Somewhere between toast for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch, we’ve all met our match in bread. From pillowy pita to crusty sourdough, bread is the universal sidekick, taking on roles as a scoop or sponge. And with so many types of bread out there, there's truly a loaf to satisfy everyone's taste buds.
Whether you're smearing cream cheese on a slice of rye or dunking warm ciabatta in olive oil, each bread variety brings something different to the table. Let’s dig into the most popular and beloved bread types that are eaten plain, loaded with toppings or built into full-blown meals.
Bread is an ancient food, and it has nearly as many variations and types as there are cultures in human history. With many types of food and food preparations, local varieties have a way of traveling and becoming popular elsewhere, and bread is no exception.
We'll take a look at some of the most popular types of bread, broadly grouped into three categories. These groups have to do with how the bread is prepared, and have significant effects on the taste and texture of the finished product.
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Leavened bread: This is bread that is leavened with yeast, either commercial or natural. This makes it rise when it cooks, becoming airy, soft and delicious.
Unleavened bread: This is a bread that doesn't use any kind of rising agent. Think tortillas, as well as crackers.
Quick bread: Many dessert and sweet breads, as well as muffins and biscuits, fall into this category. Quick breads still rise, but they use chemical leavening agents like baking soda and baking powder to get their volume boost.
9 Types of Leavened bread
The ancient art of bread making — with the simple combination of flour, water, yeast and often a little salt added) — probably began with a series of happy accidents involving naturally occurring yeasts.
Today, some home bakers still utilize the natural yeasts that are present in the air, while others use the dried yeast you can buy in little packets or jars, such as the Red Star brand.
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Leavened bread recipes use a wide variety of flours and an almost endless list of possible additions, from nuts and candy to fruits and cheese.
1. Sourdough Bread
Sourdough bread.
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Sourdough stands out thanks to its tangy flavor, chewy texture and crisp crust. This leavened bread relies on a wild sourdough starter — a bubbly mix of flour, water and wild yeast — instead of commercial yeast.
The result? A rustic loaf with a dark crust and an airy texture that's perfect for everything from breakfast toast to French toast.
2. Rye Bread
Rye Bread.
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Popular across Central and Eastern Europe, rye bread gets its dense, hearty bite from rye flour. Often featuring caraway seeds, it has a signature earthy flavor that pairs beautifully with cured meats and sharp cheeses.
Whether in traditional Jewish bread like deli rye or a homemade loaf, rye has serious sandwich cred.
3. Challah Bread
Challah Bread.
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This glossy, braided loaf is an enriched dough, meaning it's made with eggs and sometimes vegetable oil and sugar. Challah bread is a traditional Jewish bread served on holidays and Shabbat.
With a fluffy texture and sweet taste, this rich bread is perfect for French toast or pulling apart while served warm.
4. Pita Bread
Pita Bread.
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Think of pita bread as the ultimate food pocket. Most recipes include yeast (some versions are unleavened) that helps the rounds puff up during baking to create a hollow center, ideal for stuffing with falafel, veggies or hummus. Its thin bread profile makes it a go-to for light meals and snacks.
5. Italian Breads
Focaccia.
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The term "Italian bread" covers a lot, but two standouts are focaccia bread and ciabatta. Focaccia is a flat bread drizzled with olive oil and baked to a golden, crispy crust finish. Ciabatta, on the other hand, has a fluffy interior and a crisp crust, perfect for breakfast sandwiches or paninis.
6. French Bread
Baguettes.
BURCU ATALAY TANKUT / Getty Images
No bread list is complete without French bread, especially the iconic baguette. With its crisp crust and light, airy interior, this long, narrow loaf is often sliced and served warm with butter, used for breakfast toast, or turned into a base for crostini.
French bread varieties also include bâtard and boule, each with their own take on texture and shape.
7. Whole Wheat Bread
Whole wheat bread.
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Made from whole wheat flour, this option is a heartier, more nutrient-rich cousin of white bread. Its nutty bread texture and full flavor make it an ideal base for sandwich bread or sliced bread at breakfast.
While often thought of as being especially dense, bakers who use fine-ground flour and high hydration can make whole wheat into a delicious fluffy bread that can rival its white-flour cousins.
8. Potato Bread
Potato bread.
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Here’s where it gets interesting: Swap out some flour for mashed potatoes, and you get potato bread. It’s soft, has a fluffy interior and features a hint of sweetness. Thanks to the starch in the potatoes, it stays moist longer than traditional yeast breads.
9. Multigrain Bread
Multigrain bread.
Artur Kozlov / Getty Images
Multigrain bread blends several grains like oats, barley and millet into one hearty loaf. Often made with wholemeal bread or wholewheat bread as a base, it’s a powerhouse of texture and taste, ideal for those who want their bread to pack a little extra nutritional punch.
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2 Types of Unleavened Bread
Unleavened breads are the simplest and most humble breads, made quickly and with minimal ingredients. Since they don't rise, they are usually thin and somewhat more dense than most other types of bread. Unleavened bread recipes are often quick and easy to make.
1. Tortillas
Whether made with flour or corn, tortillas are a staple of many Latin American diets.
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Corn tortillas are made with masa harina, a special preparation of cornmeal that includes lime, and are could-soft, faintly sweet and utterly delicious. Flour tortillas are made with wheat flour and offer wheat's sweetness and flexibility.
2. Crispy Bread
This is a fairly broad category that includes crackers and bread-cracker hybrids, sometimes with lots of nuts and seeds included, such as the crispbreads of Scandinavia. Often made with coarse-ground rye flour, they can be quite hearty and filling, especially if paired with cheese, butter or preserved fish.
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2 Types of Quick Breads
When you think of a rich and delicious loaf of banana bread, your imagination is rising with the chemical reaction that occurs when a mild acid, such as buttermilk, reacts in the heat of the oven with a mild base (such as baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate).
Quick breads come together quickly, just as the name states. There's some mixing, some baking, and then you're ready to chow down — once your loaf has cooled, of course.
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1. Irish Soda Bread
Irish soda bread skips yeast altogether and instead uses baking soda (a leavening agent) and buttermilk to rise. Irish soda bread originated in Ireland (naturally) where it is one of the standard Irish breads.
It often features whole wheat flour or spelt flour for added texture. Some versions lean into a slightly sweet taste, thanks to raisins or sugar, making them ideal for snacking or breakfast.
2. Banana Bread
An iconic quick bread, banana bread skips yeast and uses baking powder or baking soda to rise. It’s moist, slightly sweet, and often includes nuts or chocolate chips. It’s not exactly sandwich bread, but it’s perfect for dessert or a sweet breakfast option.
We created this article in conjunction with AI technology, then made sure it was fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.
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