Level Up Your Sandwich Game: Sourdough Discard Chimichurri Focaccia (And the BEST Steak Sammie)

Let’s be honest: standard sliced bread is great for a Tuesday morning toast, but sometimes your tastebuds demand an absolute masterpiece.

Enter in….the Chimichurri Focaccia.

We are talking about a pillowy, golden, olive-oil-drenched sourdough discard focaccia marbled with a vibrant, garlicky, herbaceous chimichurri. It’s crispy on the outside, insanely fluffy on the inside, and packing enough flavor to stand completely on its own.

But we didn’t let it stand on its own. Oh no. We used it to build the best, show-stopping steak sandwich. More on that epic creation in a minute—first, let’s get baking!

Don’t let the sourdough discard fool you—this recipe uses a little active dry yeast to ensure you get those massive, beautiful air bubbles we all crave in a good focaccia.

The BEST Steak Sandwich

While eating this warm out of the oven is a spiritual experience, the real magic happens when you slice it horizontally and build a sandwich. Here is how we took this bread to the absolute limit:

• The Bread: Sourdough Discard Chimichurri Focaccia.
• The Meat: Perfectly seared, juicy steak sliced thin against the grain.
• The Sauce: A generous extra drizzle of that leftover zesty chimichurri.
• The Sweet: Deeply caramelized onions for a rich, sweet contrast to the acidic vinegar in the sauce.
• The Crunch: A handful of hot, crispy french fries tucked right inside the sandwich (because carb-on-carb is a lifestyle choice).
• The Greens: Fresh spinach or peppery arugula to cut through the richness.
• The Finale: A healthy, snowing amount of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Every bite is a chaotic masterpiece of textures—crunchy fries, pillowy bread, tender steak, and a explosion of garlic and herbs.

If you have some sourdough discard sitting in your fridge looking for a purpose, this is your sign. Go make this bread, build the sandwich of your dreams, and thank me later!

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Chimichurri Focaccia Bread (using sourdough discard)

Created by Sue Mun

Makes one, 9×9 inch pan (enough to make 4 big sandwiches)

Ingredients:

For the Sourdough Discard Focaccia Dough:

• 330g bread flour (12% protein content or higher)
• 265g warm water
• 100g sourdough discard
• 5g active dry yeast
• 4g honey, or sugar
• 12g olive oil
• 7g fine sea salt

For the Chimichurri Sauce:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 big bunch of fresh parsley, cleaned and finely chopped
• 1 shallot
• 3-4 cloves garlic finely chopped or minced
• 1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper to taste

Instructions:

Make the Chimichurri Sauce:

1. To a food processor, add in all of the ingredients together. Pulse the mixture until the parsley becomes small pieces and the mixture looks like a fine sauce. Do not over blend though–you do not want to make a smoothie. You will end up with more than you need but if you are making a steak sandwich with this bread, then the amount is perfect. Set aside in the fridge.

Make the Focaccia Dough:

1. Mix the warm water, active dry yeast, and honey together and let it sit for 5 minutes (only if using active dry yeast. If you are using instant yeast, you do not need to bloom the yeast in the sugar water water).
2. Then mix in the sourdough discard until it is mostly dissolved. Then mix in the olive oil, flour and salt together until a shaggy dough forms.
3. Cover and rest the dough for 15 minutes.
4. Using wet hands, stretch and fold the dough over into itself. Keep stretching and folding until the dough is no longer as stretchy. Do about 8 stretch and folds. Cover and rest again for 15 minutes.
5. Stretch and fold again and rest for 15 minutes.
6. Perform the last stretch and fold and cover and proof for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
7. Generously oil up your 9×9 inch baking pan with some olive oil. Gently place your dough onto the greased pan.
8. Scatter about 3-4 spoonful of the Chimichurri sauce on top of the dough. Using wet hands, gently fold the dough into thirds like a book. Then flip it over so the seam is now at the bottom. Gently stretch and dimple the dough so it fits the entire bottom of the pan.
9. Cover and proof for 1 hour until the dough rises to about 3/4 cup the side of the pan.
10. Halfway through your proofing, preheat the oven to 425F.

The Assembly:

1. Top with more Chimichurri sauce on top and dimple the dough using your fingers.
2. Bake at 425F for about 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.
3. Immediately remove from the pan using a metal bench scraper to help release from the pan. Cut and serve warm!