This simple Ciabatta Bread recipe will give you a rustic Italian loaf that is perfect for dipping into soups or sauces. The high hydration in this bread results in a wonderfully chewy center and tons of irregular holes.
Homemade ciabatta bread
This is probably the easiest ciabatta bread recipe you'll come across. It is an 80% hydration bread which means it's very wet and sticky.
Because of this, you'll need a stand mixer to make the dough. Otherwise, it will be near impossible to mix the dough.
The mixer will do all the mixing and kneading for you. This is why I say it's the easiest recipe.
No-knead recipes are the best! I make baguettes, pizza dough, and slow cooker bread all the time because they require little effort. And now I'll be making ciabatta bread just as often, if not more.
Ciabatta means slipper in Italian. Can you see how the bread get its name? It's shaped just like a slipper!
Are there eggs in ciabatta bread?
There are no eggs in ciabatta bread. It's made with flour, water, yeast, and salt.
What do you use ciabatta bread for?
You slice ciabatta bread at an angle and drizzle it with olive oil. It can also be used for dipping in soup or soaking up a sauce.
Or you can slice it lengthwise and make an Italian Style sandwich. Whichever way you decide to enjoy this bread, I'm sure you'll be impressed with the texture and flavor.
How do you heat up ciabatta bread?
You can heat ciabatta bread by wrapping it in aluminum foil and baking in a 350°F oven for 10-15 minutes.
Main ingredients for ciabatta bread
Bread flour - this is essential for the sturdy texture of this bread.
Yeast - you can use instant or active dry yeast. Either one will work. Just be sure to use a quality brand like Red Star®.
Water - there's a lot of water in this bread and it's the only liquid the recipe calls for.
Salt - salt boosts the flavor of ciabatta bread but it also slows down the fermentation and enzyme activity in the dough. It helps to strengthen and support volume as well.
How to make ciabatta bread?
Step 1: Make the sponge
Combine flour, yeast, and water in a large bowl. Stir it with a wooden spoon until it's well mixed and free of lumps.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for at least 15 hours but up to 20 hours. The longer you let the sponge sit, the more flavor and structure the final bread will have.
Step 2: Make the dough
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sponge with more flour, water, and salt. Mix it with the dough hook until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.
The dough will be very soft and batter-like. This is normal for ciabatta.
Step 3: Rise and turn the dough
Transfer the dough to a large bowl greased with olive oil. Cover and let it rise for 1 hour. Use wet hands or a greased silicone dough scraper to gently lift and fold the dough over onto itself. Flip the dough over so the top is now the bottom.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 45 minutes. Repeat the folding process twice more and let rest for another 45 minutes after each.
Step 4: Shape the dough
Transfer the dough to a well-floured surface and liberally flour the top of the dough. Use two well-floured bench scrapers and carefully manipulate the dough from the sides to form a square.
Don't add any pressure to the top of the dough or it will deflate. Cut the square in half and use the bench scrapers to gently shape each half into a loaf.
Gently slide the bench scrapers under the dough and transfer each loaf to an inverted baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover the loaves with a cloth and let rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Step 5: Bake
Invert a baking sheet onto the rack just below the center of the oven and heat to 450°F.
Spray the loaves lightly with water. Then, carefully slide the parchment with the loaves onto the heated baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
It's important to bake with steam to create a crisp, golden crust. Do this by placing a cast iron on the lowest rack. When transferring the loaves to the oven, add 1 cup of ice to the cast iron. The ice will melt and steam during the first few minutes of baking.
I don’t have a mixer. Can I use a food processor? Or can I mix by hand?
A stand mixer is recommended for this recipe! This dough is high hydration, meaning it is very sticky. A stand mixer is the easiest way to mix it.
You can try mixing it with a wooden spoon and kneading it by hand but be mindful that adding more flour during kneading will affect how the bread turns out.
I don't recommend using a food processor for mixing.
Tips for this easy ciabatta bread recipe
- Plan ahead since the sponge needs to be made a day in advance.
- The dough for this bread is very wet and sticky. It requires a lot of external flour to prevent it from sticking. If you use too much flour on the outside, you can easily brush it off before spritzing the loaf with water and baking. Just use a pastry brush* to do this.
- The dough will puff up and resemble a giant marshmallow. Be very delicate when shaping it so you don't knock out all the air. The air is what gives the bread those gorgeous irregular holes.
More yeast bread recipes you'll love
- Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
- Chocolate Swirl Bread with Cherries
- Rosemary Cheese Bread (Dutch Oven)
- Rosemary Olive Beer Bread
Some quick bread recipes you might like
- Irish Soda Bread with Raisins and Caraway Seeds
- Best Ever Banana Bread
- Cheddar Jalapeno Buttermilk Bread
Watch how to make it
Homemade Ciabatta Bread
This simple Ciabatta Bread recipe will give you a rustic Italian loaf that is perfect for dipping into soups or sauces. The high hydration in this bread results in a wonderfully chewy center and tons of irregular holes.
Ingredients
For the poolish
- 1 ½ cups (200 g) bread flour
- 1 scant cup (200 ml) water, room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon instant yeast
For the dough
- 2 ⅔ cups (350 g) bread flour
- 1 cup (240 ml) water, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon instant yeast
Instructions
Make the poolish
- Combine the flour, water, and yeast in a medium bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until fully combined and the mixture is smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment at room temperature for 15 to 20 hours.
Make the dough
- Add the poolish and all ingredients for the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until all the flour is moistened, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-low and mix until dough forms into a mass and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 6 minutes.
- Switch to the dough hook attachment and mix on medium-low until dough becomes smooth and shiny, about 10 minutes. The dough will be soft, wet, and sticky much like batter.
- Lightly coat the inside of a large bowl with olive oil or nonstick spray. Use a silicone dough scraper to scrape the dough into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour at room temperature.
- Using a greased scraper or damp fingertips, gently grab one side of the dough, lift and stretch it over the top of itself. Turn the bowl 180 degrees and stretch the same way. Rotate 90 degrees, stretch and fold. Rotate 180 degrees to stretch and fold the final side. Flip the dough over so the bottom becomes the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 45 minutes. Repeat folding two more times, then cover with plastic wrap and let sit for an additional 45 minutes after each.
- Adjust the oven racks so that one is in the lower-third position (just below the center) and one is at the very bottom position. Place a cast-iron skillet on the lowest rack and an inverted baking sheet on the upper rack. Heat the oven to 450°F. It's important to let the oven preheat for at least an hour to ensure it is hot enough.
- Liberally dust your work surface with flour and let the dough slide out of the bowl onto the counter. Be very gentle here so you don't knock all the air out of the dough and try to handle the dough as little as possible. Liberally dust the top of the dough with flour. Using 2 well-floured bench scrapers, carefully manipulate the dough from the sides to form a square. Take care not to put pressure on top of the dough.
- Cut the dough in half, down the middle of the square. Gently shape each half into loaves by using the bench scrapers to manipulate the sides.
- Invert a large baking sheet and place a sheet of parchment paper across the top. Dust liberally with flour. Using both bench scrapers, slide them under both ends of the dough and transfer the dough to the prepared parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining loaf. Use your fingertips to gently poke the surface of each loaf as you shape it into a rectangle.
- Cover with a lint-free cloth to prevent the loaves from drying out. Proof in a draft-free place until puffy and the surface develops small bubbles, about 30 minutes.
- Have 1 cup of ice ready. Mist the loaves with water and carefully slide the parchment with loaves on the heated baking sheet in the oven using a jerking motion. Immediately drop the ice into the cast-iron pan on the bottom rack. Quickly close the oven door.
- Bake, until the crust is a deep golden brown, about 25-35 minutes. The internal temperature of the bread should be 210-215°F.
- Transfer to a rack to cool completely before slicing and serving
Notes
It's very important to measure the ingredients correctly! While I do list cup measurements, if you do not measure accurately, the dough will not form properly. For 100% success with this recipe, please use the weight measurements. This is a soft, sticky dough. It's difficult to work with and requires patience.
This is a 80% hydration bread. If you have difficulty working with the dough, lower the hydration to 70% by using 3 ¼ cups (422 g) flour in the dough.
You may bake the bread on an oven stone if you prefer. Place it in the oven to preheat in step 5.
Shaping ciabatta: This is meant to be an easy recipe with limited handling. Because of this, it can be difficult to build surface tension around the dough to hold in the gas. If you continuously have trouble with getting large irregular holes in the bread, then it's because the gas is escaping. Make sure you are adequately stretching and folding to build up the surface tension.
How to keep ciabatta fresh
- Wrap completely cooled bread in aluminum foil and it will keep for up to 2 days at room temperature. The crust will soften but can be toasted if you wish to crispen it up.
- The bread will stay fresh for up to 3 months if stored in the freezer. Wrap the cooled loaves in double layers of plastic wrap followed by double layers of aluminum foil. Reheat the frozen loaves as desired in the oven.
- I don't recommend refrigerating the bread. Oftentimes, this will dry it out.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 2 small slicesAmount Per Serving: Calories: 197Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 355mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 7g
This recipe has been updated with a few tweaks to ensure everyone has success. I've added additional yeast and there's also less handling of the dough which prevents the air from being knocked out.
Adapted from On Baking and Bread Illustrated.
Christopher Green says
I always try out a new recipe with half. But this turned out such a winner that I'm going to start another preferment and make it again tomorrow. Just to be different, I bake in a cast-iron skillet. This bread really profits from that treatment.
Lisa G. says
Hi Jen, I have made your bread regularly for the past few months it is really the best I make now! I know the bread flour is the way to go but the only thing I have on hand now is regular all purpose flour, will that work or will it just be a waste of all the other ingredients? THANK YOU!
Jen Sobjack says
Using all-purpose flour in place of bread flour will yield a slightly wetter dough. Since this recipe is already high hydration, I strongly recommend using bread flour.
Anon says
Oh yes I should add that I didn't have a dough hook so I continued using the paddle attachment for the second part of mixing.. Was that what caused the flatness? What could I have done instead?
Anon says
Idk wtf I did wrong, I followed the whole process patiently over 2 days and although it tastes delicious, my bread turned out completely flat lmao! Not even a single bubble!! The bottom looks more steamed than baked too. It really tastes delicious but it’s so dense as you can imagine, more dense than even regular white bread
Clare McKeown says
Hi in the firsy part of the article it describes putting the sponge in the frigde for 15 to 20 hours and at the recipe section it says to keep the poolish at room temp for 15 to 20 hours. I am a bit confused, should i refrigerate in first section or just leave out at room temp. Thanks
Jen Sobjack says
Yes, the recipe was recently updated and the change was overlooked in the post copy. Apologies. Leave the poolish at room temperature for 15-20 hours as stated in the recipe.
Clare McKeown says
Thanks
Dave Busse says
Just a couple quick questions. Wasn't sure why we spray the loaves a couple times in the 1st 5 minutes. 2nd- I'm wondering how the use of a pizza stone might change the baking time, texture, etc.
Making this challe nging bread was the highlight of my week...a tie with Italian Renaissance ! Very enlightened.
Jen Sobjack says
Spraying the loaves creates steam in the oven which promotes browning and crispy crusts. I don't own a stone so I can't advise on any changes that need to be made.
Erin says
Would it be possible to use starter for the sponge?
Jen Sobjack says
Unfortunately, I don't have experience with using a starter in this recipe.
Rebekah says
Can you make this into rolls, for sandwiches, instead of loaves? Any recommendations for this process?
Jen Sobjack says
I haven't made the recipe this way so I'm not sure the best way to go about it.
Deb says
I followed the directions (except I didn’t have the right mixer blade and only one scraper) and they turned out BEAUTIFULLY! It’s almost (not really) a shame we’re using them to make croutons for the Thanksgiving dressing, but I have set a couple slices aside for my son’s work lunch. Can’t wait to try it again.
Denise says
Starter needs another couple hours... I can't wait to make this. Thank you for the well explained and step by step video instructions showing what it looks like.
Rosie says
I am wondering if people having issues with the dough being too wet are in the UK, rather than the US? Our flour tends to be different (lower protein), and I too found that it is a pool of gloop, rather than something that can be folded over itself.
So I wonder if adding a bit of gluten flour would help? Too late for mine now, but I will see how they turn out (soon to be baked).
Spaxxy says
50/50 bread flour/00 will give closer to ciabatta flour.
Robin says
Just did a test run on these in preparation for the sandwiches I’m making for a birthday picnic and it was a great success. I was a little worried when they went into the oven because the dough was so slack that they really flattened out but they puffed up beautifully and the crumb is picture perfect. Thanks for a great recipe.
Judyth Casey says
It worked! I am so happy! I used sourdough starter, having started in the early days of the pandemic and getting a bit better each time I try a recipe. I usually reactivate the scraps I keep in the fridge at the weekends to either make pancakes with onions and mint in or a pizza. Then I found your recipe and just used 200g of the starter.Amazing...thank you so much
Clare says
Ooooh please tell me how! i have some starter ~I would like to use more! X
Judyth says
Of course I didn't write anything down, so I hope this is correct. I used 200gram of the starter, which I had fed the day before and left it out on the counter. I followed the rest of her recipe, just leaving out a little water, because the starter was already floppy. Then I added the difference in weight of flour, and put it in my food mixer. I also put water in a baking tin in the oven like one other baker mentioned.I hope this is helpful, I have only just begun to follow recipes properly! Shocking when it works. But really the loaves were absolutely spot on delicious!
Iryna says
It turned out wonderfully, thank you for the recipe! I think this was my best yeast bread so far.
I used half bread flour and half white wheat flour, which give it more rustic nutty flavor.
Also I used a pan with boiling water on the bottom for humidity.
My mistake was underestimating how much is “a lot of external flour”, so I had to do some gentle peeling of my towel, but results were still great.
Laura Veth says
I'd like to add rosemary and garlic to this recipe. How much and when should/can I add it?
Jen Sobjack says
I'm not real sure how much to add since I've never tested the recipe with adding either of those ingredients. I'm guessing 1-2 teaspoons of each. You would add it in step 1 of making the dough.