Easy Sourdough Focaccia Recipe

This sourdough focaccia recipe takes ZERO effort. No kneading is required, just time. Mix the ingredients together, plop them in a bowl to rise in a warm spot, transfer to your pan with a metric ton of olive oil, fresh rosemary, and salt, let the dough rise again, and then bake! So soft, fluffy, chewy, and has the perfect crispy crust.

Sourdough focaccia might be my favorite thing to make with an active sourdough starter, aside from my sourdough bread. It's a great way to use discard as well.

This really great recipe for beginner sourdough makers. It's endlessly adaptable. Switch up the rosemary for thyme, fresh onions, olives, ham and cheese, bacon, garlic... the options are endless! If you love my easy focaccia recipe, you are going to LOVE my sourdough focaccia recipe!

My favorite thing about making sourdough focaccia is that if you or someone you know has issues digesting gluten (like my dad), they may have an easier time eating sourdough-based products. The reason is that the fermentation process involved in breaking down some of the gluten proteins in the flour makes it potentially less likely to trigger digestive issues compared to regular wheat bread. Read more about why some gluten-sensitive people can still eat sourdough bread.

Sourdough Focaccia Ingredients

Sourdough focaccia is made with really simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand. 

Sourdough starter - The #1 ingredient you need for success is a happy, active, bubbly sourdough starter. If you haven't used your starter in a while, make sure you've fed it for a few days before you need it so it's nice and strong. If you don't have a sourdough starter, you'll need to make one! It takes about a week to get your starter ready to use. 

Bread Flour - I love Caputo brand bread flour which is not processed like the flour in the USA and doesn't have any additives. You can absolutely use all purpose flour if you prefer. Bread flour will result in a chewier bread while all-purpose flour will make a softer, moister focaccia.

Olive oil - Focaccia needs a nice olive oil! I always use the olive oil from Costco because we go through SO MUCH and it works great for me but use whatever you have on hand. 

Flaky sea salt - For the best focaccia, you'll want a nice flake salt. I love Jacobsen sea salt which is made right here in Oregon!

Rosemary - To me, focaccia isn't right without some rosemary! But you can add any toppings you like! 

Honey - You can use sugar but honey adds a little flavor that is just fantastic!

Garlic Powder - I prefer to add the powder into the dough rather than sprinkling on top or adding raw garlic to the toppings because it tends to burn.

When To Start The Dough

This is a two-day process so make sure you allow yourself enough time for all the steps. I like to make my dough about 12 hours before I plan on baking my focaccia.

To bake in the morning, make your dough at around 7pm the night before.

To bake for dinner, start the dough the night before and follow the same process but instead of baking in the morning, place your pan of sourdough (covered loosely with plastic wrap) after it has risen enough back into the fridge until you are ready to bake.

Remember, this sourdough focaccia is REALLY forgiving so even if you think it won't turn out, bake it up and it will probably taste amazing.

Making The Dough

1. Whisk the sourdough starter, warm water, and honey together in a bowl until everything is dissolved.
2. Add in the flour, garlic powder, and salt and mix until a soft sticky dough forms. 
3. Cover the top of the dough and let it rest for one hour in a warm place for 30 minutes.  
4. Remove the wet dough from the bowl and fold it onto itself (see video) to form a ball. This is also called a coil fold and just helps gluten start to develop and strengthen. 
   
   This is a high-hydration dough (contains a lot of water) so if it seems very loose and sticky compared to other doughs you have worked with, don't worry! That is the way it should be!
   
5. Place the dough back into a large bowl. Make sure the sides of the bowl are lightly oiled.

First Rise (Bulk Fermentation)

1. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and leave it to rise overnight at room temperature for at least 12 hours. The dough may double or even triple in size so make sure it's big enough. The ideal room temperature is between 68ºF-80ºF. The warmer the room, the faster the dough will rise. 

Second Rise

1. The next day, add a thin coat of olive oil onto the bottom of the sheet pan. You can add a layer of parchment paper to prevent sticking.
2. Dump the dough onto the sheet pan and flip it over so all sides of the dough are coated in oil.
3. No need to stretch the dough, let the dough rest for 1-2 hours at room temperature or until it's very puffy and has lots of bubbles developing.
4. Preheat your oven to 425ºF (220ºC).

Baking The Focaccia

1. Press your oiled fingers into the dough and gently wiggle to create deep divots throughout the surface of the dough.
2. Drizzle about two Tablespoons of olive oil on top of the dough so they settle into all those little divots we made.
3. Add some flaked sea salt, finely chopped rosemary, or any other different toppings like shallots, cherry tomatoes or cheese. Check out my sourdough bread art tutorial for more inspiration.
4. Bake the focaccia for 25-30 minutes or until the bread is golden brown.
5. For best results, remove the focaccia from the pan immediately and cool on a wire cooling rack so it keeps its crispy crust.

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