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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.
can you make the dough and freeze it?
Hey Louise,
Sure, that will work well for you! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
My first attempt at bread and it went so well! This is foolproof and delicious.
Hey Sara,
Fantastic! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy New Year!? xxT
do you pre heat your dutch oven??
Hi Jerry,
I do not pre heat the dutch oven. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan, I’m very new to your site but have LOVED everything so far. I want to make soup bread bowls, and was wondering if I could use this recipe and just separate out the dough into smaller portions before cooking?
Hi Hannah,
Sure, that should work well for you! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Sorry to bother you but I am new to baking, I bought a jar of active dry yeast a few weeks ago to make your pumpkin beer soft pretzels (which were awesome) so I was wondering if this could be a substitute for the instant yeast so I don’t waste?
Hey Em,
You bet, you’ll just need to dissolve that in the warm water and honey, allow it to bubble and then follow the recipe as is. I hope you love the bread, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Thank you for your help! I followed your advice and the bread turned out beautifully! It seriously looked like a professional baker made it, and it tasted great as well!!!
Hi Em,
Thanks so very much for giving this recipe a go, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy Thanksgiving! xTieghan
Hey Teighan! This recipe uses whole milk in your book. Which should I use?
Disregard! This is a different recipe haha
Hi there! You can use either! 🙂 xTieghan
Hello!! Thanks for all these beautiful recipes. Curious… I want to make this but don’t have the yogurt at this time. Can I just omit it? I am guessing it gives the bread the sourdough taste?
Thanks
Hi Natasha,
You can use sour cream in place of the yogurt, but you don’t want to skip it altogether. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Will be trying this very soon when I spend the winter in our new french farmhouse. Thank you
Hope you love this! xTieghan
Friend shared a cup of cheater starter with me. My question is how much starter do I need for bread recipe
Thank you
Hi there! I’m not quite sure as this recipe is a “cheaters sourdough” and doesn’t require a starter! So sorry! xTieghan
I noticed with your check chicken noodle soup you had 4 small loaves/rolls of the sourdough bread. Did you bake at the same temperature and for how long?
Hi Cathy! This is the recipe I used with the chicken noodle soup 🙂 Enjoy! xTieghan
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/super-easy-crusty-knead-pumpkin-bread-bowls/
I’m so pleasantly surprised with how this recipe worked out, my bread came out perfectly!! I was a bit skeptical about how sourdough-y this would taste, but it’s spot on! It was definitely worth refrigerating over night to intensify the flavour.
I’m a relatively new bread baker so I used theclevercarrot’s sourdough shaping guide to get the perfect round loaf. I also scored the top of the dough and it lead to an amazing ride and a lovely crispy top.
Hi Taryn,
Happy Sunday! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was a winner! xxTieghan
Great recipe. I let the dough rise for about six to eight hours then baked. Excellent. I made this again with a cup and a half of yogurt to increase the sour flavor of the bread.
Both times the bread was very tasty. Family prefers the original recipe. I prefer the more sour tasting extra yogurt recipe. Thank you for the recipe.
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try! So glad you enjoyed it. xTieghan
My dough was still sticky- hopefully it is okay to just add a little bit more flour? Can’t wait to try it!!
Hi there! Yes, I would definitely add some more flour if the dough is still feeling sticky. Hope you love this recipe! xTieghan
What is the minimum time to let the bread cool? I want to make some for dinner tonight but I don’t think I have time to let it cool for 2 hours
Hey Bethany,
Unfortunately, the bread will continue to cook during those 2 hours, I would say give it at least an hour but even them I’m not sure the exact results you would get. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know how it turns out! xTieghan
I was always under the impression that you couldn’t use parchment paper over 425F. Glad to see this isn’t the case because I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Hey Kristen,
I’ve never had any issues with this, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
So delicious and so very simple! Easy family favorite
Hey Chelsea,
Awesome! So great to hear that this recipe was enjoyed and thanks for making it! Have the best week! xTieghan
Would any other kind of yeast work? (Besides instant). Looks delicious!
Hey Molly,
Yes, you can also use active dry yeast, you will need to proof it first! I hope you enjoy this recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan