This artisan no knead bread recipe is perfect for beginning bakers. With just 4 ingredients, you’ll make a beautiful loaf that’s crusty on the outside and soft and delicious inside – great for dipping in soups or even making bread bowls!
Homemade bread doesn’t last very long in our house, and since my schedule usually lands on the busy side, I’m always looking for an EASY bread recipe that requires very little effort on my part.
I can mix up a quick batch of this no knead bread after dinner and bake it the next morning. Since I’m already in the kitchen at dinner time (or making a smoothie in the morning), this overnight bread recipe fits in well with my routine.
If you’re new to baking bread and intimidated by using yeast, this recipe is also perfect for you. Yes, we’re using yeast, but I’ll walk you through the VERY simple recipe steps.
Plus, since this is a NO KNEAD bread recipe, you pretty much can’t mess up!
WHY MAKE HOMEMADE NO-KNEAD BREAD?
Have I convinced you to try homemade no-knead bread yet?
- It’s really, really good. WAAAY better than store-bought.
- It’s really, really cheap. As little as 25¢ per loaf!
- And it’s really, really EASY. It’s the perfect beginner’s easy bread recipe!
When you’ve nailed this no-knead bread recipe, and you’re ready to try a more “intermediate” loaf of bread, here’s the official guide on how to use yeast.
The tips in that guide helped me get over my fear of yeast and led me to Rosemary Olive Oil Bread and our favorite “sandwich” bread, 90-Minute Man Bread (which officially got us hooked on homemade bread).
NO KNEAD BREAD RECIPE INGREDIENTS
One of the best things about no knead bread is how few ingredients you need!
- Water. Every bread recipe needs liquid. Water is best for this recipe.
- Active Dry Yeast. You may not be used to working with yeast (yet), but you will find that it isn’t so scary after all! Hint: this is different from instant yeast, so just be sure to check the label.
- Salt. A little bit of salt goes a long way when it comes to pulling out the flavor in bread. You really don’t want to skip this.
- Flour. I like to use all-purpose flour for this recipe. Whole wheat flour works too, but it will have a more dense, nutty flavor. Einkorn flour is another great option, especially for those who are sensitive to gluten.
- Vital Wheat Gluten (optional). You don’t need to include vital wheat gluten, but if you do, it makes for a softer, more pliable loaf of bread. Add 1 Tablespoon per cup of flour if you decide to use it. Skip if you are using bread flour.
Psst! Not all salts are made the same! I love Ava Jane’s Kitchen because it doesn’t have microplastics (gross, right?) and it’s SO GOOD! Plus, you can get a free 8oz. bag of sea salt (just pay shipping and handling!).
HOW TO MAKE NO KNEAD BREAD
Step 1. Combine flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl and stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
Step 2. Add warm water and mix well using your hands. Your goal is to incorporate as much flour as possible while handling the dough as little as possible. You will have a shaggy dough that will be hard to stir, not smooth like traditional bread dough, and that’s okay!
Step 3. Cover the dough with a cotton towel or loosely with plastic wrap and let it rise overnight, for 8 to 18 hours at room temperature. The sticky dough will have bubbles and rise slightly.
Step 4. When you’re ready to bake the bread, flour your hands and a silpat mat (or a piece of parchment paper) and turn the dough onto the floured surface. Without kneading the dough, gently form it into a ball with seams down.
Step 5. Tear a piece of parchment paper about 12” square. Place the dough on the parchment paper and cover it with a towel. Let it rest for one hour.
Step 6. Let the dough rise for 30 minutes, then preheat the oven to 450F. Place a Dutch oven (or another cast-iron pot or oven-safe pot that has a lid) inside to preheat pot. Do not put the lid in the oven. Preheat for 30 minutes.
Step 7. When the dough has rested for an hour (30 minutes by itself, then another 30 minutes while the pot is in the oven), carefully remove the preheated dutch oven from the oven. Gently lift the parchment paper with the dough ball and place the whole thing in the hot pot.
Step 8. Put the lid on and place the pot back in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on.
Step 9. Carefully remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the top of the loaf has a nice golden crust.
Step 10. Remove the no knead bread from the pan and allow it to cool completely before slicing. (I recommend at least 30 minutes in a spot where air can flow freely above and below, like on top of a wire rack, on the counter, or kitchen table.)
TIPS FOR NO KNEAD RECIPES
- You CAN knead no knead recipes, but it will change the texture so that it’s more like “sandwich bread” rather than artisan crusty bread.
- This recipe calls for using a Dutch oven (I have this one), but you don’t have to have one specifically. Any large pot with an oven-proof lid will work.
- If you don’t have a pot with a lid, you can also place a rimmed baking sheet with water in it on the bottom rack of the oven during baking time to keep the moist environment.
- The first rise on no-knead bread should be at least 8 hours and up to 18 hours long. The yeast needs long enough to ferment naturally, but it will cap out after so long. The heat from baking will finish the rise on the bread.
- With one minor change, these loaves can become bread bowls (see below!).
NO KNEAD ARTISAN BREAD RECIPE VARIATIONS
I like to mix up our bread flavors from time to time. Here are our favorite easy variations of this artisan bread recipe:
- Jalapeno Cheddar. Add ¼ cup of sliced jalapenos and ½ cup of cheddar cheese.
- Cinnamon Raisin. Add ¼ cup of raisins and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Rosemary Olive Oil. Add 1 teaspoon of rosemary and 1 Tablespoon of olive oil.
- Rosemary Parmesan. Mix in 1 Tablespoon of dried rosemary and ½ cup Parmesan.
- Onion & Herb. Add 2 teaspoons of dried minced onion and 1 teaspoon of Italian herb blend (or any other herb).
You can also use freshly milled flour! If you’re interested in milling your own grains or making your own flour, I highly recommend Mockmill. For my full review, check out this post.
HOW TO MAKE NO – KNEAD BREAD BOWLS
No – knead bread bowls are the best thing ever! This homemade artisan bread recipe is perfectly sturdy and makes great bread bowls.
- Follow the instructions to mix your dough and let it rise overnight.
- Then, divide the dough into two balls before allowing it to rest for 1 hour.
- Use two smaller oven-safe pots (with lids) and proceed with the remaining directions as written.
- After the bread has cooled completely, cut the tops out like you would remove the top of a pumpkin: angle a sharp, serrated knife both down and in towards the center of the loaf. Take care not to cut too far down; otherwise, you’ll poke a hole through to the bottom.
- You can serve the top of the bread bowl with your soup or reserve it for Homemade Croutons or Bread Crumbs.
SERVE WITH NO KNEAD ARTISAN BREAD
No knead bread is perfect with a bowl of soup! Try one of these favorites:
- Garlic White Bean Soup with Kale
- Tomato Basil Soup
- Cheeseburger Soup
- Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup
- Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
- The Best Minestrone Soup
If you’re not in a soup mood, enjoy your no-knead bread with one of these yummy dishes instead:
Add a flavorful twist with herb-infused oil for dipping (don’t forget to freeze any extra herbs!).
Of course, you can’t go wrong with a bit of butter on a warm slice of bread!
HIGH PROTEIN BREAD
There are several ways to add extra protein to a homemade bread recipe.
- Add vital wheat gluten. You can add up to 2 Tbsp of vital wheat gluten to a recipe without it being affected. If you add more, it may have a greater rise, although I have not tried that myself. Vital Wheat Gluten has 28g of protein per ¼ cup.
- Use whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flour naturally has more protein than white flour.
- Incorporate oat flour. Oatmeal has more protein than wheat. You can easily add up to ½ cup of oat flour in any bread recipe without affecting the end result. This Maple Oatmeal Bread is a good one if you like exact measurements!
- Add egg whites. An egg white has 5g of protein. You can add up to two egg whites per loaf of bread.
- Add cottage cheese. My homemade Hawaiian Roll Recipe uses cottage cheese to help make the rolls extra fluffy. A ¼ cup of cottage cheese added to a bread recipe will help increase the protein.
- Include a scoop of protein powder or collagen. I have not tried this myself since I prefer to drink my collagen in a smoothie, but considering protein powder is a dry ingredient, it should blend in super well with a bread recipe. (This is my favorite collagen.)
- Follow this 2-ingredient Bagel Recipe. This simple recipe uses Greek yogurt and flour. It can be adapted into buns, single-serve pizza, or sandwich flats!
While I wouldn’t try all of these at once, for this no knead bread recipe, you could easily add the vital wheat gluten, use some whole wheat flour or oat flour, and include collagen, and it would turn out great!
NO KNEAD BREAD DUTCH OVEN FAQS
What kind of bread is no knead bread?
No knead bread is a method of bread baking that uses a really long rising time instead of kneading the dough. It is a wet dough and has a low yeast content.
Why is my homemade no knead bread so dense?
This happens when there is too much flour. Keep in mind that the dough will be sticky – there’s no need to add extra flour!
Can you make no knead bread without dutch oven?
This is a no knead bread Dutch oven recipe, but if you don’t have a Dutch oven, you can use a different pot with an oven-proof lid. Keeping the lid on for the first part of the baking time ensures that you end up with bread that is fluffy inside instead of overly dry and crumbly.
Can you score a no knead bread?
You can score no knead bread if you want to add a pretty design to the top of your loaf, but it’s not necessary for this no knead bread recipe to be scored for it to bake correctly. Use a sharp knife to cut simple patterns on the top of the dough before baking.
MORE OF OUR FAVORITE BREAD RECIPES
- The Easiest White Sandwich Bread
- 90-Minute Man Bread
- Homemade Focaccia Bread
- Homemade French Bread
- No Yeast Bread
- Easy Homemade Dinner Biscuits
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No Knead Overnight Artisan Bread
This artisan no knead bread recipe is perfect for beginning bakers. With just 4 ingredients, you’ll make a beautiful loaf that’s crusty on the outside and soft and delicious inside – great for dipping in soups or even making bread bowls!
- Prep Time: 8 hours 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 9 hours
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (360g)
- 2 tsp salt (11g)
- 1 tsp active dry yeast (3g)
- 1 ½ cups room temperature water (12 oz)
- vital wheat gluten* – 1 Tbsp per cup flour (optional) (25g total)
Instructions
- Combine flour, salt, and yeast in a large mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
- Add warm water and mix well using your hands. Your goal is to incorporate as much flour as possible while handling the dough as little as possible. You will have a shaggy dough that will be hard to stir, not smooth like traditional bread dough, and that’s okay!
- Cover the dough with a cotton towel or loosely with plastic wrap and let it rise overnight, for 8 to 18 hours at room temperature. The sticky dough will have bubbles and rise slightly.
- When you’re ready to bake the bread, flour your hands and a silpat mat (or a piece of parchment paper) and turn the dough onto the floured surface. Without kneading the dough, gently form it into a ball with seams down.**
- Tear a piece of parchment paper about 12” square. Place the dough on the parchment paper and cover it with a towel. Let it rest for one hour.
- Let the dough rise for 30 minutes, then preheat the oven to 450F. Place a Dutch oven (or another cast-iron pot or oven-safe pot that has a lid) inside to preheat pot. Do not put the lid in the oven. Preheat for 30 minutes.
- When the dough has rested for an hour (30 minutes by itself, then another 30 minutes while the pot is in the oven), carefully remove the preheated Dutch oven from the oven. Gently lift the parchment paper with the dough ball and place the whole thing in the hot pot.
- Put the lid on and place the pot back in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on.
- Carefully remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes, or until the top of the loaf has a nice golden crust.
- Remove the no knead bread from the pan and allow it to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- *Vital wheat gluten is optional but helps create a more pliable, softer loaf.
- ** To turn this recipe into individual bread bowls, divide the dough into two balls before allowing it to rest for 1 hour. Use two smaller oven-safe pots (with lids) and proceed with the remaining directions as written.
- To cut the tops out of the bread bowls, cut like you would the top out of a pumpkin: angle a sharp, serrated knife both down and in towards the center of the loaf. Take care not to cut too far down; otherwise, you’ll poke a hole through to the bottom. Cut out the top and either serve or reserve for Homemade Croutons or Breadcrumbs.
I have been making this bread for years, it is the best! A tip I have found…. wet your hands instead of flouring them to turn the dough out and form the ball. I never had any luck with flouring my hands as the dough just kept sticking but the wet hands allow me to form a nice dough ball without any sticking to my hands. I then sprinkle a tiny amount of flour on top while the dough is waiting to go into the oven.
I have been making sourdough bread for years but a new small business venture is keeping me too busy for the high maintenance process of sourdough.
I tried this recipe today and OMG it’s so close to being a sourdough that my lunch guests thought it was! I used whey from my greek yoghurt making instead of water and left it for 24 hours before cooking, It had a quite sour taste as the whey had obviously started the fermentation process.
Winner of a recipe and the perfect quick and easy replacement for sourdough. Next time I’m going to chop up some olives and add them with some herbs to replicate a fave sourdough recipe.
Thank you so much for sharing
Ooh – what a great idea Robyn to use whey and to let it sit longer! I bet the olive/herb combination would be delicious. So glad you enjoyed it!
I prefer to weigh my ingredients and somehow must have had wrong info ( 120 grams/cup of bread flour) because the dough was very wet. I continued on with the first rise but I had to add more flour (another 20 grams/cup). It still seemed quite wet but I decided to see it through to the end – and I’m glad I did.
This is a delicious bread and we have already decided to make for a lunch we are having later this week.
If I could ask, should you happen to be editing this recipe sometime, if you could include the equivalent weights and to include the instruction to remove the bread from the pan to allow it to cool.
Great recipe, delicious bread and many thanks.
I don’t have a dutch oven, could I make the loaves smaller and use cast iron skillet to cook in?
You can definitely make smaller loaves, but you do need something with a lid Danielle in order to make this come out the way it’s supposed to.
I made this bread yesterday. I found the dough way too moist using the water called for and way too salty. I have to admit, it does have potential. I plan on making it with less water and salt. My dough was so soft it was impossible to do any shaping. I’ve been making bread for decades, so the glowing comments puzzle me. Like I said, I’ll try again another time.
Hi Marianne – this dough is definitely more wet than a traditional kneaded dough. It’s sticky, gloopy and a bit messy. But that’s how it’s supposed to be! Did the loaf bake okay? As for the salt, it’s truly a matter of preference. Perhaps we like it on the salty side! 😉
I cannot bake to save myself, but made this bread… Couldn’t wait for it to cool completely, I was like a little kid poking Christmas presents under the tree. It got the better of me and I just sort of cut the very end off to nibble it… Cut to me two minutes later and I’m tearing off big chunks and slathering them with salted butter…
Winner of a recipe! Thank you.
What an awesome story! Thank you so much for sharing Michela, and I’m thrilled you enjoyed the recipe!
I love your bread recipe and have been making it for several months now….and am finally getting brave enough to experiment! Do you think using sourdough starter instead of yeast would work well with this recipe? From what I’ve read, 1 cup of sourdough starter could replace one teaspoon of yeast and about 1/2 cup of each water and flour. Would love to know if you’ve tried this, or think it could work! Thanks!T
Thanks Tiffany! I personally haven’t tried with a sourdough starter, but it’s always worth a shot! If I had a sourdough starter, I’d definitely try it out. 🙂
I started making homemade bread last year when I got my bread maker. But I got tired of that pretty quick and wanted something more indepth. I came across this website and this wonderful bread recipe. I can honestly tell you that I could make this everyday and it would be eaten – ALL… EVERY DAY.
Thank you for the recipe.
now I am going to go try out your other recipes 🙂
WOW! Thank you for the incredible compliment Dreamer!
I am bread-making beginner and really want to try this recipe. The yeast requires being dissolved in 1/4 cup of water. How does this affect the the amount of liquid required by this recipe?
I’ve never dissolved the yeast first, just chuck it in dry and then mix it up with the other ingredients. It works perfectly.
Thanks for chiming in Sarah!
Heather – if you want to dissolve the yeast in water first to test its potency (this is called proofing), just reduce the other water by 1/4 cup, or however much you used to dissolve the yeast.
II made this bread for the first time tonight, it is awesome. Don’t know if you can answer this but do you know how many calories might be in a slice…I did not read all the comments so sorry if you answered it..would you email me if you have the answer..thank you for sharing this is my new favorite bread, I am going to make it for Easter dinner…
If you enter the data into a database such as that run by myfitnesspal.com, you can work out that the calories will be somewhere in the region of 1650 calories for the whole loaf, obviously dependent on what base ingredients you use, and whether you add anything else.
Then you can approach it one of two ways. Cut it into the number of slices you want and treat each as a serving, to calculate how many calories per serving. Or you can weigh the bread, mine usually comes out to around 600g. Then when you cut a slice, thick or thin, you can weigh that and calculate how much it would be.
In this case, you’d need to divide the whole recipe by 600 servings to come up with a per gram figure, or you could obviously adjust that to pounds and ounces. Just remember it’s not completely accurate, but as a guesstimate, it will be pretty close.
Thanks for chiming in Sarah!
thank you I will do that….
Once you form it into a ball and let it rest for an hour (right before putting it in the oven), can it sit for more than an hour? Or must it be one hour? Thank you!!
I don’t see why having it sit longer would be a problem. Several hours would be fine. If it was too long, it might dry out a bit and you might need to give it a reshape.
Thanks Sarah!
Allie – it’s not an exact science. +/- 15 minutes isn’t a big deal. 🙂
All right- going to try making bread for my first time ever today with this recipe. Thank you! Dumb question that I don’t think has been asked yet about yeast.
I bought active dry yeast. I am not supposed to PROOF it before putting it in the recipe, am I? I mean, proof some, but don’t use that bubbly yeast IN this recipe, right? I’m thinking I combine all dry ingredients (dry yeast) and then add the water, is that right? THANK YOU!! 🙂
Soooo yummy! I was very nervous using my pot in the oven, but it was fine. I switched out one cup of all purpose for white wheat and it came out perfect!!!
So glad you liked the recipe Catherine!
Just wanted to tell you that I have made this recipe multiple times, and every time it’s amazing. Thank you. I’m having pumpkin soup tonight, and we prepared this bread this morning for this afternoon. It didn’t quite rise as much as I’d like, but it’s still wonderful.
Could I add garlic and herbs to this recipe? If so, when would be the best time to add them?
Yes and right at the beginning!
Thank you!
How large will this loaf be when it is done? Can I use a stainless steel cookie sheet, and cover it with a foil pan? I don’t think any of my pans can handle 450 degrees, or have a lid….. Thanks you!
The size depends on the container as it will expand until the can’t anymore (either by the sides of the dish or otherwise). You could try a cookie sheet and cover, but I honestly don’t know what would happen if it didn’t have the sides of something to contain the bread and aid in the rise (since if it can’t go out, it must go up). Do you have a bit pot that you use to make spaghetti? I use that normally. So long as the lid isn’t plastic, you should be ok!
It worked! I used my 8-quart pot, but the lid had a plastic handle, and I smelled melting plastic while it was baking (it didn’t actually melt). Tomorrow I will use the same pot, but will cover it with foil. My son loved the bread and wants to take some back to college this weekend. Thank you!
You’re welcome – so glad it worked! A cookie sheet, if it’s wide enough, might work better than foil (just easier to handle IMO). Good luck!
This recipe is foolproof and delicious. The bread is sturdy and the overnight fermentation really brings out the flavors in the flour. Thanks so much for this!
You’re most welcome!
This is some of the best tasting bread I have ever made! I cannot believe it is so simple, but so tasty! I am not a newbie to bread making, but I had very little time and wanted to make some for a friend that is having surgery today, so I decided to give this a try, I’m so glad I did!
I will definitely be making this again, thank you!
You’re welcome Stacia!
I must be doing something terribly wrong. The dough after rising won’t stay in a ball. It falls out flat :(. Help!
Oh my Amy, could it be the yeast? I would try proofing it first to make sure it’s still good!
I have never made anything other than soda bread….is this supposed to seem a little doughy in the middle? Not raw but spongy….I cut off the end and it tasted fabulous but was worried about the middle…lol