Tomato Basil Bread is one of the best you'll ever have! It's a fantastic bread for holidays, dinners, or dipping into soup. It's made with fresh basil, sun-dried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese, and makes a beautifully orange, soft and tender loaf. This recipe includes instructions for making it by hand and in a bread maker.
Table Of Contents
I was inspired to make this sun-dried Tomato Basil Bread after seeing a similar bread at a farmer's market. Not only did it taste fantastic, but it looked so perfect that I didn't even want to cut into it.
The first time I made this was for Thanksgiving dinner many years ago. It was so popular that I've been asked to make it for every holiday dinner since. It can be made easily by hand or in a bread machine, and will be a winner every time!
The aroma of basil, tomato, and cheese wrapped up in an orange crust is mouthwatering. This savory bread is perfect for holiday dinners, toasting, sandwiches, and dipping into your favorite winter soups, like chicken parmesan soup, creamy tomato soup and minestrone.
Ingredients
- Sun-dried tomatoes: sun-dried tomatoes in oil or water or those that are ready to eat. Just make sure that you rinse off any oil and absorb extra water with a paper towel before adding them to the bread pan.
- Fresh basil: substitute with dried basil if absolutely necessary, but fresh basil gives the bread a much better taste.
- Water + plain yogurt: to make a liquid yogurt mixture that results in a soft and tender crumb.
- Bread flour: substituting with all purpose flour will not significantly change the texture but will ever so slightly reduce it's chewiness and rise.
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Instant yeast: instant yeast does not need proofing in water before using it, making it the best to use for this recipe.
- Vital wheat gluten: this is optional, but I recently started adding it to most of my yeast breads because it improves the texture and structure of bread, giving it a more tender crumb and a better rise.
By Hand Instructions
To make tomato basil bread by hand, you'll need an electric hand mixer or stand mixer. If you don't have one, the Kitchen Aid classic mixer is a great choice.
STEP 1: In a small saucepan, heat the water and yogurt until it's steaming, but not boiling. Mix it well so the yogurt is mostly dissolved and then remove from the heat for 5 minutes.
Step 2: In a stand mixer, combine 2 ½ cups bread flour, salt, sugar, basil, Parmesan cheese, and yeast. Mix to combine.
Step 3: Add the yogurt and water mixture, salt, and sundried tomatoes. Knead using the dough hook on low speed until smooth.
Step 4: Once the dough is smooth, increase the speed to medium and knead for 5-7 minutes, until a tacky ball forms. The dough should be sticky when done, but easily peel off your fingers when touched. If it sticks to your hands and cannot be removed, add ¼ cup bread flour more and knead for 2 minutes. Repeat this until the dough ball is smooth and sticky, but doesn't stick to your fingers.
Step 5: Remove from the mixer and put in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a heavy towel and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour. The dough should be doubled in size. If it's not, let rise for 20 more minutes or until doubled in size.
Step 6: Punch dough down a few times, then transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. Shape into a smooth ball or rectangle and slice an X on top. Cover with the towel and let rise in a warm place for 30 more minutes.
Step 7: Bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes, until the bread sounds hollow when tapped and the crust is golden brown.
Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool for 30 minutes before slicing. Store in an airtight container, bread box, or bread bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Bread Maker Instructions
- In a small saucepan, heat the water and yogurt until it's steaming, but not boiling. Mix it well so the yogurt is mostly dissolved and then remove from the heat for 5 minutes.
- In the order your bread machine requires, add the water/yogurt mixture, salt, sugar, bread flour, and yeast (this is the correct order for Cuisinart breadmakers).
- If baking directly in the bread machine, set to the basic white bread mode. Select the 1.5 lb loaf size and your preferred crust color. When the mix-in sound beeps, add the sundried tomatoes, basil, and Parmesan cheese. When the cycle completes, carefully transfer the bread to a cooling rack. If baking in the oven, set to the dough mode and choose the 1.5 lb loaf. Press start. When the mix-in sound beeps, add the sundried tomatoes, basil, and Parmesan cheese. When finished, shape into a ball or oval, slice an X into the top, cover with a heavy towel, and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes, until the bread sounds hollow when tapped.
Variations
Sun dried tomato basil bread can be altered in a few ways if you'd like.
- Replace the basil with different herbs, such as parsley, or use a combination of herbs.
- Before the last rise, break the dough into small personal size dough balls and bake for 25 minutes to create individual dinner rolls.
- Add ¼ cup tomato paste to the dough if you'd like a highly tomato flavored bread.
- Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top during the last 15 minutes of baking.
Using Different Flour
While you can swap bread flour for all purpose flour or whole wheat flour, it won't produce the same soft chewy bread. For breads that need time to rise, bread flour is the best to use. It has a higher amount of protein and gluten, which creates a chewy, airy bread.
When substituting all purpose flour for bread flour, make a 1:1 substitution.
Substituting whole wheat flour is a bit trickier, although easy if you understand a few basic points about baking with whole wheat flour. You can see how to use whole wheat flour here.
FAQs
Yes, freeze bread wrapped in plastic and put in a freezer safe bag. It can be frozen as a full loaf or cut into slices.
There are many reasons that a yeast bread doesn't rise. Room temperature, liquid temperature, altitude, dead yeast, and liquid to dry ingredient ratios all contribute to how well bread rises. Even the humidity in the air the day you make it can affect the outcome. For more details on why your bread may not have risen and what to do about it, see this post.
While you can swap bread flour for all purpose flour it won't produce the same soft chewy bread. For breads that need time to rise, bread flour is the best to use. It has a higher amount of protein and gluten, which creates a chewy, airy bread. When substituting all purpose flour for bread flour, make a 1:1 substitution.
Recipe
Tomato Basil Bread Recipe
Equipment
- bread machine optional
- electric hand or stand mixer
- bread knife
- bread storage bags
- wire cooling rack
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups bread flour
- 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten optional
- 2 tablespoon white sugar
- ⅓ cup fresh basil torn
- 6 oz sun-dried tomatoes rinsed and cut into small pieces
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 ¼ teaspoon yeast instant or active dry
- 1 cup water warmed to 115℉
- ¼ cup plain yogurt
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
By Hand Instructions
- In a small saucepan, heat the water and yogurt until steaming, stirring occasionally. Let cool to 115°F, for approximately 5 minutes. While cooling, soak any water or oil off the sundried tomatoes and roughly chop into small pieces.
- In a stand mixer, combine bread flour, vital wheat gluten (if using), sugar, torn basil, parmesan cheese, and yeast. Mix to combine. Add the yogurt and water, salt, and sundried tomatoes. Knead using the dough hook on low speed until smooth.
- Once dough is smooth, increase the speed to medium and knead for 5-7 minutes, until a tacky ball forms. The dough should be sticky when done, but easily peel off your fingers when touched. If it sticks to your hands and cannot be removed, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time and knead for 2 minutes. Repeat this until the dough ball is smooth and sticky, but doesn't stick to your fingers.
- Remove dough ball from the mixer and put in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a heavy towel and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.
- Knead a few more times, then shape into a smooth ball or rectangle. Slice an X on top. Cover with the towel and let rise in a warm place for 30 more minutes.
- Bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes, until the bread sounds hollow when tapped or the internal temperature has reached 200℉. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack. Let cool for 30 minutes before slicing.
Bread Machine Instructions
- In the order your bread machine requires, add the warm water, yogurt, sugar, salt, parmesan cheese, bread flour, vital wheat gluten (if using) and yeast (this is the correct order for Cuisinart breadmakers).
- If baking directly in the bread machine, set to the basic white bread mode. Select the 1.5 lb loaf size and your preferred crust color. When the mix-in sound beeps, add the sundried tomatoes and torn fresh basil. When the cycle completes, carefully transfer the bread to a cooling rack. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before slicing.
- If baking in the oven, set to the dough mode and choose the 1.5 lb loaf. Press start. When the mix-in sound beeps, add the sundried tomatoes and torn fresh basil. When finished, shape into a ball or oval, slice an X into the top, cover with a heavy towel, and let rise in a warm place for 30-60 minutes, until doubled in size. Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes, until the bread sounds hollow when tapped or the internal temperature has reached 200℉. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool for 30 minutes before slicing.
Sarah says
This bread is amazing! Best bread I've ever made in my bread machine. I even used it to make a grilled turkey and swiss sandwich and it was delicious. Seriously, I am getting ready to make a second loaf tomorrow. So good!