This is the best No Knead Bread Recipe out there! It’s so simple, absolutely no fussing with the dough (none of that folding madness!) and turns out perfect every single time!
A Note from Nora
Where did you first hear about no knead bread? I heard it first from friends of us. Then the husband walks into the kitchen… And starts handling this blazing hot Dutch oven. I’m a bread baker, so I was curious and asked him all sorts of questions in disbelief.
Then, obviously, I forgot all about it, ha! But now I bake this pretty much every week. It’s so easy, just like my No Knead French Bread!
How to Make No Knead Bread in a Dutch Oven:
Read on for the detailed step-by-step ingredients and instructions, or scroll down for tips and the printable recipe card.
Watch the Video Tutorial for No Knead Bread:
Ingredients for No Knead Bread
The ingredients here are SO simple:
- water
- active dry yeast
- maple syrup, honey or sugar
- all-purpose flour
- salt
You can replace up to HALF of the flour with whole wheat flour, but if you use any more than that the bread will become more dense.
If you don’t have any active dry yeast, you can use use instant dry yeast (which will make the bread rise faster; try using a little less than the recipe calls for for best results).
Organic yeast may be used, too, but please note that organic yeast takes MUCH longer to proof. My mom made this recipe with organic yeast the other week and had to let it proof overnight!
The Original No Knead Bread Recipe:
I first saw this bread again in a TV show with Paul Hollywood from The Great British Bake Off. He went to Sullivan Street Bakery and made no knead bread with Jim Lahey, who is considered no knead bread’s baby daddy., and now I’m baking this bread pretty much every week.
It looked so easy, but then I went on the Interwebs and tried a million recipes and they were all… Not easy. The dough was SO sloppy and wet. All the long raising and folding and proofing in floured dishtowels.
Seriously. The original no knead bread might not need any kneading, but it is NOT easy. It requires actual, serious bread making skills.
I’m not terrible at making bread, but I’m pretty terrible at planning right now. And I have mini humans who have demands. In short: I neither have the time nor patience to fiddle my bread dough for any length of time.
And thus, for my own convenience, I figured out this TRULY easy no knead bread.
How to Make No Knead Dutch Oven Bread – My Way:
This bread has 3 steps:
- stir ingredients together, cover and let sit for 2 hours
- heat a Dutch oven with the lid, add baking parchment, flour and dump in the risen dough
- bake for 28 minutes with the lid on and then for around 10 minutes with the lid off
OK, 4 steps: Remove from the Dutch oven and immediately slather with butter and devour because you have zero self restraint around freshly baked bread.
Or is that just me?🙈
There is NO folding. NO need to even touch the dough. NO need to mess with getting sticky dough out of a dish towel.
It’s so easy, it’s almost ridiculous.
Also, this dough is SO good for many other things, too:
- French bread! Yes, really.
- I actually make pizza with this dough, too. See here: Easy Homemade Pizza Dough
- a massive bread. Double the recipe and use a large Dutch oven – feeds a crowd!
- Cinnamon Rolls! So good. See here: No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
How to Serve your No Knead Bread:
We love this warm after about 1 hours cooling time, or on the next day slightly toasted and loaded with butter.
And it goes perfectly with a cozy soup!
Anyways, if no knead bread recipes have been annoying you beyond measure, this is THE recipe for you. No fuss, no work. Just a simple, straight-forward and ACTUALLY easy recipe for homemade bread.
Enjoy!
Grab the printable no knead bread recipe:
The Only No Knead Bread Recipe You’ll Ever Need
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water not too hot or it will kill the yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup OR honey OR sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Equipment
- wooden spoon
- Large Dutch Oven
Instructions
- Make dough: Whisk water, yeast and maple syrup together in a measuring jug. Set aside until bubbles appear on the surface. In the meantime, stir flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add water mix to flour mix and stir until combined (it will look scraggly and that’s perfectly fine).
- Rest: Cover the bowl with a clean dishtowel and leave to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until big and puffy (time will vary depending on altitude, humidity and temperature).
- Prep: Once dough is ready, preheat the oven to 445°F. Place a 8-9 inch round Dutch oven with an oven-safe lid in the oven as it preheats. Once oven and Dutch oven are blazing hot, carefully remove the Dutch oven to a heat-proof surface. Remove the lid and carefully line with a piece of baking parchment (the Dutch oven is HOT! There will be parchment overhang, that’s fine.)
- Bake: Scrape the dough into the lined Dutch oven in one piece. Cover with the lid (just place the lid over the parchment overhang). Bake for 25 minutes, then carefully (!) remove the lid and finish baking for around 10 minutes or until golden brown, crusty and baked through. Remove from the Dutch oven and place on a rack to cool.
Video
Nutrition (this is an estimate)
Gus
I tried the overnight no-knead bread recipe three times, and got a beautiful crumb … and a soggy layer toward the bottom, even when I cut back on the water!
This recipe took 16 hours less, and I–and my family–liked the bread better. (I suspect a true bread-head would say that it wasn’t as … something, but we just loved the fresh-baked loaf!) Thanks!
Nora Rusev
Gus, I’m so happy to hear this. It’s exactly why I started making this recipe for my family – the original is just so much work, and I never managed to make it come out right. Thanks for your lovely feedback, I appreciate it.