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups warm water
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
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Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl or your kitchen aid mixer add the flour, salt and yeast.
- Mix to combine well.
- Pour in the warm water and keep mixing until everything is incorporated and a soft dough has formed.
- Cover the bowl with a tea towel.
- Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours until doubled in size.
- Sprinkle some flour on your kitchen counter and dump the bread dough on it.
- Dough will be very sticky - I spray no-stick cooking spray on my hands to keep it from sticking to me too much.
- Form dough into a round ball. Do not knead it, do not handle it anymore than you need to.
- Place it on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet or in a cloche.
- Use a sharp knife and lightly carve an X in the top of the loaf.
- Brush with olive oil.
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Allow it to rest while your oven is heating up.
- Fill an oven proof bowl with 2 inches of water and place it on the bottom rack. This will create the steam that will cause the crust to become crispy as it bakes.
- Bake the bread for about 30 to 45 minutes until golden brown all over and cooked through.
- Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
Notes
- For proper yeast activation, the water should be around 105-115 °F.
- Handling wet doughs can be intimidating, but it's easy as long as you are prepared. Rather than using additional flour which can dry out Italian bread, I prefer to grease my hands with a bit of olive oil or cooking spray—it works like a charm!
- Don't be afraid when cutting the top of the loaf. Make a deep, lengthwise slash, and then another, to allow the bread to properly rise.
- If you don't have an oven-proof bowl, put some water in a casserole dish, a baking sheet, or a cast iron skillet. Just make sure the water and the dish are warm already.
- If you have a pizza stone or baking stone, you can use that instead of a cloche or baking sheet. If not, use your heaviest cookie sheet for even heat distribution.
- Unsure if your crusty Italian bread is finished baking all the way through? If you can, carefully lift up the hot loaf, turn it over, and knock on the bottom. Yes, like knocking on a door. The bread should sound more hollow and sharp than dull and soft.
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