Easy No-Knead Bread is an artisan-style bread that’s done in 3 hours from start to finish and it’s mostly rising time. This is an easy bread recipe – you don’t even need a mixer. With only 4 ingredients (flour, yeast, salt, and water), you can make a bakery-quality, super soft homemade bread.
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Easy No-Knead Bread
We love the aroma and taste of homemade bread, including our easy Dutch Oven Bread, classic French Bread with the best crust, and of course classic Dinner Rolls. My kitchen has served as a bread-making test lab for the past month. We’ve made this bread countless times. It rises beautifully every time and you will fall in love with the spongy soft texture. It reminds me of the lovely loaves that Costco has perfected.
Many no-knead bread recipes require overnight fermentation but we love that this one is done in just 3 hours (most of which is just letting the dough rise while you go about your business). You’ll get to enjoy fresh homebaked bread within a few hours of when the craving hits.
What is the Best Flour For Bread?
Bread flour typically has slightly more protein and gluten than all-purpose flour so it is the preferred flour for bread. It can give you slightly better rise and texture. We have tested this no-knead rustic artisan bread with both all-purpose flour and bread flour. The loaves turned out perfect with either flour so use what you have on hand.
Watch No-Knead Bread Video Tutorial:
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How to Make Easy Homemade Bread:
1. In a large bowl, combine warm water (100˚F) and salt. Sprinkle yeast over the top and let it sit 2 min, then stir.
2. Measure out exactly 3 1/4 cups of flour and add flour to the bowl. Stir together with a spatula just until it together (do not knead). Cover and let rise at room temperature 2 hours (until 2-3 times in volume).
3. Line a cutting board with parchment paper and generously dust with flour. Turn dough out onto the floured surface.
4. With well-floured hands, fold the dough in half, then fold in half again. Dust dough generously with flour, lift it up and form a ball in your hands. Sprinkle the parchment paper flour or cornmeal, extending 1-inch past the border of the dough since it will expand. Place dough over the flour, seam side down, and let it rise at room temp uncovered for 40 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, prepare your oven: place one rack in the middle for the bread and one rack on the bottom for the water pan. Place a rimless cookie sheet (or inverted baking sheet) on the center rack. Preheat the oven and cookie sheet to 450˚ F. Also heat 1 cup water.
6. Just before baking, score the top of the bread 3 times. Place a metal or cast iron dish* on the bottom rack with 1 cup hot water (being careful not to splash water on a glass oven door). Slide dough with the parchment paper onto the hot cookie sheet and bake at 450˚ F for 25-28 min or until golden brown.
*CAUTION: DO NOT USE A GLASS DISH to hold water or it may explode when you add water. Also, be careful not to splash water on a glass oven door to prevent shattering from strong temperature change.
Pro Tips for the Best Homemade Bread:
- Use warm water – ideally about 100˚F to 110˚F. Avoid hot water which can deactivate the yeast.
- Measure precisely – spoon flour into measuring cup and level off the top. See our best tips for How to Measure wet and dry ingredients.
- Dough Rising Temperature – A room temperature of 71˚F to 75˚F is ideal for bread rising. If your room is colder, it will take longer. Do not place dough in a hot oven to rise. If the temperature goes above 110˚F, you can deactivate and ruin the yeast.
- Don’t Rush the Rise – For the best texture and rise, do not rush the rising process. It should be 2-3 times in size when it is finished rising. If you don’t allow the full rise, the bread will be dense.
- Preheat the oven and baking sheet – putting the dough onto a hot baking sheet or pizza stone, will help form a beautiful crust.
- Scoring the bread – scoring the top of the loaf allows it to expand and creates a pretty bread that you will be very proud of. Use a sharp or serrated knife or bread scoring blade.
- Cool before slicing – If you cut freshly baked bread while it’s still hot, the steam will escape and the bread will seem doughy.
Our Top Rated Bread Recipes:
- French Bread with a true crisp crust
- Banana Nut Bread – a moist banana bread studded with nuts and raisins
- Dutch Oven Bread – A 5-seed bread with the same basic dough
- Dinner Rolls – so easy and freezer-friendly
The next day, use this bread to make the most amazing Reuben Sandwich or this restaurant copycat Chicken Bacon Avocado Sandwich.
No-Knead Bread Recipe (Easy Artisan Bread)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups water, warm, at 100˚F (not hot)
- 1/2 Tbsp sea salt
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast, (7 grams or 1 packet)
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, (or bread flour) plus extra flour for dusting
- 2 Tbsp cornmeal , or more flour
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups warm water (100˚F) and 1/2 Tbsp of salt. Sprinkle the top with yeast and let it sit 2 min, then stir.
- Measure out exactly 3 1/4 cups of flour and add flour to the bowl. Using a spatula, stir until dough comes together and is well blended. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature 2 hours (or about 2-3 times in volume).
- Line a cutting board with parchment paper and generously dust with flour. Scrape dough out of the bowl with a spatula onto the floured surface.
- With well-floured hands, fold dough in half, then fold in half again. Dust dough generously with flour, lift it up and form a ball in your hands. Sprinkle parchment paper with more flour or cornmeal, extending about 1" past the border of the dough since it will expand. Place dough over the flour, seam side down, and let it rise uncovered at room temp 40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare your oven with 2 racks - one rack in the middle for the bread and one rack on the bottom for the water pan. Place a rimless cookie sheet (or use the backside of a rimmed cookie sheet or pizza stone) on the center rack. Preheat the oven and cookie sheet to 450˚ F. Also heat up 1 cup water.
- Just before baking, score the top of the bread 3 times. Place a metal or cast iron dish (never a glass dish*) on the bottom rack with 1 cup hot water (being careful to not splash water on a glass oven door). Slide the dough with the parchment paper onto the hot cookie sheet and bake at 450˚ F for about 25-28 min or until golden brown. Transfer loaf to a rack and cool to room temp before cutting into it.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
This recipe was first published in 2012. It was updated March 2020 with new photos and we improved the recipe adding slightly more flour to help with forming the loaf.
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
I was so nervous making this, but it turned out AMAZING!! I agree with a previous comment about adding 2c water because my water evaporated 1/2 way through the baking process. I also had to bake it for 35 minutes, but I think my oven might be the culprit! The bread is delicious! Crunchy crust and soft middle. My 6 and 5 year olds are currently on slice #3 lol.
Here’s a picture of mine: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3668/9526243082_be646b1c5a_z.jpg
That you for sharing your photo. I love that! And, I’m so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
What type of yeast do you use? Instant or regular? There is also a jar specifically for bread.
I use the red-star, regular, active dry yeast.
My brother recommended I might like this web site. He was totally
right. This post actually made my day. You can not imagine simply
how much time I had spent for this info!
Thanks!
Awesome :), say thank you to your brother from me for spreading the word. I hope you find some new favorites.
This looks like such a great bread recipe! I’ve always been hesitant to try breads so this will be my first one! I do have a question though, I understand the cornmeal is to prevent the dough from sticking, but I don’t have any on hand at the moment, is there something else I can use it to substitute or could I just grease the parchment paper or leave out the corn mean all together? Thanks!
Just leave it out altogether 🙂
I tried making my first home made bread about a month ago and It was good! I found this recipe yesterday and decided to try making it! This is now my #1 FAVORITE bread recipe! It turned out perfect and was soooo good! I made it in my dutch oven and it turned out perfect! Thank you so much for the awesome recipe! I will be making this bread a lot more often!!
Oooh I haven’t tried making it in my dutch oven; what a great idea! Thank you Vita!
Made this for the first time yesterday and it turned out delicious! Definatly going to stick with this recipe, it taste even better than Costco bread and for a fraction of the cost! Thank you for your great recipes!
I’m so glad you thought so 🙂 Wooooo hooo!! Thanks for reporting back.
I was looking for a simple bread recipe with few ingredients and this fit the bill perfectly! It came out GREAT!! I used all purpose flour…not a problem. It’s yummy!! I will try very hard to make it last longer than the weekend…I only had the one packet of yeast. Haha. 😀
Thank you for testing and sharing!! 🙂
You’re so very welcome 🙂
You’re so very welcome!!
Cant wait to try this recipe out!! I have always had trouble with dough and rising so hopefully this will break the norm((: But I don’t have to worry cause everything I’ve tried from your site comes out as wonderful as your pictures((:
Let me know what you thought of the bread! 🙂
I tried it and it came out perfectly. Except adding 2 cups of water to the pan below the cookie sheet is probably better as 1 cup dries out too soon halfway into baking.
As a retired pastry Chef and instructor I must say that the above recipe was/is the first thing we teach our students – French Bread in essence (four ingrediants). With that much yeast one doesn’t need to knead (which is to create the large gluten strands). It is traditionally correct to give credit where credit is due – the French bakers who have produced this bread for centuries.
Sounds like you had an exciting career! Where did you teach?
Hi Natasha,
Thank you for this recipe.. I just found it via Pinterest as well 🙂 I have mine ‘rising’ as I type. Excited I didn’t have to go thru all the kneading process as I don’t have a mixer!
My question is (which I tried to read thru all the comments but couldn’t find any answers) was.. Can I (or have you ever tried) to make 2 loaves from this dough (as stated) so it wouldn’t be so wide???
Thank you in advance for your reply!! 🙂 I look forward to following you & trying several of your recipes 🙂
Have a Great Day!! God Bless!!
Welcome to the site Debra, I’m glad you found this recipe. I haven’t made 2 loaves before but you should be able to split the dough in half and make 2 small loaves. Let me know how it turns out :).
Thank you for your reply Natasha! After it rose the 2 hours, I did the folding(s) and then cut in half & finished per directions. They did at first look small (like size of grapefruit) I shaped kinda into a mini loaf (well tried w/out working it too much, keeping top soft & folding sides/ends under) and they did the 2nd rise & once in oven (25 min) they turned out exactly as I hoped. Perfect sized loaves for me & my kids 🙂 Thank you!!! So Easy & Yummy!!
You are welcome Debra, thank you for letting me know :).
Hi Natasha,
Decided to try your recipe and baked this bread yesterday. It turned out SO good!! The whole process of was a breeze and defenately will be making this bread again. Thank you for the recipe and really appriciate you posting step by step instructions with pictures.
I’m glad you like the recipe Anna 🙂
Thank you so much for your recipe. I’ve tried a few different recipes for no knead bread, but none turned out perfectly. Your recipe however is simple and the outcome is amazing. Baked it early this morning, it’s delish. I do have one concern: there won’t be any left overs for tomorrow 😉
I like receiving concerns like this :), I’m glad you like the bread.
I have been making the no knead bread for quite a while and really like it much better than traditional breads that have sugar, milk, eggs and oil. I usually always use 3/4 of either wheat or rye flour in most of my breads. I have experimented alot by adding caraway seeds, fennel or dill seeds to the rye breads and they are fantastic. I have been using Canadian flour for over 30 years, Robin Hood brand, to be specific and I prefer it. One of our favorite recipes is a part whole wheat loaf with about 2 cups of raisins and cinnamon added to it. I also use a clay baker to bake my breads after raising the bread on a clean tea towel heavily sprinkled with flour and wheat germ and bake it covered in a preheated 475 oven . I don’t think I will ever buy another loaf of bread.
I actually experimented with rye another day and it turned out great. I will try your variation next time, thank you so much for sharing Karen.
The artisan bread is great for making french toast, using thick slices of a not so dense variety of plain bread. Dip slices into egg and milk mixture ( 1 egg per large slice ) with cinnamon, small amounts of salt, sugar and vanilla extract. Allow bread to soak up the moist ingredients while heating pan with butter and allowing the toast to cook until golden brown on both sides. Cover with lid. Ideal when moist in center and crispy along crust edges. Serve hot with maple syrup.
You just made me hungry!
This bread recipe is awesome. It tastes really good and it involves almost no work. This is a keeper. Thanks!
You’re welcome Nelya 😉
Natasha your bread looks amazing, I’m actually waiting for mine to rise right now, the only thing i didn’t understand was, do i put both a baking dish and a cookie sheet in the oven to pre-heat? Because that’s what i understood, one for the water on the bottom shelf and the other for the bread in the middle rack?
Just preheat the baking sheet, insert pan with water along with bread :).
Instant yeast works well with this recipe. To substitute: Add 3/4tsp instant yeast to the flour and salt and stir well. Then add your warm water to dry ingredients and mix. I usually end up with a sticky dough at this point, so I add flour little by little until the dough doesn’t stick to my hands. If you don’t want to add more flour, simply reduce the amount of water to 1 1/4 cup. Let the dough rise, and bake as usual. This bread is also wonderful with some extra add ins. My faves are fresh rosemary and roasted garlic, or caramelized onions and cheddar cheese.
Jocelyn, thank you for the suggestion, I would try your version next time 🙂
So I was going to add a new comment but figured someone might have written something about the yeast. I think you should specify ‘Active Dry Yeast’ because I have been making mine with the instant Red Star brand and it came a little off each time.. Finally figured this out after 8 tries of making this bread.
Thank you so much for the suggestion! I updated the recipe to reflect that. I don’t use instant yeast and I would definitely always specify if I did, but I agree with you, it could be clearer 🙂 Thanks again!!
Hello! i dont understand last part how to do?? about putting water in the oven….
Put a metal baking pan on the bottom rack of the oven and then preheat the oven. When you are ready to put the bread in, first pour in 1 cup hot water into the bottom metal baking pan. It creates steam in the oven and your bread will have a crisp shell.
I rarely bake anything because I don’t like messing with dough, so the ‘no knead’ business caught my eye. Glad it did! The bread was absolutely wonderful. Thanks. Next up, Easy Mashed Potato Pancakes.
You are on the cooking spree Dan :). I’m glad you enjoyed the bread, let me know how the potato pancakes will turn out.