Easy Crusty Vegan Bread Recipe (2024)

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Crusty homemade and super easy Vegan bread recipe (+ Video) with only 3 ingredients: flour, water and instant yeast. Plant based, no knead, no fancy equipment needed, and we won’t be using any oil at all. Truth be told this is really my Italian pizza dough recipe in loaf form.

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The best plant based vegan bread recipe ever!

Easier than making a ciabatta, this is for when you want your house to smell like a French or Italian bakery on a cold December day with minimal effort. It’s as easy as mixing three ingredients together in a large bowl, shaping a loaf and baking it.

There’s nothing else like the comforting sound of crackling crispy crust being torn over a steaming bowl of soup. This artisan bread loaf is also wonderful with this broccoli potato soup, or used for bruschetta, sandwiches and casseroles, for making bread crumbs, French toast, cheesy garlic bread and even Thanksgiving bread stuffing.

Am I right, or am I right…?!

By all means, feel free to chop up some fresh rosemary or black olives to add to your dough and give it that artisan Tuscan flair. You’ll still be under 5 ingredients, like a boss!

This vegan bread recipe is:

  • Quick & Easy
  • From Scratch
  • Egg & Oil-Free
  • Perfect for Sandwiches
  • Crackling Crust
  • Big Holes + Soft Center
  • Dairy-Free
  • Simply the Best!

The Secret to Making Crusty Bread

  1. a preheated pizza stone or cast iron dutch oven with a lid.
  2. a blasting hot oven.
  3. a tray of water to create steam <—crucial!
  4. allow the loaf to cool off in the oven or on its side on a cooling rack.

TIP: If you don’t have a pizza stone you can still bake your bread inside a cast iron skillet or dutch oven (lined with parchment paper) with the lid on instead.

FAQ

  • Is Bread Vegan or Not? Yes it is, as long as you don’t add any animal products into the mix!
  • Can I make bread without yeast? Yes you can but it will have to be a flatbread like this quinoa or potato flatbread.
  • What to do with stale bread?So you forgot you made fresh crusty bread and now you have a stale loaf instead? No problem! it’s a sign from above that you must hurry and make Panzanella + a big pot of this Italian Bread Soup / Pappa al Pomodoro right away.

How to Store It

If you happen to not eat this loaf in the same day just store it on the kitchen counter in a bread box or a reusable bag for a couple of days.

What to Serve With

My favorite way to enjoy bread is fresh out of the oven, grilled for panzanella, dunked in this vegan zuppa Toscana, unstuffed cabbage roll soup, chunky potato soup, chickpea salad sandwich and next to grandpa’s tomato cucumber salad+ vegan ribs.

how to make homemade crusty bread

Easy Crusty Vegan Bread Recipe (6)

4.94 from 45 votes

Easy Crusty Vegan Bread

Easy crusty Vegan Bread made with only 3 ingredients: flour, water and instant yeast. Homemade, plant based, no knead recipe!

Print Recipe

Prep Time:10 minutes mins

Cook Time:30 minutes mins

Total Time:40 minutes mins

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Add the all purpose flour, yeast and sea salt to a large mixing bowl or your kitchen aid mixer. Mix in the water and stir well until incorporated. Cover the bowl loosely with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours. ( you may leave it overnight as well but it is not necessary )

    3.25 cups all purpose flour, 1.5 cups warm water, 2 tsp instant dry yeast, 1.5 tsp sea salt

  • After about 2 hours check the dough and you should notice the surface dotted with bubbles. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and sprinkle it with a little flour. Shape it into a round loaf by folding it over on itself a few times. NO KNEADING Allowed!

  • Meanwhile preheat your oven to 450"F with a pizza stone inside. I If you don't have a pizza stone preheat a cast iron dutch oven with the lid on instead). Place a baking dish with a couple of inches of water in it on the bottom rack to help create steam inside the oven for a crispy crust.

  • Sprinkle a pizza peel or a cardboard box with some flour and place the bread loaf on top. Allow it to rest for 45 minutes while the oven warms up.Using a serrated knife make a few slits on top of the loaf.

  • Sprinkle the pizza stone with a little bit of the semolina flour then gently slide the bread dough onto it just like you would do with a pizza. Cook for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool down before slicing. For an even crispier crust allow to bread to cool inside of the oven with the door slightly open.

Video

Notes

  • No pizza stone? No problem, you can still bake the bread inside a preheated cast iron skillet or a dutch oven with a lid on instead (line with parchment paper but do not preheat the paper with the dutch oven). If using this method you won't need a tray of water to create steam as the lid will trap the steam inside the pot).
  • Can I make bread without yeast? Yes you can but it will have to be a flatbread like this quinoa or potato flatbread.

Nutrition

Calories: 188kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 5g | Sodium: 294mg | Potassium: 63mg | Fiber: 1g | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 2.4mg

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: bread, plant based, vegan bread, vegan,

Servings: 8 people

Calories: 188kcal

Author: Florentina

Easy Crusty Vegan Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret of crusty bread? ›

How to make crusty bread
  1. To make crusty bread, choose the right recipe. ...
  2. Shape the dough with more rather than less surface area. ...
  3. To make crusty bread, create steam in the oven. ...
  4. Bake on a pizza stone or steel. ...
  5. To keep bread crusty, cool baked loaves in the oven.
Aug 9, 2015

What makes bread more crusty? ›

USE RIGHT TEMPERATURE

Bake the bread at high temperature, around 260/270°C, for the first 15 minutes of the baking process so that the crust and its beautiful golden color start developing quickly on the surface. Then lower the temperature to 150°C and continue the baking process for 15-20 minutes.

How do I make my bread crust crispy? ›

How do I make my bread crust crispy? Bake your bread in a Dutch oven or an oven-safe pot with a lid for about 20 minutes, then remove the lid for the remainder of the baking time. The lid is the important part, you want to trap the steam from your bread which will create a crisp crust!

How do you keep crusty bread crusty? ›

Large crusty loaves can be stored unwrapped (to preserve their crispy crust) at room temperature for a day or so, cut side down on the counter. For optimum long-term storage (longer than a couple of days), wrap bread in single-day portions and freeze.

Why spray bread with water before baking? ›

Wetting the dough causes the surface to steam. Covering it traps the moisture. This partnership stops the bread from drying out on the surface in the hot air of the oven and forming a premature crust. Your bread rises more and produces a richer colour, becoming glossy on the surface.

How to get a golden crust on bread? ›

After your dough is formed and ready for the oven, brush a light coating of the egg wash onto the dough and put it in the oven. After that, cook as you normally would. Another thing you can try is to use a recipe with a little sugar in it.

Why is my homemade bread crust so hard? ›

Baking quick breads at too high temperatures can cause a hard outside crust. Most quick breads bake in a moderate oven (350°F to 375°F). Double check your recipe to see the temperature they recommend. Oven thermostats can vary over time, requiring adjustments by the baker or calibration by a professional.

What do vegans use instead of butter on bread? ›

What are good vegan butter substitutes? In baking, you can use vegan butter, applesauce, dairy-free yogurt, coconut oil, coconut butter, olive oil, nut butter, mashed banana and mashed avocado. In cooking, you can use olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable stock, or avocado oil to replace butter.

What bread has no dairy in it? ›

Most sourdough bread is completely vegan, not containing any dairy or eggs. However, some variations of the traditional sourdough recipe may contain non-vegan ingredients, like this easy, no-knead sourdough recipe, so it's always good to check the ingredients list.

Is Dave's Killer bread vegan? ›

Q: Are your products vegan? A: All DKB bread products are considered vegan and do not contain any animal products, however, our limited edition DKB Snack Bars (Trail Mix Crumble and Oat-Rageous Honey Almond™) are NOT considered vegan as they contain organic honey. Q: Do you make a gluten-free bread?

How to stop crusty bread from going soft? ›

The easiest solution to stop sourdough crust going soft after its cooled is to make sure you bake it long enough. When checking if your sourdough is cooked, if the crust feels a little thin or you can still push down and feel give, return it to the oven for longer.

How to make crusty bread from store bought bread? ›

A: To keep your bread crusty, you should heat it in the proper way. Start by letting the bread come to room temperature. Then put it in an oven set to 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes.

How do you make crusty bread less dense? ›

Bread right out of the oven produces a lot of heat and steam. When the hot air hits the cold air, the water vapor condenses, or “sweats.” If you cover your bread with a towel or bowl, you can trap that water in your bread, resulting in a softer crust.

What gives bread an open texture? ›

There are two proteins in wheat flour called gliadin and glutenin. When wheat flour is mixed with water these proteins combine with the water to make gluten. Gluten makes the dough stretchy and elastic. The stretchy gluten makes it possible to produce a bread with a large volume and open texture.

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