Dutch oven bread is an easy, no-knead bread with a beautiful artisan look and feel, and it only takes 4 ingredients! With beautiful cracks, crusty ridges, and impossibly soft inside, it makes for the perfect companion to soups, stews, and pasta dishes.
If you're intimidated by bread baking, then Dutch oven bread is your new best friend. It's presentation is impressive, which makes it great for sopping up browned butter from beautiful a pasta dish, or simply as a centerpiece along with 2-minute homemade butter.
Why this recipe is so great:
- It's such a hands-off process that you don't actually have to touch the dough with your hands one single time!
- No kneading required, no messy floured workspace.
- It's only 4 ingredients.
- It only needs one rise, instead of the typical two-rise loaf.
Ingredients needed
How to make it:
(Detailed recipe ingredients and instructions can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom.)
Add all the ingredients to a large mixing bowl (photo 1). I use instant yeast for this recipe, because it's the easiest, and goes right into the bowl as it is, along with all of the other ingredients.
Mix the ingredients up with a wooden spoon (photo 2).
The dough will seem like a shaggy thick batter at first, but continue to stir until it comes together (photo 3).
Once you can see the dough is sticking together, and pulling away from the sides of the bowl, scrape it down towards the bottom of the bowl to make one uniform "blob" (photo 4).
Cover loosely, and let rise in warm, non drafty place until doubled in size. This usually takes an hour, but can take up to 2 hours if it's chilly. There are various factors that influence how fast a loaf rises.
Notice the difference in size from the moment the dough was first covered to begin it's rise (photo 5), to when it was finally doubled in size (photo 6).
Preheat
While the dough is rising, preheat the oven and the Dutch oven. Set the oven to 450 degrees with the Dutch oven (and lid) in it so that it may also heat up.
If your Dutch oven is not non-stick enameled, then drop a piece of parchment paper inside to avoid sticking.
Baking it:
Once the oven and Dutch oven are preheated, and the dough is finished rising, scrape the dough mass into the hot Dutch oven.
Try not to disturb it too much, and just let it roll out over itself into the Dutch oven (photo 7). There may be some stray dough in the bowl, if it looks like it wants to fall out, let it do so right on top.
Once it's in there, leave it be. Don't try to situate it, you can deflate it. Some of the most irregular shaped bread loaves have also been some of the prettiest. (Bread loaves are like snowflakes, no two are alike!)
Carefully place the hot lid over the dough (photo 8) and bake it for 30 minutes.
Remove the lid after 30 minutes of baking. The crust will be pale in color and the loaf par-baked. It will finish baking and become golden brown during the last 15 minutes of baking with the lid OFF. The internal temperature should reach at least 190 degrees Fahrenheit, the universal internal temperature for bread to be cooked to.
Expert Tips and FAQ's:
- The dough is very loose and sticky. Stir it together with a spoon, and scrape it into a pile and let it rise in the same bowl.
- The fact that it's cooked in a Dutch oven with the lid on, allows the steam to develop and create a nice crust, while the pot actually holds the shape for the soft dough to bake.
- Use between a 5 quart and 7.5 quart Dutch oven for this recipe.
- If you place parchment paper inside the Dutch oven, then you can easily lift out the finished bread.
- Setting the dough in a warm, non drafty area, and covering it will help it to rise more quickly, on average about 1 hour.
- Use a deep bowl, rather than a shallow one to give the dough plenty of room to rise.
A Dutch oven is a lidded pot made of cast iron that can be used in the oven to braise, bake, or stew foods. It can be enameled or not enameled, although enameled tend to be more costly.
In a pinch, you can use an oven safe stock pot with a tight fitting lid (oven safe), or cover it with another pan or baking sheet.
A minimum of 5 quart, up to a 7.5 quart oven provides ample room for steaming, and plenty of room for the dough to fully rise and bake.
Now, you've got you're beautiful, rustic, crusty bread that was surprisingly easy! Make this again and again and serve with soups and saucy pastas like these:
- Cheesy Chicken and Corn Chowder
- Spicy Sausage Kale Pasta
- Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
- Potato Beer Cheese Soup
- Creamy Pasta with Squash and Sausage
- Classic Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
What's your favorite way to serve or eat a crusty Artisan style bread? Sandwiches? With soup or to sop up extra sauce? Let me know in the comments!
Dutch Oven Bread
Equipment
- Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 4 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Add flour, salt, sugar, instant yeast and water to a large bowl. (See notes for using active dry yeast.)
- Combine all ingredients in a large, deep bowl with a wooden spoon. If necessary, add another tablespoon or two of flour.
- Once the dough starts to form a loose ball, scrape the edges of the bowl down toward the bottom.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap or light towel.
- Put in a warm, non-drafty location and allow to rise until doubled in size (about 60 minutes).
- Preheat oven and Dutch oven and lid in the oven to 450 degrees. If Dutch oven is not non-stick, line it with parchment paper.
- Scrape the dough carefully into the Dutch oven, letting it fold out over itself, trying not to deflate it.
- Place the lid over the dough and pot.
- Bake for 30 minutes, remove lid and bake another 15 minutes until crust is golden brown.
- Let cool slightly before carefully removing from Dutch oven and slicing.
Notes
- The dough is very loose and sticky. Stir it together with a spoon, and scrape it into a pile and let it rise in the same bowl.
- The fact that it's cooked in a Dutch oven with the lid on, allows the steam to develop and create a nice crust, while the pot actually holds the shape for the soft dough to bake.
- Use between a 5 quart and 7.5 quart Dutch oven for this recipe.
- If you place parchment paper inside the Dutch oven, then you can easily lift out the finished bread.
- Setting the dough in a warm, non drafty area, and covering it will help it to rise more quickly, on average about 1 hour.
- Use a deep bowl, rather than a shallow one to give the dough plenty of room to rise.
- Instant yeast is preferred.
- If using active dry yeast, dissolve it in the 2 cups of water that the recipe calls for at a lukewarm temperature (110 degrees F).
- The dough will seem very loose and sticky, that's why it's cooked in a Dutch oven. If it seems to loose, add 1-2 tablespoons of water but not more.
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