No Knead Bread Recipe (2024)

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Making warm and crusty homemade bread is easier than you’d imagine with this No Knead Skillet Cheese Bread. Perfect for dunking in warm soup, the cheese and parsley add extra yummy goodness!

Why I Love No Knead Bread

Easy. If you’ve ever felt intimidated by the idea of making your own artisan bread, this is the bread to try. You don’t need a fancy bread maker or any tools other than a mixing bowl, wooden spoon, and a skillet.
Cheesy. If you are a cheese lover, you will completely fall in love with this homemade bread. It’s cheesy, savory, and 100% satisfying.
The crust. This cheese bread has the perfect consistency, including a golden and crisp crust with a tender interior.
Fresh. There’s something special about homemade bread just out of the oven. It’s fresh and fills your entire house with that delicious bakery smell.

What is No Knead Bread?

No knead bread is a simple bread-making method that requires no kneading. The dough is mixed and allowed to rise slowly, relying on time rather than kneading to develop gluten. This results in bread with a hearty crust and soft interior, and it’s perfect for those who want homemade bread with minimal effort.

Recipe Ingredients

Luke Warm Water: Activates the yeast.
Active Dry Yeast: Causes the dough to rise.
Salt: Enhances flavor.
All-Purpose Flour: For this recipe, I use a little over 4 cups of flour.
Garlic Powder: Adds a savory, garlicky flavor.
Onion Powder: Provides a subtle onion taste.
Shredded Cheddar Cheese: Adds a rich, cheesy flavor and texture. Other melting cheeses like mozzarella or gouda can be substituted.
Olive Oil: Used to coat the skillet and the dough, adding flavor and a crispy crust.
Coarse Salt: Sprinkled on top for extra flavor and texture. Flaky sea salt is a good substitute.
Dried Parsley: Used as a topping for additional flavor and visual appeal. Other herbs can also be used.

How to Make No Knead Bread

Make the dough. Combine your water and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Add a cup of flour and salt and stir it all together. Stir in the garlic powder, onion powder, and cheese. Gradually add the remaining flour and stir everything until it is all well combined.
Rise. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let your dough rise for 1 hour.
Prepare. Grab a cast iron skillet and coat the bottom and sides with olive oil. Lightly flour your hands and transfer the dough to the skillet. Shape the dough into a round disk, cover it with a towel, and let it stand for 30 minutes.
Preheat. While the dough rests, preheat your oven to 400˚F.
Bake. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over the top of the dough and sprinkle it with salt and parsley. Score the top of the loaf with a knife in a criss-cross pattern. Bake it for 30 minutes or until the top is a golden brown.
Cool and Serve. Remove the cheese bread from the oven and immediately turn it out onto a cooling rack. Let it completely cool. Then, cut it and serve.

Recipe Tips

Cool it on a wire rack. To keep your bread from getting soggy, remove it from the skillet as soon as you pull it out of the oven and transfer it to a wire rack.
Skillet options. You do not need a skillet to make this bread. I know, it’s in the recipe title – but trust me, here. If you do not have a cast iron skillet, simply use a round stoneware baking dish instead!
Use good cheddar. For better flavor, opt for a better quality cheddar cheese. You can even shred the cheese yourself.
Double the recipe. You can double this recipe but don’t forget you’ll also need a bigger skillet. I recommend a 12-inch skillet for a double batch.

Serving Suggestions

Obviously, this bread goes great with a bowl of our creamy ravioli soup and a side of a salmon blt salad. It’s also great with hearty beef Guinness stew and pot roast. But don’t count it out on the side of a pasta dish, either. This chicken bacon ranch pasta or my creamy seafood pasta is fantastic. Basically, anything that is saucy is a perfect match for this bread.

How to Store Leftovers

The bread can be stored in a zip-top bag in a cool, dry place for up to 3 days. It can also be frozen for about 3 months.

More Homemade Bread Recipes

Challah Bread
Cornbread
Flatbread
Star Bread
Monkey Bread

No Knead Skillet Cheese Bread

Preparing warm, crusty homemade bread is simpler than you think with this No Knead Skillet Cheese Bread. Ideal for dipping in your favorite warm soup, the added cheese and parsley kick up the flavor!

Prep Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Cooling Time1 hour hr

Total Time3 hours hrs

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: artisan bread, cheese bread, homemade bread, homemade bread recipes, no knead bread recipe

Equipment

Ingredients

2 cups luke warm water
2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
½ teaspoon salt
4⅓ cups all purpose flour
1½ teaspoons garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
course salt
dried parsley

Instructions

Combine water and yeast in a large mixing bowl.
Add 1 cup flour and ½ teaspoon salt to the yeast mixture; stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Stir in the garlic powder, onion powder, and cheese.
Add remaining flour, one cup at a time, stirring until well combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for 1 hour.
In the meantime, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to an 8-inch cast iron skillet and coat the bottom and sides of the skillet with the oil.
Lightly flour your hands and transfer the dough to the skillet. Shape the dough into a round disk; cover with a towel and let it stand for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the top of the dough and sprinkle it with salt and parsley. Then, score the top of the loaf with a knife.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
Remove the bread from the oven and immediately turn it out onto a cooling rack.
Let it completely cool before cutting into it.

Notes

To freeze the dough: Make the dough as instructed and let it rise for 1 hour, per the recipe. Once risen, form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and then place it in a freezer-friendly container and keep it frozen for up to a month. When ready, thaw the frozen dough on the kitchen counter, let it rise, and bake as directed.

Nutrition

cheddar cheeseflouryeast

FAQs

What is the point of no knead bread? ›

It's easy to see the appeal of the “no-knead” approach in bread baking: minimal effort produces maximum flavor. By simply mixing up your dough and giving it an extended rising period, you can enjoy gorgeous, golden loaves without having kneaded a thing.

Why is my no knead bread so dense? ›

Why is my bread dense: Usually bread will be too dense when there is too much flour. Keep in mind this dough will be pretty sticky, do not add more flour than specified. Other factors that come into play are humidity and age of flour. Little yeast, long rise, sticky dough are keys to a good, light loaf.

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Should you fold no-knead dough? ›

No-Knead bread is justifiably popular due to its ease and good results. In side-by-side tests, we discovered that 90 seconds of extra work is all it takes to transform no-knead bread from good to great. Three simple folds, each taking about 30 seconds, will do the trick.

What happens when you dont knead bread? ›

A failure to knead dough (unless you're working with a no-knead recipe) can lead to: Poor gluten development: When you don't knead bread, the gluten won't form properly. This can result in a lack of elasticity and strength, meaning your final product is likely to come out of the oven dense and heavy.

Why don't people knead sourdough? ›

When done correctly, stretching and folding sourdough will strengthen the gluten and gently incorporate air into the dough without the need for kneading. It will also give your sourdough loaf a lofty high rise and more open interior crumb.

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Why is my no knead bread so flat? ›

Classic no-knead bread (made with ¼ tsp instant yeast and 2¾ cups of flour) often tastes flat and dull. That lack of flavor comes from the yeast outpacing enzymes and consuming too many of the available sugars in the dough.

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Why is my no knead bread so sticky? ›

Your dough can become sticky when you add too much water or the flour isn't suitable for the type of dough you are making. Over proofing or fermenting the dough can also result in the gluten structure weakening causing sticky dough.

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Why do you fold dough 3 times? ›

If you leave a dough for long enough it makes its own gluten structure. This technique incorporates periods of rest for the dough so that it can get on with making gluten and then we intervene with three rounds of stretch & fold to strengthen the gluten bonds.

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Why doesn't no knead dough rise? ›

Your no knead bread will not rise if: You add no yeast or starter containing wild yeast. You yeast is dead or your wild yeast starter is not sufficiently viable. You add waaaaay too much salt to your dough.

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Is no-knead the same as regular bread? ›

The main difference is in the way that gluten is formed in the loaves. Kneaded breads use kneading to develop the gluten and no-knead breads use the natural chemical changes that happen when flour and water are mixed to develop the gluten.

How do you keep no-knead bread from sticking? ›

If your dough does stick then better not to fight it. Invert the banneton and let gravity do the rest. Perhaps gently tap the bottom and sides however rice flour is made for bannetons as it's the best flour for not sticking. For really wet doughs I'd say coat it with 100% rice flour.

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Why is it important to not over-knead dough? ›

The overworked dough will often feel tight and tough. This means that liquid molecules have been damaged and won't stretch properly, causing the bread to break and tear more easily. Conversely, a dough that is underworked will be harder to form into a ball shape.

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Should I score no-knead bread? ›

Scoring. The ready to bake dough is gently turned over on a piece of parchment paper. The top is scored with a bread lame to allow the bread quickly expand in the oven, also known as 'oven spring'. Without scoring, bread tends to have a denser, less open crumb, despite being perfectly proofed.