The Easiest Rosemary, Garlic, & Parmesan Sourdough Focaccia

This recipe truly is the easiest sourdough focaccia out there! Using only sourdough levain or starter, water, flour, salt and oil and THEN folding in freshly chopped rosemary, garlic, and grated parmesan cheese – I’d recommend sharing this bake with a hungry crowd because it’ll go fast!

This summer, we’ve been much more on-the-go visiting family, friends, and taking spontaneous day trips to the lake for a picnic or hike along the wooded creeks. I’m always packing snacks in my bag for myself (and my ravenously hungry pregnant belly) and for my toddler.

I hate the feeling of eating something that leaves me feeling terrible and starving afterwards. I need hearty, soulful food like focaccia to carry me throughout the day! This easy bread is packed with fresh flavors like rosemary, savory garlic, and a punch of parmesan cheese, it truly feels like an entire meal.

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Are you baking with sourdough yet?

Introduce sourdough in your own home (don’t worry, I’ve made this part easy for you!)

Find my The Journey of Sourdough guide that explains the sourdough process, start to finish, including all of the information you need to refresh and build your sourdough starter, make sourdough levain, bake a Classic French Boule (start to finish, including how to properly shape and score your loaf), as well as recipes and FAQs.

To make it even easier, I’m sharing my Organic, Spring Water-Fed Sourdough Starter ($10) with you. It’s solely fed with organic bread flour and refreshed with my favorite spring water straight from East Tennessee. I know you’ll enjoy it!

Shop my Organic Sourdough Products here

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Ways to prepare Sourdough Focaccia for snacks or meals

• I LOVE to dip my fresh sourdough focaccia bread in hummus. Hummus is FULL of protein and it’s a great snack for on the go! My toddler loves hummus, too, so it’s a win-win for us!
• Slice the focaccia bread in half like sandwich bread and stuff with your favorite ingredients like raw cheese, fresh cut meats, and herbs.
• Prepare an open-faced sandwich and top the focaccia bread with smears like hummus or pesto. Then top the smear with other ingredients like olives, artichokes, or microgreens! YUM.

Tools you may need to make Rosemary Garlic Parmesan Sourdough Focaccia

• 1 Large bowl
• 1 small bowl
• Spatula or standing mixer
• 9×13″ baking dish

Ingredients for the Easiest Sourdough Focaccia

• 100g (1/2 cup) active, bubbly sourdough levain or sourdough starter
• 430g (2 cups) warm water
• 512g (3 3/4 cup) bread or all-purpose flour
• 10g (1 1/2 tsp.) sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. plus another 1-2 Tbps olive oil (I like to use avocado oil)
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped or pressed fresh garlic
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (You really can’t use too much parmesan cheese here. I’ve even used an entire cup and it tastes, let’s just say, remarkable.)

Want a simple sourdough focaccia recipe and don’t want to add the rosemary, garlic, and parmesan?

Simply omit the rosemary, garlic, and parmesan ingredients and you have an extra simple sourdough focaccia recipe on your hands!

How to make the easiest Rosemary, Garlic, Parmesan Sourdough Focaccia

After baking with sourdough for a few years, this focaccia recipe is SIMPLE and very hands off! The great thing about baking with sourdough is that time plays a big role in the recipe. Here’s how you’ll make this amazing and easy sourdough focaccia:

Easiest Rosemary Garlic Parmesan Sourdough Focaccia

Make Sourdough Levain or feed your wet starter

Add warm water to the bubbly levain or starter. Using your hand, spatula, or a standing mixer with a dough hook, mix the ingredients until they’re just combined.

Add flour and sea salt and mix thoroughly. Cover and leave mixture at room temperature for 30 minutes (this is the autolyse step, simply meaning the flour is being hydrated by the water.)

After 30 minutes, stretch-and-fold dough. With a wet hand, grab one side of the dough, stretch it up and over the opposite end of the dough. Again, with a wet hand, lightly tuck the dough under itself and it will stick to itself. Do this 8-10 times in a clockwise pattern. You’ll notice the dough is beginning to create tension here!

After 4-6 hours, the dough should have doubled in size at room temperature. In the warmer months, this may only take 4 hours. In the cooler months, it may take 6 hours.

Prepare rosemary, garlic, and parmesan ingredients and combine the mixture in a small bowl.

Oil a 9×13″ baking sheet with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Gently place dough in the oiled pan and cover with another 1 Tbsp of oil.

Sprinkle rosemary, garlic, and parmesan cheese on top of dough.

Scoop your hands underneath the middle of the dough mass, pull the dough up a few inches, and fold it over itself. Do this a few times until the fresh ingredients are combined and dispersed well.

Let dough sit at room temperature, covered for another 4-6 hours, or until it’s doubled in size again, for its 2nd rise.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Drizzle 1 Tbsp. oil on top of dough and with your fingers spread, dip or poke your fingers roughly 1/2 inch into the dough to make indentions. Do this over the entire pan of focaccia dough.

Bake this easy rosemary, garlic, parmesan sourdough focaccia for 25 minutes.

If you prefer, drizzle another 1 Tbsp of oil on top of the fresh sourdough focaccia and serve immediately! Enjoy!

Bakers Schedule

If you’d like to serve this easy rosemary, garlic, parmesan sourdough focaccia recipe with dinner, follow this example time frame:

Day 1

8pm: make sourdough levain or feed your wet starter

Day 2

8am: Add water, flour, and salt to bubbly levain or active starter and mix until just combined.

8-8:30am: Autolyse for 30 min (pronounced “auto-lease”, this step simply means you’re giving the ingredients time to sit and combine with each other.

8:30am: Stretch-and-Fold the dough 8-10 times.

8:30am-12:30pm: 1st rise (about 4-6 hours). The dough will need to sit at room temperature, covered, to double in size.

12:30pm: Oil a baking sheet with 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Place dough in pan. Add rosemary, garlic, and parmesan and gently fold dough over itself a few times to combine all ingredients well.

12:30pm-4:30pm: 2nd rise (about 4-6 hours). Dough will sit at room temperature, covered again, for its second rise.

4:30pm: Bake sourdough focaccia at 425 degrees for 25 minutes. Enjoy!