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Focaccia Pizza is delicious and easy to make. With a light and fluffy focaccia base, it’s topped with homemade tomato sauce and finished off with fresh leaves, parmesan, and creamy mozzarella.
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Focaccia Bread + Pizza Margherita = Focaccia Pizza! Now, that’s my kind of math. It’s the best of both worlds combined into one easy recipe.
Fans of Italian cuisine will be delighted with this focaccia pizza recipe. Imagine airy focaccia bread topped with the typical ingredients of a Pizza Margherita…it tastes absolutely delicious!
It is worth noting that this recipe is not a thin pizza. In fact, it is quite thick thanks to the focaccia dough, but very airy and light!
The dough is prepared according to this focaccia recipe – without kneading, with cold dough overnight. This makes for the ultimate cloudy and airy dough.
However, if you’d prefer to make it a little faster, you can also use this quick focaccia recipe that only takes 2 hours to make. → For using the quick focaccia dough recipe to make focaccia pizza as specified below, make a double batch so that you use 4 cups (500g) of flour.
Once the focaccia base is ready, simply top it with pizza sauce and cheese! Focaccia bread pizza is great for dinner for the whole family, and I usually serve it with an Italian arugula side salad. This recipe is so versatile, it’s even great for serving cold as finger food or as an appetizer at a party when cut into smaller pieces.
Since the dough needs to rise for about 26 hours, you will need to plan to make this recipe ahead of time, or just use the quick focaccia dough recipe if you’re making it on the day. → If you want to serve the pizza for lunch, start in the morning the day before you want to serve it. However, if you want to serve it for dinner, start the day before, but around lunchtime.
The 24 hours don’t have to be rigorously adhered to. A few hours more or less do it too! 😉
Ingredients
See recipe card for quantities.
- All Purpose Flour → Do not use whole wheat flour, otherwise, the amount of liquid will be off.
- Active Dry Yeast or Instant Yeast → So that the dough rises nicely!
- Water → Should be lukewarm.
- Salt → An aromatic focaccia needs a good pinch of salt, use kosher salt or sea salt for best results.
- Sugar → Ensures that the dough rises a little better. Can be omitted to make it sugar-free.
- Pizza Sauce → You can use store-bought, but it is best homemade using this quick pizza tomato sauce recipe.
- Olive oil, parmesan, fresh mozzarella, basil → In my opinion, these belong on every pizza! For a vegan focaccia pizza, substitute the cheese with a plant-based cheese alternative or this homemade cashew mozzarella.
Topping Ideas
You can get creative with your toppings, here are a few ideas:
- Artichokes
- Cherry tomatoes or sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- Olives
- Pineapple (you either hate it or love it! 😋)
- Zucchini
- Mushroom
- Bell pepper
- Red onion or spring onion
- Arugula or rocket leaves (add to focaccia after baking)
- Fresh basil leaves
- Fresh spinach leaves
Visual Step-by-Step Instructions
This visual step-by-step instruction will help you along the way – definitely recommended if you’re a baking beginner! 😉
- Make the dough: Put the flour, dry yeast, salt, and sugar in a large bowl and stir. Add the warm water and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula to form a wet dough (but do not knead).
- Let it rise: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest and rise in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- Put dough onto prepared tray: Rub a baking tray (about 20x35cm) with a tablespoon of oil. Remove the cold dough from the bowl and turn it out onto the baking sheet. Turn it in the oil and shape it into a ball.
- Let it rise again: Let the dough rise for another 2 hours at room temperature. → The dough does not need to be covered. It will expand again nicely during this time and should take the shape of the baking pan.
- Preheat oven: Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
- Press holes into the dough: Spread a tablespoon of olive oil on the focaccia, then dip your fingers into the oil and press deep holes into the dough with oiled fingertips. → If necessary, you can pull the dough a bit into the corners of the baking tray to make it into more of a rectangle if needed.
- Pre-bake the focaccia: Bake the focaccia for 12 minutes. → It is essential to pre-bake the focaccia first without the pizza toppings, otherwise the dough will not bake all the way through or the toppings will be burnt.
- Add sauce and toppings and bake: Remove the focaccia from the oven and spread the pizza sauce on top. Season with a pinch of salt & pepper, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Next, spread the mozzarella on top (or add other pizza toppings of your choice). Bake for another 10 minutes or so until the cheese is melted and the edges of the crust are beginning to turn golden-brown.
- Slice and serve: Cut into even slices and serve while still warm!
Make Ahead & Storage Instructions
How do I store leftovers? Cover it in plastic wrap or store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Serve leftovers either cold or reheat for 10 minutes in a preheated oven at 395°F (200°C).
Can I freeze focaccia pizza? Wrap tomato focaccia pizza slices in plastic wrap and then foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Reheat the slices by placing them on a foil-lined baking pan in a preheated oven at 395°F (200°C).
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📖 Recipe
Focaccia Pizza
Ingredients
Focaccia Dough
- 4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 ¾ cup + 1 tbsp (440 ml) water lukewarm
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Pizza
- ½ portion (180 g) pizza sauce about ¾ cup
- 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ cup (150 g) mozzarella cheese
- a few leaves fresh basil
Instructions
Focaccia Dough
- Put the flour, dry yeast, salt, and sugar in a large bowl and stir. Add the warm water and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula to form a wet dough (do not knead).
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest and rise in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- Rub a baking tray (about 8×14 inches/ 20x35cm) with a tablespoon of oil. Remove the cold dough from the bowl and turn it out onto the baking sheet. Turn it in the oil and shape it into a ball.
- Let the dough rise for another 2 hours at room temperature. → The dough does not need to be covered. It will expand again nicely during this time and should take the shape of the baking pan.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
Focaccia Pizza
- Spread a tablespoon of olive oil on the focaccia, then dip your fingers into the oil and press deep holes into the dough with oiled fingertips. → If necessary, you can pull the dough a bit into the corners of the baking tray to make it into more of a rectangle if needed.
- Bake the focaccia for 12 minutes. → It is essential to pre-bake the focaccia first without pizza toppings, otherwise the dough will not bake all the way through or the toppings will be burnt.
- Remove the focaccia from the oven and spread the pizza sauce on top. Season with a pinch of salt & pepper, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Next, spread the mozzarella on top (or add other pizza toppings of your choice). Bake for another 10 minutes or so until cheese is melted and the edges of the crust are beginning to turn golden-brown.
- Cut into even slices and serve while still warm!
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