Italian Bread Bowls
These homemade italian bread bowls are hearty and dense and perfect for filling up with a delicious, comforting soup. They are my favorite bread bowl!
I have had several requests for the bread bowl recipe I used for the soup I posted a while ago.
I actually use two recipes and love them both – just depends on which one falls out of the recipe binder when I’m ready to make them!
Both recipes create a dense, hearty bowl perfect for soup.
If you twisted my arm and made me choose a favorite, I would say the Italian Bread Bowl recipe but either one is delicious!
If you are looking for the Artisan Bread Bowl recipe, click HERE. It used to be housed right here but I split it into its own post.
Italian Bread Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons active dry yeast, use 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 2 ½ cups warm water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 7 cups all-purpose flour (see note)
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal
Instructions
- In a large bowl (or bowl of an electric mixer), dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. (You can omit this step if using instant yeast.)
- Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition until a soft but not sticky dough is formed (you may not need to use all 7 cups). This bread bowl dough needs to be a bit firmer than a roll/bread dough so that the bread bowls rise up instead of out.
- When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes (or let knead in an electric mixer). Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Punch dough down, and divide into 6-8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a round ball. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal (or use silpat liners or parchment paper). If desired, slash the top surface of the bread bowl several times with a sharp knife or razor.
- Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and baked through.
Notes
Flour Amount: as with all yeast doughs, I never use the flour amount called for in the recipe as a hard fast rule (unless a weight measure is given and then I pull out my kitchen scale). Because humidity, temperature, altitude and a multitude of other factors can impact how much flour you need in your yeast doughs, I always judge when to quit adding flour by the texture and look and feel of the dough rather than how much flour I’ve added compared to the recipe. This tutorial on yeast may help identify how a perfectly floured dough should be.
Whole Wheat Flour: I often use half to 3/4 finely ground white whole wheat flour with good results – and sometimes I get crazy and use 100% whole wheat flour (always finely ground white wheat) but the bread is a bit more dense with 100% whole wheat flour. If using part or all whole wheat flour, add a few minutes to the kneading time to help develop the gluten.
Serving: 1 Bowl, Calories: 581kcal, Carbohydrates: 113g, Protein: 16g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 784mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 1g
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Recipe Source: adapted from allrecipes.com
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145 Comments on “Italian Bread Bowls”
Hi there, I just found your recipe for the bread bowls and it looks great! My question is can I use this for a loaf of bread. If I can, about how many loaves would I get out of the recipe? I also love the tutorial about the yeast. Thanks
I haven’t tried it, but I’m sure you could!
So yummy! I was surprised they held a thin soup without becoming soggy since they’re so soft and fluffy. I made 6 bowls and the dough measured right around 7.8/8 oz each. I worried they were under-floured, but it was perfect! Thanks, Mel!!
I made these for Halloween yesterday. They were delicious and rose perfectly. My husband and mom said they were the best bread bowls they’d ever had. They were impressed that people actually make their own bread bowls. Haha I put your chicken corn chowder in them, thickened a bit. Delicious Halloween meal on a cold day. Your recipes never let me down. Thanks!!
Yummy, I knew I could find a good bread bowl recipe on here! It was perfect 🙂
Horrible bread! Never cooked all the way through. Would rather add a teaspoon of sugar and a half cup of water to activate the yeast and give it a better rise. It will bake better, rise better and taste better. Will not recommend this recipe to anyone!
These bread bowls turned out great. Thank you!
I tried these again for the 2nd time…the first time I obviously underfloured as they spread out. This time, I made sure my dough was a lot more stiff. I doubled the batch and gave my Bosch a workout! 14 cups of flour total. I made each batch into 6 loaves, which for me was 5.6 ounces each. They rose beautifully, and I was able to carve out a nice sized bowl. I’m bringing these as a take-in meal with chicken wild rice soup. Thanks Mel!
Happy to hear that, Melanie – and what a delicious take-in meal. Yum!
I just made this recipe with the broccoli cheese soup, and it was awesome! They rose beautifully, and the whole kitchen smelled heavenly for a coupe glorious hours. I had been asking my mom to let me make dinner one evening (I’m 13 years old), and this recipe was a huge hit! Everyone loved it, and my mom will be asking me to make dinner more often! Thanks so much Mel! I always go to your website when I’m looking for a new recipe to try.
You are amazing!
Do you think these would work to make a day or two earlier than eating them?
Yes, they should probably be ok since you’ll be loading them up with soup.
Success!! Mel I don’t know how many times I have tried to make bread bowls only to have them flatten out and end up with huge flat rolls. I just now took out of the oven 8 gorgeous round rolls that are going to make wonderful bowls. My husband will order soup in a bread bowl if we go out to eat and it is on the menu. You have just made him a very happy man. He might get to have seconds tonight which you can never afford to do at a restaurant. I am making your new broccoli cheese soup to go in them. We will be eating a Mel dinner tonight! Thank you!
Yay! I’m so happy this recipe worked out for you!
Have you had any success with gluten free bread bowl recipes?
I haven’t; sorry!
Thanks for the recipe! I would like to try it with bread flour instead of all purpose. Do you know if there a reason I shouldn’t or should I adjust the amount of flour? Thanks!
Bread flour should sub just fine.
I happened to have leftovers of these bread bowls, which are great. I turned them into garlic bread bowls and served pasta and meatballs in them. Fabulous result.
What an awesome idea, to make them into garlic bread bowls. Could you give a brief description of how you did it. I think it would be fabulous for many soups, as well.
Hi mel,
I wanted to ask a question can i use corn starch instead of the corn meal ?
I wouldn’t sub cornstarch for cornmeal. It’s not really the same at all in texture. If you don’t have cornmeal, that’s fine – you can bake them on parchment or a greased baking sheet.
I used to make this recipe off your website but I remember it had an egg wash. Do you not recommend the egg wash anymore?
Hey Julie – it’s been a long time ago that I updated the recipe and honestly, I can’t remember if I took out the egg wash or not. Either way, I don’t use the egg wash. It’s an extra step that I don’t use but you could still do it if you want a shinier top.
I really have a problem getting these to rise “up.” I enjoy eating them just the same, but they don’t hold very much in a disk shape, so I have to refill them. But. Do you have any suggestions? Is it possible I overflour them? This particular go-around, I probably used 7 1/2 cups, and I’ve definitely used more. I don’t think I’ve tried them with less, though. I use plastic wrap to cover them, but I try and just sort of toss it gently over – should I try using a cloth instead? Please be my bread bowl guru.
Hi Diane – so do they rise at all? Like, are they rising but just outward instead of upward? If that’s the case, you may need more flour so that the dough can hold it’s shape and have the structure needed to rise up. You can also try putting them closer together on the baking sheet so they use each other’s sides to rise up instead of out. I always cover with greased plastic wrap, too.
I tried making these the other day, and they tasted great fresh out of the oven, but when I tried one later (a few hours later, after they had cooled off,) they taste rather “doughy”
They are cooked all the way through, so is there any other reason this might happen, and how can I fix it? I really liked this recipe
Kaitlyn – I am not sure if you are referring to a doughy taste or a yeasty taste? Either way, you could try increasing the baking time by a couple of minutes or reducing the yeast just slightly (but not too much or the bread may not rise properly).
Can you freeze the extra dough if you don’t want to use it all at once?
Hi Leah – yes, this dough freezes really well.
Brianne – yes, the dough balls should be smooth. Do you think you might need to add more flour? They should pretty easily roll into a ball if the dough is soft and supple and well-floured.
I am pretty new to bread making and had the hardest times shaping them into balls. They were full of cracks and I could never get them smooth. Did I do something wrong with the dough? Maybe they aren’t meant to be smooth. I have made your rolls before ad tries to so the method you use of rolling them in your hands with no luck. Thanks for the input. =)
Made the Italian bread bowls last night. Filled them with your Split Pea, with ham and barley soup. YUMMMM!!!