Homemade Subway Bread Recipe

4.92 from 130 votes

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Perfect Homemade Subway Bread recipe, just like the restaurant. This recipes makes a perfect copycat loaf of Subway bread for sandwiches at home.

I love making homemade bread. It’s easier than you think-try these simple bread recipes: Homemade Italian Bread, Easy Bread Sticks Recipe and Mom’s 4 Loaf Wheat Bread Recipe.

open faced sandwich on table
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Homemade Subway Bread

You guys, they turned out amazing! Really and truly. Plus, it wasn’t all that hard to do. Next time I’m going to double the recipe so that I have some leftovers and I’m going to try to freeze them. Lucky for me, I found a jar of pickled banana peppers in the pantry too. My sandwich was half banana peppers and half everything else because those are my favorite thing ever.

The homemade Subway bread was just perfect. It had a very soft crust (thanks to a little butter and letting them steam in a towel as they cooled) and a light middle, and it kind of smashed into nothing when you ate it. Just like the real thing. Sure, Subway is cheap, but it’s pretty fun to make them at home. Your family will be shocked and amazed at your mad skills and you’ll be able to put on as many banana peppers as your heart desires. Best deal ever!

Homemade Subway Bread Recipe

Just top with your favorite sandwich toppings and a heavy hand of mayo and you’ll have yourself something ridiculously close to an authentic Subway sandwich made at home. Even if you aren’t craving Subway, this homemade Subway bread recipe is a great one to keep on hand for any future hoagie needs.

Tips and Tricks for making Homemade Subway Bread:

  • I have had a few people email me and say that just before baking they brushed the outside of the dough with olive oil or butter and then sprinkled on some Italian seasoning and some Parmesan cheese for a great homemade Subway Italian Herb and Cheese bread. I can’t wait to try this myself.
  • This bread froze just about as well as other breads. It was still soft but seemed a bit dryer after freezing. Fresh is best but they do freeze and thaw well.
  • Like pickled banana peppers as much as I do? Check out my recipe on how to make easy refrigerated pickled banana peppers (great use for extra garden or farmer’s market produce).
Homemade Subway Bread Recipe

How do I know how much flour to add to bread dough?

If you haven’t ever made dough before, the goal is to add just enough flour for it to be a soft but not sticky dough. If you add too much flour, you’ll end up with Subway bricks instead of bread.

Can I still make homemade bread without a stand mixer?

No stand mixer? This recipe can be made by hand, just be sure to knead it for a full 8 minutes. That’s a long time but developing the gluten helps the bread to be soft.

Can I incorporate whole wheat flour in this bread recipe?

This recipe works well with half whole wheat flour mixed with half all-purpose flour for whole wheat sub buns.

Homemade Subway Bread Recipe

More amazing bread recipes:

If you’ve tried this easy homemade subway bread recipe or any other recipe on Bless this Mess, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some pictures of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories AND add your photo to your comment so that other can see your creation.

4.92 from 130 votes

Homemade Subway Bread Recipe

Perfect homemade Subway bread recipe, just like the restaurant. This recipe makes a perfect copycat loaf of Subway bread for sandwiches at home.
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Rise Time: 1 hour
Total: 2 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 8 (makes 4 nine-inch sub buns

Ingredients 

  • 1 cup warm water, (110 degrees F)
  • 1 tablespoon instant yeast
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions 

  • In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the water, yeast, sugar, salt, and olive oil. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes.
  • Add 1 cup of flour and mix with the dough hook for 3 to 5 minutes. Add an additional cup of flour and mix until well combined. Continue adding the flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until a soft dough is formed. The dough should still stick to the bottom of of the bowl, but pull away from the sides. Let the dough mix for around 8 minutes total.
  • When the dough has come together but is still sticking a bit to the bottom of the bowl, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. The dough should be very soft. Shape the dough into a ball and return it to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise for a half hour.
  • After the dough has risen, turn it out onto a clean surface and divide it into 4. Roll each piece of dough into a long skinny loaf that is about 9 to 10 inches long.
  • Place the rolled loaves onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a baking mat. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Allow at least 2 inches between each loaf on the pan.
  • Cover the loaves with a greased piece of plastic wrap and allow the loaves to rise until doubled, about an hour.
  • Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the loaves are ready, bake them in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.
  • When the loaves come out of the oven, rub the tops with a stick of butter and cover them with a dish towel to cool.
  • Let the loaves cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting down the middle and topping with your favorite sandwich fixings.

Notes

Rubbing the loaves with butter and covering them with a towel to cool are part of what keeps them very soft, so be sure not to miss those steps.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/2 of a sub bun, Calories: 254kcal, Carbohydrates: 40g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Sodium: 437mg, Potassium: 59mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin C: 0.001mg, Calcium: 8mg, Iron: 2mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

Tried and True Bread Recipes:

NOTE: One of the awesome Bless this Mess readers, Kim, had great success using her bread machine to make this recipe. Since so many have asked about that I thought I would share her notes. Kim said that she let the bread machine run the full dough cycle (which is 1.5 hours long). After the cycle she shaped the loaves and let them rise for an hour before baking. Here’s how Kim’s homemade sub bun turned out:

five loafs of cooked bread

Thank you for sharing Kim! I hope that helps someone else out too.

Enjoy this perfect Homemade Subway Bread recipe, just like the restaurant. This recipes makes a perfect copycat loaf of Subway bread for sandwiches at home.

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595 Comments

  1. These buns look legit! Man I’m so hungry now! I too have been trying to live on peanuts… but $20 thats not a lot! I find I try to stay at home a lot, we go to the library for an outing. (And go to lunch at my moms!)

  2. Trying this tonight. Partially because I don’t want to go grocery shopping and mostly because I LOVE sandwiches!! And $20 a week??? That would be a minor miracle in my house! Good luck 🙂

  3. This is great! Sometimes I walk by a Subway and I can smell their bread baking (I’m sure it’s a marketing trick), and I don’t even want a sandwich I just want a loaf of their bread. Unfortunately, they don’t sell just the bread – I’ve asked. Now I can make it myself!

    1. Actually, I’ve asked if I could just buy the bread by itself, and they told me that it would be the same price for “just the bread” as for the whole sandwich. I can never bring myself to pay for the sandwich and just take the bread though. I guess I’m a sucker that way. lol.

    2. Just a tip from a former subway employee, you’ll want to score (slice) the bread before final proofing (rising) you’ll make four diagonal lines spaced apart. Then let it do it’s final rise before baking.

    3. Oh that’s just terrible. The subways here sell the loaves for a dollar. But I’m all about making my own stuff at home to save as much money as possible.

    4. Luck for you Kathy. I’ve tried to buy just the bread, always told would be same price as sandwich. I would pay $1 in a heartbeat! Thanks for letting us know some places it is possible.

  4. Looks so yummy! We will be trying these this week. Thanks for the great recipes! Good luck on your $20 a week.

  5. Totally going to try this…I think they pump out the smell of their bread just to draw you into the restaurant 🙂

    1. I think the same thing! And you know what… Husband was working outside and I had the bread out, veggies being chopped, and he said it ever smelled like Subway which was totally a complement! It smells SO good.

    2. Your oven is probably marked in Celsius. Since 350°F equals 180°C, if you bake at 250°C, you will get burned buns, especially if it’s an electric oven.

    3. Yep, just be sure to knead it very well so that the bread is nice and soft. It should take about 10 minutes of kneading by hand.