Homemade Subway Bread Recipe
on Apr 18, 2022, Updated May 13, 2024
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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, makes the house smell amazing, and provides that little extra something for your meal. Plus I can put on as many banana peppers as my heart desires, so I’ll also be making up a batch of easy refrigerated pickled banana peppers, too.
The homemade Subway bread was just perfect. It had a very soft crust (thanks to a little butter and letting it steam in a towel as it cooled) and a light middle, and it kind of smashed into nothing when you ate it. Just like the real thing.
Your family will be shocked and amazed at your mad skills, and you can wow them with an amazing cheese steak sandwich served on this perfect sandwich bread. Mom for the win!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Soft crust and light as air in the middle – a perfect replica of Subway bread
- This is a great recipe to keep on hand for any future hoagie needs
- A simple bread recipe with basic ingredients you’ll likely find in your pantry
Recipe Ingredients
- Yeast – If buying yeast in the packets, you’ll need to open two to measure out the amount needed for this recipe
- Sugar – Plain old sugar to make the yeast happy!
- Olive oil
- All-purpose flour
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Popular Variation: Italian Herb & Cheese 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 on any number of creative sandwich recipes!
How to Make Homemade Subway Bread
- Mix wet ingredients with all dry ingredients except the flour. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes.
- Add 1 cup of flour and mix for 3 to 5 minutes. Add an additional cup of flour and mix well, and then add rest of flour a little at a time, until a soft dough is formed. Knead until smooth.
- Place the dough in a bowl and cover. Allow to rise and then shape into 4 rolls, allowing these to rise again.
- Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, brushing with butter and covering when they come out of the oven.
Recipe FAQs
If you haven’t ever made a simple bread recipe 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.
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.
This recipe works well with half whole wheat flour mixed with half all-purpose flour for whole wheat sub buns.
Expert Tips
- 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.
- Do not skip rubbing with butter and covering the bread with a towel to cool. This is the key to the texture of this awesome bread!
- One of the awesome Bless this Mess readers, Kim, had great success using her bread machine to make this recipe. 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.
More Amazing Bread Recipes to Consider
Yeasted Breads
Brioche Bread
Yeasted Breads
Challah Bread
Yeasted Breads
Cinnamon Babka
Yeasted Breads
Chocolate Babka
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
Homemade Subway Bread Recipe
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
- If you don’t have a stand mixer, just mix the flour in a bit at a time, kneading very well after it’s all incorporated.
- Add seasonings to the dough to change it up, like garlic powder or Italian seasonings.
- Instead of shaping the dough into loaves for Hoagie-style bread, make it into whatever shapes of sandwich rolls your family likes. Note that smaller shapes may need a shorter baking time.
My daughter was craving Subway, but we’re avoiding eating out now. This recipe was the perfect fix. I followed it letter by letter, and the resualt is amazing! Thank you
During the Covid-19 pandemic I needed bread! Tried this recipe but accidentally made it kind of different. I activated 1.5 tsp of yeast (read it wrong) with 1 Tbsp sugar and 1 cup water. When bloomed I added the oil and salt, then followed directions as usual. Turned out fantastic.
I think Bob Ross would call it a “happy accident”!?
I made these today, everyone loved them. Buns turned out nice and soft.
So glad that they turned out well for your family!
Turned out perfectly for me. Great recipe!
Good recipe, but at the beginning the recipe says prep is 50 minutes…. and after getting the dough made I realized it was actually more like 1 hour and 45 minutes.
This was a great recipe! Soft, fluffy and very flavorful! I had no issues with the yeast or flour measurements. I just used a packet of Fleischmann’s Active Dry Original Yeast and during the first rise, I set the dough in a glass bowl on top of the oven while it’s on low to create a warm area for the dough to rise. I live in the desert in southern Nevada, about 2000ft above sea level and very dry conditions.. Hope these tips help anyone on the feed with their baking.
Thanks so much for this!! Husband loves these for his giant sandwiches ??
PS I didn’t use a stand mixer, so anyone without one can definitely do this recipe by hand. ❤️
Such helpful feedback! Thank you for coming back to share with us.
I’m in Phoenix and this was helpful. Thanks.
Doubled the recipe and added the herbs and cheese on top of the bread. So easy and delicious I am making them again.
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing what worked for you, so helpful.
I often speak to the owner of my local Subway, and I had been looking for a way to make bread with soft crust. What Subway does to achieve this, is to spray water on their leaves after baking. I still dont get that super thin, soft crust, but the flavor of Subway is definetly in your recipe. Ive used it 5 times already, from sandwiches to garlic bread to cheesesteak. And, fyi, as I live on East coast, your measurements are perfect for me. Those in higher altitudes or those who add too much flour, dont knead enough, kill their yeast by water temp, use dead yeast or over/under prove in wrong temp, will obviously have less than desirable results.
Thanks for posting!
Ohhh thank you for the tips and tricks, I appreciate that! Do you spray yours with water after baking? I’ll have to try that!
I worked at Subway for a time. They do not spray water on the bread after baking. The water is sprayed on before being placed in the proofer oven. That prevents the bread from drying out while rising. The loaves are also frozen raw and placed in the proofer still frozen. That may affect the final texture.
Recipe is great except I questioned the amount of yeast. I used only 7 grams; approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons. Never used the amount listed in this recipe ever for a bread recipe. I used olive oil infused with herbs and that added flavor. Works great in a bread machine too. Also, I mix white and whole wheat flour 50/50. Tasty! GREAT recipe.
I made this recipe and had yhesame problem as a couple other people whose rolls fell flat. The flavor was still nice but it just wasn’t quite as expected. Although, after having this problem with some bread recipes and not others, I did research and found at high altitude, you may need to decrease your yeast. For those over 5,000 ft the yeast should be decreased by 20% (some say even as high as 3,000 ft, yeast should be decreased). I plan to try this and comment again with my results so hopefully everyone can love your recipe and the rolls!
The loaves fall flat because there is a problem with your proofing. I hae made these, no problem. Check your yeast and make sure to only add as much flour to make the dough slightly sticky but soft. Too much flour or inaccurate proofing/killing your yeast will deflate your loaves.