This super easy no-knead vegan focaccia bread will have you feeling like a master baker with very little time or effort!  Simply stir together some flour, salt, yeast, and water in the morning and let it sit until dinner time.  Then bake with a generous amount of olive oil and top it with classic rosemary and coarse salt, or use your favorite vegetables to create beautiful bread art.

A loaf of vegan focaccia bread with vegetables in the shapes of flowers decorating the top.

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Your family will be amazed at your bread-making abilities, and your house will be filled with the best smell ever!

When I first started baking homemade Focaccia bread, I was a little intimidated and I assumed that it was difficult or fussy.  I was totally wrong, this is hands down the easiest bread I have ever made, and even when my kids help me and have sloppier measurements, it still bakes up delicious!

Bread art

Bread art is simply decorating the tops of your bread to form pretty designs, patterns, or even recreated works of art.  I noticed it a few months ago while scrolling through Instagram and I became a little obsessed with the beautiful creations that people were making.  Focaccia bread serves as a great canvas and veggies are the colorful paint.  The possibilities and creations are endless!  Many people do flower scenes (myself included since my artistic abilities are limited), but I’ve even seen famous works of art recreated in bread form.

Kids also love making bread art!  Simply prepare the focaccia on a cookie sheet and give them copped herbs and veggies and see what they create!  The result is always beautiful, delicious, and fun to eat!  Plus, it’s great to keep them busy while you prepare the rest of the meal.

Focaccia bread decorated with yellow peppers, black olives, and herbs to form sunflowers.

Why you’ll love this recipe

  • It’s easily made in 1 bowl with no kneading involved – just give it all a stir!
  • This bread is vegan, so it’s free of dairy and eggs.
  • It’s made with a few simple ingredients that you probably already have.
  • Vegan focaccia is simply delicious!
  • It’s fun to make, and beautiful!

Helpful tools

  • Large Mixing Bowl – your dough will grow near triple in size, so use a very large mixing bowl.
  • Rubber or Silicone Spatula – this works great for mixing the dough and scraping the dough out of the bowl after it rises.
  • Metal Cookie Sheet or Baking Dish – metal bakeware will help your edges get crispy and delicious!

Ingredients and substitutions

  • Flour – white non-bleached flour works best.
  • Yeast – you want rapid rise aka quick rise yeast.  The type that comes in a jar is the easiest to measure. You can use active dry yeast if that is the only thing you have, but it will need to be dissolved in the water instead of adding it to the dry flour.
  • Salt – you can use regular salt in the bread, but you will want coarse salt or kosher salt to sprinkle on top.
  • Water – to get the right moisture level.  I use filtered water so it has no funny taste.
  • Olive Oil – a high-quality virgin olive oil works best.
  • Rosemary – or any other herbs of choice.

For Bread Art

You can decorate the top of your Focaccia with anything you want, but this is what I find works best.

  • Bell Peppers – in all colors.  (The mini ones work well for little circular flowers.)
  • Tomatoes – small tomatoes or cherry tomatoes work well and are delicious when baked.
  • Olives – whole or sliced in any variety.
  • Herbs – cilantro, parsley, or green onions look nice as flower stems or greenery and they taste great.  Sprinkle some traditional rosemary around as some grass.
  • Red Onions – sliced in round or little pieces for purple flower petals.
A collage of 2 pictures showing focaccia bread art before and after baking.

Note: The colors of the vegetables will fade when baked.  It’s fun to take before and after pictures of your creations!

How to make vegan focaccia

Step 1- Spoon measure 5 cups of flour, a heaping tbsp of quick-rise yeast, and 2 tsp of salt into a large mixing bowl and give it a stir.

Step 2- Add 2 1/3 cups of cold water.

Step 3- Stir until you have a wet clumpy dough with no dry flour showing.

Step 4- Cover with a lid or a piece of plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm spot for 6-8 hours.

A collage of 4 pictures showing the process steps for making no-knead vegan focaccia dough.

Step 5- After 6-8 hours, your dough will have near tripled in size.  At this point turn your oven to 400 F (204 C) and rub the bottom of a cookie sheet with 2 tbsp of olive oil.

Step 6- Pour the risen dough onto the oiled cookie sheet.  (You may need a rubber spatula to help scrape it out of the bowl.

Step 7- Dip your fingertips in olive oil so they don’t stick to the dough, spread the dough out flat, and use your fingertips to make small divots on the top of the dough.

Step 8- Drizzle with 2 more tbsp of olive oil.  Sprinkle with rosemary and salt for traditional focaccia or decorate with sliced vegetables for bread art.

A collage of 4 pictures showing the process steps of forming the focaccia dough into bread on an oiled cookie sheet and sprinkling it with olive oil, rosemary, and salt.

Step 9 – Bake for 38-40 minutes at 400° F (204°C) until slightly golden brown and sprinkle with a little more coarse salt.

Step 10 – Cut into squares with a sharp knife or pizza cutter and serve hot.

A loaf of vegan focaccia bread on a cookie sheet after baking.

Pro Tips

  • Spoon measure the flour.  This means to fill your measuring cups with flour that has been fluffed up a little and use a spoon to fill your measuring cups without packing it down.  If you are new to baking you can check out this article about how to properly measure flour.
  • You can bake the dough once the dough has at least doubled in size and has lots of bubbles in it.
  • The warmer your house is when the dough is rising, the sooner you can bake it.  It takes about 8 hours at 68° F (20° C) or only about 6 hours at 72° F (22.2°C).  If you are baking this on a cold winter’s day and your house temperature is below 68° F (20° C), it may take as much as 10 hours to rise.
  • If you want to make this bread in the morning or for lunch, you can make it the day before and then keep the risen dough in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make the focaccia loaf thicker?

Yes, you can bake the focaccia in an 8″ X 8″ metal pan or even a 9-inch round cake pan.  Metal pans work best because they get hotter helping to cook the focaccia evenly. I typically use a cookie sheet because it provides a bigger canvas for making bread art on top of it and because we like the crispy bottom and edges of the focaccia.  Baking it on a cookie sheet gives you more of those delicious edges.

Can I make focaccia with less oil?

Yes. Olive oil is what makes this bread crispy and delicious, but if you want to use less, you can line your baking dish with parchment paper and bake it with no oil on the bottom.  I still recommend that you use at least a few teaspoons of olive oil on the top to give it a golden brown top.

A slice of focaccia bread decorated with veggies on a white plate.

Storing, freezing, and reheating

Storing – Vegan focaccia is best hot and fresh. However, if you don’t eat it all the first day, it will keep covered at room temperature for about 24 hours or in the fridge for about 3 days.

Freezing -Yes, simply wrap it well so no air can get to it and it can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Reheating – You can eat the focaccia at room temperature if you want, but I think that it’s better when it’s warm.  To reheat the bread toss it back in the oven at 350° F for about 10 minutes or pop it in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Gluten-free focaccia

Although most recipes on my site can also be made gluten-free, this one just doesn’t work as well. For gluten-free vegan focaccia, use this gluten-free focaccia recipe by One Lovely Life.

Bread art inspiration

I’ve only given you 2 examples of the endless creations that you can make. If you are feeling a little lost on how to make your own piece of bread art you can find lots of inspiration on Instagram under the hashtag bread art or simply google images of bread art.

Bread art with yellow peppers made into sunflowers.

What to serve with vegan focaccia

Vegan focaccia bread recipe

A close up of vegan focaccia bread decorated with veggies to look like flowers on top.
5 from 4 rating

Vegan Focaccia Bread

Yield: 12 slices
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 40 minutes
Rise Time: 7 hours
Total: 7 hours 45 minutes
Author: Monica Davis
An easy no-knead vegan focaccia recipe that bakes up delicious with rosemary and olive oil and works perfectly for bread art too.
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Ingredients

  • 5 cups flour
  • 1 tbsp yeast (heaping), quick-rise yeast works best (If you don't have a jar of yeast, you can use 2 packets of quick-rise yeast).
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 1/3 cup water
  • 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
  • 1/2 tsp coarse salt
  • 2 tsp dried rosemary, or 1 tbsp fresh rosemary

For bread art:

  • 1 cup sliced colorful vegetables of your choice

Instructions
 

Make the dough

  • Spoon measure 5 cups of flour, a heaping tbsp of quick-rise yeast, and 2 tsp of salt into a large mixing bowl and give it a stir.
  • Add 2 1/3 cups of cold water.
  • Stir until you have a wet clumpy dough with no dry flour showing.
  • Cover with a lid or a piece of plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm spot for 6-8 hours.

Bake the Bread

  • After 6-8 hours, your dough will have more than doubled in size.  At this point turn your oven to 400° F and rub the bottom of a cookie sheet with 2 tbsp of olive oil.
  • Pour the risen dough onto the oiled cookie sheet.  (You may need a rubber spatula to help scrape it out of the bowl.
  • Dip your fingertips in olive oil so they don't stick to the dough, spread the dough out flat, and use your fingertips to make small divots on the top of the dough.
  • Drizzle with 2 more tbsp of olive oil.  Sprinkle with rosemary and salt for traditional focaccia or decorate with sliced vegetables for bread art.
  • Bake for 38-40 minutes at 400° F (202° C) until slightly golden brown and sprinkle with a little more coarse salt.
  • Cut into squares with a sharp knife or pizza cutter and serve hot.

Notes

  • Spoon measure the flour.  This means to fill your measuring cups with flour that has been fluffed up a little and use a spoon to fill your measuring cups without packing it down. 
  • You can bake the dough once the dough has at least doubled in size and has lots of bubbles in it.
  • The warmer your house is when the dough is rising, the sooner you can bake it.  It takes about 8 hours at 68° F (20° C) or only about 6 hours at 72° F (22.2°C).  If you are baking this on a cold winter’s day and your house temperature is below 68° F (20° C), it may take as much as 10 hours to rise.
  • If you want to make this bread in the morning or for lunch, you can make it the day before and then keep the risen dough in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking. 
  • You can use active dry yeast if that is the only thing you have, but it will need to be dissolved in the water instead of adding it to the dry flour. 
Serving: 1slice (1/12 of total), Calories: 338kcal, Carbohydrates: 50g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Sodium: 1163mg, Potassium: 151mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g, Calcium: 106mg, Iron: 3mg
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