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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
Made this recipe this weekend and it was absolute perfection. Honestly think you could fool anyone into thinking it’s real sourdough!
Love it! Thank you so much Amanda! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan,
I’m so excited to try this recipe! I was searching through comments to find an answer before asking but I didn’t see one. Can I use a different flour? Bread Flour specifically. King Arther Special Patent Flour. Or does it knead (see what I did there 😉 ) to be all purpose flour? Thanks so much!!
-Sarah
Hi Sarah! Yes, you can use bread flour! And I love the pun haha! xTieghan
Is there any substitute for the dutch oven in which i can bake?
Hi Henna,
Yes you can use a cast iron skillet and cover with foil. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
My dough is rising. IN these Trying times, shortages of so many things…I went to get Greek plain yogurt quickly at the store this morning…none of any Greek yogurt Brands! I wound up getting honey flavored. Not wanting it overly sweet, baking this to go with my homemade pot of split pea and ham soup simmering on the stove. All of the other recipes for no knead artisan breads require heating the vessel when preheating the oven. Yours doesn’t say to do that. Will it cook too fast if I preheat my pot too? I’m using an oval lidded 6 qt cast iron pot.
Hi Jeanne,
For this specific recipe you do not need to preheat your baking pot. I hope you love the recipe! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Easy, delicious, thanks
Thank you so much Brigid! xTieghan
my dough isn’t rising! what do i do??!
Hi Gwenyth,
Can you tell me what kind of yeast you used? If you used active yeast and did not proof it, your dough will not rise. Please let me know how I can help! xTieghan
Hi, how can I prepare this using active dry yeast? Which is all I have on hand now.
Hi Jennifer,
You will need to activate the yeast by dissolving in warm water before continuing with the recipe. I hope you love the bread! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I made this bread a few days ago and it was delicious! I’m just curious, because I currently have so much whole wheat flour, how could I substitute some or all of the flour for whole wheat? Thank you!
Hi Jayme! I think using half white whole wheat and half all-purpose flour would work amazing! Using all whole wheat might give you a dense bread. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love the bread! xTieghan
Possible to make without a Dutch oven? ?
Hi Alyssa,
Yes I would recommend a cast iron skillet and cover with foil. I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
The bread was so yummy and is going to pair perfect with the red wine ragu recipe of yours. Only question the parchment paper stuck to the bread any recommendations? Usually I just oil the pot before baking
Hi Alexia,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Sorry about the parchment paper, next time I would just use some oil on the bottom. Hope this helps! xTieghan
This bread is so good and easy to make. I’m almost out of instant yeast, but I have traditional yeast. Can I use that instead and what do I have to do differently if so?
Hi Danielle,
Yes you can use that, you will need to be sure to activate the yeast first in water. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This looks amazing! My dutch oven has a plastic knob that is only OK up to 375… would the recipe work without the lid at the start, or alternatively if we took the knob off and there was a small hole in the lid?
Hi Claire,
I would recommend covering your pot with foil! Hope you love the recipe!
Can I make this without yogurt? None in the house!
Hi! If you don’t have yogurt I would recommend subbing sour cream. Hope this helps!
Do you have to use a standing mixer or can you do it by hand? I am in the middle of moving and our standing mixer is packed away…
Absolutely love love your recipes!
Hi Liza,
You can absolutely do this by hand, just put some elbow grease into it:)
Can i use active yeast? We r quarantined and it is all i have
Hi!! Yes, active works great, just proof it first before using. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan