Homemade Bread Bowls Recipe

There's nothing quite like a serving of hearty soup in a homemade bread bowl. As you enjoy your soup, you can sop up the excess broth by dipping the bread into the tasty liquid. Then you're left with a delicious, flavor-soaked bread bowl to indulge in. This hearty dish is ideal on cold winter nights, or for ravenous work day lunches.

We personally love a blended roasted red pepper or tomato soup served in bread bowls, but feel free to use any soup you like. Potato and leek, veggie chili, and even clam chowder make for extra decadent and hearty entrées.

Recipe developer and registered dietitian nutritionist, Kristen Carli, MS, RD, brings us this recipe for homemade bread bowls. You no longer have to seek out a bakery, like Panera, when the craving for a delicious soup with a bread bowl strikes. Now you can enjoy these at home whenever you like. Bake up a batch, use what you want, and store the leftovers in a zip-topped bag in the freezer for a rainy day. Your future self will thank you.

To create these homemade bread bowls, start by gathering your ingredients. For this recipe, you will need active dry yeast, sugar, all-purpose flour, water, salt, and unsalted butter. In terms of equipment, you will need a stand mixer and a few large baking sheets.

In a small bowl, add the yeast, the sugar, and the warm water. Gently, give this mixture a stir. Then, set it aside. Allow the yeast to interact with the sugar for about 5 minutes. You will begin to see air bubbles, which indicates the yeast is living.

While the yeast activates, start making the bread dough. In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the flour, salt, and melted butter. When the yeast mixture is bubbling and has been activating for about 5 minutes, add this as well. 

Place the bowl in the stand mixer and attach the dough hook. Stir on low until the dough begins to come together. Once the dough comes together, continue to knead the dough with the dough hook attachment for at least 8 minutes. When the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, stop the stand mixer. Carefully transfer the dough to a large bowl that's been sprayed with nonstick spray. Cover with a dish towel and let the dough rise for 40 minutes.

Once the 40 minutes are up, remove the dish towel and transfer the dough onto a clean surface that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Using a bench scraper, cut the dough into 8 even pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place the dough balls on two large baking sheets that have been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Score each ball with a small "x" on top. Cover the baking sheets with dish towels and let the dough rise for another 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Remove the dish towels from the baking sheets. The dough should have doubled in size. Bake the bread bowls for 30 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and allow the bread to cool for at least 20 minutes. Then, using a paring knife, scoop out the top and center of each piece of bread to allow room for adding soup. When ready to serve, fill with soup.