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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.
I love this recipe! Better than a bakery! Everyone loved it. I made it in a 6Q Dutch oven and the loaf was quite large (great for 6-8 people) so I wondered if the recipe could be halved easily? If so, what would be the ideal size Dutch oven for 1/2 the recipe and would the cooking time change? Love your books! Thank you.
Hey Madison,
So glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you, I appreciate you making it! Yes you can halve this, I think the cooking time would be 15 minutes but you will need to keep an eye on it. Have a great fall Friday! xT
So glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you, I appreciate you making it! Have a great fall Friday! xT
This is my favorite bread recipe – It is a special gift from the heart! Everyone in VT adores it! Thank You, Tieghan!
Hey there,
Wonderful! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thank you so much for making it! Happy Sunday! xT
I’m not sure how this recipe worked well for others, but I did everything, including the cold proof, and I have a burnt loaf on the bottom and almost the top. I used a dutch oven, and I ended up pulling it out as because the top looked like it was going to burn. The inside is raw, I monitored it continuously due to the comments.
I am giving this a 2 because I am a relatively seasoned bread baker, but I know that I could have made a mistake and it worked other people.
I’ve made no knead recipes before and never had this happen.
Please explain how this is sourdough bread. There is no starter in the ingredients and the photos portray an extremely dense crumb. Anyone looking to make real sourdough please do not use this recipe and look elsewhere. There are so many red flags here that show lack of knowledge on basic bread making.
It was delicious & very easy! I found it to be a bit dense though. Is there a trick to make it less dense?
Hey Cara,
Awesome!! So glad to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks for making it:) xT
I don’t yet know how it tastes but I followed the recipe exactly, including bake times. It all seemed good but the bake times were either way too hot or way too long! Not I have a black loaf on the outside. I hope it is done inside. If you try this please check your loaf regularly as you are baking it!!
Hi Hazel,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you had some issues! Did you use a dutch oven? I’ve never had this feedback before. So sorry! xx
Was the interior baked?
Made this twice. Second time I put the Dutch oven in the oven while it preheated and it made the most beautiful crusty bread. Definitely recommend preheating the Dutch oven!
Hey Julia,
Amazing!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out nicely for you and I appreciate you making it! xT
I made this using full fat sour cream and it worked perfectly! It was so delicious…moist, flavorful and so darn easy to make! If you have a Kitchen Aid mixer, use it! That’s what made this incredibly easy. Thanks Tiegan for another great recipe!
Hi Jane,
Happy Friday!! I appreciate you making this recipe and your feedback, so glad to hear it turned out nicely for you! Xx
Delicious! Very nice bread, my family devoured it!
Hey Marleen,
Wonderful!! I’m so glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! Have a great weekend:) xT
As a novice bread maker, I always worry that I am doing something wrong and spend more time than I should anxiously scrolling through reviews. This dough mixed up a bit drier than I expected, and it didn’t rise a huge amount before cooking (I did refrigerate it, too), but I kept telling myself to trust the process. Then after the ridiculous number of timing mistakes I made while baking, I had no faith it would turn out. But it did! The texture was rich and moist, and it inspired rave reviews around the lunch table when dipped in soup or made into sandwiches. This is the second of your bread recipes I have tried, and both have been easy and fabulous.
Hey there,
Fantastic! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear that it was enjoyed! Xx
So easy, so delicious! I did not refrigerate overnight and it turned out perfect.
Hey Kinzie,
Thanks a lot for trying this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it turned out well! Happy Saturday! Xx
I’m excited to try this recipe as a way to introduce myself to making homemade bread. Will it work to substitute bread flour, or is all-purpose flour preferred?
Hi Nicole,
Sure, bread flour will work for you! I hope you love this recipe! xT
I want to make this recipe. I have no parchment paper and haven’t found any where I am living in Mexico. Is it critical to use parchment paper ir could I just cook directly in my Dutch oven?
Hi there! I would definitely recommend using parchment paper or else your bread will stick to the bottom! xT