Recipe for a vegan Basic White Bread. Super soft, very versatile, delicious, quick and easy! You’ll only need 5 simple ingredients. You can use this recipe to make loaves, buns, even pizza crust, and flatbread. No need to buy bread anymore in the supermarket!
I have been making this Basic White Bread literally for years now. It’s the perfect base recipe for all of your bread adventures!
It’s delicious, fluffy and you can easily add special ingredients to it like olives (I love that one for grilling), cumin, sunflower seeds, dried tomatoes…
It is perfect for sandwiches, bruschetta or to make some rolls (like these Seeded Burger Buns or these Pretzel Buns).
Usually, when I make this bread, I double the recipe, make one loaf with part of the dough and some rolls to use as burger buns. You can also sprinkle some sesame seeds, flax seeds or poppy seeds on top!
How to make a Basic White Bread Loaf
The ingredients
You’ll only need 5 simple ingredients for this Basic White Bread:
- all-purpose flour (you could also use a mix of spelt or whole wheat flour with all-purpose flour to make it more nutritious and healthier)
- active dry yeast
- salt
- olive oil
- water
Sounds easy, right?! Well, it is!
Even if you have never baked your own bread, this is the perfect time for it! This is the perfect bread baking beginner recipe!
Tip: Just keep in mind that the yeast will need time to make the dough rise for about 1-2 hours depending on the room’s temperature (it needs less time in a warmer room e.g. in the summer). A good bread just needs a bit of time. But as long as you keep in mind to start early enough, you will be rewarded with delicious crispy white bread!
The basic steps
Step 1: Combine flour, instant yeast, and salt.
Step 2: Add olive oil and water.
Step 3: Use a kitchen machine with a dough hook (or knead with your hands) to make the bread dough.
Step 4: Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in warm spot for 1-2 hours.
Step 5: After 1-2 hours, the dough should have approximately doubled in size.
Step 6: Form a bread loaf and carve the surface with a knife.
Step 7: Bake the bread in the oven until golden brown.
Serve the Basic White Bread with…
- spreads (basic hummus, spinach hummus, potato cheese spread)
- creamy soups (carrot ginger soup, broccoli soup)
- stews (goulash, chili con carne)
- tomato bruschetta
How to store bread…
Homemade bread is the best on the day it is baked. Store leftovers at room temperature – a breadbox would be best, or a paper bag or in a container with a not completely closed lid to allow airflow. I like to toast bread slices when I use bread that I have baked the day(s) before.
Versatile Multi-Purpose Bread Dough
What if I told you.. you could make all of this with the basic white bread recipe?! Well.. you can! This bread dough is the perfect base recipe for bread loaves, burger buns, breadsticks, even fluffy naan, and pizza crust! The possibilities are endless!
Bread FAQ
Vegan Bread? Isn’t all bread vegan?
Unfortunately not! Some breads contain milk or honey, sometimes the surface is brushed with egg whites. It’s always good to check the labels for non-vegan ingredients.
Is yeast vegan?
Yeast is classified as a fungus (just like mushrooms) and therefore vegan-friendly. So no worries, you can eat yeast as a vegan!
I hope you enjoy this simple recipe as much as I do! I’d love to hear what you’re making with the basic white bread recipe!
Cheers, Bianca
Basic White Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/3 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2/3 cup lukewarm water
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, instant yeast, and salt. Then add the olive oil and water and stir to combine, then knead with your hands (or use a kitchen machine with a dough hook) until it comes together in a smooth dough*.
- Let it sit, covered with a clean kitchen towel, in a warm spot until it doubles in size (about 1 1/2-2 hours).
- Preheat the oven to 200 °C or 400 °F.
- Form a bread loaf and carve the surface of the dough lightly with a knife (I've made one long cut across the bread).
- Then bake the bread in the oven until the surface is golden**. You can knock on the bottom of the bread and when it sounds hollow it's done!
Notes
Nutrition
More delicious Vegan Bread Recipes
This post was first published in July 2014. Updated in February 2019.
Rachel
Saturday 17th of October 2020
Hi! Awesome recipe! It worked perfectly. I was wondering if I could add some dried tomatoes and olives in the dough? I thought about adding after the dough doubles its size, then knead a little bit and bake it, but I am not sure if this second kneading will afect the texture and so on.
Bianca
Tuesday 24th of November 2020
Absolutely! I usually add olives and dried tomatoes at the end of the kneading, so before the dough doubles in size. And it works out well.
Mrs. G
Sunday 2nd of August 2020
Hi, can we sub for brown rice flour for gf?
Bianca
Sunday 2nd of August 2020
no, this won't work. please look specifically for a gf bread recipe because the flours are so different.
Mrs. G
Sunday 26th of July 2020
aloha,
Due to allergies, what can the olive oil be substituted for?
Bianca
Monday 27th of July 2020
Hi, that depends on the allergies. But you can use ANY oil (canola, sunflower, peanut etc.) or leave out the oil completely.
Smudge
Friday 10th of April 2020
Just tried this for lunch ... was awesome. A bit dense, but we used it for dipping in soup, and it tasted amazing! Think I might have needed to knead it a bit more .. will definitely use this recipe again.
Ashley
Friday 13th of March 2020
Help! What am I doing wrong? I tried to to make this twice and both times they were soupy. The first time I did it I thought my yeast was bad so I started over with brand new yeast and it was still soupy. The second time it still looked like soup and I added an additional 3 cups to get it to try to form a dough and it's STILL sticky! I haven't baked it yet, but I liked this recipe as it was minimal ingredients and minimal wait time. Has this ever happened to you? I'm using all the same ingredients listed...
Bianca
Tuesday 17th of March 2020
this is weird. I've been making this dough 30+ times and never had this problem. are you sure you're using only 2/3 cup of water (=150ml)?