A homemade pesto bread is a delicious braided bread that is fluffy and soft, perfect with a bowl of soup. You can use green or red pesto, or even olive tapenade.
This pesto bread tastes best when it's still warm, which is why I made a small pesto loaf, but you can easily double the recipe for a large braided bread or 2 small braided loaves.
You can use green or red pesto, and you can also sprinkle a little grated (Parmesan) cheese over the pesto if you want. This braided bread is also tasty with green or black olive tapenade.
This recipe contains the following allergens. Click on the allergen to search for alternative recipes.
Made by Véronique
Published at 2025-08-07, this recipe is for 4 persons and takes 45 minutes.
Founder of Ohmydish (since 2014), she prefers to spend all day in the kitchen. Once working in the hospitality industry as an independent chef, she loves helping you gain confidence in the kitchen. With her easy-to-follow recipes, handy tips, and cooking knowledge, you'll make the most delicious dishes yourself! The recipes are accessible to everyone, from beginners to advanced home cooks.
Updated at: 2025-09-18
Warm 70 ml of water together with 1.5 tablespoons of milk until lukewarm, making sure it’s not too hot. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of sugar along with half a packet of yeast in it and wait 10 minutes until it starts to foam.
Mix 200 grams of flour with half a teaspoon of salt and add 20 grams of soft butter along with 1 egg.
Slowly add the yeast mixture and knead until you have a soft and quite sticky dough ball. Do not add extra flour, as this will make the bread too stiff and dry. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.
Meanwhile, line a small baking sheet with baking paper.
Dust the countertop with a bit of flour and knead the dough briefly again. Flatten it and optionally roll it out slightly with a rolling pin, but make sure the dough isn't too thin.
Spread a thin layer of pesto (about 2 tablespoons) and cut it into 3 parts. Loosely roll each part and braid them into a loaf as shown in the pictures below.
Place the bread on the lined baking sheet, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and let it rise again for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Press the ends down firmly again and make sure the open ends are facing down, otherwise they will open during baking.
Mix 1 egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of pesto and brush this on the bread.
Bake the pesto bread until it is cooked and beautifully golden brown in about 15 minutes. The exact baking time depends on the oven and the size of the bread.
You can serve the pesto bread immediately; it tastes best warm. Enjoy!
How long can you keep the pesto bread?
You can keep pesto bread for up to 2 days; after that, it will become too dry and less tasty.
Can I make a larger pesto bread?
You can easily double the recipe for a large pesto bread. The baking time will also be about double.
Per 1 serving / piece:
| Amount | Ingredient | Allergens | Kcal | Carbs | Carbs of which sugars | Fat | Fat of which saturated | Protein | Fibers | Sodium | Iron | Calcium | Magnesium | Potassium | Phosphorus | Copper | Zinc | Iodine | Selenium | Vitamin C | Vitamin D | Vitamin A | Vitamin B1 | Vitamin B2 | Vitamin B6 | Vitamin B12 | Vitamin B11 | Vitamin E | Vitamin K | Vitamin K1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17.5 | ml | water | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 0.38 | tablespoon | whole milk | milk | 4.65 | 0.32 g | 0.32 g | 0.26 g | 0.16 g | 0.28 g | - | 3.30 mg | - | 9.00 mg | 0.75 mg | 12.00 mg | 7.43 mg | - | 0.04 mg | - | - | 0.15 mg | 0.01 mg | - | - | 0.01 mg | - | 0.03 µg | 0.30 µg | - | - | - |
| 0.13 | packet | of yeast | 3.55 | 0.30 g | 0.30 g | 0.04 g | - | 0.42 g | 0.16 g | 0.61 mg | 0.04 mg | 0.44 mg | 1.40 mg | 12.25 mg | 1.05 mg | 0.03 mg | 0.07 mg | - | - | - | - | - | 0.11 mg | 0.18 mg | 0.04 mg | - | 25.38 µg | - | - | - | |
| 0.25 | tablespoon | sugar | 15.08 | 3.71 g | 3.71 g | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.08 mg | 0.15 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 0.25 | egg | egg | 21.60 | 0.17 g | 0.03 g | 1.50 g | 0.38 g | 1.88 g | - | 18.00 mg | 0.27 mg | 7.50 mg | 1.50 mg | 19.50 mg | 27.00 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.20 mg | 5.25 µg | 4.60 µg | - | 0.27 mg | 0.03 mg | 0.02 mg | 0.05 mg | 0.02 mg | 0.35 µg | 9.00 µg | 0.17 mg | 0.04 µg | - | |
| 5 | gram | butter | milk | 36.75 | 0.03 g | 0.03 g | 4.13 g | 2.70 g | 0.03 g | - | 0.25 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.65 mg | 0.10 mg | 0.75 mg | 1.00 mg | - | - | - | - | - | 0.06 mg | 0.05 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 50 | gram | flour | gluten | 182.00 | 34.90 g | 0.75 g | 0.75 g | 0.10 g | 5.70 g | 1.40 g | 1.00 mg | 0.50 mg | 10.00 mg | 10.00 mg | 90.00 mg | 50.00 mg | 0.15 mg | 0.55 mg | - | - | - | - | - | 0.06 mg | 0.05 mg | 0.14 mg | - | 17.50 µg | - | - | - |
| 0.13 | teaspoon | salt | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 300.00 mg | - | 0.08 mg | 2.18 mg | 0.04 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 0.75 | tablespoon | pesto | milk, sesame seeds | 30.45 | 0.51 g | 0.22 g | 4.58 g | 0.81 g | 0.59 g | 0.45 g | 167.25 mg | 0.44 mg | 17.70 mg | 7.80 mg | 67.50 mg | 18.15 mg | 0.06 mg | 0.17 mg | - | 0.63 µg | 0.60 mg | - | 85.50 mg | 0.03 mg | 0.05 mg | 0.05 mg | - | 3.30 µg | 0.74 mg | 27.45 µg | - |
| 0.25 | egg yolk | egg | 17.40 | - | - | 1.60 g | 0.40 g | 0.81 g | - | 2.50 mg | 0.36 mg | 7.00 mg | 0.50 mg | 7.00 mg | 29.50 mg | 0.02 mg | 0.19 mg | - | 2.75 µg | - | 0.25 mg | 0.03 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.02 mg | 0.15 mg | 0.10 µg | 8.00 µg | 0.13 mg | 0.03 µg | - | |
| 311.48 | 39.95 g | 5.38 g | 12.84 g | 4.55 g | 9.70 g | 2.01 g | 492.91 mg | 1.61 mg | 52.36 mg | 24.30 mg | 209.19 mg | 134.13 mg | 0.27 mg | 1.21 mg | 5.25 µg | 7.99 µg | 0.75 mg | 0.59 mg | 85.61 mg | 0.23 mg | 0.35 mg | 0.40 mg | 0.48 µg | 63.48 µg | 1.03 mg | 27.52 µg | - | ||||
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