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This Subway Bread Recipe is easy to make and tastes even better than the popular restaurant! Soft and chewy, it’s the perfect start to your favorite sandwich.
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A perfect sandwich begins and ends with the bread! This Subway Bread recipe uses real, actual, bread-making ingredients and tastes even better than what you can get at the restaurant. It’s soft, slightly chewy, with fresh, homemade flavor. You’re probably thinking, why go through all the trouble of making Subway’s sandwich bread at home when you can’t beat a $5 foot long or a cheap 6-inch sandwich? I’m with you there! But hear me out. This recipe is so fun to make at home. It’s ideal for parties, baby showers, picnics, whenever you want to serve delicious homemade sandwiches and wow your guests. My kids love to help shape the dough, watch it bake, then play “Subway” as they assemble all the sandwiches. Try this recipe and see how much fun it can be to create your favorite sub in your own kitchen!
Ingredients in Subway Bread
Making homemade bread isn’t as daunting as it may seem. Just a few pantry staples and you’re well on your way to delicious, fresh bread from your own kitchen. Here’s what you need for this recipe:
- Yeast – use active dry yeast, NOT quick rising yeast.
- Warm water – warm to the touch but not too hot. You don’t want to kill your yeast with hot water.
- Sugar – a couple tablespoons of white sugar helps to activate and “feed” the yeast, making light bread. You don’t need too much sugar – just enough to get that yeast nice and fluffy.
- Flour – regular all purpose flour for white bread.
- Vital Wheat Gluten – you can find this in a “Bob’s Red Mill” brand package at most grocery stores. See notes below for more on this “secret” ingredient.
- Cold butter
- Salt
Secret Ingredient for Subway Bread
What kind of food blogger would I be if I wasn’t honest with my readers. So here it goes: it took a few tries (four to be exact) until I got this Subway Bread just right. There is a little secret ingredient you need for it to be just right and that is Vital Wheat Gluten. I know that sounds intimidating, but it isn’t. It’s what you need to make the bread chewy and soft like real Subway bread and you can find it at your regular grocery store! I got mine at Winco in their bulk bins for about two dollars a pound. If you don’t have a Winco nearby, you can get it in a “Bob’s Red Mill” brand package at most grocery stores but it is a bit pricey. But this is the ticket to soft and chewy Subway bread.
Substitutions and Additions
- Use whole wheat flour to create whole wheat bread
- Add sesame seeds and a drizzle of olive oil to the top of your bread before baking
- For Italian bread or Italian herb bread, sprinkle Italian seasoning or some oregano to the top of your loaf.
- Make cheese bread by sprinkling shredded parmesan cheese to the top of the loaves before baking.
Frequently Asked Questions about Subway Bread
If you REALLY want to make it like Subway, you can use special “sub” bread mold pans. They will help the bread rise in the right direction and you will get that nice “Subway-ish” shape. If you don’t have special pans, you can just shape them as best you can with your hands. The more cylinder-shaped you can get them, the better.
The bread made at the restaurant has a high sugar content and artificial flavors that aren’t too healthy, so making it at home with wholesome ingredients is definitely a healthier option.
If you can’t find the Vital Wheat Gluten locally, you can get it on Amazon, here.
More Bread Recipes
As long as you have a few bread recipes in your back pocket, you will always have something nourishing and comforting to feed your family. Try a few of our favorites:
How to Make Subway Bread at Home
How to Make Subway Bread at Home
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1 ½ cup warm water,, divided
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 ½ cups flour
- 2 tablespoons Bob's Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten, see above notes
- 3 tablespoons butter, cold, plus a little more for topping, cold
- ½ tablespoon salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine yeast, ½ cup of warm water, and sugar. Stir until well combined. Let stand for about 10 minutes or until nice and foamy.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour and vital wheat gluten. Set Aside. Add the remaining 1 cup warm water to the yeast mixture. Add the flour mixture.
- Mix until combined, about 4 minutes.
- Add a little flour if necessary; You want it a little sticky, but not so much that it sticks to the sides of the bowl.
- Cut up cold butter into little cubes and add to the mixing bowl. Add salt. Mix an additional 5-6 minutes, until butter is mixed in. Pull the bread off the hook if needed throughout the mixing process. Again, you want the dough to be slightly sticky and stretchy.
- Grease a large bowl. Place dough inside and roll around a little to get it greased all around Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour.
- Punch the dough down and divide into 3 equal pieces. (Flour your hands if the dough is too sticky, for easier handling.) Roll out each piece into a 12-inch-long loaf. The dough should be the same thickness all the way across. Place on a nonstick baking sheet, a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat, or a French bread baking pan. Cover and allow to rise for 40-60 minutes, until dough doubles in size.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 15-25 minutes (check at 15 minutes), until bread is golden brown. Remove from oven and lightly run a little cold butter over the top.
- Allow loaves to cool completely, then serve with all your favorite sub sandwich toppings!
Notes
- You can make variations of this bread easily. To make whole wheat bread, use whole wheat flour. You can also add sesame seeds and a drizzle of olive oil to the top of your bread before baking. For Italian bread or Italian herb bread, sprinkle Italian seasoning or some oregano on the top of your loaf before baking. You can make cheese bread by sprinkling shredded Parmesan cheese on the top of the loaves before baking.
- If you use a bread mold, you’ll get the perfect shape each time.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I decided to try this recipe today and it was great. I’ve tried so many different recipes for a copycat of Subway and none of them were right. They all tasted, just ok, but ended up in the trash. But this one…this one is great.
I will say, I did read many of the reviews and I have a few suggestions to make…
Use a thermometer to check the water’s temperature. If it’s too hot, it’ll kill the yeast and it won’t rise. If it’s too cold, it won’t activate the yeast and it won’t rise. I find between 105 degrees F and 115 degrees F works really well. My preference is right at 110 degrees F. That’s what I consider to be the sweet spot.
Don’t use a tablespoon measuring spoon when you need to measure out the salt. I used a teaspoon and I used 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of salt. It was the perfect amount. For the flour, I find that a good bread flour works best. I always use King Arthur flours. For this one, I used their bread flour. And yes, it matters because of the gluten content. I chose not to brush the bread with butter, not before or after baking. Instead, just before putting it in the oven, I brushed the loaves with milk.
I will definitely be keeping this recipe and using more often.
As for what I used to bake it on, I used the pan I use for baking my french bread on. I placed the dough on the pan, in sections, let it do it’s second rise, brushed with milk, and popped it into the oven. Perfect bread.
Thank you to the OP who posted the recipe. I was so tired of trying so many different recipes and them not working out. It’s great to finally find one that was perfect.
This recipe is definitely a keeper.
There is one thing I forgot to add. I do use my mixer to do Some of the kneading, but not all of it. I do take it out and knead by hand for about 5 minutes. It gives me a chance to feel the dough and that tells me if it’s perfect or off. When I started kneading this dough today, I noticed it was much softer than the others I had tried and it felt really good. Not dry and not too wet. It was perfect. So, if you haven’t already, I recommend kneading the dough and getting to know it. Learn how it feels and feel the texture.
This is the bread pan I used. I let them rise on it for their last rise and then popped it into the oven for baking.
If you copy and paste this into the Amazon website, this should pop right up.
Baguette Bread Pan, Premium Nonstick Perforated Baguette Pan for French Bread Baking, 4 Loaves Baguette Baking Tray for Sourdough, Italian Bread, Perfect for Creating Crisp Golden-Brown Crust
Wow thanks so much for all this great advice! I will have to try it this way!
Only three stars because I don’t have a stand mixer. Would have been nice to include directions for kneading by hand too
I love hot honey on cornbread too! I love the little kick!
Follow the recipe exact, only do it by hand. I never used to have a mixer and I made all of my breads and rolls by hand. And that’s what I did. I followed the recipe and mixed everything by hand. For kneading, I would do it about 10 minutes. Let it rise until double and follow the rest of the recipe. I always reduced the flour by about 1/4 cup because I knew it was going to pick up a lot of flour while it was being kneaded. Never had a problem. Always turned out great. FYI…I didn’t get my first stand mixer until I was about 50. That was almost 20 years ago.
What size pan/mold do you use to get this size?
I used a 13×17 silicone bread mould to make these!
I used to work at subway a few years ago, and this tastes exactly the same! thank you so much. I will be making this all the time!
Can you please clarify for me the water measurements. The ingredients list asks for 1 cup water.
The instruction calls for 1 and half cups of water (step 1 and step 2) . Can you please help me with these two steps please. Thank you so much
There are two ingredient lines for water adding up to a cup and a half total. Hope this helps!
I’m questioning two tablespoons of active dry yeast for a 3 1/2 cup batch. Is that correct??
Yes that is correct!
I just made this…delicious. I do have a question, since it’s just myself and husband, I don’t need 3 loaves, can I freeze some of the dough?
I wouldn’t freeze the dough, I would bake it all and then freeze the baked bread! I have had better success with that.
Some days, I wish I’d never found this recipe! I say that because now my spoiled kids will not eat store bought bread any longer. Seriously!
Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to make. I already had the vital wheat gluten in my cabinet from other baking endeavors. It does make the difference. And do NOT skip the butter on top at the end – that makes or breaks the texture.
This is a recipe from which I never deviate at all- no need to mess with perfection!
We have a friend that owns a few subway franchises, and I keep wanting to take her some of the bread and someday, when I make them pretty enough, perhaps I will 🙂
Former Sandwich Artist from the late 90’s. This is damn close to what I remember. Making a meatball sub asap.
How can I store the baked breads?
Store it in an airtight container or plastic wrap at room temperature. Thank you for asking!
Very good flavor and texture! The outside was light brown and slightly crispy, while the inside was moist and airy. I made the loaves on a sheet pan and they didn’t hold their shape, but were still delicious. Like others commented, I also had to add more flour. I am going to get a sub pan and will definitely make this again!
Great texture but too salty! I’d try 1 1/2 teaspoons next time.
So good ! Only change is I put 1/2 tbsp of salt instead of 1 and I knead it by hand. It was perfect and very delicious !
So glad you liked it! Thank you for your comment and suggestions.
This was so good, just like my favorite bread at Subway and perfect for making at home when I can’t go out!
This was such an easy recipe. I expected it to be so much more difficult! My husband is a fan so we will definitely be making more! Yum!
When listing ingredients water is list as a total of 1 3/4 cups. In the directions it says a total of
1 1/2 cups.Which is it?
Thanks for catching that! Its 1 1/2 cups.
wheat gluten…any substitute for this, not found here..
We haven’t tested out any other substitutes for this recipe yet, sorry!
This recipe is so bad, I rate it ZERO stars! Tried making this twice thinking I must have made a terrible mistake the first time for it to turn out flatter than pancakes. But when the second attempt turned out just as bad, I decided it’s the recipe! Don’t waste your flour!
I am so sorry this didn’t turn out well for you! We will try to re-visit this recipe and see what could have gone wrong. :/
One thing is your water amounts are different in the ingredient list compared to the directions.
Maybe his yeast was bad/expired or even flour, many dont even know flour expires
Water. The water temperature needs to be between 105 degrees F and not more than 115 degrees F. Under 105 and the yeast will not rise properly. Over 115, the heat kills the yeast and it will not rise. 110 degrees F. is what I always use. It’s what I consider to be the sweet spot. You’ll need a proper kitchen cooking thermometer to check the water temperature.
Horrible! Been making bread for years..Not enough flour and way too much salt! Had to throw it all out!
Hi Penni- so sorry to hear that it didn’t turn out well for you. We haven’t had any complaints about it being too salty before, I will have to investigate this further and adjust the recipe if necessary
Might want to list the kind of salt you use. some salts are finer than others and that might be why some of saying its to salty.
Does Subway make their own pretzels? If so, can you please share the recipe.
Hmm that is a good question. I have never had their pretzels and don’t know if they make their own. :/ Sorry! Not much help here!