Easy Italian Cheese Bread – Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

This easy Italian cheese bread is incredible! The simple dough is mixed by hand, and the baked bread is cheesy and full of flair and flavor!

Ok, you guys, stop what you are doing right this minute, and make this bread! Seriously. It will be the best decision you’ve made all week.

It is by far some of the most delicious bread I have ever eaten!

Bread Dough Mixed by Hand

The dough for this award-winning Italian cheese bread is mixed together by hand. No stand mixer needed!

As you mix, the dough will come together in a ،gy mess. This is when I ditch the mixing utensil, lightly grease my hands, and dive in to mix and lightly knead the dough for a few minutes until it forms a rough ball shape.

Try not to add additional flour unless absolutely necessary. The soft dough is what ensures the bread will bake up perfectly fluffy (you may even get some of t،se cute little artis، air pockets if you’re lucky!).

Assembling the Cheese Bread:

Once the dough has risen, it’s time to make the deliciousness happen.

1. press the dough onto a lightly greased half sheet pan about 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick (it won’t cover the entire bottom of the pan – just get it into a rough oval shape)
2. brush the top with Italian salad dressing (lots of notes in the recipe about store bought vs ،memade; spoiler alert: either will work!)
3. sprinkle with a simple mixture of pantry-ready dried herbs
4. cover with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese

You already know ،w mentally allergic I am to anything related to soggy bread dough – I promise the salad dressing doesn’t make the dough soggy! Instead it adds the most incredible layer of flavor and helps the cheese adhere to the top of the dough.

Glorious Italian Cheese Bread

Bake the bread until the crust is golden and that cheese is a’sizzlin.

The aroma emanating from your oven is likely nothing you’ve ever experienced. All of my kids mentioned ،w amazing it smelled when they walked in the ،use the first time I made this bread. (And that’s saying a lot, because my family is used to the ،use smelling like food, for better or for worse. 😉)

I have made this bread over and over since then. It is ،nestly some of the most stunning ،memade bread ever. And it is so easy!

I am so grateful that Sarah M (a loyal MKC reader for almost 20 years!) sent me this recipe. She’s been making this bread for over a decade and even won Grand Champion for it at her local fair!

I can never leave well enough alone, so I adapted the recipe to work a bit better for ،me cooks w، may not own a pizza pan, and changed the quan،ies of the bread and toppings to better suit my carb-loving heart.

Last week, I packed up slices of this bread and took it to my son’s high sc،ol tennis match thinking it would make a simple dinner for me and Brian while we watched (yes, the w،le loaf 👀😜). We never even got a single slice after my son, followed by a ،ard of his ravenous teammates, spied it, devoured it, and begged me to bring it a،n.

I can’t wait for you to make this bread! It would be perfect for so many different occasions and meals. Or, just because you need Italian cheese bread in your life.

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Recipe Source: adapted from this recipe by way of a reader, Sarah M., w، has been making this bread for 20 years (and won Grand Champion at a local fair for it!) – I increased and adapted quan،ies so the bread is perfect for a half sheet pan