Easy No Knead Skillet Bread
The easiest no-knead skillet bread. The recipe only calls for 4 simple ingredients! Mix together, let the dough rise, pan and bake. You won’t get your hands or counters messy!
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If there is anything I know about yeast bread it is that for those who haven’t made it before it can feel intimidating. I know this because I once was that person.
I thought yeast was this scary ingredient that I didn’t understand. And people tell me all the time that they are nervous about working with yeast.
Well I’m here to get your feet wet with working with yeast! This easy no knead skillet bread recipe will build up your baking with yeast confidence! And it only calls for 4 simple ingredients!
This bread really could not be more simple! The make the dough, you just stir all of the ingredients together.
The dough then sits few an hour so the yeast can activate and feed for a while, and then it is baked. That’s it!
There are many things to know about yeast and bread making. If you are interested in learning more in-depth information about baking yeast bread, I suggest you check out my Yeast Bread Essentials Course!
But for this bread you really only need to know 1 thing: Yeast likes warm temperatures, but not hot temperatures! Your water should be warm, slightly warmer than body temperature, but not hot!
You will kill the yeast if you use too hot of water. But other than that, this no knead skillet bread is virtually fool proof!
Now that I am a more experienced bread baker, I still find myself coming back to this bread recipe. It is great for having fresh bread on a busy weeknight. That feels so decadent!
I love to add fresh herbs to my bread- rosemary is a favorite. You could add olives, nuts, roasted garlic, or really anything your heart desires!
One of the things that continues to fascinate me about bread is that it only requires a few simple ingredients: just water, flour, salt, and yeast.
Those humble and few ingredients result in such a beautiful and comforting product! It feels like magic!
I hope this recipe inspires you to start making yeast bread a habit in your home!
Easy No-Knead Skillet Bread
This is the easiest no-knead skillet bread. Just mix all of the ingredients together, let the dough rise, put it in a pan and bake! You won't get your hands or counters messy!
Ingredients
- 4 1/3 cups (520 g) bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 package (2 1/4 tsp, 7 g) active dry or rapid rise yeast
- 1/2 TBSP (8 g) fine sea salt or kosher salt
- 2 cups (450 g) warm water (about 110-120 F, NOT HOT water)
- about 3 tbsp olive oil (or you can use vegetable oil or canola oil)
- rosemary (*optional)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, and the salt. You can also add in spices or herbs of choice here. I like to add about 1 1/2 tbsp of fresh rosemary.
- Add the warm water to the bowl. Make sure the water is just warm and not hot. Stir with a spoon or rubber spatula until well combined. It will be a very wet dough, almost like a thick batter.
- Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let sit at room temperature until about double in size. This will take about 45 minutes for rapid rise yeast, and an hour and a half with active dry yeast.
- Do not punch down the dough. Add about 1 TBSP of oil to the bottom of a cast iron skillet or any other oven safe skillet (a 10" or 12" skillet works well).
- Drizzle about a tablespoon of the oil over the dough and also drizzle some on your hands. Rub the oil on your hands, this will help the dough not stick. Gently release the dough from the sides of the bowl and then gather it all up in your hands. Gently shape it into a ball. This will be kind of difficult because the dough is sticky, but just do your best. It doesn't need to be perfect.
- Place the dough in the oiled skillet, cover loosely with a towel. Let it rise again until full of air - about 30 minutes for rapid rise yeast and 1 hour for active dry yeast.
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Drizzle a little more oil over the top of the bread, and score the dough with a knife creating an X or a few slices across the top. Sprinkle with coarse salt and rosemary leaves if desired.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is starting to brown. Then turn on the broiler for about 5 minutes and watch the bread closely. This is just to help the top brown up some more.
- Allow the bread to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing and preferably longer. Letting the bread cool before slicing will solidify the texture and also help it to stay fresh longer.
- Store sliced bread open at room temperature, sliced side down on a cutting board for up to 48 hours. After that, more it to a bag and seal it. I prefer to slice it up and freeze it after 2 days. It refreshes well from frozen in the toaster.
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787 Comments on “Easy No Knead Skillet Bread”
Can you help with High Altitude adjustments? We’re at 8600 ft. I made the recipe with SOME adjustments 1st. It was lovely but the crust was a bit hard and the inside a bit doughy. Any further ideas are welcome!
Thank you,
Peg Wiederholt
Same with us, only 8900 feet. Following to find out the solution. This is fabulous bread and even without the HA adjustments it’s a favorite with my wife. The HA adjustments will put this simple bread over the top in the high country of Northern Colorado. Thank you.
Oooooh m’am !!! This was fabulous!! Love your easy informative directions !!
I’m a bread lover and I couldn’t stop eating
Thanks so very much !!! Will be baking and sharing regularly!!
Great!
Thank you so much I did your recipe and it turned out super good I cooked it on cast iron pan in my wood stove
Delicious!!!
I’m so glad!! Bread over a wood fire- how perfect!
Love this bread! I have made it plain, with rosemary, onion & garlic & Italian Seasonings. It was amazing!
May I replace half of the white flour with half rye flour to make a light rye bread. We enjoy light rye bread.
New to bread baking. I wanted to know if you just sprinkled onion & garlic powder on top before baking or added it to the dough? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Every skillet bread recipe, this one included, is just bread baked using a skillet.
It’s nothing special and is rather disappointing when expecting a recipe of how to actually cook bread via skillet method. Meaning ‘on the stove’, the way people use a skillet.
Have you tried searching for “fry bread”?
Have you tried ummmm not being an ass. If it’s not your thing just move on. I’m sick of people and their 2 cents
You could try covering the skillet with a good fitting lid and cooking it on your lowest setting over burner. It should rise and bake much the same as in the oven in a closed pan. To brown you might still have to run it under the broiler. Good luck!
Used 2/3 white whole wheat flour and 1/3 bread flour. No extra herbs. Very good.
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
Can you make this in a glass pan or metal baking sheet if we don’t have a cast iron skillet? If so, what adjustments do we need to make?
Can this be made keto friendly with almond flour
No, you need gluten to make bread. You can try keto “bread” recipes. But, imo they are ALL terrible. You’re better off giving up the idea of bread on keto.
Speaking from experience as a French woman on keto
So dumb! As a grandma who had to go gluten free after 2020, and has a granddaughter who must be dairy and gluten free. I can tell you gluten free bread made right or equally delicious and fun! I have adapted almost every regular recipe to gluten free by switching g to good gluten free flour and adding something to create the rise. So easy and delicious!!
Can I baked this in a loaf pan? I getting the dough ready now. Thank you
Can this bread be made into rolls? Maybe baked in a muffin pan?
Sure! Keep in mind they won’t be like soft dinner rolls.
I made this bread today. It was my first time making a yeast bread. I usually stick to batter breads, but I’ll definitely make this again. My bread, though, is a little chewy. Is that normal? I did wait 1.5 hours for it to cool, and I used unbleached all purpose. Would it be helpful to sift it next time? Also, I think my oven runs a little too hot. Even so, the bread is beautiful and tastes great.
Hi, bread is supposed to be a bit chewy! That’s the gluten at work.
Can this recipe be baked in loaf pans?
Sure! But keep in mind that this is recipe will give you a crunchy crust on the outside unlike a typical sandwich loaf which is soft on the outside. I have sandwich loaf recipes on my website if that’s what you are looking for.
Is the skillet preheated. .?
No, it’s not.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
http://www.bathroomremodelinghuntsville.com/home-remodeling
Was really simple and eaay to make. Also very good and crusty!
This is the BEST BREAD EVER! I make it at least once a week!
I am completely new to baking and found this so easy to follow and made a wonderful cast iron skillet bread so light and fluffy. My only questions or issues are please can all recipes be in grams and ounces as well and tips on how to alter this recipe, perhaps how to make it a sweet version instead say with fruits? Will make this again, thank you
Hi, so glad you like the recipe! All of my recipes include weight measurements for accuracy. I wouldn’t use this recipe for a sweet version but you can find my “Master Sweet Dough” recipe on my website!
Hello Bettie,
Im just wondering once ive made the initial ball in the bowl and let it proof for 45mins could i not transfer it straight to cast iron skillet and let it proof for 45 mins in there and then the 30 then bake? Just to save handling it? Many thanks
Can I fold this dough every 30 minutes to make it taller and possibly bake it in a cast iron lodge Dutch oven?without the top
Used 1/2 bread flour and 1/2 white whole wheat flour. The outside was crunchy and the inside soft.
Delicious!
Can I substitute Gluten Free flour, if so do I need to modify the recipe?
The loaf came out great! It rose perfectly, with a wonderful color and delicious crust. I’ve been making break for a long time, but never in a cast-iron skillet, so this was a very pleasant surprise. I just had it as toast for breakfast and it was a real treat. Many thanks Baker Bettie.
Perfect for toast! Glad you like it!
I just made this and I had to write to tell you how delicious it was. I made it plain because I didn’t have rosemary, but WOW was it good. I followed your recipe exactly (except see below) and
it came out perfect – crusty outside top and bottom, and chewy, moist and steamy on the inside. I couldn’t wait the hour to try it. :). Also, I read the recipe wrong and punched it down after the first rise, and then realized my mistake when I went back to re-read. It still rose beautifully. On a personal note, I have been searching for a bread that tasted like the one my grandmother made almost every day and would give me, fresh out of the oven with butter, as an after school snack. It is something I have been searching for for so many years. I was a kid and never paid attention to how she made it, and by the time I knew enough to ask her, it was too late. This bread is the closest I’ve come to tasting that since I was a teen. These days I use vegan butter (Miyoko’s). It transported me back. Will absolutely be making this again. Thank you so much.
I’m so happy you like it and that it brings you back to wonderful memories with your grandmother! 🙂
We love this bread! It goes well with so many dishes and so quick and easy to prepare We had it tonight with spaghetti. Added garlic and mozzarella. Yum!
Great idea with the garlic and mozzarella! Yum!
Quick question… Can I leave this on the counter overnight? Or should I out in fridge? Thanks!
Hi, you can store sliced bread open at room temperature for up to 48 hours! Just cover it up with something.
This bread is sooo good! I used the Trader Joe’s sofrito seasoning and a little rosemary. This reminds me of focaccia. I did have to add more water to get the wet sticky dough. I was skeptical bc of how easy it is to make but I will def make again!
What a great flavor idea! Glad you liked it! You might also enjoy my focaccia recipe 🙂
I just took my. Read out of the oven – do I let it cool in the cast iron skillet until I eat it? Even if it’s for several hours or should I put the loaf in a cooling rack at some point? Thanks!
Hi, either one is fine! It will cool faster on a cooling rack but you can also leave it in the skillet.
Did not understand the part about slicing the bread. If you slice it, it will have two sliced sides.?? Do you leave it out for 2 days???
Hi, I mean slicing off one end of the bread. That will leave you with only one cut side.
Has anyone tried this recipe with GF flour?
Disappointed because my dough didn’t rise. I used active yeast, and water at 113 degrees. I weighed all the ingredients. This is why I just buy bread.
Love this recipe – I would like to try honey in the recipe. How can I do that?
When do you remove the bread from the skillet?? As soon as it is taken out of the oven,
Or do you wait before removing it ?
Thank you.
This is a fantastic recipe. You can make it your own by adding cheese, garlic, herbs, seeds, etc. Whatever you are in the mood for. It is easy to follow. No knead. And turns every time! A crowd pleaser. Thanks for sharing this recipe with us!
I’m trying this as I write. My afghan friends make 10-12 loaves a week and is the best bread I’ve ever tasted. If this turns out as well as I hope, I’ll be taking bread to them.
Attempting to print the recipe but unsuccessful after multiple times.
Do you let it cool, in the cast iron skillet, or our of it?
Please and thank you.
Wow so easy to make!
Can I double this recipe with no issues to make a larger size bread to expand in a larger size skillet? Or is it best to just repeat the recipe twice in two different skillets if I need to make a larger portion of bread?