No-Knead Bread Recipe (2024)

Where you use towels to hold the dough, I use parchment paper...then I grab the paper, lower it into the 450 degree pot put on the lid, and bake it. No sticking. No burning.

I've made this for years. I double or triple the batch and after rising 2 hours I put it, tightly covered, in the fridge. The next day I take out a large handful/grapefruit sized amount of dough, shape it and let it rise on the counter on a lightly floured silpat covered with a kitchen towel for 1-2 hours depending on how much time I have. Follow the preheat directions and use the silpat to transfer the dough to the pot. You'll have dough for days and it will taste more complex as days pass.

I've made this for years and, at the outset, found that last rise outside the bowl was a disaster--dough stuck to whatever it was placed on and sprawled all over the counter if left unchecked. I started to do all the rises, including the last one of two to three hours, inside the same steel bowl, and have never looked back. Easier and we've found has the same results

Maybe this will help you: I line a bowl with parchment for the second rise. At that point the dough sticks somewhat. But when it's time to bake, I pick it up by the 4 corners of the parchment and just plop the whole thing into my preheated Creuset Dutch oven, put on the lid, and bake as directed. The parchment peels off easily after baking. The crust is amazingly crisp and the crumb is like in the picture. Just had some with supper tonight.

By weight:
450 g flour
315 g water
9 g salt (1 1/2 tsp.)
1/4 tsp. dry yeast
Or:
450 g flour
285 g water
9 g salt
60 g sourdough starter (100% hydration ratio - 30 g each flour and water)

You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you findyou get what you don't knead.

Not 1/4 teaspoon yeast ; but 1/4 ounce equals 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of yeast. Made it as recipe states once ! Obviously flat! Excellent bread

Note to all cooks who use a LeCruset with the Phenolic knob - it is only oven safe to 375 (it will explode and melt in your oven if you put it in the oven at 450). Best to replace with the stainless steel knob, which LeCruset says can withstand any oven temp (available at many retailers and inexpensive).

I have been making this for years. Every time I do, folks declare it the best bread they've ever had. Tip: for an airier crust, increase the water to 1-3/4 cup. I for this tip at th Scottsdale Farmers' Market from the bread chef at The Phoenician resort.

I have been making this for years too and do a lot of variations. Diane: it helped me get over my fear of baking. Also check out Bittman's variations. These days I usually use 1 cup of whole wheat, 2 cups of unbleached white bread flour, handfuls of pumpkin, sunflower, poppy and sesame seed, and one heaping half tsp of instant yeast.
Susan: The towel is definitely the hardest part of the recipe! So I let it rise in a greased bowl, covered.

For those looking to improve the flavor, try slowing the rise!
Cooler temperatures encourage bacterial fermentation, converting starches to sugars that result in a more complex flavor.
After shaping the loaf in step 3, try refrigerating the dough overnight, then allow 6-8 hours at room temperature for the final rise, instead of 2.
It increases the time from 24 hours to as much as 48 (or more), but you'll never know unless you try...
I also prefer more salt.

I have made this general recipe weekly for 5 years...I find it extremely forgiving. I double it, cover, leave it overnight. I stir it away from the sides in the a.m. pop it onto a floured board, cut in 2. Fold each one into itself, make a nice balls. Cover with towel 35 min, while containers heat up. Place each one into the hot dish, place cover on and bake. Gorgeous crusty round bread when done! Slightly more or less of any ingredient doesn't make or break--it is an amazing recipe.

I've made Mr Lahey's bread so many times I've lost count. I've stopped buying bread in stores. I converted the volumetric measures for flour and water to grams and use this recipe: 430g bread flour, 345g water, .25tsp dry active yeast, 1.75 tsp course salt. I use an electronic scale to weigh the flour and water. Works every time.

This recipe is too simple not to make.

Someone please tell me….is this really only 1/4 tsp of yeast? And no other sourdough starter or leavener? This just seems so wrong, and I don’t want to waste my ingredients. Please enlighten me.

I use the almond flour for dusting and I don’t know if it’s better or worse.

Amazing! Worked perfectly and the loaf is scrumptious with butter and my homemade marmalade :)

Question: can this recipe be made - as written - except with sourdough starter instead of yeast? And, if so, how?I’ve made this bread successfully many times and it’s a hit. But family members have developed a food intolerance to yeast. Sourdough does not trigger the problem.

The 1st time I made this, I was bummed to get relatively flat bread but thought it was expected with only 1/4 teaspoon of yeast vs the gram of an entire packet. The 2nd time, I added 1/2 a teaspoon hoping for a better rise, and didn't get one. The 3rd time I baked it I threw in the whole packet of (unexpired) yeast but still got a flat albeit tasty bread. I've added both room temp and 109 degree water, waited 18hrs as directed. Anyone know why I'm getting such flat bread? Is that the point?

A seeded version from Sainsbury’s, based on this recipe (mix the seeds with the dry ingredients and the honey with the water before combining):350g strong white bread flour, plus extra to dust175g wholemeal bread flour1⁄4 tsp fast action dried yeast½ tbsp fine sea salt75g mixed seeds2 tbsp clear honey or maple syrup - if vegan, use maple syrup, not honey

Loved everything about this bread. Easy. The only thing is it was verrrrrry salty. Any thoughts on why that is? I followed the recipe!

As others have noted, that "phenolic" or plastic lid handle is not oven safe at 450 degrees (actually the limit is typically under 400). However there's an easy solve for this: I have the same Cuisinart dutch oven, so I ordered a stainless steel knob from Le Creuset which is oven safe to 500+ degrees. The knob fits perfectly! The only caveat is that we felt compelled to call our dutch oven the "le creusetsinart" moving forward.

I forgot to start this recipe the evening before a dinner party but hastened the first rise by placing the bowl of dough in the oven set to “proof” (100F). In a couple of hours the dough had doubled and was covered with bubbles. I then followed the normal recipe process and it came out beautifully.

I portioned out the dough into about 10 blobs onto parchment. and after 30 minutes at rest, popped them into a 450 degree preheated air-fryer oven or 25-30 minutes with a small bowl of water and Voila, the best and crustiest dinner rolls ever. No need to form the dough, it pulls together nicely with bread flour. I use black carroway, (nigella seeds) that adds a spectacular flavor, (coated heavily on top) especially with rye flour. Use more yeast and water if needed

Excellent bread!

I have made this recipe successfully many times but the last several have not gone well despite weighing myIngredients and using good yeast. After the first rise the mixture is a bit like glue and never rises for the second rise. I’m going to try the revised recipe listed in the comments section and see if the increased flour will be the solution. Otherwise I’m giving up!

For those of you who are caught up in weighing water. One mL of pure water weighs 1 gram because the density of water is 1 gm/mL. Most glass (Pyrex) measuring cups have measurements in cups on one side and and in millimeters (mL) on the other. Do the math.

I've made this several times, but the last time I did, my Le Creuset cracked and crazed on the interior of the Dutch oven. I contacted the company (it comes with a lifetime guarantee) but guess what - it wasn't covered! Putting the empty pot in the hot oven voided the warranty. That said, Le Creuset graciously decided to replace my Dutch oven as a one-time thing. I then bought a ceramic pot from Emile Henry to use for bread. So far, so good!