No-knead breads have been around for thousands of years, but they surged in popularity when baker Jim Lahey published a special no-knead bread recipe in the New York Times in 2006. That recipe took the world by storm, and different variations on it soon began to appear. No-knead breads showcase chemistry at its finest. Typical bread recipes require kneading to develop the gluten in the bread (this gives bread its lighter texture). No-knead bread recipes skip this step and instead rely on a long rise to create the ideal loaf. So while you'll have very little hands on time making no-knead bread recipes, you'll have to wait a long time for the yeast to do its thing.
#SpoonTip: Most of these recipes require a Dutch oven, which is a heavy, oven-safe pot with a lid. The Dutch oven evaporates the water in the dough and creates steam, which helps the dough rise.
1. Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread
This is the OG no-knead bread recipe that started it all. This recipe can be mixed entirely by hand, which is super convenient for anyone who doesn’t have an electric mixer. Don't panic if your dough is super sticky; you want it to be that way because the water in the dough will evaporate in the Dutch oven as the bread bakes.
2. Rosemary No-Knead Bread
This bread takes very little time to rise—it only needs about four hours in total, which feels like a long time but it's a lot shorter compared to most no-knead breads (some can take up to 24 hours to rise). Even though it’s called “Rosemary No-Knead Bread,” it’s customizable to your wants and needs. All out of rosemary but have a ton of thyme in your pantry? No problem! You can substitute any herb you’d like.
3. Basic No-Knead Bread
What sets this dough apart from other no-knead breads is that, unlike most of the recipes I found, this one suggests docking, which is slashing your dough with a knife. Docking adds some nice decoration and prevents gas bubbles from forming in your bread, which means the end product will rise uniformly in the oven.
#SpoonTip: Yeast isn't the only thing that leavens your bread; steam will leaven it as well.
4. Miracle No-Knead Bread
This particular recipe takes a very short time to bake and doesn’t require punching the dough or folding it in half like the other recipes. Once it’s done rising, you just scrape the dough out of the bowl and form it into a ball before you bake it. To top it off, it only needs to rise once! It has to rise for a long time—12 to 18 hours—but just that one rise will do the trick. You can, for example, prepare the dough before breakfast, leave it alone all day, and bake it before dinner.
5. Simple No-Knead Rye Bread
Out of all of these recipes listed, this rye bread is definitely the quickest to make because it's leavened with baking soda and doesn't require any yeast. You can just mix your ingredients and start baking right away, which is perfect if you're short on time. An important tip in the recipe is to mix from the bottom up to ensure that all of the flour is incorporated. It should be a very dense dough and be packed into your loaf pan as flat as possible (that'll help it rise evenly in the oven).
6. Carrot, Zucchini, and Walnut Rolls
These rolls can be customized to your needs based on what you have in your fridge and pantry. They can be vegan (with plant-based milk) or non-vegan (with dairy milk), and you don't even need to make them into rolls; you can bake the dough all together in one loaf if you'd like.
Much like the rye bread, these rolls don't contain any yeast, so you can start baking as soon as it's mixed and shaped to your liking. Just remember to squeeze any excess liquid out from the carrots and zucchini after you grate them, or else your dough could end up being too mushy.
7. No-Knead Peasant Bread
This is another recipe that doesn’t require a Dutch oven, (the dough is just split between two oven-safe bowls) and it only takes two hours to make. The recipe suggests preheating your oven to 400ºF for about a minute after mixing your dough. This will bring your oven’s temperature up to about 100 degrees, which is the perfect environment for letting your dough rise.
#SpoonTip: Active dry yeast thrives at around 105 to 110ºF, which is why most bread recipes call for lukewarm water.
8. No-Knead Crusty Cranberry Nut Bread
This bread is perfect for those who have a major sweet tooth and love crunchy textures (*raises hand like Hermione Granger*). The dried cranberries and honey provide sugars for the yeast to feed on in order to ferment, and also add flavor to the loaf.
9. Easy No-Knead Skillet Bread
This recipe is a lot less time consuming than most because the dough only takes a total of about 90 minutes to rise. It’s also baked in a cast iron skillet and drizzled with olive oil, which adds moisture and flavor.
#SpoonTip: You can top this bread with any fresh herb you want.
10. No-Knead Cheesy Rustic Bread
Garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, and cubed cheddar cheese give this bread its character. Lovers of cheese will adore this bread, and it’s perfect for parties. Much like the herbed breads, it’ll make you seem fancier and more sophisticated.
These no-knead bread recipes will turn you into a bread baking pro in no time. Just remember to give your dough plenty of time to rise, because natural fermentation is key for these recipes.