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
778 Comments on “Easy No Knead Skillet Bread”
The bread turned out perfect on the first try. I didn’t have a Dutch oven and used a regular baking dish. I also poured water into my oven to give it more moisture. Very delish!!!
So great to hear Annette!
Just a tip for anyone trying to decide what to bake in – I use this recipe regularly and make it in a cast iron pan which works great, but the other day I used a dutch oven instead and it stuck like the dickens despite using lots of oil to coat the dish! Maybe parchment paper lining would be worth trying if using a vessel that has enamel coating?
This bread is simple and delicious! I have a bottom broiler and would recommend skipping that step. I only broiled it for 1 minute but it still got too dark. It looked golden and perfect after the initial bake so I will just leave it at that next time.
Thanks for a fabulous recipe!! I’ve made your bread every week or two for the past three months. My family loves it! (It only lasts 1 day with teenage boys.) And I love how simple it is! One time I forgot about it for three hours when it was in the bowl on the counter – oops- It still turned out great! Sometimes I use bacon grease in the skillet instead of olive oil. My question: Can I use dried rosemary in the dough? I never seem to have fresh rosemary on hand.
I put dried rosemary in mine and didn’t realize till watching the YouTube video that it was intended to have fresh rosemary. Mine is proving right now but did you use the dried rosemary and how was it??
I also put “Everything but the Bagel” seasoning from Trader Joe’s in it so we’ll see how it comes out.
Thanks!!
I’ve made this several times now with dried rosemary and it turns out great! I use a couple teaspoons in the dough and sprinkle some more on top prior to baking.
I have a couple of questions. Can you use sourdough starter instead of the yeast options or in addition to? Also when I want to add jalapeno and cheddar cheese can I add that directly to the dough mix or do I have to just add it on the top like the herbs/rosemary?
I don’t know what I missed but it seems I must have. I measured out the flour and dry ingredients and added the water. This became a dough. A dough that didn’t even absorb all of the flour. It wasn’t like a batter at all. 4 1/3 cup flour to 2 cups water. I don’t see how that makes a “batter”. I am in NC. I don’t know if that makes a difference.
I agree, I added more water and it definitely wouldn’t form to be transferred. It also seems huge for a 10-12” pan. In the oven now so, we’ll see!
I’m having the same experience now. I’m hoping the dough gets better when it’s resting. It is also a very big and I don’t know how it’ll fit in my 12” skillet.
Did you watch the video tutorial? It might be helpful for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5s1ecf2oLw
I made this twice with perfect results, with it being a batter-like dough. Today I made again and the dough was a dry ball. So I started over and weighed the flour that I measured…..the flour measured out in 4 1/3 cups was way more than the 520 grams she calls for so I did end up with the batter -like dough this time around….
I am still proceeding with the drier ball of dough and will bake…will see what I get. If nothing else it’ll be croutons!
Did it work?
I know this is an old comment, but I came here to say the same thing. 2 cups didn’t even cover all the flour mix, I had to add more just to get it all combined.
Hoping it rises well and bakes up nicely! It looks delicious in the pictures here! Excited!
same here +2 cups of water worked.
You didn’t say if you leave the bread in skillet to cool or remove to cooling rack
Was this recipe updated? If so it’s even better than I remembered it!
I haven’t made it in a while and it’s delicious and always garners me compliments.
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I love this bread!! I make it all the time and all my friends and family members love it! I was curious…do you cool the bread inside the skillet or take it out of the skillet to cool?
Great recipe; delicious bread. I would tell everyone to make this bread.
So glad you like it!
Tried this bread tonight and it is delicious,
So glad you enjoyed it!
A question: could I use some whole wheat flour in this recipe? I try to use whole grains as much as possible.
I’ve made this bread a couple of times and it’s fantastic. It’s so easy and the results are delicious! The crust is perfect for sandwiches. I highly recommend this recipe.
Thanks so much for the kind words!
My bread making skills are so so but i thought this recipe was something I could do. Wow! The bread looked beautiful coming out of the oven. I followed the recipe but my rosemary was sitting in the back of my pantry for who knows how long. Fresh rosemary would really do the trick. The flavor and texture is perfection. So delicious and so easy to make. This will become my weekly winter staple with soups and stews. Thank you!
I’m so glad you liked it!
I’ve been making this recipe for a few years now…so much I know it almost by heart…why did you change it? I still make it that way and it always comes out great. Anyway just wondering, and thank you for this recipe, its one of my favorite things to make a d so delicious, I always get compliments!
Hi Mary, I’m so happy to hear you enjoy the recipe! Nothing has fundamentally changed with the recipe. I have updated it to be written more properly as I first published this 8 years ago and it was written in pretty vague terms. I updated the instructions to be more clear and to help those who have had some issues with it. The ingredient amounts and general process are the same. The only thing in the process that has changed is proofing the yeast in the water, which is not absolutely necessary and I typically don’t do it anymore. However, you can still do that if you prefer. Hope that clarifies!
Thank you for asking this! I thought I was losing my mind today!
Nice idea, i am gonna try the same for my web site. thanks.
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So I broiled for TWO MINUTES and the top BURNED!!! It was so sad and it would have been so perfect. I’m going to cut off the top portion but still so bummed. When they say watch closely, do it because I’m so sad 🙁
wow she is so gorgeous, nice pics.
Hello,
Great bread! How would I adjust the recipe to make with whole wheat flour instead? Thanks
Thanks for the post. I’m a big fan of the blog, i’ve even put a little bookmark right on the tool bar of my Firefox you’ll be happy to find out!
That’s awesome! Thanks so much!
Amazing bread, so good! Airy and perfect! Entire family gave it a thumbs up!!
I’m so glad! Thanks for sharing!
Could you bake this on a stove top instead of in an oven? If so, would you need to adjust the cooking time?
No, this recipe needs to be baked in the oven.
I just made this tonight and can’t stop munching it after i sliced it to put in a ziplock bag.
I followed everything, but on 2nd proofing was almost coming off my 12 in. cast iron skillet and it was sticking on the cloth. I might over proof it?
I still baked it and it gave me a very crunchy shell but nice and soft inside. I hope it will stay that way for couple days.
This recipe is fantastic and easy. Now that I’m retired I’m going to take on even greater moves. I also thank the author for adding notes on other possible recipes. Love the site. Thanks
Wow
I made this today . With some modifications to spices
Superb! So yummy! Wish I could post a pic of my bread!
Thank you so much
The cup measurement in your recipe – is it american cup size ( 240 ml liquid in one cup ?)
I didn’t feel it was a super wet dough- definitely more wet than bread that I knead . But not as wet as your video. Nevertheless it turned out delish
Social net working? is that social media, i listen about it but have no information. can you share some more info about it? thanks
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I made this according to the recipe, adding the fresh rosemary. It was fantastic. Just wondering if this recipe could be used to create cheddar cheese bread (incorporating cheese in the dough as well as on top).
Absolutely! You could add some garlic powder to the dough as well 🙂
Lovely pictures, awesome these are looking so funny interesting but professional and artistic pics.
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Very good recipe, l put everything bagel spice on top which was delicious. I also added black olives and rosemary in the bread as suggested. Yummy.
Yum! Sounds great.
wow i love t hat SO much… can i cut and paste it into my blog?? but give u credit, of course???
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Have tried 10 bread recipes. This is absolutely the best, my #1. I weighed out all ingredients. I used instant rise yeast and bread flour. This is the most accurate way to make a recipe. Did not use the rosemary. Baked in a 10 inch cast iron skillet. It browned beautifully. Internal temp 200. Take out if pan to cool on cookie sheet, otherwise it gets soggy on the bottom. Dense, soft, excellent crumb. Made toast with my homemade strawberry jam (oh yes I did!!!). Fabulous. Also did a loaf of cheese bread. Added cheese into dry ingredients. Incorporated very nicely. I have shared with friends who clamor for more.
I make this often and always share a loaf. Thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe!
You’re welcome!
Really appreciate this wonderful post
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Can you use butter instead of oil?
I don’t recommend it as butter will burn faster than oil.
Which brand of kosher salt are you using?
Morton’s
This bread was so easy! It really does freeze great too! Just as good from the toaster! Thanks for sharing
Glad you like it!
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This bread turned out terrible. A flat disk with no flavor. Deleted the pin so I don’t make it again. Disappointing.
Hi Brenda, I am so sorry it did not work out for you. This recipe has been tested many times by multiple readers with great reviews.
Thank you so much for this recipe! It was so easy and so delicious. I added everything bagel seasoning to the top. Well done!
How many servings does this make?
About 12-15 servings.
I just have to say…. YUMMMMM!!! This break is easy AND delicious! Great recipe! I will definitely be making this again!!
So glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve tried making this bread twice and I still can’t make it right!