Homemade Subway Bread Recipe
on Jul 13, 2017, Updated Aug 21, 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
Homemade Bread
100% Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
Homemade Bread
Soft Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Yeast Bread Recipes
Brioche Bread
Yeast Bread Recipes
Challah Bread
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
Homemade Subway Bread Recipe
Equipment
- baking sheet These are a go-to that every kitchen should have.
- KitchenAid stand mixer This classic KitchenAid always gets the job done!
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.
Best bread I have ever made, soft, fluffy and very close to a subway baguette.
But not perfect, not complaining about recipe as it almost certainly was me. But I am looking for pointers. The bread was a little moister than I expected, and had a hint of an oil taste.
I am NOT an expert, far far from it, I followed the recipe to the letter, but I think another 2 mins cooking time taking it to 27 mins and a little less butter during the cool down period might have been better.
Still the very best bread I have made, so really pleased
Thanks for the tips and letting us know what worked for you!
Cooking times should always be taken as being approximate. 350 in your oven may actually be 325 or even 375 degrees. It also depends on the temperature and humidity in the air and what elevation you happen to live at. For some people it may take a few extra minutes in the oven, for others it may take a few minutes less. As you make a few batches, you will figure out what timing is best for you and your oven. Air temp and humidity also have an effect when you make your dough. With a bit of practice you will find exactly what works best for you.
Hello do i need to fold the dough and shape it? And cna you please convert the flour into mg? Sometimes i find there’s difference in measurement for every recipe. Thank you
The picture that you have of the 4 “ropes” of dough in the parchment lined roasting pan looks like the dough is much lower hydration than the recipe (72-79%) espcially when using all-purpose flour. I’ve made this recipe twice now, and I kneaded the dough for so long the first time that I think I started to completely break the gluten. But both times the dough is great deal more wet than what is in the image. How did you shape the dough like that?
I made these 2 nights ago. I do not have a stand mixer, so I did the kneading by hand (honestly for less than 8 minutes…more like 5-6) and used just a bit more flour while kneading (mostly to keep the dough from sticking too much to my hand – maybe 1/4 cup total, if that), and my rolls looked exactly like her picture before the last proofing.
Do you live somewhere very humid? (I do)
The wife has been craving Subway and being a little nervous to eat out these days (covid) I came across your recipe. We were both completely blown away. The smell, taste and texture were an exact match!!! Thank you!
I would like to try this but how do I do it without a mixer? (I.e. by hand). Do I add the flour gradually still and just mix with a spoon then kneed for 8 minutes? Will I over kneed it?
hi! I just added the flour with a spatula, and kneaded it with my hands until it was a dough.
These hoagie buns was awsome! Will start making these from now really better than subway and oh so sooooft!
I’ve made these twice now and they’re amazing!! I’m not sure I’ll ever buy a sub roll again!💕
Can i make these buns without a mixer
Yep, just knead a lot by hand.
I have done this a few times now and once again…I get flatbread. Delicious flatbread, but I would prefer to do it properly. Any advice? I follow directions, looks and smells fabulous until the last 10 minutes in the oven-then it deflates….
Are you letting it rise longer than it calls for? It just sounds like I case of the yeast getting over proofed.
Did you grab self rising flour j stead of all purpose??
Can you please tell me which number on the stand up mixer you use when mixing? Thank you.
Jill
I generally use it on 2 to knead bread.
Thank you so much!