An artisanal loaf of No Knead Sourdough Bread that takes almost no skill and minimal amount of hands-on time. All you need for this recipe is two ingredients, and the bread itself is crusty with a tender, airy crumb and a delicious flavor.
If making bread seems like a lot of work to you, I have for you today the perfect solution: my No Knead Sourdough Bread.
This is really one of my favorite bread recipes, and one everyone at home loves, including my 9-year-old, Jay. He loves eating it fresh and once it’s a day old, I toast it up for him and he loves it even more. Because with a dab of vegan butter, this bread is heaven itself.
I started out with a recipe from Sam Sifton, but over the weeks I’ve tried different versions of it, including a part whole-wheat one that is ridiculously good, although not as airy as the version made entirely with white bread flour. It does pack in a ton of flavor, though. You can rest easy even if you make your bread with all white flour because the probiotic microflora in the sourdough slow down the rate at which glucose is released into the blood-stream, making sourdough bread — yeah even white sourdough bread — rank lower on the glycemic index.
The best part about making this bread is, I don’t even need to refer back to the recipe. The ingredients couldn’t be simpler or more basic and therefore easy to remember. All you need are:
-Sourdough starter (here’s the recipe, if you don’t already have one. My starter uses 3/4th cup of water for each cup of flour).
-Flour
-Salt and water, of course
The only real work is mixing up the ingredients, but you can do it all in one bowl and set it aside to rise. Couldn’t be easier. You do need some time for the sourdough to do its magic, but it’s all hands-off time and some things are worth waiting for, aren’t they?
The dough needs two rises. One is a longer, overnight rise, and the second is a shorter, two-hour rise. You will need a dutch oven or a heavy, oven-safe pot with a lid to bake the bread. My dutch oven is not enameled on the inside, but it works just great. You will also need some parchment paper or a kitchen towel for the second rise, with parchment a much better option.
I won’t keep you waiting any longer for the recipe, but I hope you will try this loaf. If you do, I guarantee you’ll love it. Be sure, as always, to follow instructions precisely. I am not a stickler for following recipe instructions, and I don’t ask that you do that with mine except when you’re baking.
Here’s the recipe. Happy baking — and breaking — some delicious No Knead Sourdough Bread!
***
More sourdough recipes:
White Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Sourdough Challah without Eggs
Herby, Garlicky Sourdough Focaccia
Best. Focaccia. Ever.
More vegan bread recipes:
Vegan Olive Oil Brioche with Aquafaba
Crusty Italian Bread
Crusty French Bread
No Knead Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
All-Whole-Wheat Crescent Rolls
***
No Knead Sourdough Bread
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup sourdough starter, unfed (see recipe notes for instructions on how to make a sourdough starter)
- 1 1/4 cups water (I always use distilled or non-chlorinated water for bread, especially sourdough breads)
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour (can replace 1 cup of the bread flour with whole wheat flour. The bread will be less airy but still delicious)
- 1 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the sourdough starter with the water, then add the flour and salt and mix until a consistent dough forms. You can do this by hand or in your stand mixer.
- Cover the bowl with cling wrap and let the dough rise overnight or 8-10 hours.
- Turn the risen dough onto the kitchen counter and form it into a ball, tucking the seams down.
- Prepare a sheet of parchment paper by sprinkling liberally with flour. If you don't have parchment, you can use a kitchen towel sprinkled with flour, but keep in mind that there is a much higher chance of your dough deflating when it rises on a kitchen towel because it will more likely stick to the towel. Place the parchment paper or kitchen towel on a baking sheet.
- Transfer the ball of dough onto the parchment paper or kitchen towel, seam side down. Cover (I use the bowl I mixed the dough in), and let it rise another two hours.
- About half an hour before your bread is done rising for the second time, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Place a heavy cast-iron or other oven-safe pot in the oven with the lid on. (I use a 3.2 quart dutch oven that is not enameled on the inside. Enameled is even better.)
- Once the dough has risen, carefully remove your heated pot from the oven. Quickly, in a smooth motion, turn the dough into the pot so that the seam side now faces up. A parchment paper makes this much easier because the dough slides off more smoothly. Be very careful doing all this because the pot is very hot.
- Put the lid back on the pot and bake for 30 minutes. Take off the lid and continue baking the bread for another 20 minutes. The bread will split at the top and char a little, which I love because the charring adds even more flavor.
- Once the loaf is baked, remove to a rack and let it cool about half an hour before carefully removing it from the pot. Let the loaf continue cooling on a rack. Slice and serve, or tear it apart with your bare hands (which you just might want to do because who has time for niceties when there's a delicious loaf of bread to be eaten 😉 ).
Notes
Nutrition
I used my unfed starter, but let the first rise happen in the fridge overnight. I also added olive oil to the dough in the beginning. The bread rose beautifully for the second rise and I placed it on parchment first before placing in the Dutch oven (enameled). It is perhaps the best bread I’ve baked thus far! Thank you!!!
How long are you mixing the dough initially? It says no knead but it’s super sticky and I keep mixing and waiting for a dough to form but it isn’t happening. Can you give a approximate time frame I’m mixing it in a stand mixer.
Also when you’re putting it onto the counter and forming it into a ball are you kneading it? Why not just form it in your hands and plop it onto the parchment?
Do you add flour or oil or anything while you’re putting it on the counter it’s so sticky?
I started a starter on Friday afternoon and today on Tuesday afternoon started this recipe with wholemeal flour and today baked the loaf. What a glorious thing! It is divine. How could I ever go back to yeast? Next, hot cross buns
Delicious!
Used my own starter and it came out beautifully!
Hi! I started my own starter a few months ago using your recipe and she and I have made some delicious adventures together. However, I tried making this recipe and ran into a snag. While I made a beautiful, delicious loaf, I lost the entire bottom due to sticking to my enameled dutch oven bottom. Your instructions say to preheat the dutch oven with the oven but you -cannot- preheat an empty enameled dutch oven. So I’m wondering if that’s where the trouble is. How do you think I can avoid the sticking problem?
Leave the parchment paper with the dough and just lower inti enameled pan. I do this and it works great!
I always preheat my dutch oven as this is how you get the temperature right for proper baking without kneading. And I also always place mine in the pot gently using the baking paper that I have shaped the loaf on that way you don’t burn yourself – its also easier to get out when it’s done.
I have had no issue with rehearing an empty Dutch oven. Bake the bread on parchment paper.
Hello there, stumbled upon your website and have to compliment and thank you for what you do and share, it is wonderful. My Daughter and I are both clinical coeliacs (confirmed medical diagnosis, not just eating gluten free for the fun of it) and we are not impressed at all by the poor quality of commercial GF breads… and being of Italian descent we crave the stuff!
So I am about to embark in the sourdough adventure using your GF starter recipe and this “no knead” bread looks absolutely devine, there is only one catch… your instructions state to set oven to 500F, which equates to 260C and I cannot find any casserole dish (the British/Australian name for a dutch oven) that is safe at those temperatures! Most I could find was an expensive brand which is limited to 240C.
Any suggestions?
Many thanks
Paul
Perth – Australia
Hi Paul, you can make this in a cast iron dutch oven if you have one or use a baking sheet — form the bread into a boule as best as you can, although it may bake up a bit flatter. I don’t know if you’re planning to adapt this recipe, which is not gf, but in case you’re looking for a gf recipe, see my glutenfree sourdough boule here: https://holycowvegan.net/gluten-free-sourdough-boule/
So first rise of 8-10 hrs should be in warm place or refrigerated please? Anxious to try this out! Thank you!
Warm place! Kitchen countertop on a warm day is fine.
I made this yesterday! About two weeks ago I made a sourdough starter using your recipe (named him Thaddeus, very important detail lol), and this was my first attempt at a sourdough loaf! My starter is made from bread flour. I hear that’s important because different types of flour take on different flavors. I was skeptical that this bread would work, as the dough was SO FREAKING STICKY and really … I don’t know the word… loose? Runny? However, I followed instructions, popped it in a makeshift dutch oven (a bunch of foil awkwardly fashioned in a big baking tray), and hoped for the best. My loaf didn’t char like yours – it just turned a lovely golden brown. I think my oven temperature might be a bit inconsistent. *BUT* – the bread turned out great! It was so light and fluffy, with just the right amount of chew and crunch in the crust. The bottom crust was really firm – very difficult to cut through. I don’t know what happened there. However for a first attempt I consider it a resounding success. I brought the loaf to a potluck dinner party, served it with some Melt vegan butter, and everybody really liked it! Thanks for your recipe! I look forward to trying it again.
What if you don’t want it charred? I’m cooking it and it’s almost burnt… really hard to eat. Should I lessen the time with the lid off?
Hello,
For the 8 to 10 hrs, is that overnight in the refrigerator?
Thank you
Sorry about random words…. Auto correct! Predicting!
Hi Meg, thanks for letting me know. I don’t own a scale right now, but will keep this in mind for future.
I love your blog and would really, we really appreciate it if o7 used gram measures instead of cup measures…. I’m in Australia and we use metric Cups… I just too hard to work out each time, john and it never quite does… Thanks in advance.
Hi there! Is this sourdough starter fed or unfed? 🙂
Both will work, but for this one I used unfed. I’ll also clarify in the recipe.