Bread is one of the oldest staple foods in the world, and Europe alone has hundreds of styles and recipes that vary between countries, cultures and regions. Flatbreads, rye breads and sourdoughs are all part of the rich tapestry of doughy delights you can find across the continent. To get your mouth watering, we've rounded up the very best, from traditional favourites to more modern creations – some of which may surprise you.
Click or scroll through our gallery to discover the most delicious breads Europe has to offer, counting down to the tastiest of all.
We've based our ranking on the enduring popularity of each bread in its place of origin and beyond, and on the opinions of our well-travelled (and well-fed) team. The list is unavoidably subjective.
Dark breads baked with rye are incredibly popular throughout Northern Europe. Dense Icelandic bread rúgbrauð (pronounced 'roog-bread') has a rectangular shape, no crust and a sweet flavour. Traditionally, the dough is placed in a pot or wooden cask, then buried near a geyser and cooked via geothermal heat (so it's often known as geyser or lava bread). However, these days, home cooks tend to bake it in a square pan in the oven. It's often served with butter, pâté and pickles.
With a slightly crusty exterior and a light and fluffy interior, this traditional bread roll is just the thing for making a bifana – a tasty Portuguese sandwich heaving with marinated pork slices. That's not all it's useful for, though; papo secos can be enjoyed with a whole range of other classic sandwich fillings, and they're often served as a dippable accompaniment to soups or stews, too.
Some may call it a potato pancake, but a lefse is really a type of flatbread. Made with riced potatoes, butter and either milk, cream or lard, this Norwegian staple is often filled with sweet or savoury ingredients and served rolled up. Butter, sugar and cinnamon are common fillings, but more adventurous options include lingonberries and gomme (a sweet Norwegian cheese spread).
Chewy on the inside and floury on top, the morning roll is a Scottish favourite. Just as likely to be filled with cheese or jam as it is to be stuffed with bacon and black pudding, this traditional bread bun is a breakfast and lunchtime staple. The recipe varies from region to region (and depending on the baker's preference); some morning rolls are soft, some are crispy, and some are extremely well fired, with blackened tops.
One of the most popular breads in Germany, vollkornbrot is packed with rye, giving it a rich flavour and a dense texture. Multiple forms of rye are used to make it – including rye flour, rye berries and cracked rye – and it’s part of the sourdough family, so it has a slightly tangy taste. For a texture boost, seeds and nuts might be added, too; think crunchy sunflower or pumpkin seeds, or blitzed-up walnuts.
The shape of fougasse, a bread hailing from Southern France, is sure to catch your eye. Not only do the slashes in this shallow, oval-shaped loaf give it the rustic look of a head of wheat, but they also increase its surface area, resulting in an extra-crunchy crust. Made with a dough that's rich in olive oil, similar to focaccia, it was introduced to France by the Romans. There are plenty of regional variations; in Provence, it's topped with rosemary and olives, while in Nice and Marseille, it often features olives, tapenade and sun-dried tomatoes. You can even get your hands on sweet versions in the Languedoc-Roussillon area.
Pronounced 'hobs tal-malti', this Maltese staple reflects the country's diverse history. The Romans once occupied the island, bringing with them many bread baking techniques – and the word hobż comes from Arabic, which had a strong influence on the local language. This traditional bread is usually baked in a wood-fired oven, beginning with a sourdough starter and a long proving process. It’s often served rubbed with tomatoes (or tomato paste), drizzled with olive oil and filled with ingredients like tuna, olives, capers and onions.
Hearty and satisfying, this doughy Hungarian delight is typically topped with cheese and garlicky sour cream, or even meat stew – so it's just the thing to reach for when you're craving a little comfort. Lángos were traditionally cooked in brick or clay ovens, but modern versions are more likely to be fried in oil. Easily portable, they're a common street food that can be found across the country.
Often braided and topped with a sprinkle of sea salt, poppy seeds or caraway seeds, Czech houska are fluffy in the middle and crisp on the outside. The dough is made deliciously rich and moist with egg, milk and vegetable oil, and the plaited buns are baked until they have a light golden colour. Popular at breakfast time, houska pair just as well with butter and jam or marmalade as they do with savoury spreads.
Zopf, a type of plaited loaf, is often found on Swiss breakfast tables on Sunday mornings. The distinctive two-strand braid design ensures plenty of crispy crust – which, when sliced, gives way to a soft and slightly chewy interior that's delicious covered in butter, jam or honey. The enriched dough includes milk and butter, and sometimes egg, giving it a little sweetness without the need for much (if any) sugar. Zopf is so popular that Swiss supermarkets sell special zopf flour (typically a mix of wheat and spelt flours).
Piadina Romagnola, or just piadina, has a history dating back to ancient times. Made with flour, salt, oil, lard and water, the flatbread is simple but distinctive, with a recipe that’s been passed down through generations. It was given EU Protected Geographical Indication status in 2014, meaning that to qualify as real piadina Romagnola, it must come from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Popular fillings for this traditional flatbread include prosciutto, mozzarella and rocket. Nutella and jam are top picks too, for those with a sweet tooth.
Catalonia’s ‘peasant bread’, pan de payés, is a thrifty staple that's been feeding ordinary people for generations. Round and crusty, this traditional loaf has a soft crumb and large air pockets – the result of a slow fermentation process. It’s the perfect bread for pan con tomate (or, in Catalan, pa amb tomàquet), a simple bread and tomato dish. To make it, lightly toast a couple of slices, rub them with ripe vine tomatoes, then add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.
Dividing it into five sections, the scored top of the kaisersemmel – also known as a kaiser roll – is designed to resemble a star or crown. Some say its name is a tribute to Kaiser Franz Josef I, while others insist that a baker called Kayser invented it. Whatever the truth, the round roll, often topped with a sprinkle of seeds, is an Austrian staple that's either eaten with butter and jam for breakfast, or split in half to make a tasty lunchtime sandwich.
Rustic pain de campagne (literally ‘country bread’) is a large, round sourdough loaf made with a mix of white and either wholemeal or rye flour. It’s an excellent everyday bread that can be put to work in a whole host of dishes, from simple toast to sandwiches. A slow proving process allows time for the flavours to develop – resulting in a bread that tastes as good as it looks, but doesn’t require a lot of hands-on preparation time.
The spongy texture and irregular air pockets of pan Gallego (Galician bread) are a result of the dough's high water content. The dough is made with a soft wheat flour that's typical of the region – and it often contains roughly equal amounts of flour and water, making it tricky to handle. However, expert bakers can turn out these sourdough loaves perfectly. They come in four different variations: round with a topknot, flat, ring-shaped and baguette-like.
Tijgerbrood (tiger bread) is probably the most famous Dutch bread outside of Denmark. The instantly recognisable crackled top is made by painting a mixture of rice flour, yeast, caster sugar, salt and oil onto the surface of the loaf before baking; the distinctive pattern (which some say looks more like a giraffe than a tiger) is created as the paste dries. Perfect for sandwiches and toasties, this popular bakery item has a crusty exterior and a soft, chewy interior.
Also known as breadsticks, crunchy grissini are a delightful snack – whether enjoyed on their own, or with dips and crudités. They hail from the Piedmont region of Italy; it’s believed they were invented by a baker named Antonio Brunero, who was tasked with creating a dish that the Duke of Savoy, Vittorio Amedeo II, could easily digest. They're a common starter in restaurants across Italy, and they can often be found in party spreads, too.
A crucial part of many Swedish breakfasts, knäckebröd is a flat, hard bread or cracker that can be eaten with a range of spreads and toppings, from plain butter to cheese and herring. Traditionally, it was made just twice a year, formed into flat rounds with holes in the middle so it could be hung from the ceiling to dry. Today, it's commercially available just about everywhere you look, both in Sweden and beyond.
Dark, dense and slightly sweet, pumpernickel is one of Germany’s tastiest and most popular breads. It’s also a top contender for the dish with the silliest name; the story goes that it's a mash-up of the word pumpen, which means to break wind, and Nickel, a name associated with a mischievous goblin in German folklore. Other varieties of the rye bread exist elsewhere, including in the Netherlands, Poland and North America, but the original likely comes from Germany’s Westphalia region.
Necessity has often called for bread that’s cheap, easy to make and slow to spoil. Pane carasau, a brittle Sardinian flatbread that's toasted twice, can remain edible for months when kept dry – a trait that once made it an essential food for shepherds spending long months working outdoors. The papery bread also goes by the nickname carta di musica, a reference to the dough being as thin as music sheets.
With its cracked, flour-dusted crust and distinctive yellow interior, broa de milho almost looks more like a cake or biscuit than a bread. Despite its appearance, it's an altogether savoury mix of maize and rye or wheat flours, and it's often dipped in soups or stews, or enjoyed with a range of toppings. It was once considered to be a peasant’s food, but it’s now eaten by everyone – and it's a particular favourite in Northern Portugal and the Azores.
A lot of time and attention goes into the beautifully braided korovai – which is appropriate for a wedding bread. The long process of making it begins on the Saturday before the ceremony, when married women knead the dough and sing folk songs (a ritual that's said to transfer wishes of wedded bliss into the bread). Highly decorated, the loaf might feature roses, ears of wheat and birds, all symbols of hope for the happy couple. However, no one wants the bread to crack while baking, as it could spell bad news.
Similar to a bagel or pretzel, the obwarzanek Krakowski is twisted into a ring shape and boiled before baking, resulting in a wonderfully chewy crust. It’s one of many traditional breads in Poland, a country with a rich baking heritage – but it’s possibly one of the most recognisable and iconic, sold as a street food across the country. The name obwarzanek comes from the Polish for ‘to parboil’, referencing the cooking method that gives it a slightly sweet taste. Before baking, it's sprinkled with seeds, salt, herbs and spices, or even cheese or onion.
One of Italy’s most famous and popular breads, focaccia is irresistibly moist, springy and golden. Its name has its roots in Latin; panis focacius (hearth bread) was a flatbread cooked over hot coals by ancient Romans. A popular pick for people looking for ‘no knead’ bread recipes, it’s made with high-gluten flour, oil and plenty of liquid, which come together to create a strong, sticky dough. It's often sprinkled with sea salt, rosemary and fresh tomatoes or olives before being baked and served warm.
Falling into the ‘quick bread’ category of bakes, soda bread doesn’t require any yeast, kneading or long proving times; baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) reacts with the buttermilk in the dough to make it rise. Fast and frugal, it was incredibly popular during the 19th-century Irish famine, when cooks had to find resourceful ways to bake their daily bread. Today, soda bread is still enjoyed throughout Ireland in various forms, from traditional varieties to more modern interpretations.
Pretzels are traditionally boiled in a lye solution before baking – but these days, many home bakers swap the caustic substance for baking soda. The dough is rolled into thick ropes, twisted into knots, boiled, then baked with a good sprinkle of salt. The result? Delicious bready bites with a crispy crust, a chewy interior and a distinctive shape. A popular street food, pretzels are often enjoyed in Germany (as well as at Christmas markets and Oktoberfest celebrations around the world) with mustard, butter, cheese and weisswürst, a type of white Bavarian sausage.
English muffins are often filled with breakfast staples like sausages and bacon, or topped with eggs, ham and Hollandaise sauce to make eggs Benedict – but they're also delicious toasted and served with butter or other spreads. These small, round breads became popular in 19th-century London, when they were sold door-to-door by muffin men (just like in the nursery rhyme). In fact, muffin men became so ubiquitous that Parliament passed a bill to prohibit them causing a nuisance by ringing their bells in the street.
A versatile flatbread that's used to make everything from kebabs and wraps to crunchy crisps, pitta is one of the oldest breads in the world. Dating back more than 4,000 years and originating in the Middle East, it was given its name by the ancient Greeks. The bread's distinctive pocket shape is formed by cooking the dough at a high temperature, often in a wood-fired oven; steam opens up the structure of the flatbread, producing the perfect niche for grilled meat, salad, falafel and more.
Although they're often associated with New York City, bagels started life in Poland’s Jewish communities. Like pretzels, bagels are briefly boiled before baking, giving them a soft and chewy texture. Many variations on the humble bagel exist around the world, both in terms of dough ingredients and fresh fillings. Cream cheese and salmon, butter, and cold cuts of meat are just a few of the things you might find on or inside one.
It may seem like it’s been around forever, but the ciabatta was only invented in 1982. Arnaldo Cavallari, a baker from Italy's Veneto region, set out to make a rival to the French baguette, calling his invention ciabatta – meaning 'slipper' – due to its shape. With a wonderfully light texture that's perfect for absorbing butter, oil and other delicious toppings, it soon became a worldwide sensation. These days, it can be found in shops, restaurants and homes just about everywhere.
Could there be a more iconic European bread than the baguette? Purchased daily from local bakeries, and even sometimes from baguette vending machines, it’s a golden-crusted baton with a chewy interior – and French people can’t live without it. It was likely given its official name in the 1920s, but it probably has a slightly longer history, dating back to the previous century. Today, baguettes are used in countless ways; they can be sliced and slathered with butter and jam, dipped in coffee or hot chocolate for breakfast, or made into sandwiches like the traditional jambon-beurre (a butter and ham delight).