Vegan Spinach Tomato Basil Babka

It's likely you've heard of chocolate babka, but have you ever tried a savory babka?! This Vegan Spinach Tomato Basil Babka is SO flavorful and is truly the best way to spice up your bread baking routine. With only 10 ingredients, this herby vegan basil bread dough filled with layers of spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and fresh basil is truly delicious!

The bread dough base for this recipe is based off my famous Vegan Onion & Spinach Pizza Rolls. However, we're using a little less dough for this recipe to fit the bread into a 9*5 loaf pan.Then, we fill the bread layers with a mix of spinach & sun dried tomatoes for the best vegan spinach bread!

Steps to make vegan babka dough

Since babka can definitely look intimidating, I'll be walking you through this recipe with step by step photos to help show you how to make savory vegan babka!

First, make the basil bread dough

This vegan bread dough is SUPER simple and only contains 6 easy ingredients. It's dairy-free, egg-free, and filled with flavor!

Ingredients:

• Lukewarm water (this is important as it helps to activate dried yeast)
• Dried yeast (I pretty much always use Red star yeast platinum Instant Yeast but dried yeast works too)
• Olive oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
• All-purpose flour
• Salt
• Dried basil (optional, just for more flavor)

First, activate the yeast

This is done by letting mixing the yeast into the lukewarm water and letting it sit for about 5-10 minutes until bubbly and frothy. If you are using instant yeast, you can technically skip this step, but active dried yeast NEEDS this step to work. Otherwise, they can be used interchangeably in this recipe.

Then, add in the rest of the ingredients and mix

First add in the olive oil and gently mix it into the water and yeast mixture. Adding oil first helps to coat the yeast so the salt we add won't dry it out.

Then, add in the flour, salt, and dried basil and mix until a thick and sticky dough forms.

Knead the dough

This step can be done either with a standing mixer and a bread hook or by hand on a well-floured surface. For this recipe, I decided to do it in my standing mixer out of pure laziness, but either method is just as effective!

It's important to knead the dough until it is elastic, stretchy, and can be pulled into a windowpane without easily tearing.

Let the dough rest 

Then, add the dough to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let the dough rest until it has doubled in size. I find this takes anywhere from 1-2 hours depending on how warm your kitchen may be. To speed up this process, you can add your bowl of dough to the oven and turn on the oven light (just DO NOT turn the oven on!!).

Make the spinach tomato basil babka filling

While the dough is completing the first rise, we're going to make the spinach tomato basil babka filling! 

Ingredients:

• Frozen spinach ( I used Stahlbush Farms frozen cut spinach as I originally created this recipe for them!)
• Sun Dried Tomatoes in oil (I used Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil)
• Fresh basil
• Nutritional yeast (for that cheesy flavor!)
• Salt & pepper to taste

First, rinse and "wring out/strain" the frozen spinach

This recipe calls for 3 cups of frozen spinach. However, after the spinach is rinsed and strained of any excess water, you're going to end up with around 1 cup of packed frozen spinach as pictured below.

Then, blend everything together

Simply add all of the ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until thick and sticking together. It doesn't have to be completely pureed, but it definitely helps to break up the large pieces of basil and sun dried tomatoes so they're evenly dispersed throughout the bread.

Fill & shape the babka dough

The best way to explain these steps to you is to show you! First, take the dough that has doubled in size and roll it out into a rectangle on a well-floured surface. As you can see, it doesn't need to be a perfect rectangle to work!

Then, use a spatula to add on the spinach tomato basil filling. Make sure to leave a border along the edge of the dough without filling.

Next, roll the dough into a log from the longer end of the rectangle. Make sure to pinch the ends of the dough together to seal! Then, flip the log over so the pinched side is on the bottom.

Slice the dough log down the center. Next, criss-cross the two halves of dough on top of one another with the filling facing up. Twist the dough together and tuck the ends of the dough under to seal. Do this step gently as the filling may fall out a bit!

Then, add the babka dough to a greased 9*5 loaf pan (you can also put parchment paper in the pan for easier removal). At this point it's time for the second rise (which takes another 30 minutes- 1 hour until the dough has risen and filled out the pan). I like to cover my pan with a towel or more plastic wrap for the second rise to protect the dough from drying out.

Bake the spinach tomato babka!

After the second rise, preheat the oven to 350F and brush a little olive oil on the top of the babka dough. This is our version of an egg wash to achieve that desirable brown crust. Then, bake for 40-45 minutes! Once the babka is baked I like to let it sit in the pan for about 20 minutes to finish cooking and cool a bit before removing it.

FAQ & Substitutions:

Can I make this recipe gluten-free?

I personally haven't tried it, but I don't think this recipe would work with  gluten-free flour since we need the gluten formed from kneading the dough to hold the dough together. If you try making it GF and it works, let me know!

I only have sun dried tomatoes without oil, how do I make this work?

That should still work! Just use the amount of sun-dried tomatoes the recipe calls for (½ cup) and add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to the filling to help it stick together. The oil is important in the filling, so don't omit it.

Can I make this recipe with fresh spinach?

You can, but I personally do not recommend it. If you do choose to use fresh spinach, just make sure to sauté it first so it is the right texture and volume needed for the filling. You'll need 1 cup of fresh sautéed spinach to use in place of the rinsed & "wrung-out" frozen spinach.

I can't wait to see you all bake up this Vegan Spinach Tomato Basil Babka and try a savory babka! Plus, I hope the process shots convince you to truly give homemade bread baking a shot. I can tell you from experience it just takes practice to get better at making homemade bread and, once you start, you won't be able to stop. Enjoy!

-TSG