If you’re looking for a simple home baguette recipe, this is the one I keep coming back to. Few things feel more French than a crusty baguette. Since moving to Brisbane, I’ve held onto my love for proper French bread. We’re lucky to have some great French bakeries here, but making baguette at home is surprisingly easy – and around five times cheaper. You still get that golden crust, soft and airy interior, and that unmistakable “just baked” smell in your kitchen.
I’ve tested this simple home baguette recipe several times, and it’s a great way to get a proper crusty baguette at home without overcomplicating things. With only a few minutes of hands-on time, the dough does most of the work for you.
Difficulty
Easy
Time
5-10 min
25 min baking
The dough has to rest for 8-10 hours.
Dietary requirements
Vegan
Dairy free
A quick note on baguette culture in France
Before jumping into the recipe, it’s worth understanding why the baguette has such a strong place in French life.
When I’m travelling, I always notice how bread changes from country to country. Some places treat it as an afterthought, others make it the star of the meal. In France, it sits somewhere in between – it’s everyday food, but done with real care. The baguette isn’t just bread; it’s part of the daily rhythm, a routine. Most people still buy it fresh from the bakery, often every day, and it’s cliché but also completely normal to see someone walking home with a baguette tucked under their arm.
It’s such an essential part of daily life that during the COVID restrictions, when the French president announced lockdown measures in a very serious national address, he made a point of reassuring people that they would still be allowed to go out and buy their baguette.
It’s also tightly linked to tradition and savoir-faire. A “baguette tradition” can only be made with flour, water, yeast, and salt – no additives, no shortcuts. That simplicity is exactly what makes it so iconic: humble ingredients, but done well.
And texture matters a lot. A good baguette has a thin, crisp crust that cracks slightly when you bite into it, and a soft, slightly chewy interior with irregular air pockets. That contrast is really the whole experience.
When and how to eat a baguette?
Honestly, there’s no wrong time.
In France, it naturally slips into every part of the day:
- At breakfast, sliced open with butter (salted for me) or jam
- At lunch, as the base of a simple sandwich
- At dinner, served with soup, cheese, or to mop up the last bit of sauce on your plate
It’s not really “served” in a formal way – it’s just there, always within reach, and used for whatever the meal needs.
Simple home baguette recipe
No kneading, no machine, no special tools needed.
It will only take about 5–10 minutes of hands-on time (plus 8–10 hours of resting and 25 minutes of baking) to make this delicious, crusty baguette.
Enjoy it the French way – with butter (salted is even better), chocolate, jam, cheese, as a gourmet sandwich, or to mop up the sauce on your plate.
Ingredients
- 250 g (about 2 cups) flour
- 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon instant dry yeast
- 175 ml (about ¾ cup) filtered water
- This quantity will make 2 small baguettes (~160g each when cooked, when a French baguette is officially 250g).
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
- Place the flour in a large bowl, add the salt, and mix.
- Add the instant yeast, then pour in the water.
- Mix energetically until the dough comes together into a rough ball. Make sure there’s no dry flour left, especially at the bottom of the bowl.
- Not all flours are the same, so if the dough feels too sticky and doesn’t hold together, add a little more flour, one spoon at a time.
- Scrape the dough off the mixing spoon, cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave it to rest in your turned-off oven for 8 to 10 hours.
Shape and bake:
- Preheat your oven to 250°C (480°F) using conventional top and bottom heat (not fan-forced), or the steam setting if available.
- Prepare the baking tray with baking paper outside the oven, near your work surface.
- Lightly flour your work surface and gently pour the dough out onto it using a dough scraper (or a knife). Try not to press or deflate the dough – you want to keep as much air inside as possible.
- Lightly flour the top of the dough and use the scraper to make sure it isn’t sticking to your work surface and to give it an oval shape. Again, handle it gently and avoid pressing it down.
- Cut the dough into 2 or more pieces, depending on how many baguettes you want to make.
- Take one piece by the ends, lightly shake off any excess flour, and stretch it slightly to form a baguette shape that you place onto the baking tray. Be careful not to over-handle or compress the dough; only stretch it. Repeat with the remaining pieces.
- Bake on the lower rack of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the baguettes are golden and crisp. Adjust the time slightly depending on your oven and how dark you like the crust.
- Let them cool for a few minutes before slicing, as they’ll be very hot straight out of the oven.
Notes
This recipe uses instant dry yeast, which is the easiest type to work with. You can mix it straight into the flour, which simplifies the process a lot. It’s different from active dry yeast or fresh yeast, which require a different method.
It’s recommended to use filtered water rather than tap water because heavily chlorinated water can sometimes slow down the yeast (affecting how well the dough rises) and alter the flavour. Filtered water helps give more consistent results.
To keep your baguette fresh for longer, store it at room temperature in a paper bag or wrapped in a clean tea towel.
You can also freeze the baguettes before they’re fully cooked (after about 15–20 minutes in the oven), then finish baking them straight from frozen when you’re ready to eat.
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