This all-natural homemade Focaccia Pumpkin bread recipe is the perfect way to use up that leftover canned pumpkin or use one of our favorite squashes -- the Japanese Kabocha. With just a few basic ingredients this ultra-soft (pumpkin-colored) squishy Italian bread is ready for making focaccia pizza, panini with prosciutto and mozzarella, or served alongside your favorite soups and stews. You can even toast them to make focaccia croutons for a crunchy salad topper. For those of you who may be new to bread-baking, I've included step-by-step recipe photos!

What is Focaccia (And How Do You Pronounce It)?

Focaccia (pronounced " foh-kah-cha") is a super soft Italian yeasted flatbread with a crispy bottom, sides, and top. Just before baking, you press your fingers in the top to create the focaccia dimples and slather it with a brine made from extra virgin olive oil, water, sea salt, and fresh rosemary. This brine fills in all the little dimples and creates a really flavorful bread.

Of course, focaccia can be made without rosemary, and instead with different herbs or even vegetables like potatoes. And this bread dough uses the same basic ingredients as pizza dough (flour, oil, water, yeast, and salt), but usually, contains a ratio of more yeast per cup of flour. This allows focaccia to rise higher and have a softer, lighter texture than a typical pizza dough.

What's Kabocha Squash or Kabocha Pumpkin?

For this recipe, I'm using the Kabocha squash -- Kabocha squash is a variety of Japanese squash with a squatty shape, dark green skin, and lighter green and grey striping with bright orange flesh. When cooked this squash has a very soft, creamy consistency compared to other types of winter squash varieties.

And when roasted, it becomes intensely sweet, and nutty with a slight chestnut flavor making it great for desserts like homemade pumpkin pie. For this recipe, there's no need for roasting. Instead, it's steamed for 10 minutes on the stovetop or for 8 minutes in the microwave with one tablespoon of water.

Homemade Pumpkin Focaccia Ingredients

Homemade focaccia

Focaccia Dough

00 flour (sub all-purpose flour)
instant yeast (sub active dry yeast)
turmeric (optional, but will enhance the color of the final bread)
water
steamed squash (sub canned pumpkin)
extra virgin olive oil

Focaccia Brine

extra virgin olive oil
water
fresh rosemary (optional but recommended)
sea salt

Overview: How to Make Easy Pumpkin Focaccia Bread

Name: Easy Pumpkin Focaccia Bread (Focaccia alla Zucca)
Prep time: 3 h 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 4 h
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour (or 00 flour with 11-12g protein) (400g); 1 teaspoon instant yeast (or active dry yeast) (3g); 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (optional, but will enhance the color of the final bread); 10.5 ounces (1 cup + 1 tablespoon) steamed Kabocha squash (or canned pumpkin) (300g); 6.5 ounces (scant 3/4 cup) water, room temperature (185g); 1 teaspoon kosher salt (4g); 1 heaping tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (20g); 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (30g); 2 tablespoons water, room temperature (30g); 1-2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (optional but recommended); sea salt to taste

Here's a look at the steps to making pumpkin focaccia, but you can find the complete instructions in the recipe card below.

1. Steam and purée kabocha squash. Skip this step if using canned pumpkin.
2. Measure and whisk the dry ingredients.
3. Combine dry ingredients and squash purée.
4. Add the salt.
5. Fold the dough and rest (1st fold).
6. Fold the dough and rest (2nd fold).
7. Fold the dough and add dough to the pan (last folds).
8. Add the brine and bake.

Pumpkin Focaccia Recipe Step-By-Step Photos

In process photo collage of each step for making homemade focaccia from start to finish.

Pumpkin Focaccia Best Tips & FAQ's

Where does focaccia come from? Focaccia is thought to have its most basic roots with Etruscan or Greek versions of a simple yeasted flatbread when they inhabited parts of what is now modern-day Italy. However, what we know of and love as focaccia bread today is most often associated with the region of Liguria in Northwest Italy (specifically, the city of Genoa where pesto Genovese originates from). The first written reference to the word focaccia is in 1300.
What does the word focaccia mean? The name focaccia comes from the Roman “panis focacius,” which means“hearth bread”. This is because focaccia was traditionally baked over fire or coals in Roman times.
When was focaccia invented? Focaccia was first thought to have originated sometime before or around 1300 meaning it's a heck of a lot older than modern-day pizza.
Why does focaccia have dimples or intentions on the top? Foccacia gets its iconic dimpled appearance as a result of using fingers to press down the down before baking to prevent large bubbles from popping up while baking.
Is Kabocha squash a pumpkin? Kabocha (Ka-boh-cha) is a type of winter squash that is a Japanese variety of the species Cucurbita maxima. It is also called kabocha squash or Japanese pumpkin in North America. It's related to gourds and pumpkins and is the sweetest variety out there.
Can you eat the skin of Kabocha squash? You can eat the skin of the Kabocha squash and it's often required to be intact for some traditional Japanese dishes like tempura Kabocha. However, most cooks like to ensure the dish highlights the beautiful orange-colored flesh and often peel the squash before cooking with it.
Is Kabocha squash healthy? Kabocha squash is high in beta carotene, vitamins C and B, phosphorous, magnesium, copper, fiber, and it's relatively low in calories and carbs compared to sweet potatoes and even butternut squash.
How many carbs are in Kabocha squash/Pumpkin? For every 1 cup of Kabocha squash, there are 9g net carbs and 1 gram of fiber making it a better option than sweet potatoes (23g net carbs) or butternut squash (13g net carbs) per cup if you're watching your carb intake.