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Home » Party Food & Appetizers » Appetizers

Air Fryer Focaccia Bread

Jun 26, 2023 · 21 Comments

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For all of us air fryer lovers, there is an awesome piece of news: you CAN make fantastic, delicious focaccia bread in an air fryer. That's right, air fryer focaccia bread CAN be so good that it's hard to believe that it was not baked in an oven. I love my artisanal oven-baked focaccia, but being a huge fan of anything air-fried, I had to try making it in my air fryer, and it worked exceptionally well. This air fryer focaccia bread will blow your socks off. It will also make a fantastic gift for friends, neighbors, and relatives. Try it! You will love it!

Delicious, soft and airy, with crispy crust, focaccia bread baked in an air fryer.

My secret for the best-tasting air fryer focaccia bread

Let me be clear: great focaccia is not just about baking, but the baking part is also important. The most important part, as with any bread, is the dough. Sure, you can slap some dough together real quick - many recipes call for exactly that - and have something that looks like focaccia, but you will be doing yourself a disservice.  Amazing focaccia needs a little bit of work and some time.

In my humble opinion, the best focaccia is made from no-knead dough. Kneading ruins the texture. Knead if you want store-bought-tasting focaccia. If you want a delicate, soft, moist, and airy texture with huge bubbles, do only stretch and folds to develop gluten. This will strengthen the dough and make the crumb open and airy. And insanely delicious.

The dough must be well-hydrated. High hydration is what makes focaccia crumb moist, soft, airy, and a pleasure to eat. But too much hydration is not a good thing.  Low-hydration dough will result in bread that is tough and dense. There has to be a balance. I've experienced a lot with various hydration levels and found 80% to be optimal.

Next, let the dough finish its fermentation in the fridge overnight. This is called cold retarding. During this time, the dough will relax and finish its fermentation slowly while developing robust flavors. This is the kind of bread for which high-end artisanal bakeries charge high premium prices. But you can easily do it at home. All you need is simple ingredients, a little bit of effort, and some time.

After the fridge, the dough must spend two hours at room temperature to warm up, relax and undergo proofing. During this time, the dough will further increase in volume and become airy-soft. This step is very important when making focaccia.

Air fryer focaccia, crispy and golden brown, in aluminum baking pan.

Toppings

This focaccia bread will taste great even without any toppings. Drizzle some olive oil, and sprinkle some black peppers. That's it. You can top it with chopped tomatoes. That's a very good, traditional topping. I love herbs with some chopped garlic on my focaccia, which is what I included in the recipe below.

But feel free to use any topping you want, from nothing to herbs, prosciutto slices, meatballs, or whatever you like. Your imagination is the limit.

Focaccia Baked in an Air Fryer

Baking focaccia in an air fryer

I'd never baked bread in my air fryer, so this started as a curious experiment. I was quite skeptical initially, but I still hoped the results would be acceptable. I did not expect the crust to be as good as in my oven-baked focaccia, baked at 500F on a stone and with convection. Nothing could possibly come close to it; I refined that recipe and the baking process to perfection.

But when I finished baking my first focaccia in an air fryer, I was pleasantly surprised. It worked, and it worked quite well.

I got even better results when I switched to a 7.5" by 5" Weber foil pan, allowing for better/faster heat transfer to the dough. I got a practically identical crispy top, a similar soft and airy crumb, and the same flavor. My conclusion is that you must bake air fryer focaccia in a foil pan. A thick metal or ceramic pan won't work as well as a foil pan.

What I could not replicate in my air fryer is the well-browned bottom. It remained pale and soft, even when properly baked to 195F or even higher. Is it a problem? Absolutely not! This bread is fantastic, and I could not believe that I could make my favorite focaccia bread in an air fryer that tasted practically the same as my beloved oven-baked focaccia.

Air fryer focaccia bread temperature.

Baking pan size

My Chefman 6.8 Quart Air Fryer can easily fit a 7.5" x 5" Weber tin pan, so that's what I use. Your air fryer is most likely different from mine, and you will have to use a different size foil pan. These foil baking pans come in various sizes, so pick the one that fits your air fryer model.

Try not to use a pan that goes from side to side; you want some open space between the pan and the walls of the air fryer for air circulation.

The recipe below will make three portions baked in 7.5" x 5" pans. If you use a larger pan, divide the dough into two portions. If using smaller pans, divide into 4-5 portions.

Baking temperature and time

I find air frying focaccia is like grilling meat or chicken. The higher the cooking temperature and the shorter the cooking time, the softer the interior and the crispier the crust. An air fryer is almost perfect for making focaccia if not for the under-crisped-up bottom.

In my air fryer that can cook at as high as 410F, I bake my focaccia at 410F, and it works perfectly well. The baking time is 12 minutes, the same as when baking in my gas oven. Most air fryers can only bake as high as 400F, so use that temperature. You may have to adjust the baking time as different air fryers cook differently.

A variation on my air fryer focaccia

While experimenting, I noticed that making dimples in the dough and adding more olive oil just before baking made the bread less thick than when I did not. It kind of makes sense: by making dimples right before baking, you will remove some of the built-up CO2 gas, slightly collapsing the dough. It's normal. That's how you make focaccia.

If you want your focaccia bread thicker and a little more airy, don't dimple the dough after proofing. Just brush some olive oil on top, or not, sprinkle some seasonings, and bake. Below is an illustration of how the crosscut looks when you dimple the dough (left) and don't (right).

Air fryer focaccia bread - dimpled dough vs non-dimpled. Non-dimpled rises much higher in the air fryer.

Equipment used:  Chefman 6.8 Quart Air Fryer.

If you want to see how focaccia dough is mixed and how stretches and folds are performed, take a look at my oven-baked focaccia video below.

Delicious, soft and airy, with crispy crust, focaccia bread baked in an air fryer.

Air Fryer Focaccia

Air focaccia bread that is practically like oven-baked focaccia.
4.88 from 8 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: bread
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: air fryer bread, air fryer focaccia
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes
Fermentation, cold retarding and proofing: 16 hours hours
Total Time: 16 hours hours 42 minutes minutes
Servings: 12
Calories: 232kcal
Author: Victor

Ingredients

Focaccia Dough

  • 500 g all-purpose flour King Arthur flour is my favorite for this recipe
  • 400 g water at room temperature
  • 3 g instant yeast
  • 9 g sea salt

Toppings and Other Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter softened
  • 6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus more if needed
  • 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced or minced
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 cup chopped herbs basil, dill, sage, and parsley

Instructions

  • To a large bowl, add water, flour, yeast and salt on the opposite sides, making sure the two don't touch each other before you start mixing. Mix by hand, squeezing the dough between your fingers until a sticky homogeneous mass is formed. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.
    Mixing air fryer focaccia dough
  • After 20 minutes, perform a set of stretches and folds, then another one after 20 minutes, and another one 20 minutes later. Shape the dough into a ball and rub it with two tablespoons of olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for another 20 minutes.
    Performing stretches and folds
  • Divide the dough into three equal pieces and transfer to three 7.5" x 5" foil pans greased with two tablespoons of butter (See Notes). Stretch each piece of dough to fill the entire bottom of the pan. Cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight and for up to 24 hours.
    Focaccia dough in pans
  • Remove the dough from the fridge two hours before baking and let proof at room temperature, covered.
    Focaccia dough after fermentation in a fridge
  • Liberally drizzle olive oil over the top of the dough. Using your fingers, make deep dimples all over the surface of the dough. Spread the toppings and finish with a light drizzle of olive oil.
    Focaccia Toppings
  • Bake at the highest temperature, usually 400F, for about 12 minutes. Every air fryer bakes differently, so start checking early, your bread may be done sooner, or you may need to add a few minutes to the baking time. There is no need to preheat your air fryer.
  • Carefully transfer the focaccia to a large cutting board, slice, and serve while hot. This is when it tastes best. Enjoy!

Notes

The pan size (7.,5" x 5") in this recipe is for my air fryer that measures 10" by 10" internally. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to choose different size pans and you may have to divide the dough into a different number of pieces, e.g. 2, 4, etc.

Nutrition

Calories: 232kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 294mg | Potassium: 56mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 164IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 2mg

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    Recipe Rating




     

  1. Kevin says

    May 03, 2025 at 6:23 pm

    4 stars
    I've made this recipe 3 times in my air fryer, and I compliment the author on the accuracy of method and ingredients. I agree the one nit is lack of a crispy bottom crust, which I correct after air frying by removing the bread from the pan and using a rocket hot cast iron pan for 2 to 3 minutes. I also do minimal or no dimpling.

    Reply
    • victor says

      May 10, 2025 at 12:14 pm

      Glad you liked my recipe. Enjoy!

      Reply
  2. Peter Monnery says

    March 26, 2025 at 6:40 pm

    5 stars
    Made great focaccia and the soggy bottom was not a problem, I just put in a hot frying pan for five minutes or so and it crisped up beautifully and coloured well. Alternatively, I could’ve turned it over and put it back in the air fryer; I’ll try that one next time.
    Peter Monnery
    [email protected]

    Reply
    • victor says

      April 15, 2025 at 3:30 pm

      Glad to hear it, Peter. Happy baking!

      Reply
  3. Salwa Shami says

    January 16, 2025 at 8:32 am

    5 stars
    I love Focaccia, and this is a very good recipe. Thank you!
    I'll try to make it gluten-free. Hopefully, it'll work out well 🙏

    Reply
    • victor says

      January 16, 2025 at 9:59 pm

      You are very welcome. Good luck!

      Reply
  4. Margaret Chapman says

    October 03, 2024 at 6:52 pm

    Dough was soggy on bottom; not cooked through. I did 400F for 10 minutes and too was brown, bottom doughy. I'm new to an air fryer. I put parchment paper on the bottom and I'm thinking it needed air circulation? I put it in a skillet on top of stove to finish the bottom. Here's hoping! Thank you!

    Reply
    • victor says

      October 19, 2024 at 9:14 am

      Margaret, air circulation is very important, so I would not use parchment paper on the bottom. I get a proper bake though of the bottom part but it's not as crispy as oven baked on a baking stone for sure. But not bad for an air fryer. Good luck!

      P.S. I think placing a clay or ceramic tile on the bottom would help with bottom baking. It needs to be preheated.

      Reply
  5. Dimitris says

    August 28, 2024 at 7:01 am

    Hi! Can i freeze the dough and if so, at which point during the process would it be best to freeze? Thank you!

    Reply
    • victor says

      August 28, 2024 at 3:04 pm

      I am sure you can, though I haven't done it. I would freeze after the fermentation is done in the fridge, before proofing. Then I'd defrost overnight in the fridge, and continue as per the recipe as if you never froze it. Good luck!

      Reply
    • Veaon says

      December 19, 2024 at 11:26 pm

      Great hack for when you don’t have a traditional oven. Definitely needed to play around with the depth of the tray and time. I used a deeper tray which led to the bottom half of the bread really underbaked. If that happens I find flipping it over and baking the bottom half for 5-7 more minutes work -then flip it back over and put toppings on and bake for a few more mins.

      Reply
  6. Kiana says

    May 07, 2024 at 3:46 pm

    5 stars
    My family and I love this recipe! I’ve never refrigerated focaccia dough before, mostly because I used to be so impatient. This recipe made such a beautiful dough and I put them in my fridge for 24 hours before baking in my air fryer, the bread tasted fantastic and had a nice crumb. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

    Reply
    • victor says

      May 16, 2024 at 6:12 pm

      You are very welcome. Glad you liked my recipe. And if you ever want to make an oven version, try my oven focaccia. I like the crispy bottom it gets.

      Reply
  7. Mia says

    April 24, 2024 at 6:12 am

    5 stars
    Tried out this recipe and I'm delighted with the results! Can I use this recipe for my oven too, just with longer baking time? Thanks 🙂

    Reply
    • victor says

      April 24, 2024 at 1:58 pm

      Glad to hear that you like my focaccia recipe, Mia. Yes, you can bake it in an oven, which is actually my preferred way because you get a much crisper bottom. Here is my oven focaccia recipe which you can find on my Taste of Artisan blog. Enjoy!

      Reply
  8. Anna says

    March 27, 2024 at 2:00 pm

    5 stars
    This bread turned out incredibly good. First time making bread in an air fryer and it was a huge success. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.

    Reply
    • victor says

      March 27, 2024 at 2:01 pm

      You are very welcome. Enjoy!

      Reply
  9. Pam says

    October 10, 2023 at 12:25 am

    5 stars
    Great recipe. I love this bread, it's comforting and indulgent. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
    • victor says

      October 13, 2023 at 1:19 pm

      You are very welcome. Enjoy!

      Reply
  10. Annie says

    October 04, 2023 at 5:51 am

    5 stars
    WOW!!! I am so glad l found your recipe….I had no idea you could make such wonderfully tasty focaccia in an air fryer. It exceeded my expectations and I will be making it again soon. Thank you!!!🤤

    Reply
    • victor says

      October 13, 2023 at 1:17 pm

      Happy to hear it, Annie. Enjoy!

      Reply

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