Get ready for a soft, fluffy, and downright delicious experience with this Slow Cooker Easy Focaccia Recipe! It’s packing all the flavor you adore in regular focaccia but with a magical secret ingredient that slashes the time and effort in half. Serve it up warm and watch it become the star of the show alongside all your favorite meals!
Table of Contents
What Is Focaccia?
An Italian recipe, focaccia is a type of flatbread that is made with flour, oil, water, yeast, and salt. Typically, the dough is kneaded, left to rise for hours, and then baked in an oven. A popular street food, focaccia can be found being served both sweet and savory and is sometimes even stuffed with ingredients like sausage and cheese.
Is Focaccia Just Pizza Dough?
Although similar in taste, texture, and ingredients, they are not quite the same. You see, focaccia contains more yeast than pizza dough and is also often punctured before baking. This results in a much more moist and fluffy texture, similar to a bread loaf.
Surprisingly Easy Focaccia Ingredients
This easy focaccia is breaking all the rules with its super short and sweet ingredient list. The secret? We’re skipping the whole homemade dough saga and going straight for dinner rolls! Yep, you heard it right. Here’s the lowdown on everything you’ll need:
- Dinner Rolls – Our secret ingredient and the key to making easy focaccia, using pre-made dinner rolls means the dough is already done for you. We recommend using simple rolls that have not been flavored with additional seasonings, and don’t forget to make sure they’re frozen! Otherwise, your focaccia will be hard and overcooked.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Not only does it add incredible savory flavor, but using olive oil also helps create the golden brown exterior we love.
- Herbs & Spices – For an out-of-this-world taste we include a handful of herbs and spices including rosemary, thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper.
- Olives – Totally optional, we love to sprinkle in olives for a boost of healthy fats and flavor. We like black olives best, but feel free to experiment with whatever you have on hand!
How to Make This Easy Focaccia Recipe in the Slow Cooker
We grew up eating warm homemade focaccia and still love it to this day. However, between work, chasing after the kids, and just doing life, spending all day in the kitchen is a luxury we don’t always have time for. But fear not, we’ve got your back with a little creativity! Enter our slow cooker easy focaccia – it’s a trip down memory lane to warm homemade goodness but with a genius shortcut that slashes time and effort in half. Here’s how to do it:
- Line the slow cooker with
parchment paper . - Place the rolls in a single layer at the bottom, making sure they are not touching.
- Cover, and set on warm for 1.5-2 hours or until they are double in size.
- Drizzle the olive oil, and use your fingers to puncture the rolls.
- Sprinkle herbs, seasonings, and olives on top.
- Cook on high for 1 ½ hours. Then, turn the heat OFF for 30 minutes.
Storage
Trust us, you won’t have any leftovers. However, if you do, this easy focaccia recipe can be kept at room temperature or in the freezer!
Room Temperature: Store your bread in an airtight for up to 2-3 days!
Freezer: Slice your easy focaccia into individual pieces. Then, lay them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and place them in the freezer for up to 2 hours. Next, wrap each portion in
To Reheat: We love to reheat this easy focaccia in the
Common Questions about Slow Cooker Focaccia
Lining your slow cooker with parchment paper is the most reliable way to prevent sticking when making focaccia. Create a parchment sling with extra paper hanging over the edges to make removal easy once the bread is done. Some recipes also suggest lightly oiling the parchment paper for extra insurance against sticking, which has the added bonus of contributing to that characteristic focaccia flavor!
Yes, you can make amazing sweet variations of slow cooker focaccia! Try adding a few tablespoons of honey or maple syrup to the dough, and top with cinnamon sugar, thinly sliced apples, or berries before cooking. Sweet focaccia makes a wonderful breakfast bread or afternoon snack with coffee. Consider adding orange or lemon zest to the dough for a citrusy twist that pairs perfectly with fruit toppings.
Slow cooker focaccia typically has a softer exterior than oven-baked versions since slow cookers create a more humid cooking environment. The bread will have a pillowy, tender texture throughout rather than the crispier crust you’d get from high-temperature oven baking. If you want a crispy crust, you can pop it in the oven for a few minutes to finish it!
Absolutely! We love rosemary, thyme, and oregano, but you can create your own custom blend, too!
Easy Focaccia Serving Suggestions
In all honesty, we eat this bread on its own – typically right out of the slow cooker! It’s THAT good. But hey, if you’re in the mood to share or make a meal out of it, this bread is like a social chameleon. It gets along famously with pretty much anything. Here are some faves:
- This Easy Roasted Tomato Soup Recipe makes for the perfect comfort food that’s vegetarian, too!
- Easy to prepare, low-carb, and plant-based, Roasted Red Pepper and Cauliflower Soup is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.
- Made with minimal ingredients, One Pot Tomato Spinach Pasta is a quick dinner that tastes like you were cooking all day!
- Bright, fresh, and flavorful, Caprese Pasta is ready in just 15 minutes for a dinner everyone will love.
More Easy Bread Recipes
- An easy focaccia hack, this No Knead Focaccia Bread Art looks great and tastes even better.
- No Knead Cheesy Focaccia Bread is irresistibly delicious and customizable to fit all your needs.
- Buttery, cheesy, salty, crispy, and so much more, this Olive Cheese Bread is unbelievably good!
- This Spinach and Artichoke Bread Ring is the perfect appetizer for game days, holidays, and more.
Slow Cooker Easy Focaccia Recipe
Ingredients
- 12-14 frozen dinner rolls
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary
- 2 Tablespoons fresh thyme
- 2 Tablespoons fresh oregano
- 1/2 cup Kalamata olives
- Kosher salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Line a slow cooker with parchment paper.
- Arrange the frozen dinner rolls in the bottom of the slow cooker, leaving space between them. NOTE: The smaller the slow cooker, the less rolls will be used.12-14 frozen dinner rolls
- Cover and set on warm for 1 1/2-2 hours or until double in size.
- Drizzle with olive oil, and use fingers to press down the dough. Sprinkle herbs, seasonings, and olives on top.1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary, 2 Tablespoons fresh thyme, 2 Tablespoons fresh oregano, 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, Kosher salt to taste, Black pepper to taste
- Cover and cook on high for 1 1/2 hours. Then, turn the slow cooker OFF, and let stand covered for 30 minutes.
- Remove the focaccia from the slow cooker, slice, and serve!
Video
Equipment
Notes
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is not focaccia. It does not have the texture of a real focaccia. It doesn’t even look like real focaccia. Anyone who makes focaccia (or any bread, really) in a slow cooker needs to have their baking privileges removed.
We’re sorry you feel this way, Luisa. It’s just meant to be a fun play on focaccia recipes!
Xo,
Alia & Radwa
I wanted to check out your recipes, but the pop up ads were WAY too distracting (even after I kept x-I g them out).
Hi Laura! The ads are how we’re able to continue to provide free recipes. Unfortunately, we don’t always have control over their placement. We hope you can continue to enjoy the recipes!
Xo
Alia & Radwa
The first time I tried this my rolls wouldn’t rise (although it still turned out so tasty), this second time I just arranged the rolls in the crockpot and left it OFF in a warm place for the rising instructions on the rolls. Then I followed the directions after that. I think my crockpot gets a little too warm on the warm setting which inhibits the rising – otherwise this is such a great recipe!
Thank you for the feedback, Liz! We’re so glad you were able to make it work for you. 😊
Xo,
Alia & Radwa
My small SC got to hot & dried out the bottom of the bread. My oven quit right before the holidays, so I treated myself to a “Crockpot” 6 qt programmable cooker & can’t wait to try this recipe (+ your other recipes) again. I’ll keep trying untill mine looks as delicious as yours in the video. Great work girls! 🤗 Retired & having 😉 Trish ❤️
Thank you! We hope you enjoy, Trish!
Xo,
Alia & Radwa
Fantastic! This was an excellent idea and recipe. Sundried tomatoes were added. Next time, adding seasoning to parchment for bottom of bread.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Julie!
Xo,
Alia & Radwa
I have always oiled the rolls while defrosting them so I did that with this recipe and it was perfect!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Kristen! 🥰
Xo,
Alia & Radwa
Unfortunately this didn’t work in my crockpot either. Loved the idea but I am afraid not all crockpots are created equal. I might try it again sometime and use a little rack.
did not work for me. The bottom was mushy. the sides were brown and the top just didn’t seem to be done enough
We’re sorry to hear this, Jeanmarie! Did they double in size when left to rise?
Xo,
Alia & Radwa
I was going to purchase Pillsbury cou try biscuits. If I take them out of the package and roll them into balls then freeze them will that work. I live in Ontario Canada and have never seen frozen bread balls. Thanks so much.
We don’t recommend using canned biscuits for this recipe.
wondering if the dinner rolls are supposed to be raw dough? I can only find precooked dinner rolls and I feel like this won’t work.
Hi Dana, yes, we don’t think this would work with pre-cooked rolls.
Xo,
Alia & Radwa
Out of this world good.so far I have made 2 looking forward to making many more.
Yay! We are so glad to hear that it was a hit! Let us know what else you end up trying!
xo, Alia and Radwa
Cook time is way off on this, it was nothing like the pictures or video. My slow cooker works great, I followed directions exactly and it came out like a cracker crust on the bottom and dry, chewy and way overcooked on top. It was a waste of ingredients and got tossed in the trash.
Bummer too, because I’ve had the same issue with a lot of your recipes, they look great in the videos but recipes don’t work, so I don’t trust your recipes and won’t use them again. You gave a cute idea here – but if the recipes don’t work – what’s the point. 🙁
We are so sorry you had issues with this recipe. Can you tell us what brand dough you used? Did they rise on the warm setting? Would love to hear what happened so we can help! Alia & Radwa
Rhodes rolls. They did rise and I poked down w/olive oil, added herbs. The edges were already dry and hard crispy at that point
Same here… followed this recipe to the T. My rolls took 7 HOURS to rise! Read your recipe directions for this method on this page and on your IG page…IG says,after you cook on high to turn to low and cook another 30 minutes. On this site it says to turn off after high, and let sit for 30 minutes. I used Rhodes rolls (frozen) as specified. Did not turn out at all as expected, not even close. Total waste of my time and money. I also bought and used the crock pot you recommended.
My frozen dinner rolls did not rise. Do you recommend any special brand? Mine are cooking now and I have added my fresh herbs and Greek olives.
Oh no! So sorry to hear that they didn’t rise, we used Rhodes dinner rolls. What brand did you use? How did it turn out?