This easy overnight no knead bread recipe makes a delicious crusty artisan loaf that is great for sandwiches or alongside soup, stew, and chili. With minimal effort you get great results that taste incredible. And you don't even need a Dutch oven. This bread can also be baked in a glass bowl or any other oven safe dish or pot.
No-knead bread of NY Times Cooking fame has been around for a long time. I shared a modified sourdough version that combines the best parts of the crusty texture of artisan no knead bread with the flavor of slow fermented sourdough bread.
However, not everyone has or maintains a sourdough starter (although if you want to start try this rye starter). So today I am sharing my no knead bread version made with instant yeast.
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Ingredients and Substitutions
- Flour - all purpose flour or bread flour; you can substitute up to 50% of the flour with whole wheat flour, rye, spelt, or other flour varieties
- A gluten free flour blend with xanthan gum works too, the bread won't be quite as airy though
- Water
- Salt - sea salt or Kosher salt
- Yeast - instant yeast or active dry yeast can be used
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and yeast. Then add the water.
Mix up by hand or with a rubber spatula into a dough ball. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and let the dough rest overnight (8-18 hours).
Preheat oven with Dutch oven or glass bowl. Turn out risen dough onto a generously floured piece of parchment
Use your hands or spatula to bring in the edges and shape the dough into a ball. Try to turn it so the smooth side is up
Transfer the entire sheet of parchment paper with the bread dough into preheated Pyrex or Dutch oven
Bake the no knead bread covered with a lid or aluminum foil for 30 minutes at 450°F/230°C
Remove the lid/cover and bake for another 15 minutes until the top is crusty
Remove the baked bread from the oven and bowl and let it cool on a wire rack for ½ an hour
Hint: To ensure the bread is done, you can use a food thermometer to check that the internal temperature of the bread loaf reaches at least 190°F/90°C.
Variations
There are endless variations to this overnight bread recipe you can try with different flours and add-ins:
- Jalapeño Cheese Bread - add jalapeño slices and grated cheddar cheese to the dough
- Dry or Fresh Herbs - add rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley, etc.
- Olive Bread - fold in roughly chopped pitted olives
- Cinnamon Raisin - make a kid-friendly loaf of bread with ground cinnamon and sweet raisins
Equipment
What makes my recipe even easier than others, is it doesn't even require a cast iron Dutch oven. If you have one, great! Use it. These are the 2 I have and use: Marquette Castings and Uno Casa
But if you don't, you still can make delicious crusty homemade bread with any large oven-safe bowl, casserole dish or pot. My 2.5 Qt./L Anchor Hocking bowl works perfectly for this recipe. I wouldn't go any smaller, but larger will be fine.
The idea is to have a closed environment for the bread to bake in. This way steam can build up, which form the delicious crunchy crust on the outside.
Storage
This artisan bread is best when enjoyed the same day when it is most crusty. But you can also slice it up and keep at room temperature for 3-4 days in an airtight bag, container, or bread box.
Top tip
To store bread for longer, slice up the entire loaf and place in a freezer-safe bag. When ready to use, take out as many slices as you like and pop them in your toaster. This will quickly thaw the bread while also recreating the crustiness of a freshly baked loaf.
FAQ
No knead bread recipes 'work' because instead of requiring kneading to build up the gluten structure, they rely on time and an extra wet dough. In these conditions the gluten strands can form and align to make beautiful bread dough without the need to knead.
It is not only ok, but makes this bread so delicious! Amazing flavor builds up in the overnight proofing. This recommendation is only for this specific bread dough. I don't recommend leaving out enriched doughs with perishable ingredients like milk or eggs overnight.
In my opinion, yes! Overnight bread is better. I've had and made many delicious bread recipes. But there really is something extra tasty, rich and flavorful about bread that has been allowed to proof overnight - whether it's this yeasted dough or a sourdough bread.
More yummy bread recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe
Overnight No Knead Bread
Equipment
- Oven-safe glass bowl (like Pyrex) or Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 450 g all-purpose flour
- 2.5 g instant yeast ½ teaspoon
- 9 g sea salt
- 350 g water
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour with the salt and instant yeast.
- Add in the water and stir with a spatula until combined and you don't see any more dry flour.
- Cover the bowl with a lid, large plate, or plastic wrap and let the dough rise overnight at room temperature for 8-18 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 450°F/230°C for 30 minutes with a large, oven-safe glass bowl (Pyrex) or Dutch oven inside.
- Sprinkle a generous amount of flour onto a piece of parchment paper. Using a spatula turn out the dough onto the floured parchment.
- The dough will be quite sticky, so I like to use my spatula (but you can also use wet hands) to gently fold in the sides of the dough to form a rough ball shape (it doesn't have to be pretty).
- Using oven mitts remove the preheated glass bowl/Dutch oven from the oven. Lift the parchment paper with the no knead bread ball and lower it into the bowl.
- Cover with an oven-safe lid or aluminum foil. Return the bowl to the oven (carefully, with oven mitts) and bake the bread covered for 30 minutes.
- Then remove the cover and bake another 15-20 minutes. The should be golden brown with a crunchy crust. The internal temperature should reach at least 190°F/90°C.
- Remove the bread from the oven and from the bowl. Let it cool for about 30 minutes on a wire rack before slicing. Or tear right in, if you are going to enjoy some crusty bread with a hearty soup or stew.
- Keep this easy no-knead bread at room temperature for 3-4 days in an airtight bag, container, or bread box.
Nutrition
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Rosalee Adams
can this be baked in other than a Dutch oven?
Jennifer @ Leelalicious
Hi Rosalee, you could really bake this bread in any other baking vessel you choose such as a loaf pan. You may just have to play around to determine the most appropriate size for the bread. You might even be able to shape it in a boule and bake it on a parchment-lined baking sheet or in a parchment-lined cast iron skillet as well.
The main benefit of using a Dutch oven to bake bread is that it creates steam that helps make the bread nice and crusty. However, you could place a baking dish filled with hot water in the oven below the rack that the bread is on, which will create steam inside the oven to help the loaf form a crust instead.