Home | crusty no-knead dutch oven bread

crusty no-knead dutch oven bread

by Heather

I absolutely love baking bread now that I’ve gotten into a good rhythm of it.  Weekly I bake up 3 loaves of soft wheat sandwich bread, and throughout the week I’ve been making this crazy simple no-knead crusty bread I’m sharing with you today.  All it takes is some forethought the morning of, or the night before. That’s the hardest part of this recipe – remembering to mix your dough early enough.  If yeast bread scares you, I challenge you to start with this bread.  I told Jacob it was so easy even he could make it!  Though he said no and insisted I continue to be the one to make it, it really is easy enough a husband could make it.

If you love this recipe, you’ll enjoy my no knead einkorn bread recipe too!

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I’ve seen a couple of different no-knead breads that are baked in a Dutch oven.  When browsing my Secret Recipe Club pick – A Little Bit of Everything – I instantly knew I had to try out this bread.  The other recipe I’m dying to make are these 5 ingredient pb cookies, which look just as easy as my 3 ingredient pb cookies.

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Julie does a wonderful job on this bread.  So far I’ve made it three times – 1 full recipe and 2 half recipes – I’m going to share the full measurements below.  I made very slight adjustments to the salt and yeast amounts used from the original recipe.

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If you have a Dutch oven, flour, sea salt and yeast on hand, get this bread started!  Better yet, enjoy it with a cheese, sausage and pear spread like we did.  It might just become your new favorite homemade crusty bread!

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No Knead Crusty Bread

Slightly adapted from here

Ingredients

  • 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp dry active yeast
  • 1 ½ cups water
Directions
  1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.  Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 – 18 hours (I’ve done just 9-10 hours with great success too).  Overnight works great.
  2. Heat oven to 450 degrees.  When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a cast iron pot (dutch oven) with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating.
  3. Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough.  Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 10 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.

If you end up with leftover bread, try using is in a strata or make some simple pizza breads like we did this weekend.  Spread on the marinara sauce, add chicken sausage + veggies and cheese and broil until melted.  Super delish!

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Have you ever baked bread in a Dutch oven? Do you have a Dutch oven?  What’s your favorite way to use leftover crusty bread?  Let me know if you try this recipe out!

Heather

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30 comments

Amanda February 9, 2014 - 9:39 pm

Is a Dutch oven necessary for this recipe? Do you have any suggestions of other things I could bake it in?

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tanya November 23, 2014 - 4:19 pm

Here’s another way if you don’t have a Dutch oven, but you will need a couple things from a Home Depot of the like. I use 4 12X12″ terra cotta unglazed tiles and a wide but not too tall clay flower pot, like a clay dome. Put the tiles & flower pot on the middle rack of oven then go ahead and preheat, yes they take the heat.
I assume your dough rested/rose on a piece of parchment on a peel or anything that will let you slide your stuff onto the hot tiles, then put the hot flower pot over the bread and I stuff a wad of foil in the hole. Then do as the recipe says. I also have a La Cloche but you can save big money and I’ve had great results with this too. I even use the tiles on my grill for pizza, done this for years and they’ve never cracked.

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Maryea {happy healthy mama} February 10, 2014 - 3:24 am

I’ve been waiting for this recipe! I’m definitely trying it this week. Thanks! 🙂

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Erica February 10, 2014 - 3:55 am

Looks so crusty and perfect! I must make this!!!!

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danielle February 10, 2014 - 7:37 am

I make bread all the time but never this way. I love this idea!

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Heather @ Join Us, Pull up a Chair February 10, 2014 - 7:43 am

I’ve been wanting to make this bread and haven’t made it yet. Going on my list to make next week! Great SRC choice!

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colleen @ Secrets from the Cookie Princess February 10, 2014 - 7:46 am

This is my favorite! I’ve made it about 5 times since December. I’ll make a loaf, slice it and then freeze the slices so when we want just a side of bread for a pasta dinner or something, we just toast up as many as we need. It’s so delicious!

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Brittany @ Delights and Delectables February 10, 2014 - 8:37 am

oh how I miss good gluteny and doughy bread!! Looks amazing girl!

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Anne-Marie @ This Mama Cooks! On a Diet February 10, 2014 - 8:59 am

I’ve heard you can make bread in a Dutch oven but never saw it done before. Great post!

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Tiff February 10, 2014 - 4:20 pm

Oh drat. How I wish I had a Dutch oven!

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Shelley C February 10, 2014 - 5:27 pm

Oh my gosh, this bread re-kindles my desire for a Dutch oven! LOL. That looks outstanding – both the crust and the crumb are outstanding. Great job and great choice.

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Anna February 10, 2014 - 7:00 pm

This bread looks absolutely perfect! I keep trying to get a bread with that holey texture, but I haven’t had much luck. I think I’ll have to give this recipe a try.

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tanya November 23, 2014 - 4:28 pm

I already left a post above but this is about the air holes. I did a search and they say a very wet dough does the trick. I used more water (about 1/3 C) until the dough was a big sticky glop but not soupy. This recipe came out so perfect, looked like the picture that I just had to take a picture. Looked just as nice as the one posted here. Oh, instead of 10 min more cooking after taking off the lid I cooked it until it was just a bit darker than the one in the photo because that’s just a preference.
The bread doubled while cooking and since the dough was had more water in it I knew it wouldn’t dry out. I also added about a tablespoon of chopped rosemary to the flour for the hubby. I will keep this recipe as my new favorite for sure.

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Corina February 10, 2014 - 11:29 pm

I love how lovely and crusty this loaf looks.

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Jennifer Sikora February 11, 2014 - 6:36 am

I just got a Dutch Oven for Christmas and I have never thought to make bread in it. I am going to make this tonight to go with dinner!

Thanks for the recipe.

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CJ Huang February 11, 2014 - 4:40 pm

What a great idea! I like a no knead bread, and I’ve been wanting to make bread in a Dutch oven for a while now. 🙂

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Julie February 11, 2014 - 6:26 pm

Glad you enjoyed the recipe! I could make this all the time, I love bread.

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SeattleDee February 12, 2014 - 9:37 am

No-knead Bread is a family favorite – who can resist an easy, no-fail, fresh loaf?! Yours has a lovely crust and open crumb.

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Pech February 13, 2014 - 7:40 pm

There is just something about the smell of baking bread, and then having warm fresh bread! The fact this is no knead makes this very easy!

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JEN February 14, 2014 - 1:43 pm

Wow! If that’s not easy I don’t know what is. Now there’s no excuse not to make my own bread for breakfast!

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Jo Gillingham March 6, 2014 - 5:02 am

Got to try this! I only have a round Dutch oven … it is large … I think 5 Qt …will this work well as far as measurements ?? Do you think it will raise enough? Thank You!

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Fit Mama March 6, 2014 - 8:19 pm

I think a larger one would work just fine… most pictures I’ve seen of recipes like this show the larger size that you have. Let me know how it turns out!

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Kaitlin Luksa April 5, 2023 - 5:23 am

Do you suppose there is any way to use this method using a sourdough starter?

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Heather April 5, 2023 - 6:04 am

I think so! You’d replace the yeast with the starter and reduce the flour and water a little depending on how much starter you use. Definitely report back if you try t!

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