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It’s about that time of year when I begin to crave bread baking, and this cheaters no-knead dutch oven sourdough bread is my newest homemade obsession.
Did anyone else’s moms bake bread when they were growing up? As I’ve mentioned…over and over, my mom is not much of a cook, but she has always loved to bake. Most of the time her baking was limited to chocolate chip cookies and pecan pies, but during the fall and winter months my mom would bake up a fresh loaf of bread for Sunday night dinner.
The woman loves bread like no other. Give her fresh, homemade bread and there’s a good chance she’ll end up eating the entire loaf within a day…the warmth, the carbs…the butter!
Anyway, mom baking bread on Sunday night is always such a relaxing and comforting memory for me. The house smelled incredible, the kitchen was warm from the oven, and often times there was also a roaring fire.
So basically the perfect fall night.
Recently, I’ve been seriously craving those comforting smells of homemade bread. A lot of this is due to my anxiety being kicked into high gear lately, but it’s also the extremely chilly nights and much cooler days we’ve been experiencing here that totally have me wanting to bake.
Also, it snowed up in the mountains while I was hiking on Saturday morning, so yeah, there’s that too.
Warm, baked things are clearly what needs to happen over here.
One of my favorite loaves of bread is a really good loaf of crusty sourdough. For years now I have been wanting to develop a sourdough bread recipe for the blog, but the involvement of making homemade sourdough always scared me off. It can take weeks to make a really great loaf of sourdough and let’s just be honest, that’s kind of way too much time for most of us.
I mean, right?
I make my homemade naan with plain greek yogurt, and it’s probably the most popular recipe here on the site…and with good reason. It’s incredible and I’m not sure I can really top that naan, but the use of yogurt in the recipe got me thinking.
Greek yogurt has some of the same cultures as a sourdough starter, so I thought I might try adding some to a no-knead bread recipe and see how it turned out.
The results? Sourdough bread perfection. YES.
Like any other no-knead bread recipe, this cheater’s sourdough is EASY. The dough is made with a total of six ingredients, including the water, and it all goes into one bowl, gets mixed up, and is then left to sit and rise. You can literally be done with the actual mixing of the bread in five to ten minutes. The rest of the time involved is rising and baking time.
Meaning hands-on work is so minimal. Mix. Let Sit. Bake. EAT. Simple as that.
As the title of this recipe states, you need a good dutch oven for baking the bread. It’s a must for getting a bread that’s crusty on the outside, but extra soft on the inside. I love my Staub 5 1/2 Quart Cocotte for this bread, it’s the perfect size. Any heavy cast iron pot that’s 4 quarts or larger will be great though!
Another key to success? A super hot oven and keeping the lid tight on the pot for the first half of baking. This traps the heat inside the pot, which in turn creates the extra hard crust, but extra soft interior.
Again, perfection and so easy!
I’ve made this multiple times now in the last few weeks, most of the time on Sunday, because I just love the smells and memories it brings.
Plus, serving it up with a bowl of chili is pretty much the best Sunday night dinner.
And of course, any leftovers are delicious when toasted the next day for breakfast, or used as a base for your favorite lunchtime sandwich. I’ve been spreading my homemade apple butter over toasted pieces of this bread, and it’s quickly becoming my go-to breakfast and/or afternoon snack…and yes, the apple butter recipe is coming soon. I’ll be sending out the recipe exclusively to all the HBH email subscribers, so if you aren’t signed up yet, I’d do so soon!
Cheaters No Knead Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread
Servings: 12 servings
Calories Per Serving: 241 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt (any % fat will do, but I use full fat)
Instructions
- 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, yeast, honey, flour, salt, and yogurt. Using the dough hook, mix until the flour is completely incorporated. Alternately, you can mix the dough with a wooden spoon until it comes together. Cover the bowl with a wet towel or plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature 2 hours or until it doubles in size.2. If time allows, punch the dough down, cover the bowl, and transfer to the fridge to let sit overnight. This will help develop a stronger "sourdough" flavor. 3. Generously dust a work surface with flour. Scrape the dough out of the bowl. It should be loose and sticky. Form the dough into a ball and place in a parchment lined 4 quart or larger dutch oven. Allow to rise 1 hour or until doubled in size. 4. Preheat to 475 degrees F. Bake, covered for 20-25 minutes. Using oven mitts, remove the hot lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep, golden brown, about 20-30 minutes more. Remove from the oven. Carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool completely, about 2 hours. Don't slice into the bread right out of the oven, the bread continues to cook as it cools. Enjoy!
Honestly though…it’s doesn’t get better than this bread…with a little salted butter. YUM.
This post was originally published on September 19, 2017
Thanks so much – I love this recipe! I’ve made it several times and my kids keep asking for more! It’s especially good for avocado toast! Do you think I could use this recipe in mini loaf pans instead of a dutch oven? I am trying to make mini French Toasts for a brunch and am looking for an easy recipe to use in those pans. Thank you again!
Hey Shelley! I bet baking in mini loaf pan will work great and be so cute! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am so glad you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Made two loaves for Christmas-super delicious. The texture was of a slightly denser bread, and paired perfectly with a bolognese sauce. Everyone at the table thoroughly enjoyed the bread!
That is amazing to hear! Thank you so much! xTieghan
I never made bread until amazon suggested your cookbooks and I’ve enjoyed every recipe I’ve tried, and love having homemade bread around the house.
I am so glad you have been enjoying all of the recipes Emily! Thank you so much for trying them!! xTieghan
Do I need to preheat the Dutch oven before I place the dough in it
HI! Yes, you should preheat the Dutch oven before adding the bread. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and Merry Christmas! xTieghan
Hi
I can never get the dough to double in size!
Questions:
– is your mixer bowl metal or plastic?
– how warm is it in your house! ?
HI!! IS your yeast fresh? That is super important when working with bread dough.
My bowl is metal and my house is about 70 degrees. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
Wow, this bread looks like a DREAM. Sourdough bread is my everything and it’s the best bread variety there is! Is there any way to replace the yogurt with anything else that’s dairy free?
Hi! You can use coconut yogurt. That will be so good! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
This is amazing. I am not skilled with yeast so was apprehensive. Also, not crazy about sour dough, but this was not sour and delicious. The crust is just like your picture. Mine turned out perfect and so easy. Will be doing this again soon. I bought a cast iron pot just to try this. Also, pot came out clean because of the parchment paper, so very easy clean up, just the mixing bowl. Thank you, this is the best bread I have ever made — have had several failures in the past.
I am so glad this turned out so well for you Judy! Thank you so much for trying it! xTieghan
P.S. I forgot to mention that I used 2 cups of whole wheat flour (freshly ground!) and 3 cups of unbleached white flour. It still rose up beautifully, and the wheat makes it a bit more healthful. I can’t say enough good things about this recipe!
I wish I had bumped into this recipe when it came out in 2017! It’s just about the VERY best bread I’ve ever tasted… seriously. After the first rise and punching it down, I put the blob in a gallon zip-loc bag and left it in the fridge for very close to two days, then took it out this morning to rise. I baked it in a cast iron dutch oven, and after baking used all my willpower to let it completely cool. I just now sliced off some. It’s heavenly! It has a great sourdough taste and the texture is gorgeous. I’m going back to making all my bread after this. I have another great no-knead recipe that has caramelized garlic and feta kneaded in, which is my other favorite. These no-knead breads are such a snap to make, there’s just no excuse for buying bread. Thanks also for the suggestion of lining the dutch oven with parchment, a great idea. I used Fage 2% Greek yogurt, because that’s what I already had in the fridge. Thanks again for this truly outstanding recipe!
Well I am so glad you found it now!! Thank you for trying this Ingrid! I am so glad it turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Made this over the Thanksgiving weekend and will be making this again this week as we are crazy for this delicious bread. Toasted up with some butter and a soft-cooked egg and there is no breakfast better. Thank you for this!
I am so glad this turned out so well for you Holly! Thank you! xTieghan
Does the yogurt need to be at room temp to not kill the yeast ?
Hi Sheryl, I would recommend using room temp yogurt, yes. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
Literally my favorite bread I’ve ever made (and I’ve tried dozens of recipes). Incredible recipe!
Thank you so much Lauren! xTieghan
If we can’t leave the dough in the fridge over night is there a shorter amount of time to chill in the fridge prior to cooking? I just want to make sure this turns out even if it can’t be in the fridge that long. (Mostly because I just want to taste the bread ASAP!)
Hey Sam, I would recommend allowing the dough to rise for 2-3 hours on the counter instead of the fridge, then baking as directed. That will still give you a delicious bread. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
Can I use non-dairy yogurt for this recipe?
Thanks.
Hi Darlene, I think that should work just fine. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
Great post, Tieghan. Memories of home, the smell of baking bread, the easy recipe and the link to where to buy your favorite Dutch Oven. And, as always, beautiful photography. My one question is, do you have to make adjustments to your bread recipes for altitude? I’d love to see your notes on that aspect of your baked recipes. Cheers!
Hey Steph! I actually do not like to adjust for the altitude. I don’t have issues baking bread ever, so I make it for sea level. With other baking recipes, I have found when I make adjustments my recipes turn out dry and over cooked. Instead I just always make sure to under bake most of my baked goods. This way they never come out dry! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan