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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Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 98
776 Comments on “Easy No Knead Skillet Bread”
I am very happy with the results. I can’t wait to make it again. I think I’m going to add roasted garlic.
Thank you!
Oh roasted garlic would be delicious! I’m so glad you enjoyed the bread!
Truly easy and delicious. I used a 14″ skillet without increasing the recipe, so I took it out of the oven after 23 minutes. It still had a nice little crunch, but next time I’ll increase the recipe by half so I can cook it longer and get the darker crust.
Hi Alisa! I’m so glad you enjoyed this bread. Thank you for reporting on your experience with a 14″ skillet!
Thanks for this simple recipe. I recently purchased a cast iron combo skillet and can’t stop using it. I used this recipe last week and it was perfect. Making it again tonight but incorporating fresh rosemary in the dough, as well as on top. I’m new to bread making and this recipe is a great introduction – fun and easy! Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this bread Allyson! That is so great!
I just made this bread and it is amazing. That u for being you.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Charlie! <3
I often have need to use up some older sourdough starter. Any suggestions on how to change the amounts to use 1 C starter?
Hi Missy! I am working on an article about just this! I prefer to substitute by weight because depending on how vigorous and airy your starter is when you measure it, 1 cup is going to contain more or less starter by volume. I would suggest starting with using about 100 grams of your sourdough discard and leave out 50 grams of the flour and 50 grams of the water in the recipe. Hope that helps!
This is so easy and delicious! Thanks so much. We appreciate that this is vegan too! For a 12” cast iron, how many servings would be in it? Thank uou
Hi Lacey! It really depends on what your preference is for serving size! For this amount of dough, I typically get around 8-10 servings!
Wonderful recipe!!! Can I make this with gluten free flour??? I sure hope so 🙂
Hi Teressa! I’m so glad you enjoyed the bread! Unfortunately, the gluten structure that builds in wheat flour is what holds the gasses in the dough that the yeast produces. Gluten free flour can’t do this, which is why gluten free bread can be so tricky to make. I would suggest making my quick bread with gluten free flour. It is leavened with baking powder instead of yeast and it works well with an all purpose gluten free blend! https://bakerbettie.com/basic-quick-bread-recipe-sweet-or-savory/
Hi there! Can I use normal salt instead of Kosher?
Valuable site, where did u come up with the information in this posting? I am pleased I discovered it though, ill be checking back soon to find out what new content pieces u have.
Hi!
Those brands of kosher salt are not available where I am. So I am not sure how my kosher salt would differ from either of those. Would you be able to explain why the change in amount from one to the other? Also, is there an amount of table salt that would work?
Thank you!
My family and I LOVE this bread! It’s fantastic fresh out of the oven but left overnight it becomes extremely hard. Any tips on keeping soft? Thanks for the recipe!
Just made it super easy and fast. This is something I could dry pack and make on the trail buy just adding water. Thank you
What a good idea! Glad you enjoyed it!
This looks delicious! Are there any changes that need to be made for high altitudes? Thanks.
Keep it up. Nice work
Hi Kristin. I only have Active Rapid Rise Yeast on hand in the cupboard right now. Could I use that for this recipe? If so, what changes do I need to make in measurements or time to incorporate this?
Hi Sheila! If you want to use a rapid rise yeast, just decrease the rising times by half!
Hi! Is this okay for it to rise prior up to 24 hrs? Thank you!
Hi Susie, if you want to extend the rising time you will need to move the dough into the refrigerator!
This bread was so beautiful. I consistently struggle baking bread, but this was perfect!
That is so great to hear Bradley!
Could you cook this recipe in a dutch oven instead of a cast iron skillet? I like the short rise time of this one compared to other dutch oven bread recipes I have found! Thanks!
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I just baked this recipe using a brown chapati flour that is the best brown flour I can get my hands on in Malawi; often times if I substitute it cup for cup in a recipe (which I usually do the first time baking a new recipe), the bread or baked good ends up heavy and stodgy. But this bread turned out beautifully! I imagine it would have risen a bit more and been a bit fluffier with all purpose or regular bread flour, but I have to say I’m super excited to have found this recipe. It’s so simple that I should be able to make it regularly! Thank you 🙂 planning to try what some other commenter have suggested, with incorporated garlic and more rosemary. Very happy!
It was easy and delicious. I followed the instructions exactly and it looked just like the picture and tasted great with my soup! Thank you.
CAN THIS RECIPE BE COOKED IN A LOSF PAN? OR IS IT TO MUCH DOUGH FOR A LOAF PAN?
I live at 10,400 feet of elevation so baking is always a challenge, but this bread turned out beautifully! The only adjustment I made was to bake at 25 degree hotter temperature for less time.
So glad it worked out for you Stacie!
Amazing bread!!! We dipped it in roasted garlic olive oil. Next time we will drizzle the oil on top! So perfect. Recipe was super easy just took a while to rise. End result totally worth the wait.lo
So glad you enjoyed it Lori!
This seemed like a super cool recipe – but why do you say
“You won’t get your hands or counters messy!”
…when it clearly says in the recipe to handle the dough with your hands (and on your counter) and that
“(it will be sticky)”?
Very misleading!
(Thanks for a nice recipe idea though.)
Thanks Betty for clarifying – you are right, it really takes a minimum of handling and not messy at all.
All the best,
Pippi
OMG, Perfection. I usually tweak recipes, but made this one Exactly as written except I added garlic n rosemary to inside . So delicious. Thank you for this awesome easy recipe, will be making many more times.
Awesome, so glad you like it!
I am not sure if I did this right. It was baked 45 min and never browned! Later I cut it open and it looked pretty dense ! I will try again and perhaps increase the rising time in the fridge. What do you suggest?
I love your recipes! I decided to add some cheese to this one- it turned out great.
I love your recipes! I decided to add some cheese to this one- it turned out great.
Thanks Joanne! That sounds delicious!
If I use rapid rising yeast and still use the rise time would it turn out
First time bread maker and it turned out Amazing! I’m going for my second time because the first one went way too fast!! Thanks for the amazing easy recipe!
Can bread flour be substituted for all purpose flour? I look forward to your response. Thank you I made it with all purpose flour and a spectacular but I’m wondering what the difference would be with bread flour.
Is the oil for the pan or do you incorporate it in the dough?
The pan…so it won’t stick and helps the top to brown. Spread it evenly on top. My bread was streaky because I drizzled it on top instead of smoothing it out.
Wow, easy to make and truly delish. The first time my bread was edible haha. Otherwise I am a very accomplished cook, but the doughs were never my forte. A lifesaver in times of Corona. Thanks, thanks, thanks!
During these times of sickness and mass hoarding a person can not even find a loaf of bread in the grocery store. So nice to find this recipe. My husband loves it. I make it 3 x a week if not more.
Do I add all 4 1/3 cups to the yeast/water mine wasn’t sticky it was too dry had to add more water. How long to leave in skillet after baking. Thank you
Mine was too – super dry after adding the water. It said it should be very wet like a thick batter. I wonder if I did something wrong or maybe it’s because I’m in a dry climate.
I love your recipe. I came back to it now that my family and I are in quarantine for the coronavirus and ran out of bread, as always is a delicious lifesaver.
Thank you very much.
Are you baking with the oven fan on or off?
Hi! Can I use SAF Instant yeast for this? Also I have sea salt but not Kosher salt. Usable? Thx!
My husband likes the shape of a loaf: can I use this dough in a standard 5×9 inch loaf pan? – or split into 2 pans?
Great recipe!!!
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Can you use almond flour instead of the other types?
Hi there, unfortunately regular wheat flour is a key ingredient in this recipe in order for it to properly rise and stay together. If you want to make bread with almond flour or other alternative flours, you will want to look for recipes specifically developed for those flours.
Thank you for considering my post. When I made it, following the ingredient amounts precisely, upon adding my 2c of warm water it blended to the consistency of dry pizza dough, so I added more warm water to make it “wet” as the recipe indicated. Waiting for it to rise now, and hope that it will! I’ve tried soooo hard to make yeast breads.
Sincerely,
Lee Ann
I hope it worked out well for you!
You changed the recipe??
Hi there, I didn’t change the fundamental part of the recipe. I updated it slightly to represent the technique that I currently use that I find works better for this recipe. The ingredient quantities and ratios are exactly the same. There are a few techniques that have been updated an improved!
Hi!
I was just surprised, thought I was loosing it, ha! I have made it many times the original way and it comes out great, my whole family loves it!! I did it the other day with the updates and came out great again! Thank you for this, it’s such an easy, tasty bread!!
I totally understand! I’m so glad our family loves it!
Can i use whole wheat flour?
Excellent post
I made this today and it turned out quite marvelous. I have never made bread before. I googled cast iron skillet bread, and after looking at many recipes, I chose yours. It was so easy and absolutely delicious. Thanks for posting it!
During the shelter in place crisis, I decided to bake bread. This was the first time I have attempted to do so. This was the so simple and was delicious. My husband’s aunt baked bread everyday and he was impressed. I think I have found a new hobby in baking bread.
This was so easy to make and came out great! My broiler must be strong because it only needed 2 minutes and it got quite crispy! Can’t wait to make this again
I made this bread today and I did not put any spices except for some sea salt on the top of the bread. It is easy to make and so delicious. Can’t wait to make my next loaf with some additions like garlic or olives. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
We enjoyed this very much- and a perfect crust crunch.
Too sMaryalty….can I use less salt?