
5 Ingredient Easy Homemade Sandwich Bread Recipe
Back in 2023, I made it my goal to learn how to make fresh bread from scratch and stop running to the store all the time to stock up on more. As a large family, bread is a staple in our home. With 6 children, we work hard to stick to a budget and stretch our finances as much as possible. Today I’m sharing the easy sandwich bread recipe I’ve been using for over a year that has rekindled a passion for baking in my heart. We haven’t purchased a single loaf of bread in over a year, and I’m so proud of myself for sticking to my goal and learning how to bake delicious sandwich bread at home.
It could have been really easy to give up on myself and just buy the loaf of bread, but I’ve stuck with it. Through every burnt, dry, tasteless loaf, I have come closer and closer to perfecting my easy sandwich bread. This gave me the confidence I needed to branch out and try other types of bread and baked goods as well. I now make cinnamon bread, pizza dough, homemade pasta, sourdough bread, and more!
Why I Started Making Bread
This started as a way to lower our grocery costs as much as possible, but it has become so much more than that in the process. While it has saved us money, it’s also helped us avoid unnecessary preservatives and ingredients in our diets, which is always on my mind.
Since our son Lucas was diagnosed with Leukemia at the age of 4, I have done everything in my power to lower our exposure to toxins in a lot of areas of our lives. I know I can’t control everything we are exposed to, but baked goods are a great place to start!
My kids love bread; peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, French toast, heck, even a place slice of bread is one of their favorite snacks. And with how many children I have, a loaf of bread is gone in less than a day sometimes. Even the cheapest loaf of store-bought bread with the dirtiest ingredients is $1.19 now.
Keep reading to learn how much my easy sandwich bread using all organic ingredients costs!
I knew I needed to find a balance in my journey to clean up our home. While it’s great that I can clean up our diets and lower our toxin load, stressing about every possible danger out there can be just as unhealthy for us as the toxins themselves, just in different ways. I struggle with this because I want to do whatever is possible to protect all my children from potential harm. It isn’t good for our health to be in a constant state of stress though, either. I’ve had to work at accepting that I am doing my best with the information I have and the resources available to our family. It’s crazy to me how expensive some of the alternative options are.
The Changes We’ve Made
We’ve swapped bleach and all-purpose spray with vinegar and hot water, we use baking soda in our dishwasher, and we swapped all nonstick cooking surfaces with stainless steel. It’s a chore, but slowly we are making swaps for healthier options. I know not everyone understands the decisions we make in this regard, but it helps us feel like we are doing something to better ourselves instead of holding our breath and hoping for the best.
I was talking to my mom about this the other night. My daughter has some dental work that needs to be dealt with this week that is making me anxious, and I went to my mom for guidance. She knows our desire to make the best choices for our family without damaging our mental health in the process. She offered advice and said exactly what I needed to hear- I am a good mom and a good wife. I am doing the best I can with the resources I have, and striking a balance between going nuts with the information available about everything out there and staying paralyzed in my fear is exactly what I should be doing.
If you’re on a mission to clean up your diet and household products, take it slowly. Don’t feel overwhelmed or like you have to change everything all at once. When you run out of a product, replace it with a new, cleaner option one at a time. Save a little money each month for more expensive things like cookware and shop the Dirty Dozen when buying fruits and veggies.
Also, don’t feel like you have to use bleach on everything. Did you know that you don’t need to disinfect your house every time you clean it? Most of the time, hot water and vinegar are perfectly adequate cleaning supplies. It may not disinfect as strongly as bleach, but we don’t need to live in sterile environments. Also, never, ever, EVER combine vinegar with bleach or hydrogen peroxide. You can read more about that here.
Easy Sandwich Bread Recipe
Now that I’ve gotten completely off-subject let’s get back to my easy sandwich bread recipe. This recipe calls for flour, warm water, yeast, sugar, salt, melted butter, and honey. The sugar helps the yeast to activate, and the honey gives the bread a beautifully soft texture and a subtle sweetness that isn’t too overbearing. I actually cut the amount of honey in half for the final recipe. It was delicious but just too sweet for sandwich bread.
Here’s the full ingredient list for this easy sandwich bread recipe:
Makes 3 loaves of bread
3 cups warm water
2 ½ tbsp. active dry yeast- If you’re using instant yeast instead, use a 1:1 ratio.
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. salt
1/3 cup honey
¼ cup melted butter
6 1/2 – 7 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
To start, add 3 cups of warm water to a mixer, then mix in the sugar and yeast. Do not move forward until the mixture is bubbly. You need this to come together for the bread to rise properly. It should take about 5 minutes and should look like the photo below.

Once the mixture is bubbly, add the remaining ingredients, starting with 6 1/2 cups of flour. Hold off on the last cup of flour. You will only need it if your dough is too sticky.
With your dough hook attachment on the mixer, knead the dough for 3-4 minutes, starting at a low speed. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl. If it’s still sticky, add the other ½ cup of remaining flour and let the mixture come together.
Turn your mixer off and detach the bowl from the stand. Dump the dough onto a clean work surface and knead by hand for 1-2 minutes. Grease the bowl of your mixer or another large bowl with olive oil and place the dough back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow it to rise, doubling in size. This should take about an hour. Allowing the dough to rise in a warm place will speed up this process.
After the first rise, drop the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 3 equal parts.
Roll each loaf out into a rectangle. Roll it up and place it into an oiled bread pan. (These are the ones I love!) Repeat this step with the other 2 loaves.
Cover the loaves again with a kitchen towel and allow them to rise for a second time. This should take about 30-45 minutes.
While the bread is rising, preheat your oven to 375 degrees f.
Cook the loaves for 35 minutes.
When done baking, the tops of the bread should be golden brown. After 10 minutes of cooling, gently release the loaves of bread from the pans onto a cooling rack.
Remember, don’t cut into the bread until it is completely cooled. I know this is easier said than done, but the bread keeps cooking while it cools. If you cut into it too early, it won’t cook properly. Way at least an hour to slice bread using a sharp knife. This bread knife is my absolute favorite!
Enjoy!
How Much it Costs to Make My Easy Sandwich Bread
Want to know how much my easy sandwich bread costs to make? Here’s the breakdown:
Flour- $15 for 20lbs of organic flour- makes 113 loaves costing me $0.13 per loaf
Honey- $16 for 72 oz- makes 27 loaves costing me $0.22 per loaf
Butter- $11.79 for 4 lbs- makes 32 loaves costing me $0.36 per loaf
Sugar- $10 for 10 pounds- makes 378 loaves costing me $0.02 per loaf
Salt- $3.39 for 30 oz- makes 47 loaves costing me $0.07 per loaf
Yeast- $6.10 for 32 oz- makes 38 loaves costing me $0.16 per loaf
Add all that up, and my easy sandwich bread costs me $0.96 per loaf! Less than $1 per loaf for organic, preservative-free bread. Just amazing. A loaf of organic bread from the grocery store is easily $5/loaf where we live. I know it can be overwhelming to make changes in your home but let this encourage you that it is doable and worth it. Seeing it in black and white has given me the push to keep going. Yes, it’s time-consuming, but I would happily spend my time on something like this if it meant I could save money and prevent even a small fraction of toxins from coming into my home.
Notes
Using different flours
I use all-purpose flour for this recipe, but you could also use a mixture of whole wheat flour or bread flour if you’d prefer. Bread flour may slightly change the texture of the bread, but will work just fine. My kids prefer white sandwich bread over whole wheat, and because I make it myself with organic flour, I’m comfortable with that decision.
Storage
Store bread in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Because this bread recipe does not contain preservatives, it won’t last as long, but that’s a good thing! Preservatives aren’t good for us anyway. The bread can be frozen for up to 3 months for later use. Wrap the whole loaf tightly in plastic wrap or a Ziploc bag. When you’re ready to eat it, allow the bread to come up to room temperature, and then slice it.
You can also turn this bread into breadcrumbs for other meals! Preheat your oven to 300 degrees f and place slices of bread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, flipping bread halfway through. Once the bread is toasted through, place slices in a blender, add your favorite seasonsing, and blend. Store breadcrumbs in an airtight container for up to 30 days. Now you have delicious, homemade breadcrumbs for meatloaf, meatballs, and breaded chicken!
Sourdough
I recently started baking sourdough bread with my sourdough starter and love that we always have a variety of bread on hand! If you’d like to start learning how to make sourdough, check out my post here on how to create a starter and bake perfectly delicious sourdough!
Final Thoughts
The best part of baking bread from scratch has to be how easy it’s been to throw together basic ingredients and create something so delicious. We use bread almost every day, either for lunches or as a side with dinner, and knowing I can make my own sandwich bread instead of running to the store has been wonderful.
I hope this has given you the motivation to try something new for yourself! If you’ve found my post helpful, please comment, share, and pin it to your favorite board on Pinterest.
Thank you for being here!
-M
This site may contain links to affiliate websites including Amazon. I may receive an affiliate commission for any purchases made by you through Amazon or other potential affiliates and no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.