Homemade Greek Olive Bread

This homemade Greek olive bread is filled with kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, and scallions. It’s so flavorful and super easy to make!

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Do you love homemade bread as much as my family does? The smell of homemade bread baking in the oven is pure comfort. Well, I’m going to tell you about a homemade Greek olive bread that’s very similar to the wildly popular feta bread that I shared with you about two weeks ago. You guys made feta bread, shared it, loved it, and even sent me pictures! Thank you so much!! It makes my heart HAPPY!! So, here’s another one you’ll love.

What do you put inside this bread?

I kept this bread recipe vegan this time around, but I added a nice big handful of crumbled feta cheese while recipe testing, and Oh my God, was it delicious! Here are the ingredients that I used, plus some options:

• Pitted Kalamata Olives: since the recipe calls for a large number of olives (1 and 1/2- 2 cups), I prefer to buy the olives already pitted. Then, I roughly chop them. Costco carries very good quality pitted olives, as do many Mediterranean specialty food stores. Feel free to use a combination of your favorite olives if you prefer.
• Scallions: I love scallions because they’re delicate and light and don’t release a ton of liquid. Feel free to substitute leeks (they will require sautéing before they’re added to the bread) or caramelized onions.
• Roasted Red Peppers: I always have a jar or two of roasted red peppers. They’re delicious in salads, soups, stews, savory pies, bread, and dips. Basically good to add to anything savory 😁
• Dried Crushed Oregano: Greek or Mexican oregano is my favorite. However, you can substitute dried rosemary or thyme instead of oregano. Mint or dill would be delicious, too.

Additions:

• Feta cheese: add some if you’re not concerned about keeping it vegan. I always recommend purchasing feta blocks instead of already crumbled feta. It takes a few seconds to crumble the feta, and the taste is far superior to the overly salty crumbled bits that come in bags.
• Gouda Cheese: Gouda cheese and olives are a match made in heaven. Add some shredded gouda or even gruyere, and thank me later! 🙂
• Extras: Sundried tomatoes would add a bit of chewy texture, and crushed red pepper flakes would add a little heat. Add what you like to make it your own!

Why will this homemade Greek olive bread become a favorite?

• Soft, golden brown bread
• Loaded with a flavorful punch of salty olives and sweet bell peppers
• Moist bread topping is on the inside!
• You can serve this as an appetizer or with any meal!

Tips to help your homemade bread turn out perfectly every time

• The bread dough will be sticky, so if you need to knead this dough by hand, oil your hands as often as possible. This will keep the dough from sticking to your hands, and kneading it will be so much easier.
• Make sure your yeast is active! If not, your bread won’t rise. If you see a cloud form on top of your yeast mixture after proofing for about 10 minutes, it’s active!
• Save time on proofing your dough by putting it in the clothes dryer. Yes! The dryer! Run your dryer on high with towels in it for about 10 minutes. Pull out the towels and put your covered dough bowl in the warm dryer. Close the door, and just let it sit for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Your dough will rise nicely.
• Don’t forget to oil the parchment paper lightly before you dump out the dough. You’ll see why in my video.
• If you don’t like the texture of semolina, you can substitute cornmeal. I just like a little bit of crunchy.

How do you make Homemade Greek olive bread?

Make the dough:

• Combine all of the starter ingredients into the bowl of a tabletop mixer fitted with the hook attachment. Mix the ingredients with a spoon or whisk and set aside for 8-10 minutes.
• Combine the remaining flour and salt in a bowl and whisk together.
• Add the flour mixture along with the olive oil to the yeast mixture. Knead on low speed for 10 minutes.
• Place the dough in a large oiled bowl and cover it with plastic. Set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. It usually takes around 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on the temperature.

Make the Filling: 

• Combine all of the filling ingredients in a bowl and toss.
• Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of oil on a piece of parchment paper and transfer the dough on top of it. Press it with your hands and form it into a 15-inch circle. Add the filling on top of the dough. Then, gather the ends of the circle and bring them towards the center to cover the filling. Smooth the top out and flatten it.
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper and sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of semolina on top of it. Carefully transfer the filled dough, seam-side down onto the pan.
• Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and set it aside in a warm part of your home to rise for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425 °F, 220 °C.
• Remove the plastic wrap and brush the top of the dough with olive oil. Make some indentations in the dough with your fingertips. Sprinkle the top of the dough with the sesame seeds.
• Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the top and bottom of the bread is golden.
• Allow the bread to rest for 15 minutes and serve. 

Serving your homemade Greek olive bread…

Anyone would be extremely happy to eat this homemade Greek olive bread by itself. If you left it vegan, you could serve it with feta and olive oil on the side for those that would like to add it. But it’s so flavorful already that it doesn’t need anything else.

Cut it into triangles or squares for an appetizer or serve it with a Greek salad for lunch. It would make a great addition to any meal!

Let me know what you add to your homemade Greek olive bread, and share your photos! I love to see them!

More Bread Recipes:

• Greek Feta Bread: Tiropsomo: Soft & Delicious!
• Garden Art Lagana (the Greek Focaccia) Bread
• The Softest Pita Pocket Recipe: The Oven Method

Continue to Content

Greek Olive Bread

Yield: makes 1 loaf

The smell of homemade bread baking in the oven is pure comfort. This olive bread is filled with Greek Kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, and scallions. It's so flavorful and delicious and super easy to make. Serve it as an appetizer alongside feta cheese and olive oil or as a side to any meal.

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Ingredients

For the Starter:

• 2 cups lukewarm (115 °F) water
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Remaining Ingredients:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil

The Filling:

• 1 and 1/2 -2 cups pitted olives, roughly chopped
• 5 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1-2 roasted red peppers, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons dried crushed oregano

Topping:

• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoons sesame seeds

For Baking:

• 16-inch round baking pan or a half sheet baking pan
• 2 sheets of parchment paper
• 2 tablespoons semolina flour or cornmeal

Instructions

Make the starter:
Combine all of the starter ingredients into the bowl of a tabletop mixer fitted with the hook attachment. Mix the ingredients together with a spoon or whisk and set aside for 8-10 minutes.
Note:
A puffy cloud will form on the top of the mixture. If this does not happen, throw away the mixture and start with a different batch of yeast. Yeast very rarely goes bad, but when it does, it cannot be used.


Combine the remaining flour and salt in a bowl and whisk together.
Add the flour mixture along with the olive oil to the yeast mixture. Knead on low speed for 10 minutes.

Place the dough in an oiled large bowl and cover with plastic. Set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. This usually takes around 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours depending on the temperature.

Make the Filling: Combine all of the filling ingredients together in a bowl and toss.

Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of oil on a piece of parchment paper and transfer the dough on top of it. Press it with your hands and form it into a 15 inch circle. Add all of the filling on top of the dough. Gather the ends of the circle and bring them towards the center to cover the filling. Smooth the top out and flatten it.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of semolina on top of it. Carefully transfer the filled dough, seaam-side down onto the pan.

Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm part of your home to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 °F, 220 °C.

Remove the plastic wrap and brush the top of the dough with olive oil. Make some indentations in the dough with your fingertips. Sprinkle the top of the dough with the sesame seeds.

Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the top and bottom of the bread is golden.

Allow the bread to rest for 15 minutes and serve. Kali Orexi!

Notes

Options: Add feta cheese and shredded gouda to the filling or any of the following ingredients:

• sundried tomatoes
• sautéed bell peppers
• crushed red pepper flakes
• assorted pitted olives
• mozzarella cheese

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