Aug 20, 2024, Updated Sep 11, 2024 I started my career working in food science and recipe development for a flour company. I tested countless bread recipes and spent hours helping bakeries solve their baking problems. You can believe me when I tell you I know good bread. Personally, I do love to make bread that requires me to knead it, fuss over it, watch it rise, punch it around. Most homemade bread is about technique, timing, and experience. Naturally, it comes with some bragging rights 💅🏻 But this no-knead Dutch oven bread recipe changes everything. Anyone who knows how to stir can make it. It’s so easy that absolutely everyone has the ability to make gorgeous loaves of crusty, tender artisan bread like a fancy bakery. Which is why I’ve been making it on a weekly basis for my entire adult life.
Making Dutch Oven Bread: Here’s What You Need
When you’re ready to make this Dutch Oven bread, here’s what you’ll need
Ingredients
Here’s a list of the essential ingredients for this recipe. Each one plays a specific role in creating the final dish.
All-purpose flour: No need for bread flour. Whole wheat flour: Whole wheat flour typically ferments faster than white flour because it has more nutrients. With this small quantity, the dough rises more quickly. It adds a touch of nuttiness to the flavor but it is totally undetectable and doesn’t make the bread dense or taste like “whole wheat bread”. Yeast: I tend to use instant yeast (which comes under the names of bread machine yeast, quick-rise yeast, and pizza yeast as well – same thing). If you use active dry yeast, proof it first by stirring it directly into the warm water and letting it stand until foamy before adding it to the flour mixture. Kosher salt: Super important for flavor and controlling yeast activity.
Variations and Substitutions
If you want to tweak this recipe or need to make a substitution, here are some options to consider.
No whole wheat flour? Swap it with more all-purpose flour for a lighter loaf. Add-ins: Toss in some chopped herbs, cheese, cinnamon and raisins, or seeds to customize your bread.
Grab These Tools
These are the tools you’ll need to whip up this recipe. Having everything ready will make the process smoother.
Mixing bowl: Reach for the largest mixing bowl you’ve got because this is where you’ll mix up the bread AND let it rise. Expect that the dough will more than double in volume. The rising dough will also fit well inside a stock pot, or an extra dutch oven (that you won’t need for baking it in!). Plastic wrap: if letting the dough rise in a mixing bowl. Wooden spoon or sturdy silicone spatula. Parchment paper: Prevents sticking and makes transferring dough easy. Dutch oven (cast iron pot) or cast iron skillet: Provides even heat distribution for a perfect crust. Serrated knife or kitchen scissors: for cutting the dough and scoring the top before baking.
Double this No Knead Dutch Oven Bread Recipe
I almost ALWAYS double this dough recipe to have homemade bread all week for my family of 5. To give the doubled batch enough room to rise, I use an IKEA Krispig cake carrier turned upside-down to make it a bowl with a lid. The capacity is 4.5 gallons (or 17 liters). A very large stock pot is another option to hold this volume. (I’m from the East coast, and I’d call this a lobster pot!) The other option is to divide the dough into two normal-sized amounts to fit into mixing bowls per usual. There’s really nothing else to consider with doubling the recipe, except making sure you have room in your fridge to keep it!
How to Make Dutch Oven Bread: An Easy Guide
Making this no knead dutch oven bread recipe is incredibly simple. Grab a bowl and a spoon and stir it together! Then you take the resulting gloriously yeasty, puffy pile of dough, stick it in a tub, pop it in the fridge, and saw off a hunk whenever you have a hankering for fresh, warm bread. Nothing to it. My 4 year old can do it.
Mix the Bread Dough
To make the dough, you mix everything in a bowl. That’s it. Start by combining all your dry ingredients (including yeast) in a large mixing bowl then pour in your warm water.
There’s no need for fancy techniques or kneading—just mix everything together until you have a sticky dough.
I like to place my bowl on a scale and use the weight measurements of ingredients. That way, not only is it super accurate every time, but I don’t dirty any measuring cups.
Tap the “Metric” button inside my recipe card to view the ingredients by weight.
Once mixed, let the dough rise in the bowl for two hours or more. The initial rise takes two or more hours. But this rise doesn’t need to be babysat; just let it do its thing until it rises.
Store the Dough
After the initial rise, your dough will be gloriously puffy and full of yeasty goodness. At this point, you can bake a loaf or place it in the fridge, where it can stay for up to two weeks.
Shape Dough
When you’re ready for fresh bread, generously dust the dough with flour and cut off a portion. It’ll be very sticky and loose in texture. Wet your hands for easy handling. The longer the dough rests, the more the flavors develop, and the bread will have larger air holes when baked. Even after just 24 hours, you’ll notice an improvement in taste and texture. After 14 days, it’ll taste very similar to sourdough bread. Shape it gently by stretching the dough and tucking the edges under to create a smooth surface. (Like you’re wrapping it around imaginary baseball in the middle of the dough). Let the shaped dough rest on a piece of parchment paper placed inside a large bowl or pie plate (this helps it rise upwards instead of flattening out) for about 40 minutes. The parchment paper will make it easy to transfer the dough into the hot Dutch oven without deflating it.
Bake Bread
Baking the bread in a Dutch oven is one of the best ways to achieve a perfectly crusty loaf with a tender interior. Here’s how to do it: Baking in a Dutch oven is a fantastic way to achieve bakery-quality bread at home with minimal effort. The heavy pot distributes heat evenly, while the steam created inside helps the bread rise and develop a gorgeous crust.
No Knead Bread Recipe Without a Dutch Oven
To make no knead bread with no Dutch oven, you can simply bake the dough on a preheated a cast iron skillet, pizza stone or baking sheet. Skip the covering step and bake it uncovered for the whole time.
How to Serve It
This Dutch Oven Bread (like most homemade bread recipes) is heavenly served warm with butter or olive oil and is perfect for pairing with a warm bowl of soup or hearty stews. Here are some of my favorite soup recipes:
Life-changing Tomato Soup recipe Orzo Soup Ground turkey soup Zucchini and Potato Soup Ham and Lentil Soup Old Fashioned Vegetable Beef Soup recipe
For added flavor, try serving it with garlic butter sauce for dunking. It makes the best-ever toast or meatloaf sandwich!
Bread Storage
Proper storage will help keep your Dutch oven bread fresh and delicious for as long as possible. Here are some tips:
Room temperature storage: Store your bread in a paper bag, airtight container or bread box at room temperature. This keeps the crust crisp while allowing the bread to breathe, preventing it from becoming soggy. Avoid the fridge: Never store bread in the refrigerator. The cold temperatures cause bread to stale much faster by speeding up the process of starch retrogradation, which makes the bread dry and tough. Freezing for long-term storage: If you won’t finish the bread within a couple of days, freeze it. Slice it first, then wrap it tightly in plastic or place it in a freezer bag. This way, you can thaw individual slices as needed without compromising freshness. Reheating frozen bread: To refresh frozen bread, warm it in the oven at 350°F for about 10-15 minutes. This will help restore some of the crust’s crispiness and the bread’s soft interior.
Pro Tips & Tricks:
No whole wheat flour? No problem. Just swap in more all-purpose flour. Your dough keeps well in the fridge for up to 14 days. The longer it sits, the more complex the flavor becomes. Always let your bread cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. This ensures the crumb sets perfectly. Store leftover bread in a paper bag at room temperature for up to 2 days. For longer storage, freeze it—just avoid refrigerating as it causes the bread to stale faster.
