Subway Bread Recipe (Italian Herb and Cheese Copycat)

Subway bread is one of the tastiest sub rolls for sandwiches! Baked fresh daily, these sandwich rolls come in different types of bread:

• 9-Grain Honey Oat
• Wheat Bread
• White Bread (Italian)
• Italian Herb and Cheese Bread
• Jalapeño Cheese
• Monterey Cheddar
• Parmesan Oregano
• Roasted Garlic
• Rosemary and Sea Salt
• Rye Bread
• Gluten-Free Bread* (not baked at the Restaurant)
• Flat Bread

*Every Restaurant might have a certain selection to choose from not all locations carry all the flavors.

Making homemade grinder rolls is much more cost-efficient than buying a footlong at the Subway Restaurant! Each batch makes 8 footlong loaves that will feed 8-12 people easily! A footlong sub can cost as low as $7 for a plain cold cut like the black forest ham sandwich. That’s $56 for 8 footings! When you can make them at home for far less!

• Frugal- so much cheaper than ordering at a Restaurant!
• Easy Recipe– simple ingredients and you know what goes in!
• Make-ahead for meal prep throughout the week or future meals.
• Freezer friendly- Freeze the baked sandwich rolls for future sandwiches later.
• Versatile-  Top your sandwich with any toppings!

The healthiest Subway bread choices are Whole wheat rolls or a 9-grain Honey Oat due to the whole grains. You can select multi-grain flatbread if you wish but homemade bread from grains is the healthiest! 

I prefer, Prairie Gold 100% Whole Wheat flour (white whole wheat) if using already ground pre-packaged wheat flour. If you wish to use freshly ground wheat flour from wheat berries, you may need to add part store flour to achieve a soft dough unless you add vital gluten or dough enhancers. 

• Bread Flour- King Arthur Special Patent Flour was the kind of bread flour that I used, it’s unbleached.
• Water- to activate the yeast. Needs to be warm.
• Yeast- Instant dry yeast by Red Star is the kind I use.
• Sugar- to give the bread fantastic flavor. 
• Oil- preferably a mild kind without a strong aroma. I like to use soybean oil but canola or vegetable will work.
• Salt- makes any bread taste right.
• Eggs- works as a dough enhancer. 
• Herb Seasoning- a blend of dried herbs such as parsley and oregano leaves.
• Cheese- Colby Monterey Jack Cheese is the shredded cheese to be sprinkled over the subs. Parmesan cheese is added to the herb seasoning.

Subway bread is a white bread recipe that you cut and roll into logs. Once the dough is formed the bread gets sprayed with water and dredged in an Italian Herb and cheese blend before it hits the silicone bread molds. It then gets scored and rises until tripled in size then bakes. 

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer whisk together the yeast and water. Whisk in the sugar, oil, salt, and eggs.
2.  Add the flour and knead for 6 minutes over low speed. 
3. Rest the dough for 10 minutes. 
4. Transfer dough onto a floured surface and cut into 4 equal pieces. Cut each piece in half again to make a total of 8 pieces. 
5. Gently pat and roll into a 12-inch log. Spray the tops with water and dredge into the Italian Herb Blend. 
6. Place rolls onto a sub roll silicone baking mat and, score the tops (3-4 slashes.) 
7. Allow dough to rise until tripled in size (up to 1 hour if rising in a warm place.)
8. Sprinkle the tops with shredded Colby and Monterey Jack Cheese.
9. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 375°F. Cool in molds before removing. 

Note: you need an 18×13 baking sheet to use these silicone mats. This recipe calls for 2 mats and 2 large baking sheets as it makes 8 subway rolls. 

You can freeze baked and cooled bread the same day for best results. If you freeze the same day make sure you cool the bread completely to prevent any frost. I haven’t experimented on freezing the dough sticks but from my experience, anything that stays longer in the freezer seems to rise very poorly afterward so I’d bake and freeze the bread which works great! 

1. Prepare and bake the bread as directed.
2. Cool completely. This helps minimize the vapor from condensation and can help with frost build-up.
3. Place into bags and freeze for up to 3 months or deep freeze for up to 6 months.
4. To reheat, thaw and defrost overnight.

Storing Bread: baked bread can keep up to 3 days. Anything longer should be frozen.

If you wish to make ahead simply prepare and bake all the bread. Follow the freezing instructions to maintain all the freshness of the bread (preferably freeze the same day you bake.) Thaw completely before assembling the sandwiches. 

• Honey Oat- use honey instead of sugar and whole wheat flour for the bread flour. Spray with water and roll in oats.
• Wheat- use whole wheat flour instead of white flour. 
• White Italian Bread- Omit the Italian Herb and Cheese blend. 
• 9-Grain Wheat- use whole wheat flour as the base and add 1 tbsp of different ground grains. Omit 1/2 cup of wheat flour to compensate the grain addition.

Our favorite Subway sandwiches are the Subway melts (turkey, ham, and bacon) and Black Forest Ham. Although I do love the steak and cheese or roasted chicken subs I order just about any sandwich from Subway with Southwest Chipotle Sauce! Which I’ve recreated too!

This recipe makes 8 footlong subs. A 12-inch sub should weigh at about 10 oz to make a footlong. 

Here are the tools I used:

• Sub Roll Silicone Baking Mat- this recipe needs two 5-mold mats to make 8 subs.
• Measuring cup
• 18×13 sheet pan- use 2 to accommodate the 2 silicone bread molds. 
• Kitchen-Aid Mixer (professional-grade)