Outback Steakhouse Bushman Bread Recipe
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(361 votes, average: 3.10 out of 5)
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This is one of the easier restaurant recipes to make. So easy, it’s something you could probably do several times a week, regardless of what you’re serving.
The real Outback Steakhouse Bushman Bread does NOT contain food coloring or instant coffee. If the recipe you’ve been using calls for these items, throw it away. You’ll also notice this recipe uses real molasses and rye flour. That’s what gives you that distinct rich flavor others are trying to recreate.
If you want to try this with your bread machine, simply add the ingredients in the order the manufacturer suggests. Put your bread machine on “dough” and when it’s complete, form into loafs by hand and let rise. This goes very well with the Outback Steakhouse Potato Soup and the Outback Steakhouse Chopped Blue Cheese Salad.
Ingredients
- 2 packages dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup dark molasses
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 cups rye flour
- 2 1/2 -3 cups bread flour
- Shortening for greasing the pan
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Soften yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.
- Stir in the sugar and let stand 6 minutes or until it’s bubbly.
- In large mixing bowl combine the yeast/water combo above along with 1 cup warm water with molasses, salt, oil and rye flour.
- Mix this until it makes a nice smooth batter.
- Work in the bread flour until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. It should be very pliable and elastic.
- Knead the dough for a few minutes and then let it rise in a greased bowl until it’s doubled.
- Punch the dough down and shape into 2 large round loaves
- Placed the loaves a few inches apart on a greased and cornmeal dusted cookie sheet. Sprinkle a bit of the cornmeal over the top of the loaves as well.
- Let loaves rise in a warm place until doubled.
- Bake loaves at 375 for about 30 minutes or until the crust makes hollow sound when tapped.
- This bread is supposed to freeze very well.
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59 Responses to 'Outback Steakhouse Bushman Bread Recipe'
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Outback does not make this bread, they buy it. It can be purchased at the day old bread store in giant bags.
Thanks! Wow, I had no idea. I do know this recipe tastes a LOT like what they serve in Outback, whether it’s break they bought or bread they made. Maybe I should describe this as “bread that tastes just like the bread made by the bakery that supplied Outback Steakhouse.” That would be a little confusing. Rest assured, this taste just like the stuff offered at Outback Steakhouse
I really wanted to make this bread, but have only bread machine yeast on hand. When I went to Fleichmann’s website to find the equivalent of 1 package, it said it was 2 1/4 tsp. If I multiple this times 3 pkgs the recipe calls for that comes to 6 3/4 tsps! This sounds like far too much yeast. Could you please advise. Many thanks!
tastes great – 3 packages of yeast sure do rise – WOW – my only question is how come theirs is real dark and shiny, and mine was tan and dull – but still tasted good – altho’ looks are important! thanks
Yep, that’s a lot of yeast, but believe it or not, it’s correct. As you can see from others, they’ve had good success with it. Let me know if you get different results.
Did you make sure to use DARK molasses and DARK Rye flour? If you do that, you should end up with the nice dark coloring. Let me know and we’ll make sure you get as close as possible to the real deal.
At what point do you add the yeast water?
Thank you SO much. I didn’t even notice I missed that when writing this up. I’ve put it in now. You add it with the other water. Thanks again!
Where can you buy rye flour?
RE: skinnycook’s hysterical claim…
Outback don’t make the bread fresh, that is true, however, they receive the prepared dough frozen from their supplier and bake it in house (so they can say they have “fresh baked” bread). I don’t know how on earth you came to the assumption that the day old bread stores would have the kind of stock needed in order to supply a chain restaurant with enough bread to allow every customer to have as much as they’d like. *facepalm*
Does anyone know the recipe for their spinach and artichoke dip?? Email it to me, if you do – iaretehsarah@gmail
Oh wow! That looks absolutely delicious, I love how you took an old favorite and added your own twist. You also did an amazing job with the pictures, I will definitely try this recipe over the weekend.
Awesome receipt…..I love this bread..THANKS!!! I didn’t see a place to rate by stars, but I would give this 5 stars.
How long should it take to double? This is my first bread baking experience.
Trying to make this for the first time.. I am using my bread machine to mix the dough. I am just hoping I put the ingredients in right, and if it matters exactly what order.. I dont bake all the time so I dont know this stuff, just thought I would try it. guess I will see how it turns out! Lol wish me luck!
The last I knew, the Outbacks at least in Michigan got their bread from The Bun Basket in Wyoming, MI. Great bread!
Is it really a Tablespoon of salt? That sounds like a lot.
This is great I want to try immediately and make for Turkey Day.
Ok you say 3 packets of Yeast but I have a Jar, whats the measurement on that? table spoon?
Thanks.
I was really disappointed with this bread, all I could taste was the molasses. I’ve never been to Outback, but someone online told me the bread is similar to the one at Cheesecake Factory, that’s why I made it. Putting comparisons aside, did anyone else have a problem with the molasses overpowering the bread?
I just realized the molasses I used was blackstrap, that may have been the problem. I will make this again with regular molasses and report back
The jar should have a conversion on the label. Generally, one packet equals 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast. So 3 packets would be 6 3/4 teaspoons.
I cut this recipe by 2/3 and put it in my bread machine (too lazy to remove dough and shape it so I just let the machine bake it.) I put it on the sweet setting and the crust was slightly overbaked in spots just during the last few minutes; next time I’d just turn the machine off when there are ten minutes left to bake.
It is an absolute dream to slice, and it’s the springiest, moistest bread I have ever made inside or outside a bread machine. It’s an all-time favorite hit in this household, and I only made it last night.
Slight change (trivial ones): I used brown sugar instead of white, (1 T., which would convert to 1.5 for this larger recipe) and I was a little afraid of a disappointing tan color so I threw in one tablespoon of cocoa. The color was fine and probably would have been without these changes. The rye flour I used was whole grain.
Chef Pablo – can you give us the nutritional values in this bread?
Stone – 6-3/4 teaspoons in in 3 packets.
I divided my risen dough into 4 equal parts and shaped them into “logs” – I wanted them to look like what you get at the restaurant. They came out perfect
I don’t know where my other responses went. I made it with Blackstrap Molasses, BAD idea. I made it again last night with the dark molasses and it was yummy! Not sure how it compares to the Outback bread, but it was good. Close to the Cheesecake Factory bread, even used oats instead of corn meal
I couldn’t bring myself to use 6 3/4 teaspoons of yeast. I used 3 teaspoons of breadmachine yeast and it came out perfect! I used 1 teaspoon, not tablespoon, of salt. Immediately after removing bread from oven I brused the crust with butter to get a soft, shiny loaf. This recipe made enough dough to make 4 loaves the size you get at Outback. Watch the oven, 30 minutes may be a little too long.
I tried the bread today, I got the instant dry yeast, & rye flour from Stop & Shop & also used the self-rising flour. I came out awful.It seemed the dough never rose.I did knead it.I thought I followed the recipe. What do you think I did wrong?
quick questions — if i don’t have molasses, what would be a worthy subsitute?
also, assuming i can find some molasses, will a light rye flour have any impact on the bread aside from the coloring?
Cant wait to try it!
“Outback don’t make the bread fresh, that is true, however, they receive the prepared dough frozen from their supplier and bake it in house (so they can say they have “fresh baked” bread).”
Actually they don’t receive the dough either….it’s already baked loaves of frozen bread….we just throw it into an oven to heat up before serving. It’s one of only a hand full of items not made fresh daily.
I’ve made this 3 times and love it. The only thing that gives me trouble is knowing when to stop adding more flour. One time I could get it pliable following the exact measurements, and other time I couldn’t. Anyway, it tastes great. I use a teaspoon of caramel coloring powder.
I know this is older, but I’m hoping someone is still reading, updating and such.
I’m curious why the sugar instead of honey? Just wondering because I was told it’s called Honey-wheat molasses bread by the waitstaff at Outback. I’ve been comparing recipes for it and found one that uses honey, but they also use cocoa, and I’m not crazy about doing that.
It’d also be great to know if by “2 large round loaves” you mean that it will be regular bread loaf size, or 2 of the size from Outback? Since it’s 3 pkgs of yeast I’m guessing 2 regular bread loaves, but it’s nice to know how much it’s going to make in advance.
As a fairly seasoned veteran of bread baking, I can guarantee you that three packages of yeast is WAY TOO much. You don’t want your breat to taste like yeast – the yeast is only to enhance the rise. FOr this recipe 1 PACKET of yeast is plenty! For those that have a jar of yeast, look on the label to find a conversion. It’s 2.25 tsp of yeast for one packet of yeast. Also, you don’t need to use bread flour in this recipe, regular all-purpose is just fine. One other tip, you can soften the yeast in ALL OF THE WATER and also add the sugar in the water too. Sugar helps activate the yeast. Make sure your water is quite warm, but not hot. Your breads should rise until they are double in bulk – sometimes that can take up to an hour. If your yeast does not bubble in the water/sugar mixture, toss it out and buy some fresh yeast. If it isnt fresh it won’t rise.
Otherwise, the recipe is OK, but you can definitely taste the difference. I’ve made one similar to this before, but it is made with cocoa powder and instant coffee, whole wheat, not rye and sorry Chef, but it tastes exactly like the Bushmen’s bread at Outback. This bread is fine but only if you like the taste of rye and molasses.. which isnt authentic tasting to me, but to each his own.
Thanks! You’re not the first to mention the amount of yeast. I’ve made the changes above and it should be good now. Thanks again.
I love fresh bread… great stuff ^^
ok so you can’t buy it you have to make it??? I’m too lazy for that & I don’t bake! lol
i made this bread today and this is the third recipie that i have tried. Somehow, i get the smae result with all if them, i will follow the recipie correctly but bread just never seems to rise and when i bake it and try it, it is really thick amd nasty anybody have any ideas on why this is happening?
Jarred, there are a couple of things that come to mind. First off… you may have some dead yeast. Go buy a brand new package of it and try again. The next thing I would do is make sure you’re using WARM water to soak the yeast. Not too hot… and not cold. It should be tepid or the same as your body temp.
Ok so I’m going to try this in my bread machine. I hope it turns out right. I’m assuming basically, I put all the liquids in first and dry then yeast.
I will also scale it down to make just one loaf. Thanks!
Yes. Follow the direction for your bread machine. This means you usually want to add all of the liquids first. Let us know how it turns out.
I just wanted to input. I started out making a starter sourdough wild yeast, spent 6 days feeding it and growing them. So I decided to let my new yeast minions onto a bread, after some search I found yours. I took a cup if my minion yeast, and all the water and 2/3 of flour and mixed them to a batter and let them feed for 16 hours. I then mixed all the molassses and sugar and salt and oil to the 16 hour yeast and flour. Made 2 loafs and let them double 1 more hour. Final outcome was fantastic, has the perfect flavor and a hint of the sour from my week old homemade yeast, thank you for help on my first loaf of homemade bread. Now to make a great pizza crust.
I tried this recipe today. It didn’t rise as much as I thought it should, but I think it’s maybe because I used water that was too warm. However, I think there may be too much molasses and salt. Both are overpowering to me (but I don’t usually use a lot of salt, so maybe I just notice it more). I think I’ll try to tweak this a bit to suit my personal tastes. Suggestions, Chef Pablo?
What if you don’t have a bread machine?
Hi, I think it’d be helpful if the cornmeal were listed in the ingredients list (say, as “cornmeal, for sprinkling”). Would probably save some of us a lot of time in the grocery-list department, so we know we need it before we start the recipe instead of finding ourselves lacking when we get to the baking part.
Thank you. Great point. I just added the cornmeal and the grease into the recipe. I can feel your frustration.
I tried the recipe using only slightly more than 1 1/2 t yeast as equivalent to 1 package yeast. I am afraid my bread will cone out tasting like yeast. What is the exact conversion of active dry yeast to instant yeast?
can’t find cornmeal in the uk.. is there any onther replacement for it? thanks
I just made this yesterday and aside from needing to add a little extra flour to get the consistency right, it came out pretty nice looking. I mixed it in my bread maker and then put it in my two loaf pans so I could have it for sandwiches.I used full flavor molasses so it did have a very strong molasses flavor.
For those of you who might have trouble with it rising and know that your yeast is good. Try adding the salt LAST. Salt hinders yeast growth. So if you add it before the yeast has had time to mix a bit with the flour it “could” cause issues.
Just a thought you should list your flours in weight not volume. this will preent too much flour being added and it is much easier to measure correctly. if my calculations are correct and feel free to check it you should have 7.25oz rye and 11.25 bread i find it odd that most chefs use weight when baking but write it down in cups.
also i believe you should include a yeild amount every ones loaf size is different
Just have to say this is definitely NOT the Outback bread. It’s good, don’t get me wrong. But you do not taste molasses in the real thing. However, this turned out great in my bread machine as a 2 pound loaf on light crust, just added ingredients and let it go.
I will probably make this again, but will still be searching for the real Outback Bread. Thanks 
My oven max. temp. just got 280c, can make it 280c take more longer?
A couple points:
-Not all yeast is the same. Breadmachine yeast is “instant”. Use less yeast if you’re using instant. 2 packages is not a lof of regular yeast.
-If you want it this dark you most likely need a carmel color in there.
-If you want it glossy, put an egg wash on top.
Can’t wait to try this recipe. If you want more tips check out King Arthur Flour’s website.
“Otherwise, the recipe is OK, but you can definitely taste the difference. I’ve made one similar to this before, but it is made with cocoa powder and instant coffee, whole wheat, not rye and sorry Chef, but it tastes exactly like the Bushmen’s bread at Outback. This bread is fine but only if you like the taste of rye and molasses.. which isnt authentic tasting to me, but to each his own.”
Sorry, but I must agree. While this is a tasty bread, it is NOT what comes to our table while at Outback Steakhouse. This is a much denser bread, lacks the color and -more importantly- the flavor of “Bushman Bread”
I tried this recipe last weekend and while it turned out good it was sort of tan and a strong rye flavor. I used grandma molasses but the end product didn’t have the color or flavor of Outback
Made this bread tonight…. Everyone Loved it I made it in the bread machine using 2 packets of active dry yeast and they came out perfect. I put a little egg wash on right before baking to make them nice and shiny.
Thanks for the recipe
This bread is nice and soft, but it’s very obviously not the recipe that Outback’s bread actually uses, it doesn’t taste much like it at all.
I made this recipe exactly, and it didn’t come out dark – I used the dark rye flour, but couldn’t find “dark” molasses, just “robust”, which is what I used. The crust came out too hard and crunchy to be Outback bread, but the taste was good.
I have made the bread several times. Turns out perfect everytime, just like at the Outback steakhouse.