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Home » Bread Recipes

Easy French Bread Soup Bowls

Published: Sep 24, 2022 by Mindee · This post contains affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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You don't have to go all the way to the grocery store or Panera to enjoy your favorite soup in a bread bowl. With my step by step instructions I will show you how to make your own bread bowls at home! You can eat hot soup as well as chili out of them! The best part is you can make them large or make them small!

A hollowed out bread bowl ready for soup!
Homemade french bread bowl full of potato soup!
Jump to:
  • Why You'll Love This Recipe
  • Ingredient Notes
  • How to Make
  • Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips
  • What To Put In Bread Bowls...
  • French Bread Soup Bowls Recipe

Why You'll Love This Recipe

  • Eating soup out of a giant roll is awesome!
  • Make 4 large (store bought size) OR 6 medium (cantaloupe size) OR 8 small (grapefruit size)
  • Easy recipe! Not more difficult to make than regular French Bread (which isn't hard either)

Ingredient Notes

  • Flour - All purpose flour, not bread flour and never self rising flour.
  • Olive Oil - Coconut oil, canola oil, or any other cooking oil may substituted for the olive oil.
  • Yeast - Active dry yeast, instant rise yeast and rapid rise yeast are all the same thing and may be used interchangeably.
Only 6 very simple ingredients to make these easy homemade bread bowls.
Only 6 very simple ingredients to make these easy homemade bread bowls.

How to Make

  • Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. You will need a large bowl for this recipe. I use a 6 quart stand mixer fitted with a dough hook to make this bread, but it can be made by hand as well.
  •  Let it sit for about 5 minutes to let the yeast get foamy.  
Activate the yeast with the sugar in warm water.
Dissolve yeast with the sugar in warm water.
  • Add the olive oil, salt and all 6 cups of flour.
  • As you can see in picture 8 it looks like there is too much flour, but don't worry, it will all mix in.
Oil, salt and flour added to the yeast mixture followed by the flour.
Oil, salt and flour added to the yeast mixture followed by the flour.
  • After all the flour is mixed in your dough should look like picture 9, a shaggy ball of dough that cleans the sides of the mixing bowl.
  • Knead at a medium speed for 5 minutes, or by hand for 10 minutes.  The dough should end up like picture 10 and 11, very smooth, elastic-y and the sides of the bowl should be completely clean.
  • Remove the dough hook and cover the bowl with a clean dish towel to rise in a warm place. 
  • The first rise for this bread dough is a little different than other breads.
  • Over the next hour, about every 10 minutes or so, knead the bread dough in the bowl about 3 times.  This is going to create that chewy french bread crust.  It doesn't have to be exactly every ten minutes, but you need to have kneaded the dough at least 4 times over that hour.
  • After the hour just let the dough rise until doubled.  This should take about 30 minutes.
Dough when first being kneaded to what it looks like after kneading.
Dough when first being kneaded to what it looks like after kneading.
  • Once the dough ball has doubled, dump it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide dough into equal pieces.
  • 4 Pieces for 4 large bread bowls about the same size after baking, as you buy from the store.
  • 6 Pieces for 6 Medium bowls about the size of cantaloupes after baking.
  • 8 Pieces for 8 Small bowls about the size of grapefruits (mini bread bowls) after baking.
  • Shape each piece of dough into smooth round balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
  • Cover to let the dough balls do a second rise until doubled.
  • While the dough rises, place an empty aluminum (never glass) baking sheet on the very bottom rack of your oven.
  • Make sure the other rack is in the center of your oven.
  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  • After placing the bread on the center oven rack to bake, before closing the oven door, throw a ½ cup of water onto the now super hot baking sheet you placed on the bottom oven rack and quickly close the oven door.
  • This creates steam that sets that crusty, chewy crust you want.
  • Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.
  • Loaves should be golden brown and sound hollow when thumped.
  • Cool at least 20 minutes before cutting the top of the bread bowl off with a sharp knife, hollowing the center, filling with warm soup and eating.
  • Don't forget to serve with the top and the inside of the bread bowl for dipping!
Dough dumped out, divided up, shaped into balls, baked and cut to hold soup.
Dough dumped out, divided up, shaped into balls, baked and cut to hold soup.

Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips

Do bread bowls get soggy?

They can.  You bread bowl is more prone to become soggy if you are serving a broth type soup like this Garden Vegetable Chicken Soup.  I recommend going with a thicker soups or a creamy soup.

Are you supposed to eat the bread bowl?

Yes, you are! Trust me they are just as good as eating soup with Dinner Rolls!

Can I make this recipe into loaves of bread?

Yes, for instructions on how to do that click on over to my French Bread recipe!

What To Put In Bread Bowls...

  • Slow Cooker Beef Stew
  • The Best Clam Chowder
  • Simple Potato Soup with Bacon
  • French Onion Soup
  • Instant Pot Spinach Dip

Have you tried this recipe? If so, leave me a rating and a comment below! And don't forget to subscribe to get my latest recipes sent to your email! You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram!

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French Bread Soup Bowls Recipe

★★★★★ 5 from 7 reviews
  • Author: Mindee
  • Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours 55 minutes
  • Yield: 4-8 Bread Bowls 1x
  • Category: Bread
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
Print Recipe
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Description

You don't have to go all the way to Panera to enjoy your favorite soup in a bread bowl. With my step by step instructions I will show you how to make these easy bread bowls at home!  You can eat hot soup as well as chili out of them!  The best part is you can make them large or make them small!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 ½ cups Warm Water
  • ¼ cup Sugar
  • 2 Tbs Active Dry Yeast
  • ¼ cup Olive Oil
  • 3 tsp Salt
  • 6 cups All Purpose Flour

Instructions

  1. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. (You can make this bread by hand too, it will just take some muscle). Let stand about 5 minutes until foamy.
  2. Mix in the oil, salt, and flour using a dough hook. Once all the flour is mixed in, knead at a medium speed for 5 minutes (10 minutes by hand). Cover dough with a dish towel and set in a warm place.
  3. Over the next hour, knead the dough about 3 times approximately every 10 minutes. It doesn’t have to be exactly every 10 minutes, just make sure to have kneaded the dough at least 4 times over the next hour.
  4. After that hour let the dough rise until doubled. This will take about 30 minutes.
  5. Once the dough has doubled, dump it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into pieces.
  6. 4 Pieces for 4 large bread bowls about the same size after baking, as you buy from the store.
  7. 6 Pieces for 6 Medium bowls about the size of cantaloupes after baking.
  8. 8 Pieces for 8 Small bowls about the size of grapefruits after baking.
  9. Shape the pieces into smooth balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
  10. Cover to let rise until doubled.
  11. While the bowls are rising, place an empty aluminum (never glass) baking sheet on the very bottom rack of your oven.
  12. Make sure the other rack is in the center of your oven.
  13. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  14. After placing the bread on the center oven rack to bake, before closing the oven door, throw a ½ cup of water onto the now super hot baking sheet you placed on the bottom oven rack and quickly close the oven door.
  15. This creates steam that sets that crusty, chewy crust you want.
  16. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.
  17. Loaves should be golden brown and sound hollow when thumped.
  18. Cool at least 20 minutes before cutting the top off, hollowing the center, filling with soup and eating.

Notes

  • Learn how to use this recipe to make classic french bread loaves HERE.
  • For best results serve creamier soups and stew in these bread bowls.  Broth soup tend to make them soggy.
  • Nutritional Disclaimer

Keywords: homemade bread bowls, Panera bread bowls, bread bowls for chili, soup bread bowls, how to make bread bowls

Did you make this recipe?

Tag me on Instagram @mindeescooking and hashtag it #mindeescookingobsession

Mindee's Cooking Obsession is a positive place and I love to hear your success stories! Remember to keep comments or questions respectful and kind. I reserve the right to delete or reject any comments that are deemed not helpful to other readers or are offensive in nature.

Comments suggesting substitutions of multiple ingredients or rewrites of the above recipe to promote different dietary preferences will not be published as they are not tested for accuracy and may inhibit the success of other readers. Thanks!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Beth

    October 05, 2021 at 1:11 pm

    Such a fun idea! I made single serving size and serve butternut soup in them. Absolutely delicious!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. Lisa Huff

    October 05, 2021 at 1:09 pm

    We are big Panera fans here so love that we can make our own soup bread bowls at home!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  3. Jersey Girl Cooks

    October 05, 2021 at 1:05 pm

    Great idea! I will be making these bread bowls for soup all winter!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  4. Chef Mireille

    October 05, 2021 at 10:54 am

    Your step by step images made this recipe so easy to follow. I have been wanting to make this for a long time and your recipe worked perfectly. Thanks!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  5. Pam

    October 05, 2021 at 10:19 am

    My granddaughter loves bread bowls and she's going to be so excited when I make them homemade!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  6. Jennifer

    October 05, 2021 at 10:18 am

    Soup in a bread bowl is my ultimate comfort food and I'm so excited to make these at home! The recipe turned out perfectly!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  7. Andrea Turner

    September 29, 2020 at 12:52 pm

    Can you make these ahead and refrigerate the dough? At what point do you refrigerate them if it is possible?

    Reply
    • mindeescookingobsession

      October 01, 2020 at 10:22 am

      You should be able to. I would pop them in the fridge before the final rise before baking.

      Reply
  8. Janet V Ross

    September 16, 2020 at 2:30 pm

    will try this soon. Have tried a recipe from another site and they spread out like my thighs. Jiggled like them too

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • mindeescookingobsession

      September 17, 2020 at 6:58 am

      Bwahaha! That's funny but so frustrating! You should have much better luck this time 🙂

      Reply

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Hi! I'm Mindee! Not only do I love to try and create all kinds of recipes, I LOVE to share them! Teaching others how to be successful in cooking in their own kitchens is one of my favorite things to do! Learn more about me or jump right in and check out my recipes!

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