This easy no knead bread recipe has my been my favorite for years and years! It’s simple to make in a dutch oven using only 3 ingredients and a few basics steps to get it ready for the oven. We love it!
Red Star Active Dry Yeast 32 OZ (2 lbs)
How to Bake Bread at Home:
- There are a number of ways to go about this. First, and probably the easiest is to use a breadmaker. If you don’t have one already, the investment will pay off. The Zojirushi Bread Machine is a great option (and the breadmaker I use when not baking bread in the dutch oven). But if you’re not up to buying a bread maker, you may find one cheap or free through Craigslist, Next Door, Facebook sale groups, Freecycle or garage sales.
- The second way, which is the most work, is to make bread by hand the old-fashioned way. This involves preparing dough, needing it, letting it rise, and baking in traditional rectangular bread pans. This is definitely the most difficult and takes the most skill. I personally have a heck of a time getting this type of bread to raise properly.
- The third way, and probably the thriftiest is to use this no-kneading recipe. Sure, it takes about 24 hours to turn out a loaf, but the bread is delicious and the actual “work time” is minimal.
I bake this in my Orange Rachel Ray 7-Quart Round Cast-Iron Dutch Oven, which I really LOVE! I won this from a sweepstakes and it has quickly become my favorite cooking/baking piece.
Unfortunately, this particular model has now been discontinued and is now even pricier through 3rd party sellers, but this dutch oven from Zelanico is very similar!
Another tool that is definitely not a necessity, but makes measuring so much easier since the bread requires an unusual 1 ⅝ measurement for water, is a top view measuring cup.
It’s very easy to see exactly how high the water is and choose the half-way point between the ½ and ¾ marks to know you’re hitting ⅝. This Good Grips 2-Cup Angled Measuring Cup is the one I use.
This is a great loaf of bread to bring when invited to someone’s house for dinner. Every time I have brought it, everyone has raved over it and it has quickly disappeared! (Yes, these are all my loaves in the pictures!)
If you want to change things up a bit, I also use this same basic recipe for my No Knead Garlic Cheese Bread pictured above, which is also fantastic and packed with flavor.
Easiest No-Knead Bread Recipe
No Knead Bread Ingredients:
3 C all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. instant yeast
1 ¼ tsp. salt
1 ⅝ C water
How to Make No-Knead Bread:
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir in water until well blended. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for at least 12 hours (16-18 hours is better).
To make this easy and to avoid having to use a new piece of plastic wrap each time, I cover the bowl with a plastic shower cap.
Next, place the dough on a generously floured work surface, sprinkle with flour, and fold it in on top of itself two to three times. Turn the bowl you were using at first upside down over the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, shape the dough into a ball. Coat a smooth cotton towel with flour and put the ball seam side down, dusting the top with more flour. Fold sides of towel over top of ball and let rise for 2 hours. The dough should double in size.
(I admit I have usually skipped the towel and just continued to let rise under the bowl on the counter and it still works, but it has to be a BIG bowl.)
30 minutes before the dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees and put a 6 to 8 quart heavy pot with a cover (pyrex, cast iron, enamel or ceramic work best) in to heat.
Remove the pot from the oven and dump the dough ball seam side up into the pot.
Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes or until the loaf is nicely browned. Remove from oven and cool on rack.
For another variation, you can also make my Garlic Cheese No Knead Bread Recipe.
How can I make no knead bread without a dutch oven?
I was asked by a reader how to make no knead bread if you don’t have a dutch oven. The reason a dutch oven works so well is because it can withstand the high heat and the tight lid creates steam, which makes for the crusty loaf.
If you don’t have a dutch oven, however, you can try one of the following:
- Use a heavy, deep pot with a tight-fitting lid.
- Use a heavy, deep pot with a cookie sheet placed upside down on top of it.
- Place your dough on a pizza stone and add a small casserole dish filled with hot water to your oven to help create the steam effect.
To see more recipes from Thrifty Jinxy, click “Recipes” at the top of the page!
Easiest No Knead Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 C all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp. instant yeast
- 1 ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 ⅝ C water
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir in water until well blended.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for at least 12 hours (16-18 hours is better). To make this easy and to avoid having to use a new piece of plastic wrap each time, I cover the bowl with a plastic shower cap.
- Next, place the dough on a generously floured work surface, sprinkle with flour, and fold it in on top of itself two to three times.
- Turn the bowl you were using at first upside down over the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, shape the dough into a ball.
- Coat a smooth cotton towel with flour and put the ball seam side down, dusting the top with more flour.
- Fold sides of towel over top of ball and let rise for 2 hours.
- The dough should double in size.
- 30 minutes before the dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees and put a 6 to 8 quart heavy pot with a cover (pyrex, cast iron, enamel or ceramic work best) in to heat.
- Remove the pot from the oven and dump the dough ball seam side up into the pan.
- Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.
- Then remove the lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes or until the loaf is nicely browned.
- Remove from oven and cool on rack.
sam says
delicious bread BUT. ..my dough is very very wet and sticky that it spreads then when I bake it it does not hold shape. There is no way I can keep it in a ball or oval shape. I tired decreasing the amount of water but in order to get it to hold shape I had to decrease the water by 1/3 at least and that affected the textures. so I am not baking in a loaf tin so it holds shape and retains some height. I am not at altitude what am I doing wrong? I am using all bread flour does that make a difference in water content?
Chrysa says
The bread always does take the form of the pot it is baked in. If you wanted to keep it in a more rectangular shape you could you a heavy pot in that shape, but otherwise it will take the flatter round shape of the dutch oven.