No Knead Bread
No-Knead Bread was all the rage back in 2011 when I was new to blogging. Minimal ingredients and lots of patience results in a magnificent loaf of homemade bread!
Simple and rustic, this is an Easy Bread Recipe you’ll want to make again and again. This craggy loaf is perfect to serve with soups, stews, or any dish where you’re dying to soak up a delicious sauce with a slice of bread. Plus it makes delicious croutons!
Why You Must Make
Jim Lahey, of Sullivan Street Bakery, was the brainchild of this unusual no-knead bread recipe. All my foodie friends were buzzing about this recipe after it appeared in the New York Times.
It’s unique as the dough is wet and bubbly after resting overnight, the long fermentation time allows for more flavor development, and the baking technique in a Dutch oven traps steam in the pot. You’ll notice a slightly more yeasty flavor and a nice coarse, open crumb. You’ll definitely love a warm slice with a smear of cool, creamy butter!
Ingredient Notes
The list isn’t too long, but you may not have all of these ingredients and cooking supplies on hand.
- Bread flour – it has a higher gluten content compared with All-Purpose Flour
- Instant yeast – PRO-Tip: I use Red Star Platinum Yeast, do not use Rapid-Rise yeast as it doesn’t work well with this wet dough.
- Kosher Salt – If you use regular table salt, you’ll need less
- Olive oil – Helps keep the bread soft a little longer
- Instant Read Thermometer – helpful for testing the water temperature and bread for doneness, but not necessary to purchase just for this recipe
- Dutch Oven
How to Make
- Plan for the first, longer, resting period to be done overnight.
- The dough should rest in a bowl covered with plastic for a minimum of 12 hours, but up to 20 hours.
- So mix up the dough ingredients in the evening, place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let rest on the countertop overnight.
- Using only a fraction of the yeast used with bread you’d knead, the dough is given ample time for the yeast to activate with an overnight resting.
- Next is the 2-hour “rising” time nestled in a flour-coated towel, before being dumped in a super hot Dutch oven and baked.
Frequently Asked Questions
The name says it all. The ingredients in a no-knead bread are stirred together instead of kneading by hand or with the dough hook of a stand mixer. There are two resting periods, the first being up to 20 hours. The second is a short two hours before the loaf is baked. This New York Times No Knead Bread is an easy option for beginner bread bakers. Just make sure to buy the correct yeast.
Due to its high water content, no-knead bread is best on the day it is baked. You may want to cut the loaf in half after it’s cooled, and freeze half if you’re unable to finish the loaf within a couple of days. I added a tablespoon of olive oil to Jim Lahey’s no-knead recipe as the added fat helps keep the bread a little moister, but it will still get dry pretty fast.
If you want to keep the integrity of the crust, just place the cut end down on a cutting board and cover with a paper sack. Storing in plastic will soften the crust, but it can be re-crisped in the oven at 350º for 10 minutes.
It’s a crusty yeast bread with a soft interior that’s easy to make and consistently provides good results.
It could be that your yeast is old or expired and this prevented the bread from rising properly.
Most likely, you added too much flour. The dough is very sticky, but that’s normal. There is no need to add any more flour than what is called for in the recipe.
Follow your specific recipe. No knead bread dough needs a much longer rising time than regular yeast bread. This timing will depend on what recipe you use. For this recipe, the first rising time is 12-20 hours and the second rising time is 2 hours.
You May Also Like:
- English Muffin Yeast Bread from Kudos Kitchen by Renee
- Yeast Roll Knots
- The Best Cinnamon Rolls
- Homemade Potato Bread
- Homemade Bagels
- Rosemary Olive Bread
- More Yeast Bread Recipes
No Knead Bread
The easiest bread you'll ever make! Only time needed, no actual kneading!
Ingredients
- 3 cups bread flour
- ¼ teaspoon instant yeast (I use Red Star Platinum Yeast)
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt or 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 ½ cups warm water (70-80 degrees)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil plus more for greasing the bowl
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until they come together. It will not be a cohesive dough. It will actually be pretty messy looking.
- Transfer to an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic and let sit for 12-20 hours on the countertop.
- After the waiting period, the dough will be wet and bubbly. Dump the dough onto a floured surface. Then with a wet spatula or wet hands, shape the dough into a ball.
- Set the dough ball onto a well-floured cotton towel (do not use terrycloth), seam side down. Fold the towel over the dough. Let rest for two hours at room temperature. It should double in size.
- When the dough has risen for about 1 1/2 hours, put a 5 quart or larger cast iron pot into the oven and preheat to 450º.
- Cover the handle of the lid with aluminum foil if it's not heat-safe at that temperature. If you're unsure, just do it for peace of mind. You can use any pot that size with a lid that can withstand that temperature.
- Remove pot from oven and dump the dough into the pot, seam side up. Shake the pot a bit to help distribute the dough evenly.
- Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 15-20 minutes, until the crust is golden.
- If you're new to baking yeast bread, You can use an instant-read thermometer to see if the interior of the loaf is up to 200º if you're unsure if it is done. Remove the loaf to a rack and allow it to cool.
Notes
Recipe slightly adapted fro Jim Lahey
Recommended Products
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 134Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 310mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 4g
45 Comments on “No Knead Bread”
It’s one of our favourite bread recipes. I remember seeing Jim Lahey demonstrate this recipe to Mark Bittman, it was groundbreaking! Such a wonderful outcome with such little effort! Your recipe looks equally as wonderful and an excellent reminder to bake this bread again!
This recipe makes the perfect crusty loaf of bread! I am not a great bread maker, but I can count on this to be no-fail every time!
I could make an entire meal out of this gorgeous bread! The texture looks perfect and the golden crust is mouthwatering. You nailed it!
I am a huge fan of this bread. Sometimes I think I make it just because it makes the house smell so good! Love all the variations, too!
This bread is so amazing! Better than anything I can get in the supermarket and so easy!
This is such a genius recipe — Jim Lahey did us all such a great service when he devised the method for making no-knead bread like this. We aren’t baking that much bread these days, but when we do we always use this method. Great post! Thanks.
This bread looks delicious and sounds like it is super easy to make. I love homemade bread.
Looks delicious, Liz! Nothing much better than fresh baked bread and I will want to try this. A slab of butter and yum!
This is one of our favourite breads! We love it as an appetizer with a savoury olive oil bread dip. I have been making this for years and it always turns out and looks a little different every time! I haven’t done the “let rise for 2 hours” step with mine so will try that next time I make it. Your instructions are always so clear and easy to follow Liz!
A delicious classic bread recipe that pairs well with everything!
Yay – perfect bread without the arm strain! Thanks for the awesome recipe.
I haven’t made no-knead bread since I got my Zo machine… I think it’s on the menu for this Sunday, thanks:@)
its been a while i’ve been through this site and i love learing from your site every recipe has it own taste and this right here is a master piece really love that i used to make these going to try it out again thanks for such great recipe 🙂
One of my favourite ways to make artisan bread at home. Yours turned out really gorgeous, Liz.
Thank you, Lora! I’m going to make it your way next…with some whole wheat flour added. Great idea!
Thanks for the recommendation, kitchenlane. I’ll definitely check out the recipes on your site…I really enjoyed this technique.
I wish you would try out my no-knead bread technique. It is a little different from the Lahey method-easier and some say the flavor of the breads tends to be better. I have several free sample recipes from my book, Kneadlessly Simple, featured on my site to try Also, I have a post on selecting a good pot for no-knead bread.
Cher, hope you try it in your Dutch oven…it was lovely!
diana, you’re so sweet…I’m having trouble restraining myself with some of these goodies 🙂
LOL, love that Alex and his hearty appetite (he should really get over his dislike of white chocolate, though ;)).
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The Artisan Breads in Five series & their endless variations on “no knead” (Francois/ Hertzberg) helped to get me over my bread hump and move on to bigger and better things.
I love the thought of baking bread in the Dutch oven – not sure why I haven’t tried that yet. There is just nothing quite like a fresh loaf of bread…
Thanks, Carole!!! You always say the sweetest things 🙂
Dawn, you CAN do it!!!
Monet, thanks so much…same to you!
missanthropistskitchen, it is such an easy bread…I don’t know why it took me so long to try it!
Your no knead bread looks amazing! I love how this bread recipe has taken the US by storm. There is nothing better than freshly baked bread. Thank you for sharing with me! I hope you have a great Tuesday full of good food and love.
Makes me wish I was a baker!
Liz – YUM!!!! Alex is really tempted to move across the country so he can drop by your house OFTEN 🙂
Liz, I am losing track of all your wonderful treasures~! Your crust looks so SO GOOD. The entire loaf looks tempting. How you stay thin and make so many gorgeous temptations is a miracle~!
Love how simple this seems! The bread looks great– good job!
Gosh, this bread looks so good. Once again, Liz, you’ve styled your photos beautifully.
Claudia/Pegasuslegend, I’m wishing I made a second loaf! I need to check out Zoe’s recipe~
Amy, no kneading is such a perk!!!!
Medeja, bread baking in the oven is one of my favorite kitchen aromas~
Claudia, you are absolutely right…I started dipping it in olive oil and had to get another slice!
Great job on this! yours looks amazing… I made it again yesterday Zoe’s recipe…similar to this one… and it doesnt look this nice! We ate the two loafs…in one sitting.. love this kind of bread wonderful photo;s!
My favorite winter bread! How can you not love something that turns out perfectly every time? Yours is scrumptious and warming. Bet you can’t eat just one piece! (I cannot)
Bread looks so soft inside.. And im sure home smelled great.. that lovely aroma of warm bread..
This bread looks delicious, with a perfect crumb! Even better that it is no knead!
I finally did an official sample with some olive oil…yummy! My LC knob doesn’t look any worse for the wear…I was going to cover in foil, but didn’t. Gosh, a metal lid might be nice if recipe becomes habitual!
Leef, you better bake another loaf before your heat is in triple digits again!
Sarah, hope you try this, too!
I have never baked bread in my Le Crueset before. I love this idea!
Tryanythingonce, I’d love to see your recipe…I was amazed that something so simple could look and taste so good! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Carolyn, you’re too funny!
All of you could make this…I’m positive! Thanks for such nice comments…you made my day 🙂
Making my own bread is so intimidating! I really want to learn, and I love that this requires no kneading. I know, I just need to do it!
OK, you got me now…I have never tried making bread and you have laid this out like something I could accomplish. Love the look of this bread 🙂
I mean to knob on top of the LC…not the lid…duh! I cover the black knob…gee…
Looks great Liz…Lahey’s recipe is my favorite of the no knead variety. I normally just cover the top with aluminum foil…but I recently bought a metal lid top from Le Creuset just for this purpose…it is great bread…the bigger the holes the better.
I have not made one in a while…I really need to make one. I have done his pizza dough fairly often.
lizzy, this was one of my first successful bread attempts (after a couple awful failures that I could not even throw to the birds for fear I would kill them). I’ve not compared the recipe, but I’m sure it is similar to one our mutual friend, Crow, gave me. It was wonderful, crusty, yeasty, smelled so good. Mine toasted up great the next couple days. Lazy me, I’ve only made it once.
This bread is sensational. I have a similar recipe and it is my go-to bread. Your bread looks so beautiful! I need to give your recipe a try! Thank you so much. I love your photographs!
Dionne
What a beautiful loaf of bread with such a crunchy, crackly crust. I’ve seen this recipe a lot lately and I’m just dying to make it.