Name: Homemade Bread Bowls Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 2¼ cups warm water; 11 teaspoons active dry yeast (2 (5½ teaspoon packages)); ½ cup butter (1 stick (melted)); 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar; 3 teaspoons salt; 6½ cups all-purpose flour

The perfect homemade bread bowls recipe for your favorite soup! The best warm bread bowls that are great for dipping.

If your family is anything like ours, and you are constantly eating soup during these winter months, then this homemade bread bowls recipe will be perfect for you!

I’ve always loved getting soup at places like Panera where you can get the bread bowl, but now I have the best homemade bread bowls recipe! No need to leave the house on these cold winter days to get my fancy bread bowls.

Plus my kids think it is so cool that this homemade bread recipe can be formed into a ball and used as a bowl. They also like to help make the bowls, making this a great family recipe!

Keep dinner budget-friendly by pairing this bread bowl with our Slow Cooker 3 Cheese Broccoli Soup Recipe, Seven Can Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe, or the best Instant Pot chicken Noodle Soup Recipe. You’ll be feeling like you’re in Panera Bread in no time!

Ingredients Needed For Our Homemade Bread Bowls Recipe:

Water
Active dry yeast
Butter
Granulated sugar
Salt
All-purpose flour

How To Make Our Homemade Bread Bowls Recipe:

To begin, get out your stand mixer and pour in the warm water and mix in the active dry yeast.

Water and Yeast Mixture for Homemade Bread Bowls

Let that dissolve for about 5-7 minutes, until the mixture begins to get foamy.

Then, add in the melted butter, granulated sugar, and the salt and mix it all together.

Now, add in part of the flour and turn on the stand mixer.

Continue adding the flour a little bit at a time until all of the flour has been added.

Once everything has been combined, allow the mixer to knead the dough for 5 minutes (or knead it by hand if you prefer!)

After it has been kneaded, punch down the dough and form the dough into 6 equal sized balls.

Dough balls for Homemade Bread Bowls on pan

Then, place the balls on a greased cookie sheet pan and let them rise until they have doubled in size. (This normally takes about 45 minutes to an hour.)

While you are waiting for the dough to rise, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Once the dough has risen, place them into the preheated oven and bake them for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Let the bread cool down, then cut the top off with a serrated knife, scoop out some of the inside and pour your soup in!

PRO TIP: Keep the inside since it is perfect to dip in your soup!

To Make These Homemade Bread Bowls You Will Need:

Stand Mixer (THIS is a great mixer!)
Cookie sheet pan
Serrated knife
Nonstick cooking spray/parchment paper

Related Recipe: Make 6 Loaves of Bread in 1 Hour!

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Key to Success

Bread is super easy to make as long as you follow the directions to the “T”. There is a surprising amount of science that goes into baking. With bread, the temperature of the water is important.

If your temperature is too hot it can kill the yeast and stop the bread from rising. To find out more take a look at Bob’s Red Mill’s article on What Temperature Kills Yeast.

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More Soup Recipes to Try:

Homemade Bread Bowls Recipe

The perfect homemade bread bowls recipe for your favorite soup! The best warm bread bowls that are great for dipping.

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Total Time 35

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Ingredients

▢ 2¼ cups warm water
▢ 11 teaspoons active dry yeast, 2 (5½ teaspoon packages)
▢ ½ cup butter, 1 stick (melted)
▢ 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
▢ 3 teaspoons salt
▢ 6½ cups all-purpose flour

Equipment

Instructions

Using a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, add warm water and sprinkle in yeast. Let dissolve for a few minutes until yeast becomes foamy.
Add melted butter, sugar and salt and mix until combined.
Gradually add flour.
Once combined, allow your mixer to knead the dough for about 5 minutes (you could do this by hand if you weren’t using a mixer, but it may get a little tiring!).
Punch dough down and form into 6 equal sized balls.
Place on a greased cookie sheet and let rise until doubled.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Let cool and cut off the top, remove some of the bread from the inside and fill with soup or dip.

Notes

PRO TIP: Keep the inside of your bread bowl since it is perfect to dip in your soup!

Nutrition

Calories: 716 kcal · Carbohydrates: 116 g · Protein: 23 g · Fat: 18 g · Saturated Fat: 10 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 41 mg · Sodium: 1312 mg · Potassium: 360 mg · Fiber: 10 g · Sugar: 4 g · Vitamin A: 473 IU · Vitamin C: 1 mg · Calcium: 32 mg · Iron: 7 mg

Cuisine: American

Course: Main Course

Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.

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Questions & Reviews

Carrie Ransom says:

I used to work in a cafe that made these...sooo good! Haven't had one in so long, so really excited to come across this. Plus it looks easy too, can't wait to try it out!

Sue says:

I love bread bowls!

Congrats to you all on your cookbook; it looks super! How very exciting!

2justByou says:

MMmmm....Hubby loves soup in bread bowls! Thanks for the recipe, and for all the soup suggestions. =0)
~Kim
http://2justByou.blogspot.com

LisaK says:

Getting ready to make these right now but am wondering if you need to let the dough rise after the mixing before punching down and forming into the balls??

Six Sisters says:

Hi Lisa!

You only have to let them rise after they are rolled into balls. :) Thanks!

SH says:

This is fantastic!! I'd love to make these - with your tomato/tortellini soup recipe inside!

Sheree
The Hartungs Blog
thehartungs.blogspot.ca

tumbleweed-contessa says:

I'm inspired. I have never tried a bread bowl before. I think I'll have to do that. I have some Tumbleweed Contessa chili just dying to be put in one of these! Thanks.

Linda (The Contessa)

Dielle says:

Ooo, this is definitely what we're having for dinner! With a creamy chicken broccoli soup. Thanks for the recipe! Have you done them with wheat flour? I decided to try it half & half with fresh ground wheat flour and AP flour.

dkprovashi Das says:

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Christy says:

I just made these for dinner tonight (potato soup) and can not wait to dig in, just waiting on my husband to get home!! The smell so good it's not funny and my kids are dying to get theirs! Thanks for sharing this easy recipe!!

Kayla DeLeon says:

These are amazing!! Thank you so much for your recipe! I have realized I use your recipes a lot on my blog! I give you a mention every time =)
http://chickwhocooks.blogspot.com/2013/04/bread-bowls.html

Alex says:

I tried this tonight for my family, it didn't turn out as well as I hoped. I let the bread rise once as directed, and unfortunately it deflated in the oven. I haven't tasted the bread yet, but they're basically discs. Next time I make this I will definitely let it rise once before shaping, and then once after shaping into balls. Thanks for the recipe though!

Kerry says:

My mom loves this recipe (and now bread bowls) to pieces, and she even wants to make them now! Thank you so much for posting this, they turned out great when I made them, and I'm working on making my own recipe to fit my own needs.

LisaD says:

I'm getting ready to make these to serve beef stew in. My husband wanted beef stew, and my youngest daughter requested bread bowls... It's not even cold in SC yet!

Rachel says:

I made these for a missionary dinner and they flopped. :( I was so bummed! I was hoping they would rise nicely and be fluffy, but they barely rose and turned out flat. We could barely get any soup into the bowls. Any ideas what went wrong? I've been baking/cooking since my youth, and I cook every meal (I mean every single meal) from scratch, so it's not like I don't know how to follow a recipe. I'm at a loss... please help!

Rachel T. says:

I made five batches of these this week. I had the best Luck when I didn't let them rise too much into the discs. Also I put them Them in a slightly warm oven to rise and my baking time was a Shorter than recipe

Betsy says:

Mine just came out of the oven and they rose to double size but I don't see how even doubling in size is enough to make these big enough to hold soup! Mine aren't as big and round as the picture. Are you positive they don't need 2 risings? I've been toying with all kinds of yeast dough recipes lately and every single one of them require 2 risings.

Meggan says:

I made these for my loaded baked potato soup the other week and they were awesome! I am making them again tonight! Thank you for sharing! :)

Barb says:

I followed directions and mine didn't rise, they were flat disks. But they tasted good, we just sliced them and dipped in our soup. I am wondering if they should rise twice.

Terry says:

What a great blog! You six sisters are so cute! How fun it would be to have so many sisters, (coming from only boys!) ha.. Love your recipes! About to try the bread bowls. I think they will turn out great! Keep up the good blog!

Mercury says:

Has anyone tried making a GF version of this with GF flour? My hubby has ibs and has to eat gf bread and I'm finding it very difficult to make at home. And he loves/misses rolls like this so I would hate to make it regular for me and our son and him miss out on bread bowls :(

Rachel says:

These turned out beautiful!! Golden brown, and just the right size! I can't wait to fill them with broccoli cheese soup tonight!

Pattie says:

I just came across this recipe and want to make it with home made clam chowder. Since I am freezing some of the soup, can the bread bowls be frozen before baking and then baked as needed? I guess I'd have to thaw before baking, but I'd like to bake them fresh as needed. Any suggestions?

Cyd says:

We haven't frozen the bread dough. We make it and then cook them. If you freeze the dough, you would have to thaw and let them rise before baking.

Christy says:

I made these today with the chicken chili soup recipe from your cookbook. Delicious! They didn't look like what I was expecting from a "bread bowl" as they were flatter, but I was still able to cut the tops off and fill with the soup. I think this recipe would also make wonderful hamburger buns, making 8 or maybe even 10 smaller balls of dough. It was certainly one of the fastest yeast recipes I've ever made. Thank you!

Sarah says:

Is there a trick to shaping these? The bread is delicious and airy and the recipe was quick but my bread bowls turned out to be small bread loaves. They were like 2 inches high and 5 inches wide. How you you get them to rise up instead of out?

Wendy says:

No egg in the bread bowl recipe??? And don't let it rise twice??? I've made many yeast bread recipes and always have egg and rise twice. Don't want to get that wrong and waste 6 cups of flour.... Thanks for the recipe!

Sue says:

I made these tonight and my bread also turned out pretty flat, like others have noted above. I was wondering if it was because I put the melted butter into the yeast and water mixture when it was hot, just after I melted it. Maybe that killed some of the yeast? Next time I would try maybe letting the butter cool for a while or adding it after the flour. We didn't put soup into the bowls but the bread went well with our soup. Thanks!

Jaqueline Jimenez Reyes says:

I just made them I let them rise twice I like the flavor,soft, goooood but they arent like the picture!!mine are a little bit flat!!

Missy says:

I made these this evening for my family with a chicken stew and they absolutely LOVED them! My husband was actually kind of upset there wasn't extra bowls for him to take for his lunch lol. I've made all kinds of bread recipes that were labor intensive and required a ton of ingredients. This one is by far the easiest one I've ever come across and made! Definitely will be my go-to bread recipe for roll, loaves and bowls :) Thank you ladies for sharing!!

Brittney Shaw says:

Love. I've made these for years. Anyone saying they didn't be rise. 1 was your yeast fresh? 2 I always used the yeast in a jar not package.

Aquaguard Service Center says:

YUM!!!! These bread bowls look beyond delicious! Thank you for posting detailed pics! It definitely helps!! Going to give these bread bowls a try!!!

BetsyD says:

Had made these three times now (including tonight) and have never had a problem with them rising. My guess is that others are either killing the yeast with hot butter or not using fresh yeast. Yeast in the jar is far better than packets. No second rise is needed. My son requested these for a third year in a row for his bday dinner-- bread bowls with Chicken Parmesan soup. Thank you, Six Sisters for sharing a recipe that is a memory for my 4 boys!

Cyd says:

Hi Betsy, Thanks for taking the time to send us a sweet comment. What a fun idea for a birthday dinner. Happy Birthday to your son! Have a great week!

Aquaguard Ro says:

thanks for sharing this post it's mouth-watering I really enjoyed it

Anita Venegas says:

Hello. I've made this bread bowl recipe many times, and love them! I was wondering though if this dough would make a good pizza dough, and how would I modify it?

Cyd says:

This will make a great pizza dough too. Just roll it out for your pizza.

Crystal says:

I make these all the time. If they collapsed, it wasn't because they needed another rise. It is because you let them rise too much before putting them in the oven.

Join The Discussion

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Carrie Ransom says:

I used to work in a cafe that made these...sooo good! Haven't had one in so long, so really excited to come across this. Plus it looks easy too, can't wait to try it out!
Sue says:

I love bread bowls!

Congrats to you all on your cookbook; it looks super! How very exciting!
2justByou says:

MMmmm....Hubby loves soup in bread bowls! Thanks for the recipe, and for all the soup suggestions. =0)
~Kim
http://2justByou.blogspot.com
LisaK says:

Getting ready to make these right now but am wondering if you need to let the dough rise after the mixing before punching down and forming into the balls??
Six Sisters says:

Hi Lisa!

You only have to let them rise after they are rolled into balls. :) Thanks!
SH says:

This is fantastic!! I'd love to make these - with your tomato/tortellini soup recipe inside!

Sheree
The Hartungs Blog
thehartungs.blogspot.ca
tumbleweed-contessa says:

I'm inspired. I have never tried a bread bowl before. I think I'll have to do that. I have some Tumbleweed Contessa chili just dying to be put in one of these! Thanks.

Linda (The Contessa)
Dielle says:

Ooo, this is definitely what we're having for dinner! With a creamy chicken broccoli soup. Thanks for the recipe! Have you done them with wheat flour? I decided to try it half & half with fresh ground wheat flour and AP flour.
dkprovashi Das says:

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Christy says:

I just made these for dinner tonight (potato soup) and can not wait to dig in, just waiting on my husband to get home!! The smell so good it's not funny and my kids are dying to get theirs! Thanks for sharing this easy recipe!!
Kayla DeLeon says:

These are amazing!! Thank you so much for your recipe! I have realized I use your recipes a lot on my blog! I give you a mention every time =)
http://chickwhocooks.blogspot.com/2013/04/bread-bowls.html
Alex says:

I tried this tonight for my family, it didn't turn out as well as I hoped. I let the bread rise once as directed, and unfortunately it deflated in the oven. I haven't tasted the bread yet, but they're basically discs. Next time I make this I will definitely let it rise once before shaping, and then once after shaping into balls. Thanks for the recipe though!
Kerry says:

My mom loves this recipe (and now bread bowls) to pieces, and she even wants to make them now! Thank you so much for posting this, they turned out great when I made them, and I'm working on making my own recipe to fit my own needs.
LisaD says:

I'm getting ready to make these to serve beef stew in. My husband wanted beef stew, and my youngest daughter requested bread bowls... It's not even cold in SC yet!
Rachel says:

I made these for a missionary dinner and they flopped. :( I was so bummed! I was hoping they would rise nicely and be fluffy, but they barely rose and turned out flat. We could barely get any soup into the bowls. Any ideas what went wrong? I've been baking/cooking since my youth, and I cook every meal (I mean every single meal) from scratch, so it's not like I don't know how to follow a recipe. I'm at a loss... please help!
Rachel T. says:

I made five batches of these this week. I had the best Luck when I didn't let them rise too much into the discs. Also I put them Them in a slightly warm oven to rise and my baking time was a Shorter than recipe
Betsy says:

Mine just came out of the oven and they rose to double size but I don't see how even doubling in size is enough to make these big enough to hold soup! Mine aren't as big and round as the picture. Are you positive they don't need 2 risings? I've been toying with all kinds of yeast dough recipes lately and every single one of them require 2 risings.
Meggan says:

I made these for my loaded baked potato soup the other week and they were awesome! I am making them again tonight! Thank you for sharing! :)
Barb says:

I followed directions and mine didn't rise, they were flat disks. But they tasted good, we just sliced them and dipped in our soup. I am wondering if they should rise twice.
Terry says:

What a great blog! You six sisters are so cute! How fun it would be to have so many sisters, (coming from only boys!) ha.. Love your recipes! About to try the bread bowls. I think they will turn out great! Keep up the good blog!
Mercury says:

Has anyone tried making a GF version of this with GF flour? My hubby has ibs and has to eat gf bread and I'm finding it very difficult to make at home. And he loves/misses rolls like this so I would hate to make it regular for me and our son and him miss out on bread bowls :(
Rachel says:

These turned out beautiful!! Golden brown, and just the right size! I can't wait to fill them with broccoli cheese soup tonight!
Pattie says:

I just came across this recipe and want to make it with home made clam chowder. Since I am freezing some of the soup, can the bread bowls be frozen before baking and then baked as needed? I guess I'd have to thaw before baking, but I'd like to bake them fresh as needed. Any suggestions?
Cyd says:

We haven't frozen the bread dough. We make it and then cook them. If you freeze the dough, you would have to thaw and let them rise before baking.
Christy says:

I made these today with the chicken chili soup recipe from your cookbook. Delicious! They didn't look like what I was expecting from a "bread bowl" as they were flatter, but I was still able to cut the tops off and fill with the soup. I think this recipe would also make wonderful hamburger buns, making 8 or maybe even 10 smaller balls of dough. It was certainly one of the fastest yeast recipes I've ever made. Thank you!
Sarah says:

Is there a trick to shaping these? The bread is delicious and airy and the recipe was quick but my bread bowls turned out to be small bread loaves. They were like 2 inches high and 5 inches wide. How you you get them to rise up instead of out?
Wendy says:

No egg in the bread bowl recipe??? And don't let it rise twice??? I've made many yeast bread recipes and always have egg and rise twice. Don't want to get that wrong and waste 6 cups of flour.... Thanks for the recipe!
Sue says:

I made these tonight and my bread also turned out pretty flat, like others have noted above. I was wondering if it was because I put the melted butter into the yeast and water mixture when it was hot, just after I melted it. Maybe that killed some of the yeast? Next time I would try maybe letting the butter cool for a while or adding it after the flour. We didn't put soup into the bowls but the bread went well with our soup. Thanks!
Jaqueline Jimenez Reyes says:

I just made them I let them rise twice I like the flavor,soft, goooood but they arent like the picture!!mine are a little bit flat!!
Missy says:

I made these this evening for my family with a chicken stew and they absolutely LOVED them! My husband was actually kind of upset there wasn't extra bowls for him to take for his lunch lol. I've made all kinds of bread recipes that were labor intensive and required a ton of ingredients. This one is by far the easiest one I've ever come across and made! Definitely will be my go-to bread recipe for roll, loaves and bowls :) Thank you ladies for sharing!!
Brittney Shaw says:

Love. I've made these for years. Anyone saying they didn't be rise. 1 was your yeast fresh? 2 I always used the yeast in a jar not package.
Aquaguard Service Center says:

YUM!!!! These bread bowls look beyond delicious! Thank you for posting detailed pics! It definitely helps!! Going to give these bread bowls a try!!!
BetsyD says:

Had made these three times now (including tonight) and have never had a problem with them rising. My guess is that others are either killing the yeast with hot butter or not using fresh yeast. Yeast in the jar is far better than packets. No second rise is needed. My son requested these for a third year in a row for his bday dinner-- bread bowls with Chicken Parmesan soup. Thank you, Six Sisters for sharing a recipe that is a memory for my 4 boys!
Cyd says:

Hi Betsy, Thanks for taking the time to send us a sweet comment. What a fun idea for a birthday dinner. Happy Birthday to your son! Have a great week!
Aquaguard Ro says:

thanks for sharing this post it's mouth-watering I really enjoyed it
Anita Venegas says:

Hello. I've made this bread bowl recipe many times, and love them! I was wondering though if this dough would make a good pizza dough, and how would I modify it?
Cyd says:

This will make a great pizza dough too. Just roll it out for your pizza.
Crystal says:

I make these all the time. If they collapsed, it wasn't because they needed another rise. It is because you let them rise too much before putting them in the oven.