Keto Focaccia Bread

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This Keto focaccia bread is wonderfully airy, soft and chewy. The easy recipe uses yeast, which gives it a fluffy texture and a great rise. A grain-free, gluten-free bread with only 2.2g net carbs per square.

squares of focaccia bread with rosemary sprigs and a small dish of olive oil

I am crazy about bread.

Over the years, I've been posting lots of bread recipes - don't miss this almond flour bread or my everyday low carb bread. I've even written a Keto bread cookbook.

But this recipe... is special. It's so delicious!

It would have been easy to make a low carb focaccia with fathead dough. You could simply bake my keto garlic bread in a rectangular pan and add rosemary sprigs and salt.

But I wanted to create a proper bread recipe with yeast, using low carb flours and not mozzarella cheese.

I'm so pleased with this recipe! The protein powder makes it extra white and fluffy in texture. And the yeast, olive oil and rosemary give it the distinctive "real Italian" focaccia flavor.

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Ingredients
Instructions
How To Serve
Recipe FAQs
Storage
More Keto Recipes
Recipe

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients I am using:

Active dry yeast
Inulin - A prebiotic fibre which has about 30% percent of the sweetness of sugar. We need it to activate the yeast.
Almond flour - I am using ground almonds. This is the same as regular almond flour in the US. If you're using super-fine almond flour, you may want to reduce the amount by about 1 tablespoon.
Whey protein powder - For a fine, wheat-like texture
Egg - One entire egg and two additional egg whites
Water - must be warm
Baking Powder
Xanthan gum - for a stronger crumb structure
Extra virgin olive oil
Rosemary sprigs and sea salt

Instructions

This section contains step-by-step instructions and photos that show how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Step 1: Proof the yeast by adding it to the warm water with the inulin. It needs to froth and bubble.

almond flour and other dry ingredients mixed in a bowl with spatula

Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Step 3: Beat the eggs until frothy in a large mixing bowl.

Step 4: Add the extra-virgin olive oil, yeast mixture and the flour mix to the eggs and continue mixing until well-combined. A sticky dough will form.

dough spread in a rectangular bread pan lined with parchment and topped with rosemary sprigs and sea salt

Step 5: Put the dough in a baking dish lined with parchment paper. Make indentations in the dough with your fingers and top with fresh rosemary and sea salt. Cover with a tea towel and let the dough rise.

Step 6: Bake the focaccia until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool fully before slicing.

Expert Tips

If you follow these tips, the bread will rise like a dream and you'll end up with a wonderfully fluffy texture.

Use a digital food scale. It's more accurate than measuring cups and will yield a better bread. Also, all tablespoons and teaspoons need to be level and not heaped.

Proof the yeast. Yeast likes a water temperature of 40 C / 105F (think bath water). Too hot, and the yeast cannot activate, too cold and it will die. If the yeast does not form a generous amount of froth, discard it and start again.

Room temperature eggs. If you mix cold eggs into the yeast, you just won't get a good rise. To warm up fridge eggs, put them in hot water for 3 minutes.

Where to let the dough rise: It needs a warm place - the top of a radiator, an airing cupboard or the oven on the lowest setting. Always cover it with an oiled piece of clingfilm and top it with a tea towel.

How To Serve

Serve keto focaccia...

alongside a platter with roasted vegetables and cured ham
in a bread basket, with a bowl of olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping
as a panini, filled with parma ham, provolone cheese, tomato, lettuce and avocado
with a soup, such as keto mushroom soup or keto vegetable soup.

Squares of focaccia bread on a baking sheet decorated with fresh rosemary sprigs and a bowl of olive oil

Recipe FAQs

Does this bread taste like real focaccia?

No. You can taste the almond flour. But apart from that, it has a similar chewy consistency and all the other flavors we like about focaccia - the yeast, the rosemary, olive oil and salt.

What can I use instead of inulin?

Use honey or even sugar instead. Don't worry - no sugar will remain post bake. The yeast "feeds" on it. You cannot substitute the inulin with either erythritol or xylitol.

Can I add olives?

Yes. You can add Kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes or grate parmesan cheese over the bread before baking.

How do I make it dairy-free?

Yes. Replace the whey protein powder with either egg white protein powder or with 2 tablespoon psyllium husk (or 1 tablespoon psyllium husk powder). I used psyllium in my first attempt at this recipe. The result is a little firmer, but also very good.

Can I replace the almond flour with coconut flour?

No, that would not work. A better nut-free substitute may be a mix of sesame seed and sunflower seed flour, which could be used as a 1:1 substitution to almond flour.