This no-knead focaccia really delivers in flavor, texture, and presentation. And best of all you don’t have to knead it or use a stand mixer or any other special equipment. With how simple this recipe is and how delicious the result is, you won’t regret making this! Make sure you use a high-quality olive oil, since it is the main ingredient that gives this focaccia its flavor.

We also use this recipe as a pizza crust in our vegan focaccia pizza recipe (yes, it is delicious as it sounds!).

Make sure to check out the recipe notes for additional information and tips.

If you try this recipe, leave us a comment below to let us know how it goes. We would love to hear from you!

Easy No-Knead Focaccia

Little Lighthouse Baking Co.

A simple and delicious focaccia that requires no kneading or special equipment.

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Prep 25

Cook 25

Rest 1 1

Total 1 1 50

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Servings 6 servings

Equipment

whisk
large mixing bowl
rubber spatula
quarter sheet pan
large spatula

Ingredients

1 tsp active dry yeast
¼ cup water (60g) for the yeast
3 cups bread flour (360g)
1 ¼ cups water (295g) room temperature
½ tbsp kosher salt
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Day 1

Heat the water in a small bowl until it is slightly warm (about 105ºF). Add in the yeast, and whisk together.
In a large mixing bowl, add the yeast mixture, water, bread flour, and kosher salt. Mix with a rubber spatula until there are no lumps and a very wet dough has formed.
In a second large mixing bowl, add half of the olive oil. Tilt the bowl so that the sides of the bowl are coated in oil. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the dough out of its bowl and transfer it to the oiled bowl. Use your fingers to dab some olive oil from the sides of the bowl onto the surface of the dough.
Tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place the bowl in the fridge. Let the dough rise for 16 – 24 hours. The longer the dough rises, the better the flavor and texture of the focaccia.

Day 2

When you are ready to continue, remove the dough from the fridge. If your dough has not doubled in size, remove it from the fridge and let it continue rising at room temperature until it has doubled in size. Continue to the next step once the dough has doubled.
Remove the plastic wrap from the bowl. Drizzle the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil in a quarter sheet pan and use your fingers to spread the oil to coat the bottom and sides.
With your still oiled hands, slide your hands between the bowl and the dough. Lift the dough out of and above the bowl, and hold it for a couple seconds. The dough will naturally fall down towards the bowl. Lower the dough back into the bowl. Turn the bowl 90º, and repeat the lifting and lowering process for a second time. Turn the bowl 90º again, and repeat for a third time. Turn the bowl 90º one last time, repeat the lifting, then lower the dough into the quarter sheet pan.
Just a warning: if you just took your dough out of the fridge, the dough will be very cold.
Use your fingers to gently stretch the dough to completely cover the bottom of the pan. If the dough does not want to stretch, loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 15 minutes before continuing to stretch the dough.
Once the dough has been stretched to completely cover the bottom of the pan, loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature until it is almost doubled in height, about 1 hour. The dough should almost reach the top of the sides of the quarter sheet pan.
Prepare your toppings while the dough is rising. See notes.
Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Arrange one rack on the bottom position and one on the top position.
When the dough has risen, remove the plastic wrap from the top of the pan. With lightly oiled fingers, use a claw hand shape to press down through the dough to the bottom of the pan. Do this all over to dimple the dough. If any very large bubbles form on the surface of the dough, pop them.
Evenly spread your toppings on the surface of the dough, then sprinkle some kosher salt on top.
Bake on the bottom rack of the oven until the corners of the focaccia start pulling away from the pan, about 15-20 minutes.
Move the pan to the top rack and bake until the top is a deep golden brown, about 5-10 more minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Use a large spatula to gently loosen the focaccia from the pan, first along the sides and then on the bottom. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Notes

Toppings can be anything you want. There should be some oil component, however, to ensure that the focaccia has nice flavor and that the top is crispy. We love using sliced garlic cloves and fresh rosemary in olive oil. For a plain focaccia, simply use another 2 tbsp of olive oil.
If you would like to double this recipe, you can follow the directions exactly as written except use a half sheet baking tray instead of a quarter sheet tray.