A step-wise picture recipe to make simple copycat version of Herbed Subway Sandwich Bread at home, with easily available ingredients in any pantry!
Few years ago, if someone had told me that I would be making my own Subway Sandwich Bread at home – I would have asked them to stop joking with me or laughed on their face. Fast forward to today, I am indeed making my own Subway Sandwich Bread and a great one at that! I have come so long in the bread baking journey and this is something I have begun to enjoy thoroughly 🙂
I had been getting this recipe request for quite some time now and I decided to try my hands at making this copycat version of the fresh Subway Sandwich Bread. Until recently, I was buying French bread or loaf from a nearby store and used it for making Subway style sandwich at home. And with these recipe requests, thought why not try it at home? Infact how different could it be from all the bread recipes I have tried.
After many attempts at bread making in the past few months, I have learnt a few things. It is actually simple, if you understand your dough and what goes into it. The amount of yeast, type of flour, sugar, salt and fat – this is all you need to know to have a perfect bread recipe. Depending on the time and patience you have, apart from the climatic conditions – increase or decrease the amount of yeast. Softness of the bread depends on how well it is kneaded (don’t go overboard though) and how much fat is added (either butter or oil). I have realized that adding milk in the place of water need not necessarily impact the texture or softness of the bread. It is quite possible to make 100% vegan bread, without compromising on the taste. Bread maker or stand-up mixer is not needed at all – your hands are your best equipment! I will probably write a post just on my findings, soon.
So for this recipe of Subway Sandwich bread, I ended up using 1tbsp of Active Instant Dry Yeast. Now I can see some of you rolling your eyes at me, don’t! Since we are baking smaller sized individual mini loaves, this yeast is needed. When you see those nice holes when you cut open the bread, you know your yeast has worked well. I used olive oil for this recipe, but feel free to use melted butter. This is neither a sweet nor salty bread and is perfect for any type of filling!
There are a few improvements I can think of, for this Subway Sandwich Bread. While it is perfect in taste, there are few things that can be changed. I added in a few herbs on top but realized my mistake only when applying oil on the baked bread. You can either skip this altogether or add them at the end. Not all my loaves are equal in size. Lesson – always shape them all together and into a long log. In spite of that, they turned out golden and perfect!
I served this with my Crispy Paneer Balls, again my take on a subway sandwich! A layer of lettuce, cheese slice, cheesy mayonnaise, tomato ketchup and then these paneer balls – it was just perfect!
How to make Subway Sandwich Bread –
📖 Recipe
Subway Sandwich Bread
MEASUREMENT
1 cup = 250ml, 1 tablespoon = 15ml, 1 teaspoon = 5ml
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups All Purpose Flour (1 cup = 250ml)
- 1 cup Warm Water
- 1 tablespoon Active Instant Dry Yeast
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- In a bowl, prepare the yeast for proofing by mixing the active instant dry yeast with sugar and warm water. Let it stand for 3-5 mins until it is frothy.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour along with salt and olive oil. Mix it well. Pour the frothy yeast mixture into the dry ingredients.
- Mix well until the dough is lumpy. Invert it onto a clean kitchen counter and knead it well for 5-8 mins at the least. To knead, stretch the dough away from you using the heel of your palm, fold it over, turn it by a quarter and bring it towards you. Repeat this for full 5-8 mins.
- The dough would be non-sticky, smooth and when pressed lightly, will bounce back.
- Place it a well-greased bowl and cover it with cling film. Leave it in a warm place for upto 60 mins until it is doubled up in size.
- Slightly punch down the dough and knead it for another 2 mins. Shape it into a log and cut it into 4 equal parts.
- Take each ball of dough and shape it into a long log. Make sure each of them is of same length and width.
- Leave them in a warm place for another 30mins or until they have doubled up in size again. Apply some oil on top and sprinkle some mixed Italian herbs on the top (this is optional)
- Bake them in a preheated oven at 180°C for 25 mins until they are golden brown on all sides. Once out of the oven, brush some more olive oil on top and cover them with a clean kitchen towel. The bread will have hard crust just out of oven but will soften up once cooled down.
- Serve with filling of your choice. I placed fresh lettuce leaves and cheese slice, spread a layer of cheesy mayo and tomato ketchup and filled it with my crispy paneer balls.
Detailed step by step picture recipe of making Subway Sandwich Bread –
1. In a bowl, prepare the yeast for proofing by mixing the active instant dry yeast with sugar and warm water. Let it stand for 3-5 mins until it is frothy.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add flour along with salt and olive oil. Mix it well.
3. Pour the frothy yeast mixture into the dry ingredients.
4. Mix well until the dough is lumpy.
5. Invert it onto a clean kitchen counter and knead it well for 5-8 mins at the least. To knead, stretch the dough away from you using the heel of your palm, fold it over, turn it by a quarter and bring it towards you. Repeat this for full 5-8 mins.
6. The dough would be non-sticky, smooth and when pressed lightly, will bounce back.
7. Place it a well-greased bowl and cover it with cling film.
8. Leave it in a warm place for upto 60 mins until it is doubled up in size.
9. Slightly punch down the dough and knead it for another 2 mins.
10. Shape it into a log and cut it into 4 equal parts.
11. Take each ball of dough and shape it into a long log. Make sure each of them is of same length and width.
12. Leave them in a warm place for another 30mins or until they have doubled up in size again. Apply some oil on top and sprinkle some mixed Italian herbs on the top (this is optional)
13. Bake them in a preheated oven at 180°C for 25 mins until they are golden brown on all sides. Once out of the oven, brush some more olive oil on top and cover them with a clean kitchen towel. The bread will have hard crust just out of oven but will soften up once cooled down.
14. Serve with filling of your choice. I placed fresh lettuce leaves and a cheese slice, spread a layer of cheesy mayo and tomato ketchup and filled it with my crispy paneer balls.
Note –
- Depending on the climatic conditions, increase or decrease the quantity of yeast by ¼ tbsp.
- Increase the quantity of oil/butter for a softer bread.
- For a sweet tasting bread, add another tbsp. of sugar.
- This recipe works well for 50:50 whole wheat flour: all-purpose flour. I have not tried 100% whole wheat version.
- Oven timings vary for different makes of ovens – keep a close eye on the bread while baking.
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Taking this to Fiesta Friday #185 and co-hosts this week are Suzanne @ apuginthekitchen and Monika @ Everyday Healthy Recipes 🙂
phirsezaika
I m really excited to try this recipe.. I would like yo use instant yeast or fresh yeast instead.. Can you tell me the measurement
chcooks
Sorry for late response, I responded from my phone right away after seeing this and I guess it didnt get posted. For instant yeast, you could use 1.5tbsp but my success with it has always been very limited. I have never used fresh yeast, so I have no idea about the quantity - sorry.
srividhya
The bread as come out really well. Love that texture.
chcooks
Thanks Sri 🙂
Jhuls
Wow! Wow! Wow! This is amazing! I have been looking for a recipe for this bread. It doesn't look difficult at all. I might fill them with falafel, though.
? Happy Fiesta Friday and thanks for sharing!
chcooks
Thanks a lot Jhuls 🙂
lynne hoareau
Oh my goodness, I am in awe of anyone who makes bread. It scares me ! I am so afraid it won't rise. Your bread looks really mouth-watering and I am going to try it, I promise. Thanks CH, you are giving me confidence 🙂 x
chcooks
Thanks so much Lynne 🙂
apuginthekitchen
A thousand times better than subway, looks amazing!!
chcooks
Thanks much Suzanne 🙂
TarnNZ
Hi just came across this on food gawkers! I’ve got the dough rising but just wondered – it looks like you cook it on tin foil? Is that right? and you spray the foil with oil or not?
chcooks
Hi TarnNZ, yes I used tin foil as I didn't have the right sized pan.. I wrapped tinfoil on one of the sheet pans and greased it with oil. Hope this helps.
Nisha
Hi..nice recipe..can u tell me wts the cup size..
chcooks
Hi Nisha, My 1cup is 250ml. Hope you helps 🙂
Saloni
Hi, can you give us the receipt in grams? Would really appreciate it since my cup size is different from yours.
Kiana
It was really great!
I really love subway but because of scaring about coronavirus I didn’t want to buy from subway.
But it was really good.
Thank you for awesome recipe ?
chcooks
Great to know ? thanks for trying!
Bushra
Hey does the bread stays fresh even if I bake it one day before making sandwiches
Ramya
Yes it stays fresh, pls put it in a box and store at room temperature. If it is too warm, pls store it in fridge.
Puja
Thank you so very much for sharing the recipe, and for the umpteen details that have made the process easier and more satisfying for newbies like me. More power to you.
Ramya
Thank you for such a sweet note! 🙂
Rich
Temperature for yeast prep is way too high - you will kill the yeast at 100 degrees Celsius. 100 degrees Fahrenheit - pretty average for hot tap water - will work. Please fix your numbers. I used warm tap water for yeast prep and got perfect results, then baked at 180 F and got flat, deflated bread. I tried the recipe again in Celsius and killed my yeast. You are using two different measurement systems in the same recipe and causing your readers to mess it up! Otherwise? Great bread. Just fix the numbers.
Ramya
Hi Rich, I am sorry you had trouble with the recipe. I never mentioned Fahrenheit and yes, the water temperature was amiss which I have fixed now. Thank you for trying the bread again and leaving feedback. Appreciate it.
Jessica
Great recipe… the buns came out very well. Thanks Ramya.
Ramya
Thank you Jessica 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the buns!