Effortless and delicious, this 4-ingredient no-knead bread comes together in under 4 hours! If you're new to bread baking, this is the perfect place to start. With just 10 minutes of prep and no kneading required, simply let the dough rise, then bake until golden brown and crisp on the outside, yet soft and chewy inside.
Prep time: PT10M
Cook time: PT45M
Total time: PT175M
Rating
4.93 stars (70 reviews)
Keywords
bread, no knead bread
Ingredients
4 cups bread flour ((or all-purpose flour*))
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast ((1 packet) see notes for active yeast)
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups warm water ((110 - 120°F))
Categories
Side
Cuisine
American
Italian
Steps
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, yeast and salt.
Pour in the warm water and use a sturdy spoon to mix together until fully combined. The dough should be wet and shaggy, but not runny.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for about 2-3 hours, or until doubled in size.
Optional: once the dough has doubled in size, you can store it covered in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours for enhanced flavor development, or continue to follow the instructions below to bake right away.
When you're ready to bake, place the dutch oven with the lid on into the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F.
Once the oven is preheated, lighlty sprinkle a work surface with about a tablespoon of flour. Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto your floured surface and roughly shape into a ball. No need for it to be perfect. It'll look nice once it bakes. Place the dough ball seam side down on a sheet of parchment paper.
Once the oven is preheated, remove the hot dutch oven and transfer the parchment paper with the dough to the dutch oven. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake an additional 10-15 minutes until golden and crispy on top.
Lift the parchment paper with the bread from the dutch oven and let cool for 1 hour, then slice and enjoy!
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 loaf
Calories: 1893 kcal
Carbohydrates: 374 g
Protein: 71 g
Fat: 10 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 5861 mg
Sugar: 2 g
Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
Reviews
Kathy on 2026-11-06 (5 stars): I have whipped up this bread multiple times and it consistently turns out amazing. Can you leave it in the fridge longer than 12 hours? I am baking several loaves for a memorial and am debating baking them the night before or the morning of. Thank you!
Marie McBride on 2026-10-29 (5 stars): Truly a bread recipe for beginners! Super easy and delicious! I think my oven needs an additional 5-10 minutes bake time but my first loaf turned out great! Thank you!
Greg Foan on 2026-10-12 (5 stars): Dead easy and it turns out perfectly every time. Best part.....it's inexpensive and only takes a few minutes of actual effort.
April on 2026-09-24 (5 stars): This is honestly such a great recipe. It’s perfect for beginners and great base to use to have fun with adding things in. I’ve tried Garlic and Rosemary and it was amazinggg! Thank you!
Sarah on 2026-09-21 (5 stars): I just made this bread and it is delicious. It has the chewy and soft texture I love most about bread. Mine didn’t turn out as brown and crispy on top but just as good. I added the shredded Swiss and Gruyère cheese from Trader Joe’s after adding the water instead of waiting until it doubled and it was great.
I have tasted the difference waiting a little longer so I let the dough rise for over 12 hours and let it sit at room temperature for an hour before baking because another recipe said cold dough doesn’t bake and rise well.
It was worth the longer wait, thank you for sharing the recipe. I’ll try other variations too.
Laurie Ann on 2026-09-18 (5 stars): This is an easy to make recipe that the crowd goes wild over. Lot’s of compliments and requests for the recipe. Works well for spinach dip bowl.
Cathy on 2026-09-07 (5 stars): This is the first recipe I have found that produced a perfect loaf for me.
Thank you
Question: how would you store this loaf?
Thank-you again
Cathy
Dave McKinnon on 2026-09-05 (5 stars): Shouldn’t the dough be slashed prior to baking? The dough needs this when it expands while baking.
