Wednesday, October 1, 2025
HomeFoodCrusty No-Knead Pizza Bread - Sally's Baking

Crusty No-Knead Pizza Bread – Sally’s Baking


This no-knead pizza bread delivers huge taste with barely any effort. The dough rests and rises in a single day, so a lot of the course of is totally hands-off—no kneading or difficult shaping required. The result’s a bakery-style loaf with a crispy golden crust and a smooth, chewy inside, full of pepperoni, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and mozzarella. Add a sprinkle of crushed crimson pepper for pizzeria-style warmth, then serve it heat with pizza sauce or tomato soup for dipping, or slathered in scorching honey butter for an additional kick.

pizza bread with pepperoni, olives, and fresh parsley.

At this time’s recipe, like my home made artisan bread, seeded oat bread, asiago-crusted bread, cranberry nut bread, jalapeño cheddar bread, and olive bread, has all of the bells and whistles of a fresh-from-the-bakery loaf, but it takes little or no effort. In case you are new to working with yeast, or are merely within the temper to bake a low-effort bread, this recipe is for you.


A Flavorful Bread Recipe for Newcomers

When you’re nervous to attempt home made bread, this recipe is a superb introduction. Though the recipe is straightforward, the bread does NOT skimp on taste. It’s only a easy means of baking home made bread impressed by the no-knead approach originating from bread professional Jim Lahey. Right here’s why it’s so easy:

  • Completely no kneading (similar to home made English muffins)
  • Zero difficult shaping
  • No mixer required
  • 90% of the time is completely arms off
  • Can bake in a Dutch oven or on a baking sheet, pizza stone, or forged iron skillet (all directions are beneath!)

Yeast Bread Success Ideas

When you’re a bread newbie, reference this Baking with Yeast Information for useful, easy-to-understand solutions to many yeast FAQs.

no-knead pizza bread sliced with spicy honey butter.

Key Elements You Want & Why

  1. Bread Flour: I strongly advocate utilizing bread flour as a substitute of all-purpose flour. Bread flour produces a stronger, chewier bread and that makes a giant distinction in an artisan-style loaf like this pizza bread or in a recipe like home made ciabatta bread.
  2. Immediate Yeast: Whereas you need to use lively dry yeast if that’s all you’ve, any quick-rise or on the spot yeast will produce flavorful ends in much less time. I exploit extra yeast on this recipe in comparison with my cranberry nut no-knead bread and no-knead jalapeño cheddar bread. Why? These doughs relaxation and rise at room temperature. Nevertheless, for extra taste and simply as a lot rise, I exploit extra yeast and let this dough relaxation within the fridge. (Cool air slows the fermentation course of and helps develop higher taste.) Moreover, the mix-ins in at the moment’s bread are heavy, so we want a bit of additional oomph!
  3. Salt: I like to recommend utilizing coarse salt as a result of I discover the bread’s taste missing with common desk salt.
  4. Sugar: Just a bit sugar helps steadiness all of the savory, salty flavors, and likewise will increase yeast exercise. You could possibly use honey as a substitute if desired.
  5. Seasonings: Dried oregano, basil, and garlic powder add taste to the dough. For a bit of pizzeria-style warmth, add some crushed crimson pepper flakes. How spicy you want your pizza bread is as much as you!
  6. Combine-ins: That is the place you’ll be able to mess around along with your favourite pizza toppings. See beneath for my suggestions.
  7. Mozzarella Cheese: You should use both shredded mozzarella, or diced recent mozzarella cheese. In our testing, we discovered that the bread with the chunks of recent mozzarella unfold a bit of extra. However each methods tasted scrumptious.
  8. Water: I usually encourage you to make use of heat liquid with yeast, like we do in no-knead seeded oat bread, as a result of heat liquid helps the yeast work quicker. Nevertheless, use cool or room-temperature water right here. 70°F (21°C) is nice, however the actual temperature doesn’t matter so long as it’s not heat. We use the identical cool-water technique for no-knead honey oat bread.
ingredients measured out including bread flour, sugar, salt, herbs, garlic powder, and pepperoni.

Select Your Pizza Toppings to Combine Into the Dough

In our recipe testing, the group favourite pizza bread included a mixture of pepperoni, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives.

However you’ll be able to adapt the mix-ins to your style—simply preserve them to a couple of heaping cup altogether. When you don’t like olives, for instance, merely substitute them with extra pepperoni and sun-dried tomatoes. (And for those who LOVE olives, do that comparable recipe for no-knead olive bread!) You may as well attempt cooked and crumbled sausage, caramelized onions, and/or diced ham.

Along with these pizza toppings, we’ll additionally add mozzarella cheese.


In Photographs: Making No-Knead Pizza Bread

Combine the dry substances collectively after which combine within the pizza toppings and water. Use a spatula at first after which change to your arms, if wanted, to make sure the entire flour is moistened.

flour in bowl with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese and shown again being mixed together.flour in bowl with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese and shown again being mixed together.

The dough is sticky after it’s completely combined:

spatula mixing pepperoni pizza dough.spatula mixing pepperoni pizza dough.

Let it rise. Cowl the dough and let it rise at room temperature for 3 hours.

The dough will rise OUT as a substitute of rising UP. After 3 hours, place the dough within the fridge for at the least 12 hours and as much as 3 days. Right here is the dough after 24 hours of refrigeration:

dough risen in bowl.dough risen in bowl.

After the dough rises and rests within the fridge, use generously floured arms to form the dough right into a spherical boule or ball-like form. Let it relaxation for half-hour because the oven preheats, after which rating the floor with a bread lame or sharp knife. Scoring permits the moist, ethereal dough to “breathe” and develop because it bakes.

hands holding dough and shown again scoring dough with bread lame.hands holding dough and shown again scoring dough with bread lame.

Use a Dutch Oven, Baking Sheet, or Forged Iron Skillet

You’ll bake the pizza bread in a pre-heated (super-hot!) lined Dutch oven, which traps steam contained in the pot, serving to to create that completely crusty, shiny exterior. When you plan to bake a variety of bread sooner or later, you gained’t remorse selecting up a Dutch oven.

No Dutch oven? No drawback. Whereas baking the bread in a Dutch oven is essential to this bread’s texture, you may get round it. Listed here are just a few different choices:

  1. Baking Sheet: In contrast to a Dutch oven, forged iron skillet, or pizza stone, a baking sheet doesn’t retain warmth as nicely, and because it doesn’t entice steam, the bread gained’t develop fairly the identical crisp, crusty exterior (arguably one of the best half!). That mentioned, a baking sheet is essentially the most handy choice for a lot of dwelling bakers. To enhance the crust, I recommend including steam to your oven, and I clarify how within the recipe Observe beneath. It is a trick I exploit when baking my 4-ingredient artisan bread.
  2. Pizza Stone or Forged Iron Skillet: These choices are implausible for those who don’t have a Dutch oven. They maintain extra warmth than a baking sheet, however once more, there’s no trapped steam contained in the oven. To enhance the crust, add steam to the oven utilizing the tactic described within the Observe beneath.

The bread is unbelievable when it’s recent from the oven—heat, crispy, crusty, and smooth and chewy inside!

bread in dutch oven.bread in dutch oven.

Due to the sticky dough and cheese, this bread is flatter than most boules. However this simply means a better crust-to-interior ratio! Good for dunking.

crusty bread sliced and sitting on marble circle with bowls of tomato soup.crusty bread sliced and sitting on marble circle with bowls of tomato soup.

What Can I Serve With This Pizza Bread?

Actually, it’s implausible all by itself. With the entire add-ins, cheese, garlic, and herbs, there’s SO a lot taste in each single chew. Nevertheless, right here’s what we loved:

  • Heat pizza or marinara sauce for dipping
  • Tomato soup or minestrone soup
  • Flavorful dipping oil: Combine collectively 3 Tablespoons additional virgin olive oil and a pair of minced garlic cloves plus a sprinkle every of crimson pepper flakes, recent or dried thyme leaves, dried oregano, salt, and pepper.
  • Scorching honey butter! A diffusion of sweet-and-spicy scorching honey butter on a heat slice of this pizza bread isn’t strictly essential… however when you’ve tasted it, you’ll doubtless agree with us that it truly is essential. It’s fast and straightforward to make, similar to my traditional home made honey butter. I included the recipe beneath!


Print

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Description

This no-knead pizza bread delivers huge taste with barely any effort. The dough rests and rises in a single day, so a lot of the course of is totally hands-off—no kneading or difficult shaping required. The result’s a bakery-style loaf with a crispy golden crust and a smooth, chewy inside, full of bits of pepperoni, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and mozzarella. Serve slices heat with pizza sauce or tomato soup for dipping, or slathered in scorching honey butter for a contact of candy warmth! When you’re new to working with yeast, reference my Baking with Yeast Information for solutions to widespread yeast FAQs.


  • 3 and 1/3 cups (about 440g) bread flour (spooned & leveled), plus extra as wanted for shaping and pan
  • 2 teaspoons on the spot or lively dry yeast
  • 2 teaspoons coarse salt*
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (or honey, see Observe)
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed crimson pepper flakes, optionally available
  • 1 heaping cup (about 135g) chopped pepperoni, sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil & drained), and/or olives
  • 1 cup (113g) shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) water, near room temperature at about 70°F (21°C)

Non-obligatory Scorching Honey Butter


  1. *No must grease the bowl, and don’t use a mixer on this step as a result of the dough is just too sticky for a mixer.* In a big mixing bowl, whisk collectively the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, oregano, basil, garlic powder, and crushed crimson pepper (if utilizing). Utilizing a silicone spatula or picket spoon, combine within the chopped add-ins (pepperoni, sun-dried tomatoes, olives) and mozzarella cheese. Pour within the water and gently combine collectively. The dough will appear dry and shaggy, however preserve working it till all of the flour is moistened. If wanted, use your arms to work the dough substances collectively till all of the flour is moistened. The dough shall be sticky. Form right into a ball within the bowl as greatest you’ll be able to.
  2. Cowl the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and set on the counter at room temperature. Enable to rise for 3 hours. The dough will nearly double in measurement, stick with the edges of the bowl, and have a variety of air bubbles. Place the risen dough, nonetheless lined, within the fridge for at the least 12 hours and as much as 3 days. The dough will puff up throughout this time, however might start to deflate after 2 days. That’s regular.
  3. Flip the dough out onto a flippantly floured work floor and, utilizing generously floured arms, form right into a ball as greatest you’ll be able to. It doesn’t should be excellent. Switch the dough to a big piece of parchment paper. (Massive sufficient to suit inside your pot and one that’s protected for top warmth. I exploit this parchment and it’s by no means been a difficulty.) Place the ball of dough + parchment inside a medium-size mixing bowl so the dough doesn’t unfold out because it rests. Cowl and let it relaxation for half-hour.
  4. Throughout this relaxation, preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C). (Sure, very popular!) Place a 6-quart or bigger Dutch oven (with the lid) or heavy-duty pot within the oven for half-hour in order that it’s extraordinarily scorching earlier than the dough is positioned inside.
  5. After half-hour, utilizing a really sharp knife or bread lame (some even use kitchen shears), rating the dough with an X, about 1/2 inch deep. (“Rating” = shallow reduce.) Take away the Dutch oven from the oven and punctiliously place the scored dough inside by lifting it up with the parchment paper and putting all of it—the parchment paper included—contained in the pot. Cowl with the lid.
  6. Bake for 25 minutes with the lid on. Fastidiously take away the lid and proceed baking for round 10–quarter-hour extra till the bread is golden brown. The best way to take a look at for doneness: Give the nice and cozy bread a light-weight faucet. If it sounds hole, it’s finished. For a extra correct take a look at, the bread is finished when an instant-read thermometer reads the middle of the loaf as 195°F (90°C).
  7. Take away pot from the oven, rigorously take away the bread from the pot, and permit to chill on a cooling rack for at the least 20 minutes earlier than slicing. Due to the heavy add-ins and cheese, this bread is flatter than most boules. However this simply means a better crust to inside ratio! Slice and serve with home made scorching honey butter, if desired. 
  8. Make the recent honey butter: In a big bowl utilizing a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium pace till fully easy and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the remaining substances, beginning with only one/8 teaspoon of salt and a small pinch of crimson pepper flakes. Beat on medium-high pace till fully easy, about 1 minute. Scrape down the edges of the bowl with a silicone spatula and beat once more as wanted to mix. Style. Add extra salt and/or crushed crimson pepper flakes if desired.
  9. Retailer leftovers loosely lined at room temperature for as much as 3 days or within the fridge for as much as 1 week. Tightly cowl leftover scorching honey butter and retailer at room temperature for as much as 2 days or within the fridge for as much as 2–3 months.


Notes

  1. Make Forward & Freezing Directions: The dough can sit within the fridge for as much as 3 days, so this can be a fantastic recipe to start forward of time. You may as well bake the bread, enable it to chill, wrap it tightly and freeze for as much as 3 months. Thaw within the fridge and permit to return to room temperature earlier than serving. You may as well freeze the dough. Full the recipe via step 2. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in a freezer-friendly container or zip-top bag. Freeze for as much as 3 months. To bake, enable dough to thaw in a single day within the fridge, or for two–3 hours at room temperature. Proceed with step 3 and the remainder of the recipe directions. You possibly can freeze scorching honey butter for as much as 6 months. Thaw within the fridge earlier than utilizing. If desired, after it has thawed, you’ll be able to deliver it to room temperature and beat with a mixer till it’s additional creamy.
  2. Particular Instruments (affiliate hyperlinks): Glass Mixing Bowls | Picket Spoon or Silicone Spatula | Dutch Oven | 2-Cup Measuring Cup | Parchment Paper | Bread Lame | Immediate-Learn Thermometer | Electrical Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Coarse Sea Salt | Flaky Sea Salt
  3. Flour: For very best taste and chewy texture, I strongly advocate utilizing bread flour. You should use a 1:1 substitution of all-purpose flour in a pinch with no different adjustments to the recipe. I like to recommend avoiding entire wheat flour on this dough. The bread shall be extraordinarily dense and heavy. As a substitute, attempt my entire wheat bread.
  4. Yeast: You should use on the spot or lively dry yeast, however I extremely advocate an on the spot (aka “fast rise” or “fast rise” yeast). The bread will rise quicker. 2 teaspoons is rather less than 1 normal packet. If utilizing lively dry yeast, there aren’t any adjustments wanted to the recipe. The rise time in step 2 might take longer. Reference my Baking with Yeast Information for solutions to widespread yeast FAQs.
  5. Salt: Use a rough salt, comparable to coarse sea salt, on this bread. I discover the flavour barely missing when utilizing common desk wonderful salt. When you solely have wonderful salt, cut back to 1 and 1/2 teaspoons.
  6. Sugar: Just a little sugar helps steadiness all of the sturdy savory and salty flavors on this bread. As a substitute of granulated sugar, you need to use honey. If utilizing honey, as a substitute of blending it into the dry substances such as you would the sugar, whisk it into the water you utilize within the dough.
  7. Garlic & Herbs: Be at liberty to make use of 2–3 teaspoons chopped recent oregano and/or recent basil as a substitute of dried. As a substitute of garlic powder, you need to use 2 teaspoons minced recent garlic or roasted garlic.
  8. Directions If You Don’t Have a Dutch Oven: When you don’t have a Dutch oven, you’ll be able to nonetheless bake this bread on a baking sheet, pizza stone, or forged iron skillet. Baking Sheet: Place the formed dough on a parchment-lined or generously floured (or cornmeal-dusted) baking sheet in step 3, cowl, and let relaxation for half-hour. Whereas the oven preheats (step 4), deliver a kettle of water to a boil. As soon as the dough is scored (step 5), place the baking sheet on the middle rack and a shallow metallic pan (not glass) on the underside rack. Fastidiously pour 3–4 cups of boiling water into the pan to create steam, then shortly shut the oven door. The steam helps give the bread a crisper crust such as you’d get in a Dutch oven. Bake for round 35–38 minutes and test for doneness with an instant-read thermometer as described in step 6. Pizza Stone or Forged Iron Skillet (10–12-inch): You possibly can preheat the stone or forged iron skillet within the oven in step 4 for a barely crisper crust (or skip preheating for those who desire) and you can even add steam to the oven, as described within the baking sheet technique. After scoring the dough in step 5, switch it (on parchment, for the reason that dough may be very sticky) onto the recent stone or skillet. Bake as directed, however be aware that the bread might end a bit of quicker, so regulate it and test for doneness with an instant-read thermometer as described in step 6.

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