This savory Leek Bread is made with melted leeks and cheese and is the perfect accompaniment to soups, stews, and salads. (Allow 2 1/2 hours with 35 minutes of active, hands-on time. )
We’ve been baking up this Leek Bread since November, getting it nice and perfect for you. Brian has been in heaven! It’s fun to make and full of amazing flavor- the perfect pairing to soups, stews and salads.
It’s filled with cheese- use goat cheese, mozzarella and/ or pecorino. Super tasty!
It starts with mixing up the simple dough.
Savory Leek Bread | 45 Second video
Flour, Instant yeast, olive oil, milk (or nut milk) and salt.
Using instant yeast, saves a couple of steps and makes this rise quickly. Kneed for 5 minutes.
Oil the boil, cover with a damp kitchen towel and place somewhere warm allowing 1 – 1.5 hours to rise and double in size.
While it is rising, make the leek filling.
Cut the leeks into rounds. Give a good washing.
Saute in a little butter or olive oil, over low heat, taking your time, until tender. Add garlic if you like. 
Once the leeks are tender, turn the heat off.
Once the dough has doubled in size, roll it out on a heavily floured surface, into a 12 x 16-inch rectangle.
Add the seasoned leeks, goat cheese (or mozzarella) and parmesan (or romano). Using two different kinds of cheese works best here!
Then starting from the narrower end, roll it up and place it on parchment-lined sheet pan. So your roll will be roughly 12 inches long.
Using kitchen scissors, slice at a 45-degree angle, every inch or so, about 2/3 of the way deep, cut little “beaks”.
Then pull the beaks to each side, alternating to expose the filling.
Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350F
Brush with the egg wash to give it a nice golden sheen.
Bake at 350 F degrees on the middle rack until puffed and golden, 30-40 minutes, rotating it halfway through if need be.
When you open the oven door, your house will smell amazing.
Pull it apart or slice it up. Up to you!
More recipes you may enjoy
I hope you are enjoying being at home these days. I always find comfort in the kitchen, I hope you find it too.
xoxo
Print
Leek Bread
- Prep Time: 40
- Cook Time: 120
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: bread
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: northwest
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A simple delicious recipe for crusty Leek Bread to serve with your favorite soups, stews and salads. Allow 2 1/2 hours with 35 minutes active time.
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 cup milk (or nut milk), lukewarm
- 1 package, fast-acting Instant Yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons) see notes for active dry yeast
- 4 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter or ghee
- 1 egg
- 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups white flour (400 grams) or a blend of whole wheat and white.
Filling:
- 2 large leeks, sliced, and rinsed well. ( Or you could sub 2 caramelized onions instead.)
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or one teaspoon dried) or sage
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, rough chopped (optional)
- —–
- 1 cup goat cheese, crumbled (4 ounces) or used shredded Mozzerella Cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan or pecorino
Egg wash:
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- pinch salt
Instructions
- In a stand mixer or in a large bowl, mix yeast and milk together. Whisk in the egg, oil, salt , then stir in the flour and knead for five minutes. The dough should be semi-soft, not stiff.
- Oil the boil and the ball of dough, placing it back in the bowl. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let it rise until doubled, about 1 – 1 1/2 hours.
- In the meantime, cut, rinse and saute the leeks with the oil in a large skillet over low heat. The moisture from rinsing them will help soften them. Add the garlic, thyme, and salt and pepper. When the garlic is fragrant and the leeks are tender, turn the heat off and let this cool.
- Preheat oven to 350F
- When dough has doubled, place it on a well-floured surface and roll it into roughly a 12-inch by 16-inch rectangle. Spread out the tender, seasoned leeks and sprinkle with cheese. Make sure to use at least 2 kinds of cheese here for the best flavor – adding a melty cheese like mozzarella- and make doubly sure you salted your leeks in the pan. 🙂
- Starting from the narrower end, roll into a roll. Fold the ends under and place on of parchment- lined sheet pan.
- Cut little “beaks” into the dough (refer to photos) at a 45-degree angle, 2/3 rds of the way deep at one-inch intervals. Then pull the points out towards the edges, alternating sides. (See photo above.) Cover with a towel and let rest 20 minutes.
- Make the egg wash by whisking the egg, water and salt in a small bowl. Brush the dough gently with egg wash. (Or use butter or half and half).
- Place in the hot oven, on the middle rack, uncovered. Check at 20 minutes (rotating if need be) and continue baking until puffed and golden for an additional 20-30 minutes until beautifully golden. NO pale loaves please. 🙂 Internal temp should be at 200F.
Enjoy! Your home will smell amaaaaaaazing!
Notes
Use two kinds of cheese for the best flavor include a melty one.
If using Active Dry Yeast ( not fast-acting or Instant yeast) mix the yeast with the luke warm milk first, add a pinch of sugar and let stand 5-10 minutes before adding the remaining ingredients. Allow 2 1/2-3 hours (double) rising time.
If subbing whole wheat for part of this, you may need more milk.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10th
- Calories: 286
- Sugar: 1.1 g
- Sodium: 317.3 mg
- Fat: 13.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 32.3 g
- Fiber: 1.5 g
- Protein: 9.8 g
- Cholesterol: 24.1 mg
Wow, thank you SO much for this amazing recipe!
I made it yesterday, but in a vegan version (with vegan Feta and grated cheese) 😉
It was really really delicious and my guests liked it a lot!
I think I´ll have to make it again in a few days, it was gone too quick 😉
Thank you!
Love that you adapted this! Thanks Britta!
Wow, what an incredible recipe! I’m new to baking and decided to take this one on and it was so successful! I added kale and chard to the leeks (all from our garden) and used 2 kinds of vegan cheese.
I’m dreaming up other filling ideas like pesto and tomatoes or pizza sauce and toppings.
Next time I’m going to try to make an all vegan version using flax egg. Have you heard of anyone trying it this way (i looked in comments but didn’t see)? I’ll let you know if it turns out.
Love how you are playing with this! Haven’t heard of it being made vegan yet but let me know if you have luck!
Me again, reporting back on the vegan version. It worked! I used a flax egg (1 tablespoon flax meal+3 tablespoons cold water, whisked and set aside for a few minutes) for the dough and a plant-milk wash for brushing on before baking. This time, I stuffed with sauteed red onion, chard, kale, oyster mushrooms (all home grown!) and garlic and 2 kinds of vegan cheese. We served it with lentil soup and everyone loved it. There were no leftovers.
Thanks again for all your amazing recipes.
Wow, Melissa- thanks so much for the very thorough report! Super helpful for those wanting to go the vegan route!
Omg..I modified the recipe initial using only the dough option. I made a leek spread and decided to improvise with my lees spread adding it with other veggies and filled the inside. My daughter loved her small baked bread from your recipe and my modified leek spread turned out fantastic with your bread.
Will keep the bread recipe in our archive. Thank you so much for sharing.
Awesome Tanya!
Made this bread last week. It was great. Will make it again!
This recipe was brilliant! I subbed caramelized onions and my family could not get enough. Suggestions for other fillings? Could pitted olives work?
Olives would be great yes. I think you can get creative here- other types of cheese, toasted nuts, dried fruit, sauteed mushrooms? etc. Have fun with it!
I did this today and was awesome!! I had a little trouble turning the beaks to the sides, so my bread didn’t looked that pretty. Great taste, soft texture!
I made this last night and it was excellent! I used one cup of wheat flour and didn’t have to add any extra milk. I think next time I will put more leeks but definitely will make this again. Thanks!
Made this today…. absolutely delicious!! Family loved it. Again, another winner from feasting at home.
Excellent and easy recipe. Beautiful presentation to make for entertaining, when we can entertain again, but surely can be made to impress the others you are quarantined with. Made exactly as instructed but used French all purpose flour instead of American flour. Dough rose beautifully. Filling was flavorful. Would likely make a little more filling next time , as there will definitely be next times… Thank you for posting such tasty recipes.
How long can this rest prior to baking? I’d like to make it early in the day and bake it closer to dinnertime. Thank you!
You want to be careful of overproofing. You could store in the fridge after rolling and cutting, then let it rise while you preheat oven?
I enjoyed this bread- it was easy to make and tasty but a little dry. I might add more milk next time.
This looks delicious and I plan on making it later this week. I was thinking about throwing in some green or Kalamata olives to the bread as well. Do you think it would be just as tasty? Would I have to make any modifications?
Thanks!
Sounds good to me!
Absolutely delicious. Great as it is but even better dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Will definitely make again!
That sounds so yummy Bonnie!
Hi Sylvia! I just made this and it came out perfectly (once I figured out that boil was a typo and not some weird baking term!). If we don’t finish this (yeah right), how to store it overnight? Thanks!
Tastes incredible, crunchy crust, flavorful, awesome with goat cheese Fresh Chevres and
hard sheep cheese Queso Mfnchego Viejo . In particular nowadays when we are stuck at homes it is a real pleasure to slow down and savor every bite. I would love to try this recipe using sourdough just for fun next time .Can you let me know how much sourdough should be assuming that all above mentioned ingredience remain unchanged
You read my mind! I’d have to try this once first to be sure. I’ll get back after I do.
Curious if you’ve had a chance to tackle the sourdough angle on this one? I’m interested!
No but I love this idea!
Sylvia.
Wow. Just made the Leek bread…can’t stop eating it. Delicious.
Love your site
Oh Goody. I know its a little addicting. Glad you liked! xoxo
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! Finally found yeast at local store and made it tonight. My family of three loved it but now I need to figure out how to store/preserve it! Any suggestions?
If eating within the week, in a ziplock. You can leave it out or refrigerate. I think it would also freeze well- slice it first?
Hi! I’m using active dry yeast instead of instant because grocery stores are all-out! Can you let me know how many grams of instant yeast you used, since package sizing differs?
2 1/4 teaspoons or 1/4 of an ounce.
I would ike to ask you, have you heard of einkorn flour? You eat healthy so I thought maybe you would like to know about it if you don’t already. Einkorn is the first what which has Never been hybridized, it’s genetic make up is original to what God created for us. The gluten in it is very very low and it doesn’t trigger allergic reactions, even gluten sensitive people are responding well to it and it is full of nutrients including lutein 🙂 Checkout @Jovial Foods and read more about this wonderful grain. Carla also has very easy step by step videos on youtube. <3 I hope you will try it.
I love einkorn and use it all the time. Love Jovial!
Hi I am an omnivore, well, I am more of a pescetarian, prefer seafood to meat, but occasionally, I like a homemade grassfed hamburger, but I also absolutely love vegetables and your recipes are wonderful. Thank you for sharing. <3 🙂
Could you use self-rising flour and skip the yeast? Not sure if it would still work, but I have self-riding flour.
Hey Morgan- I’ve never tired self-rising flour, honestly don’t know. I guess you could try? Maybe wait to make the filling, until you are sure it’s actually rising?
Hi Sylvia. Made this tonight to go with soup. I am so pleased with my attempt, Tasty, lovely colour and with a little crunch. Upside of our lockdown in New Zealand fighting the Covid19 virus. Thank you for such clear instructions and pictures.
Great to hear Sue!
This looks so good but no leeks in the house. Going to give it a try with carmelized onions. Any suggestions?
I think that would totally work! Do it!
Turned out excellent and easy to follow directions.
Made this yesterday to serve with carrot soup and wow, whole family loved it. Going to get more leeks at the farmers market today. Thanks for such a fantastic recipe.
This turned out beautifully. Used goat cheese, mozzarella and parmesan- and my family devoured it. Will be making this again soon.