This easy french bread is proofed in the Instant Pot, making it even faster to enjoy homemade, freshly baked bread!

There’s nothing quite as comforting as freshly baked bread, and this easy Instant Pot french bread is just the ticket!

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Making homemade bread is one of my favorite ways to make our home just a little cozier.

Not only does the house smell heavenly, but fresh bread is also one of the best comfort foods EVER.

I make a good bit of bread at home, because it’s something my kids adore (and let’s be honest–carbs are my love language, too!). Recently, I’ve started proofing dough in the Instant Pot, which is what I do for my homemade dinner rolls, pizza dough, easy naan recipe, and homemade soft pretzels.

I’ve even baked no-knead bread in the Instant Pot!

So for this easy french bread, I’m including instructions for proofing the dough in the Instant Pot. But know that if you don’t have an Instant Pot, that’s totally fine! You can definitely still make this simple bread recipe.

loaf of french bread in a white and blue checkered towel

Quick and Easy French Bread

This quick and easy french bread is one you can make later in the day, because you don’t need a whole lot of time for the dough to rise.

If you want whole wheat french bread, you can make this with whole wheat flour. If you want white french bread, use regular all-purpose flour. I’ve made this both ways, and it’s delicious either way!

For most of the pictures in this post, I used a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat flour, so you’ll see the bread is a slightly darker color.

Sometimes I sneak whole wheat flour into our baked goods and my kids never know it. Muhahaha!

How to Make Easy Homemade French Bread

It’s really easy to make this bread! All you need is some basic pantry staples, and you’ll have a loaf of homemade, freshly baked bread!

Ingredients You’ll Need for French Bread:

Flour (all-purpose or whole wheat, depending on your preference)
Salt
Sugar
Yeast
Water
Egg white (for egg wash, which is totally optional)

stack of slices of whole wheat french bread

How to Make It:

(Full printable recipe is available below)

Mix the dough. First, you’ll add some water, salt, sugar, and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Mix these together, then add the flour, mixing until a soft dough forms.

Let your stand mixer knead the dough for a few minutes, until it has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. You can also mix and knead by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer.

Let the dough rise. Next, spray the insert pot of your Instant Pot with cooking spray. Transfer the ball of dough to the insert pot and give it a spritz of cooking spray to coat it.

Turn on the yogurt function and let the dough rise until doubled, about 20-30 minutes.

Shape and rise. Punch down the dough, then transfer it to a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into a rectangle. Roll the rectangle up jelly-roll style. Transfer it, seam side down, to a greased (or silicone mat lined) baking sheet.

Let the loaf rise again until doubled in size, about 20-35 minutes, depending on the warmth. I like to put my oven on “warm” and pop the pan in there to accelerate this process. If you have a sunny spot in your house, that can work well, too!

french bread dough that has doubled in size

Bake. Once it’s risen, preheat the oven to 400F (take the pan out of the oven first if you were letting it rise in there). If you want, brush the top of the loaf with an egg wash, then bake for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Let it cool a bit before slicing, then enjoy! It’s great with a smear of real butter, or it’s delightful with some Instant Pot apple butter, Instant Pot peach jam, a smear of pineapple jam, or Instant Pot strawberry jam!

Recommended Equipment:

Stand mixer
Instant Pot with Yogurt function

Yield: 1 loaf

Easy French Bread (with Instant Pot proofing instructions!)

Name: Easy French Bread (with Instant Pot proofing instructions!)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 1 cup warm water; 2 1/4 tsp yeast; 1 tsp salt; 1 Tbsp sugar; 2 3/4 cups flour (either all-purpose or whole wheat, depending on your preference); egg white (optional)

This easy french bread uses the Instant Pot to help the dough rise more quickly, so you can enjoy homemade bread for dinner tonight!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
2 3/4 cups flour (either all-purpose or whole wheat, depending on your preference)
egg white (optional)

Instructions

Prepare a baking sheet by either greasing it or lining it with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, combine water, yeast, salt, and sugar.
With the mixer on low speed, add flour. Let the stand mixer knead the dough for about 3-5 minutes, until it has pulled away from the sides of the bowl.
Spray the insert pot of an Instant Pot with cooking spray. Transfer the ball of dough to the insert pot and spray the top with cooking spray to coat.
Put the lid on and press the Yogurt button. Let the dough rise there until doubled, about 20-30 minutes. (Alternatively, you can allow the dough to rise in a greased bowl in a warm place in your house).
Once the dough has doubled in size, remove the lid and punch the dough down. Transfer to a floured surface and roll out into a rectangle.
Roll up the rectangle, jelly-roll style, into a long loaf. Place on prepared baking sheet, seam side down.
Place the pan in a warm place and allow the loaf to rise until doubled in size (I often put the baking sheet in my oven, with the "warm" setting turned on, to help accelerate this process).
Once doubled in size, preheat oven to 400F (remove pan from oven first if you have the dough rising in there). If desired, gently brush the top with egg white. This will create a shinier surface after baking, and is totally optional. You can also use a floured serrated knife to gently cut three slits in the top of the loaf, if desired.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool before slicing.

Notes

Use whatever type of flour you prefer--I've used regular all-purpose as well as whole wheat, as well as a combination of the two, and all options turn out great.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 112Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 200mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 4g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is not guaranteed for accuracy.