Pull up a big tub of butter for this deliciously warm, crusty No Knead Dutch Oven Bread! Simple comfort food at its best.
Why We Love Baking Bread in a Dutch oven
- No Knead Dutch Oven Bread is a beautifully rustic bread that is perfect for soup night, with pasta, or on its own.
- Like the name says, there’s no kneading required for this bread so you mix the dough, let it rise, and then bake it!
- Learning how to make bread in a Dutch Oven is a must. There is so little you need to do and yet this bread turns out perfectly every single time! It’s a great recipe to make with young bakers to get them started.
- This bread only requires 4 ingredients that you probably have in your pantry already. So get baking!
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make No Knead Dutch Oven Bread
PANTRY ITEMS: You’ll need flour, salt, and instant yeast. Make sure the yeast is instant and not active yeast, there is a difference.
WATER: Room temperature water works best for this bread. You don’t want it too hot otherwise it’ll kill the yeast.
How to Make Bread in a Dutch Oven
Jump to RecipeSTEP 1 In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add the water and thoroughly mix the dough. The dough will still look wet once everything is mixed. That’s okay.
STEP 2 Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for 12-18 hours.
STEP 3 Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the Dutch oven, with the lid on, into the oven and heat for 30 minutes. Sprinkle a thin layer of flour on parchment paper and put the dough on the paper. Carefully, since the Dutch Oven is HOT, lower the parchment paper with the dough into the pot and place the lid on.
STEP 4 Bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid of the Dutch Oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the bread is golden brown. When the bread is finished baking, remove the bread from the Dutch Oven, peel the parchment paper away and let the bread cool on a wire rack before enjoying!
Tips & Tricks
- There are many Dutch Ovens on the market from you to choose from but perhaps the most popular, and the kind I really like, are the enameled covered cast iron Dutch Ovens. I particularly like how easy it is to clean and I don’t have to worry about someone washing it the wrong way, like with traditional cast iron.
- Make sure to use instant dry yeast instead of active yeast. With instant yeast you can just mix the packet in with all of the the ingredients and bake. With active dry yeast, it needs to be activated first by mixing with a warm liquid to ferment.
- Even after mixing everything together the dough will be wet and you might think you need to add more flour but don’t be fooled! You have done everything right and do not need more flour. The Dutch Oven also helps the bread form the perfect shape.
- Leftover bread should be stored in an airtight container and will last for about 2 days.
Dutch Oven Bread FAQ
Should I preheat my Dutch Oven?
When you place your dough into a preheated Dutch Oven it creates steam inside the Dutch Oven that makes the bread really airy and soft inside with a wonderfully crunchy outside. So for amazing results, preheat your Dutch Oven.
Why is my No Knead Bread so flat?
This could be for a couple of reasons. First, always make sure your ingredients, particularly the flour and yeast, are not expired. Second, don’t add more flour than what is called for to the dough. Third, don’t try to bake your bread before the 12 hours are up. The dough needs all that time to rise properly. If you let the bread rise longer than 18 hours it can become over fermented and come out tasting sour.
Other Recipes You May like
- Homemade Baguette
- Bacon Focaccia
- Milk and Honey Dinner Rolls
- Homemade Bread Bowl Recipe
- Pizzeria- Style Garlic Knots
No Knead Dutch Oven Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast (1 packet)
- 1 ½ cups room temperature water (100-110 degrees F)
Instructions
- In a large bowl stir together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add the water and stir to combine to form a shaggy, wet dough. Make sure you mix it until there is no leftover flour on the bottom of the bowl.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 12-18 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Place a dutch oven into the hot oven with the lid on and let it heat up for 30 minutes.
- Once the pot is hot, lightly dust a large piece of parchment paper with flour. Place the dough in the center of the paper and lightly dust the top with more flour. Form the dough into a rounded/ball shape as much as possible. *The dough is EXTREMELY wet pretty much impossible to form into a full ball, just do the best you can. Once you put the dough into the bottom of the dutch oven it will help to form the bread into its round shape. So don’t be too concerned if it looks funny going in.
- Carefully lower the dough into the dutch oven using the parchment paper. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10-15 minutes until golden brown. The bread should sound hollow when tapped.
- Take the bread out of the dutch oven using the paper to lift, and then pull the bread off the paper. Place onto a wire rack to cool completely before cutting.
Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
Chuck Burgin says
I have made this recipe twice and it is hands down the best no knead bread recipe I have found. I do use King Arthur flour, don’t know if that make a difference, but the result is outstanding!