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 is the best bread for vegans? ›

Vegans can eat bread that does not contain animal products or byproducts. This includes breads that only use some variation on flour, water, yeast, and salt including ciabatta, baguette, focaccia, sourdough, pita, and ezekiel breads.

How do you make bread not dense and fluffy? ›

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

What causes crusty bread to become soft or soggy? ›

As the loaf cools, any moisture which is left in the loaf escapes through the crust as steam and this is what causes the softening.

What would we brush on bread dough to create a Crispier crust? ›

In baking, many recipes call for an egg wash to be brushed on the baked goods before it goes into the oven. The purpose of this is to give the final product a golden brown color that is slightly shiny. Egg washes can make the final product look more professional, a bit crispier, or act as a binder."

What should you brush on bread dough for Crispier crust? ›

Water – crispy crust

Water may be brushed on or spritzed. Water keeps the dough skin from forming the crust, enabling the dough to expand. It also smooths out the crust, creating a more refined appearance. Apply just before baking.

Why is my crust not crispy? ›

Cooking your pizza at a lower temperature and for longer will make your crust crispier.

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 makes vegan bread vegan? ›

Vegan bread shouldn't contain any animal products, including dairy, eggs, or honey. While some baking companies claim to have vegan bread, not all do because they still use egg or honey in their breads. To get a truly vegan bread with many varieties you have to look at Food for Life.

Which Dave's Killer bread is 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.

How do bakeries get their bread so soft? ›

There's something magical about the bread you get at your local bakeries - they're always sooo soft and fluffy. Many of these breads, especially packaged ones, are made with a ton of chemical additives such as calcium propionate, amylase, and chlorine dioxide which help keep them soft, light, and fluffy for days.

What ingredient makes bread more fluffy? ›

Starch helps the dough by trapping the gas from the yeast in the dough and makes the bubbles stronger. This helps the bread to rise and be lighter and fluffier.

Does letting bread rise longer make it fluffier? ›

Does Rising Bread Affect Its Texture? For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough.

How to get a shiny crust on bread? ›

Glazes are used to produce different effects on bread crust. Spraying dough with water or brushing with a mixture of 2 tablespoons beaten egg white and 1/2 teaspoon water produces a crisp crust. A whole egg lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon of water, produces a shiny golden crust.

How to get a golden crust on bread? ›

It sounds obvious, but bread generally needs to be baked at a high temperature. A golden-brown, glossy crust is achieved when sugars and amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) in the dough react together at high temperatures in the oven. For a simple dough of flour, water, salt and yeast, bake at 220 – 225C.

Is crusty bread better for you? ›

The short answer is: yes, bread crusts do contain more nutrients. The reason for this is that the baking process causes the exterior of the bread to become firmer and more browned. This chemical baking process also results in changes to the nutrients in the crust of bread.

What bread is considered crusty? ›

While there are many types of French bread, some of the most popular kinds—like baguettes and boules—have an extremely crusty exterior and a chewy crumb, making them perfect for tearing, dipping or slathering with butter. It's not uncommon for these breads to require a lengthy preparation process.

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