It’s hard to name a better combination than soft, fluffy bread, creamy butter, and a sprinkle of salt. Just the thought is enough to set your salivary glands working overtime. So it’s no surprise that salt bread is quickly becoming TikTok’s latest beloved food trend.
Salt bread is a relatively new invention. It was first created in Japan in 2014, where it’s known as shio pan. The simple treat—somewhere between a crispy, flaky croissant and a fluffy bread roll—first appeared at a small bakery called Pan no Mise on Shikoku Island in Ehime Prefecture. It didn’t take long to catch on. Bakeries across Japan began making their own versions, and the trend soon spread to South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Okonomi Kitchen
Now, salt bread is having its American moment, thanks to TikTok. A video captioned “salt bread is my pride and joy,” posted by creator Erin Lim in September 2025, has garnered around 1.4 million likes, for example. More recent clips have racked up hundreds of thousands of views.
In New York, bakeries are embracing the trend—there’s even a brand-new dedicated spot called Salt Bread Ko in Koreatown, and another called Justin’s Salt Bread in the East Village. “I don’t want to do everything,” founder Justin Lim told Eater recently. “I want to do one thing, and I want to be the best at one thing, and salt bread is my favorite bread.”
Can you make vegan salt bread?
According to recipe blogger Lisa Kitahara of Okonomi Kitchen, who grew up eating salt bread made by her mom, there are three main types: hard crust, semi-hard crust, and soft crust.
While each version has a slightly different texture, the concept is the same: a soft roll is wrapped around butter, which melts as it bakes. The base turns crisp, the top stays fluffy, and the whole thing is finished with salt.
Okonomi Kitchen
Most traditional recipes call for dairy milk and butter, but these can easily be swapped for plant-based alternatives. Joanne Molinaro of The Korean Vegan, for example, uses soy milk powder, extra-creamy oat milk, and vegan butter in her version.
One top tip? Don’t try to blag your salt bread. You’ll almost certainly need to follow a precise recipe to get it right. Kitahara, an experienced recipe developer, reportedly tested her version more than 55 times before perfecting it. Molinaro also experimented repeatedly before landing on her final recipe.
But once you nail it, it’s worth the effort. Molinaro says her version has a “wonderful buttery flavor” and calls it “a truly addictive bread.” You can find Molinaro’s plant-based recipe for salt bread here, and Kitahara’s vegan-friendly version here.
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
