No-Knead Bread Recipe
If you have been hanging out around Frugal Living NW for awhile, you know that I am a big believer in making food from scratch at home. With a few exceptions, I prefer creating something in my own kitchen to buying it in the grocery store.
Bread can be tricky, though. There is some stiff competition out there, and it is tough to replicate a commercial oven’s heat and steam in a normal home kitchen.
For the last several years, I thought that Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes was the best thing since, well, sliced bread. It was simple, and we were content with the results. That is, until last summer when our neighbor brought over a beautiful, delicious loaf of home-baked bread. We had to know her secret. One phone call, and she came back with the book, My Bread by Jim Lahey (Amazon).
We have been baking bread using this method ever since. I can count on one hand the number of times I have bought bread in the store since then, because I can now make an artisan-quality loaf at home for a fraction of the cost.
I am telling you, this is consistently the best bread I have ever made in my kitchen. Okay, enough gushing. Let’s make some bread.
The only changes I have made to Lahey’s method is to double the amounts and adjust the baking time and temperature to achieve a bigger loaf with a thinner crust.
Oh, and don’t be put off by all these steps. This is totally possible for home bakers at any skill level. I wanted to give you the confidence to do this on your own. A concise recipe can be found at the bottom of this post.
The ingredients are simple: flour, water, salt, and yeast. My husband calculated this bread costs 74¢ per loaf (using Bob’s Red Mill flour & Costco yeast).
Oh, wait! Don’t forget to factor in the roughly 8 cents of energy used to bake it for an hour. No, I’m serious. My husband really does think about this stuff! He’s funny.
So, there you go. A whopping 81¢ for a substantial 2.5 pound loaf of bread. That is crazy cheap.
If you want to use some whole wheat flour, substitute 3 cups of whole wheat for 3 cups of the all-purpose flour (3 cups whole wheat and 3 cups of unbleached flour for a total of 6 cups) and add 3 Tablespoons of molasses (optional). This will produce a slightly sweeter, denser loaf of bread. Delicious.
Combine the dry ingredients, add the water, and stir to combine (the funky looking wood-handled item is the amazing Danish Dough Wisk — makes stirring stiff dough a snap). The dough should be wet and sticky. Depending on the temperature and humidity in your home, you may need to add a little more flour or water, 1 Tablespoon at a time. So far, these steps are exactly the same as the 5 Minute method.
The main differences are that you use significantly less yeast (1/2 teaspoon vs. 1 1/2 Tablespoons) and significantly more initial rise time (12-18 hours vs. 2 hours).
Once the ingredients are completely combined, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it on the counter to rise for 12-18 hours. This slow rise aids in the fermentation of the yeast, giving the bread a better flavor.
Okay, I know what some of you are thinking: 12-18 hours! That’s ridiculous! Who has that kind of time?! I get it.
However, here are two things to consider:
- Once you get into a rhythm of baking your own bread, it’s not a big deal. I start mine in the afternoon or evening and bake it the next morning or afternoon. This would also be an easy weekend routine.
- Just like the title claims, this bread requires no kneading. It is not fussy, temperamental dough. You can produce a delicious loaf of bread with very little hands-on effort & experience.
You’ll know your dough is ready when it has risen in the bowl, smells yeasty, darkened slightly, and is covered with small bubbles.
Using well floured hands, shape and tuck the sticky dough into a rough ball. You can also fold it over a couple times on a well-floured surface. It doesn’t have to be perfect; just keep quickly tucking the dough underneath with your fingertips until you have a semi-smooth dough ball. The dough should be wet but manageable; you don’t want a wet blob so sticky that you can’t shape it into a ball.
Take a clean linen or cotton tea towel (not terry cloth) and dust it with flour, cornmeal, or wheat germ to prevent the dough from sticking to the towel as it rises. You can also use a floured square of parchment paper on the towel to make the dough ball easier to handle. Place the dough ball, seam side down, in the middle and dust with more flour.
Cover the dough with the (parchment paper and) towel and let it rise for 1-2 hours at room temperature, until doubled in size. During the last 30 minutes of rise time, place a heavy lidded 6-8 quart pot, like a Dutch oven, in a cold oven and preheat it to 425 degrees.
Confession: I own three Dutch Ovens. I use them all the time. They are incredibly versatile and worth the investment. If you don’t own one, you could also make this in any lidded pot, provided it is oven-safe at such high temperatures. Also, check the knob on your pot. If it isn’t rated for such high heat, you’ll want to remove it or cover it with foil. You can also buy an inexpensive replacement knob that is rated for higher temps!
Okay, this is the trickiest part of the entire operation. Remove the lid from the piping hot Dutch Oven, slide your hand underneath the towel or parchment paper, and flip the risen dough (seam side up now) into the pot. Try to flip close to the pot or the flour will fly everywhere. Remove the towel or paper and set aside.
This might take a bit of practice, but again it doesn’t have to be perfect. Some of my worst flips have produced my most beautiful loaves. I love what Lahey writes, “…even the loaves that aren’t what you’d regard as perfect are way better than fine.”
Place the lid back on top and slide the pot back into the hot oven.
Bake it for 40-50 minutes. Remove the lid. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, until golden chestnut brown. The internal temperature should be around 200 degrees. You can check this with a meat thermometer if you’re nervous about knowing when your loaf is done.
Oh man, your house will smell so good about right now.
Place the loaf on a cooling rack. You will hear it crackling as it cools. Use every ounce of self-control to resist cutting into it until it is “quiet”; cutting it too soon will make the bread dense and gummy.
This bread is best the first 2-3 days. I just store my leftover loaf inside the Dutch oven on the countertop. Using plastic wrap will soften the crust. Dry, leftover bread makes great bread crumbs, toast, French toast, or croutons!
Enjoy. And pat yourself on the back. You just baked an amazing loaf of bread!
Basic No-Knead Bread
Slightly adapted from Jim Lahey’s My Bread
Ingredients
6 cups bread flour (recommended) or all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/2 t. instant or active-dry yeast
2 1/2 t. salt
2 2/3 c. cool water
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water and stir until all the ingredients are well incorporated; the dough should be wet and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest 12-18 hours on the counter at room temperature. When surface of the risen dough has darkened slightly, smells yeasty, and is dotted with bubbles, it is ready.
- Lightly flour your hands and a work surface. Place dough on work surface and sprinkle with more flour. Fold the dough over on itself once or twice and, using floured fingers, tuck the dough underneath to form a rough ball.
- Place a full sheet/large rectangle of parchment paper on a cotton towel and dust it with enough flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran to prevent the dough from sticking to the parchment paper as it rises; place dough seam side down on the parchment paper and dust with more flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran. Pull the corners of parchment paper around the loaf, wrapping it completely. Do the same with the towel. Let rise for about 2 hours, until it has doubled in size.
- After about 1 1/2 hours, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot, such as a cast-iron Dutch oven, in the oven as it heats. When the dough has fully risen, carefully remove pot from oven. Unwrap the towel and parchment paper from around the dough and slide your hand under the bottom of the dough ball; flip the dough over into pot, seam side up. Pull the parchment paper off, scraping any stuck dough into the pan. Shake pan once or twice if dough looks unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.
- Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 10-15 more minutes, until the crust is a deep chestnut brown. The internal temperature of the bread should be around 200 degrees. You can check this with a meat thermometer, if desired.
- Remove the bread from the pot and let it cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
Here are a couple options for Dutch Ovens. Any heavy, lidded 5-8 quart pot (seasoned cast iron or enamel coated) would work with this recipe. Lodge has the best prices/options for dutch ovens on Amazon.
Lodge Logic Dutch Oven in Island Spice Red (6 Quart)
Lodge Cast Iron Double Dutch Oven (5 Quart)
If you already have a dutch oven (or find a deal on a lesser-known brand) that doesn’t have a knob rated for high temps, replace it! There are some really affordable options.
Got questions? You are in good company. Go here for the complete FAQ list.
Looking for more variations to the no-knead bread recipe? We’ve created a list with sweet and savory varieties, including the following:
- Cranberry Orange
- Four Cheese
- Sandwich Bread
- Dark Chocolate Coconut
- Tomato Basil Cheese
- Whole Wheat
Looking for more delicious bread recipes?
Find more delicious recipes on our Recipe Page!
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I just made this bread last night for Christmas Eve dinner tonight. I’ve never made bread like this before and I expected something to go wrong because I’ve heard many stories of how hard it is to make a good quality bread like this. This was so EASY! My bread came out amazing! I actually only have a five quart dutch oven, but it came out fine. I impatiently waited for it to cool and tried a slice warmed up in the microwave with some butter. YUM! I’m so proud of my beautiful loaf of bread and cannot wait to try some of the variations. Thank you for the amazing recipe and Merry Christmas!
I am making a variation that my family gobbles up! I add 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 2/3 cups cinnamon chips to the dough. There is a cinnamon burst in every bite!
A couple of comments. I, too, am unable to have bread successfully raise during the winter because I keep my house rather cool (I have yet to understand people who have to turn their temp down to 62 in the summer but have to have it at 86 in the winter) so raise bread in the oven. Either slightly heat the oven (check temp with your hand), put in bread and close the door or put in a large casserole dish with hot water, again put in bread and close the door. Both work beautifully. As to using expensive parchment paper for various tasks, many times you can substitute cheaper waxed paper, rule of thumb is you can use it to bake if it is completely covered such as lining a cake pan, it can’t be used under cookies.
Finally, I LOVE my Danish Dough Whisk, it’s everything the author said, ladies, treat yourselves to one.
I now turn on the interior oven light when I make up a batch of no knead bread dough. Cover dough with a plastic sack over the bowl and check it every few hours.
I had the sack sag down onto the surface of the dough several times early on in making bread this way and after dealing with the extremely sticky mess that ensued trying to scrap the dough off, I made it a habit to keep an eye on it.
I ordered a Danish wisk for myself as a holiday gift but it has yet to arrive. I’m excited, hoping that it’s easier in mixing on my arthritic hands than my old spoon.
Currently there is a batch in the oven rising. Added some rosemary and a little olive oil. It be good with the leftover Christmas turkey soup I’m making.
Help! It’s been 13.5 hours and my dough hasn’t risen at all. It doesn’t look like it’s changed since I first mixed it together. Do I start over? Is there anything I can do to help it rise? Thanks!
Nope, just keep waiting! Unless your yeast is bad, your dough will be just fine. With such a small amount of yeast, you’re not going to see a huge change. You’re looking for a slow rise over a long period of time. The temperature of the room will affect things, too, so you can move it to a warmer spot if you want. Let us know how it turns out!
I put it in a warmer place and it rose a little. Turned out great! Even looked pretty! 🙂
Hi, can I cut this in half? I only have a 3 quart pot. 🙁
Yep, and try these variations. Some are adjusted for half portions. http://www.frugallivingnw.com/no-knead-bread-recipe-variations/
Wow. It turned out amazing. Love the recipe! Thanks for sharing.
I make this bread maybe a 3 or 4 times a month, we eat brown rice mostly so bread is a treat for us.
Question, My bread always tastes great, but half of the time the very bottom of the loaf is so tough to cut that I have taken heavy kitchen shears and scissored it! I know it’s always going to be little tougher than store bought or even conventionally homebaked in the bread pan bread.
But does anyone know what causes the extremely tough bottom on some loaves? I’d like to have a more tender bread bottom.
I still love it! and I have a bowl proofing now to be baked this afternoon.
I have some loaves turn out this way, too. I think there are quite a few variables: the moisture level & the Dutch oven being the biggest two. You could try baking at 400 or put foil on the bottom of the pot. Also, storing the bread covered in the pot after baking will give you a softer (overall) crust.
Anyone else have any ideas??
Try letting it rest on a kitchen towel (instead of a cooling rack) when you take it out of the dutch oven. The steam from the cooling bread will soften the bottom. Just keep in mind that you don’t want to let it get too soft, so check it every now and then.
Hi Emily and Mary,
I was setting the temp to 400 so I tried raising it, the recent loaves seemed to do best at 450 for 20 minutes and then lowering to 425. for the remainder.
Setting on a towel did help I think. 🙂
Hello!
I have made this bread and it is delicious and so easy! Thank you for the recipe.
I hope you will have time to answer a question: to make a whole wheat loaf, you recommend using 3 cups of whole wheat flour, and 3 cups of all-purpose flour. What happens if I only use whole wheat? Will it not rise like it did with the bread flour?
Thank you. I can’t wait to make another loaf 🙂
I haven’t made a 100% whole wheat version yet. It will rise, but it will definitely give you a more dense, heavy loaf. Maybe start with whole wheat pastry flour? Let us know what you do and how it turns out!
I have made this several times and we love it. I have a vegan friends that eats no bread with eggs, milk etc… in it. Also they eat ONLY whole wheat. I know you say to use half white and half whole wheat, but I am going to try making with all whole wheat tonight. Wish me luck. Keep pinning your great recipes.
Oh, let us know how it turns out!
Just made a half recipe of this bread, and I baked it in a 3 qt. cast iron casserole, it turned out great! I can’t wait to make more! Thank you!
Who ever owns this website…I blame you for my addiction to this bread! 🙂 I’ve made two loaves in two days and I’m going to bake another tomorrow morning to give as a Thanksgiving gift.
I just tried this and WOW! It’s just hard to believe something so easy turns out so well! I may never buy store bread again! (yea right) Has anyone tried it with garlic? I heard somewhere that garlic can affect how a bread rises but that might have been in a bread where sugar is used.
I was just curious if you are able to just use a bread pan to put this in? I have 2, but no pots that can go in the oven…
Has anyone tried freezing this bread? I was thinking of making some ahead for gifts.
I freeze it all the time. I usually make two loaves and freeze one of them. If I am giving it as a gift later, I would freeze the whole loaf, but since I usually freeze it for our family, I wait until it’s cool, slice it, and freeze it in half. That way, when we want some, we don’t have to defrost the entire loaf.
When it’s cool, I wrap it in aluminum foil and then put it in a plastic bag. Then, I put it in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until heated through when I want to serve it.
Hope that helps.
Yes, that helps, Tracy. Thanks! I have my first loaf in the oven right now. Making it for my daughter’s birthday dinner!
I’ve made this about 10 times and every time, people rave about it… They seriously go on and on about how good it is. I try to tell them how easy it is and no one believes me! I think they think I’m being falsely humble. Thanks for the recipe… You’re making me look good!
Love trying out different breads, this one went over really well with the crowd we had over the weekend. The one loaf didn’t last very long. Have 6 antique cast dutch ovens, love cooking with all of them.
Wow! The bread turned out great. I had to knead the dough a bit after the second rise (because it seemed too wet and blobby), but everything else was perfect! Loaf did not need any add’l time to brown (when I lifted the lid it was already golden and crusty), nor did it stick. Thank you for the recipe.
I made my first two Rye loaves and they are great! I used 2 cups Rye Flour and 4 cups white Bread flour.
They are slightly more dense than the regular Artisan bread and the crust is a little softer.
Next, I’m going to try brown sugar and cinnamon for one loaf and Craisins and cinnamon for another!
I made this bread And il Was very Good but l try to make il again but the bread stick at the bottom l was not abel to get the braed out ,i need hell plaese.
One other question. When would you add shredded cheese if you were making cheese bread – at the beginning with all the ingredients or after the 12-18 hour rise?
Add it to the dry ingredients before adding the water. For more on additional ingredients, see our FAQ page: http://www.frugallivingnw.com/no-knead-bread-answers-to-faqs/
I made the bread a few days ago and it turned out great except that I thought it was too salty. Is it OK to decrease the amount of salt in the recipe?
Sure, that would be fine. Some low-sodium folks have omitted the salt entirely.
Since I found this recipe this past spring, I have made ALL the bread my husband and I eat. We like both the white and whole wheat versions found here, and I’ve found rye and multigrain variants, too. The ones on this page are our “daily bread,” though; there’s a loaf of white doing its second rise in the kitchen right now!
What is your Rye Bread recipe? I would love that!
Just made this and it is DELICIOUS! I’m wondering, though, is there any way to make the crust not as crunchy? Mine turned out so hard on the outside I felt like I would almost chip a tooth. The inside, of course, was wonderfully soft! Do you have any insight on how to get the crust softer? Thank you!!
Yes. Once you take it out of the oven, leave it in the pot for awhile. Instead of crusting up it gets soft.
I store mine right in the pot. I like it crusty but once I put it back in the pot … it always gets soft.
Cook just a bit less at the end after you remove the lid. Only cook for 3-5 minutes as opposed to the full 10. I’ve done that before on accident when I was in a pinch and it was not as crunchy.
Made the dough last night and now I just threw it in the oven, hoping it turns out great!
Okay it turned out amazing! I’m so happy and excited to eat this! Thank you!
This bread is amazing! I let it rise for 24 hours (to be honest, I forgot about it), then I floured and shaped it on a piece of parchment paper, which I then plopped right into the dutch oven, paper and all. Turned out fantastic. This loaf was absolutely huge, excellent crust texture and colour. Somehow it’s dense but the air pockets make it nice and light. Great with soup or just dipping in oil & vinegar. The kids loved it!
I love this bread recipe! I have made it several times after seeing the original post on your website. One thing I do differently…I lift up the parchment paper with the bread on top and set the whole shabang into the dutch oven. Works everytime and I don’t have to worry about flipping or getting flour all over.
I should have said DOUGH. Also, it is easy to lift the BREAD out when finished and then just peel the parchment paper off.
Could you cook this in the crockpot?
has anyone tried this with gluten free flour?
I’d like to know this too. I haven’t made it since my husband was diagnosed with Celiac disease.
I use corningware and my bread turns out perfect every time
Hi — hey FYI the Le Creuset pot knobs are only rated to 375°F
And the new Lodge knobs are now rated to 500 degrees so it’s okay to purchase the Lodge dutch oven with the current knob.
I was happy to find a good quality enameled dutch oven type pan, in a pretty buttery yellow color, for just a couple of dollars at the thrift store. I saw that it had a hard plastic knob. Ah! but it unscrewed from the lid!
I was able to snatch an all metal knob from a small sauce pan lid I already had and hardly use, and switched them.
Works perfect.
Le Creuset dutch oven composite knobs are rated to 500 degrees, per their website. 🙂
Ruth: You don’t need the second step. My post is way down in the thread, but I noted that I skip the second step and it works just as well. Just mix the dough, cover it, let it rise overnight (up to about 24 hours), dust it with flour as you loosen it from the bowl, and roll the soft ball of dough into the pre-heated pot. Again: NO SECOND RISE!
Just mix it, and bake it 12 to 24 hours later.
Making this again today. This is my second time. Used half A/P flour and half whole wheat. Came out amazing the first time. LOVE this recipe!!!!
Well i made the dough and it seemed very sloppy. Had it doing the second rise wrapped in the tea towel. All good but later found my cat sitting on it!!! Well after desticking it from the towel and getting it back to a bit of a rounded shape – she did it again!! I just put it in the preheated pot and guess what – it turned out just like the pics. It seems that this bread is indestructable – and tastes great too 😉
That is hysterical!!! Glad it came out good.
Ha, love it! As far as I know, this is the only recipe I’ve posted that doubles as a cat bed. You and your cat have great taste. 🙂
Can you use a bread bowl instead and cover it foil?
We bought a bread bowl just to make bread in, so I’m wondering if this would work as well as a dutch oven.
Only if you’re able to cook in it with temperatures this high.
This turned out so perfect. when i took the lid off i was so amazed! thank you for this amazing recipe!
wow. I was totally skeptical about this recipe when I saw how sticky the dough was. I added a lot of flour to try to rectify this, to no avail. I almost scraped the whole idea but I decided to just throw the somewhat gloopy dough into my cast iron dutch oven (pre heated as specified), thinking it would never come out and/or would burn and am happy to report this bread came out AWESOME!!! The crust is amazing. Artesian bakery quality! The best loaf of this type I have made. I do bake bread occasionally and it feels so wrong to not knead 🙂 but it works! Thanks for sharing!
I was just coming to ask about the gloopy mess of dough I’ve got in my kitchen right now. Guess I’ll give it a go.
Has anyone tried this with glutten free flour? Became glutten free 4 months ago due to medical reasons. This would be the easiest recipe I fould yet if it works with gluten free flour.
Are you supposed to oil the pot? Trying this today.
Nope, no need.
Made this yesterday and can’t believe how amazing it is , it is without doubt the easiest bread ever , and some of the best I have ever had !!!
I love this bread! I even bought an enamel over cast Dutch oven and it’s so easy! I’m thinking of trying the cinnamon and raisins for my third loaf because Cupcake said it was good! Thank you for sharing this!
This last Thanksgiving I made it for my host. Their very picky 6 year old daughter was DISTRAUGHT there was no ‘Safeway’ bread (grocery store). We finally talked her into just trying a bite of my bread.
She had 4 huge pieces with some of my fresh made butter… and nothing else, not even turkey. Now each time I go over there she has her mom ask me to bring the “Special Bread”.
Any suggestions to making this without a dutch oven? I’m about to move across the country and can’t bring mine!
some have tried a covered pyrex dish? Might be worth a shot.
I don’t use a dutch oven. I use my big old soup pot with the lid that came with it.
When I halve the recipe I always switch to my covered Pyrex casserole. I do reduce the heat to about 390 and cook it a little longer using an instant read thermometer to make sure it is done. Never had a failure or a burned loaf.
Can I bake this in my covered clay baker (Pampered Chef Chicken cooker)?
A clay baker would work, as long as it’s rated for high heat. It should be listed online or in the manual.
is the bread dense or airy? every time i try to make bread, it comes out dense.
The way I make it, it always seems similar to the old school rye bread we got from the local bakery when I was a kid.
I LOVE IT!
Question … could this be made with beer instead of water?