Even if you’ve never made homemade bread or worked with yeast before, this homemade crusty artisan bread is for you. It’s the perfect beginner recipe because it only requires 4 ingredients without any special pans or mixer, there’s no kneading or complicated shaping involved, and 95% of the work is hands-off. Bread masters will appreciate this recipe too because it delivers with delicious flavor, a slightly crisp and mega chewy crust, and those signature soft holes inside like ciabatta or French bread.
Bread Beginners—Start Here
Have you ever wanted to master homemade bread? Real, crusty, chewy, delicious bakery-style loaves that taste incredible with dips, soups, sauces, and comforting dinners? This is where you start. This artisan bread recipe is for beginners, but even bread masters will appreciate its flavor and ease. It’s so fresh, so flavorful, and so surprisingly easy because it basically makes itself.
You only need 4 ingredients without any special pans or mixer, there’s no kneading, no poolish or dough starter required, and you can add herbs, cheeses, and spices to make a variety of bread flavors.
This base recipe will soon be on repeat in your kitchen. After you realize how easy it is to make real homemade bread, you’ll find any excuse to bake a loaf. You can even turn it into garlic bread and homemade croutons.
What is Homemade Artisan Bread?
When it comes to bread, the term “artisan” doesn’t mean 1 particular thing. But, generally, artisan bread is homemade, fresh, crusty, and deliciously rustic-looking. An artisan is a skilled worker, one who works with their hands. But ironically, there isn’t much “work” involved with this recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Bread Recipe
- Easier than you ever imagined
- Soft + flavorful
- Chewy, slightly crisp crust
- Shape however you want
- No special pans, poolish, or dough starter required
- Only 4 ingredients
- You decide the length of time it rests
Like sandwich bread, whole wheat bread, focaccia, homemade English muffins, seeded oat bread, and homemade bagels—the process is surprisingly easy. If you’re new to yeast, reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
Only 4 Ingredients
The crustier and chewier the bread, the less fat in the dough—also known as a “lean dough.” We’re using a lean dough for our artisan loaf today. (If you’re curious, a “rich dough” is a soft bread dough with the presence of fat, such as butter and eggs—the kind we need for overnight cinnamon rolls, sweet potato dinner rolls, brioche, and honey butter rolls.) Without fat, we’re left with the basics.
- Bread Flour: While you can use all-purpose flour in this recipe, I strongly recommend using bread flour. Just like when we make olive bread, pizza bread, and asiago-crusted skillet bread, bread flour produces a stronger, chewier bread and that makes a big difference in a recipe with only 3 other ingredients.
- Instant Yeast: Instant yeast is key in this recipe. While you can use active dry if that’s all you have, any quick rise or instant yeast will produce flavorful results in less time. I use more yeast in this recipe compared to my cranberry nut no-knead bread and no-knead jalapeño cheddar bread. Why? Those doughs rest and rise at room temperature. However, for more flavor and just as much rise, I use more yeast and let this dough rest in the refrigerator. (Cool air slows the fermentation process.)
- Salt: You can’t make good bread without salt and for best flavor, I recommend a coarse salt, such as coarse sea salt. I find the bread’s flavor lacking with regular table salt.
- Water: I normally encourage you to use warm liquid with yeast because warm liquid helps the yeast work faster. However, use cool or room temperature water here. Not freezing cold, not super warm—cool to touch. 70°F (21°C) is great, but the exact temperature doesn’t matter as long as it’s not hot or warm. The cooler the water, the longer the dough takes to rise and, usually, the better the bread’s flavor. (This is important since there are so little ingredients to add substantial flavor!) We use the same cool water method for no knead honey oat bread.
- Optional Cornmeal: Dusting the pan with cornmeal adds a pop of flavor and a little crunch to the bottom crust. This is completely optional. If you have it, use it. If you don’t have it, don’t worry about it.
You can also add herbs and seasonings such as garlic, rosemary, dill, chopped onion, jalapeño, shredded cheese, chopped nuts, dried cranberries, etc. My no yeast bread is the quick bread alternative here—you can add flavors to that loaf, too!
Baker’s Tip: Avoid adding too much flour to the dough as you work with it. The stickier it is—and the longer it sits in the refrigerator—the more likely you’ll have those big airy pockets of air in the crumb.
How to Make Homemade Artisan Bread in 5 Steps
- Mix the dough ingredients together. At first the dough will seem very dry and shaggy and you’ll question if it will even come together. But it will. Use a spatula at first, then switch to your hands to ensure all of the flour is moistened. The dough is actually a little sticky after it’s thoroughly mixed.
- Let it rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours. Cover the dough and let it rise at room temperature for about 2-3 hours until doubled in size.
- Use right away or refrigerate. After 2-3 hours, you can immediately continue with the next step. However, for ideal flavor and texture, I strongly recommend letting the dough sit in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. Yes, 3 full days! I usually only let it rest for about 18 hours. During this crucial step, the cold air slows the fermentation process and adds so much flavor and texture. So, you can bake bread in 2-3 hours or in 3 days. The longer it sits, the better it tastes. 🙂
- Shape into 2 loaves or 1 boule. Rest as oven preheats. You can shape the bread into a round loaf (boule) or two longer loaves. I usually make two longer loaves side-by-side on a flat baking sheet, about 9×3 inches each. Preheat the oven to a very hot 475°F (246°C). The extremely hot air will immediately set the crust so the bread rises up instead of spreading all over. Score the loaves on top right before baking. Scoring also helps control the bread’s expansion. To help ensure a crispier crust, after the oven preheats, pour boiling water into a metal or cast iron baking pan on the bottom oven rack. Immediately place the baking sheet inside and shut the oven door to trap the steam. The steam will help create that coveted crisp crust.
- Bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Gently tap the loaves because if they sound hollow, they’re done.
Look at those deliciously soft holes inside! Reminds me of ciabatta or a French baguette, both of which can be a little more complicated to make.
Serve Artisan Bread With
- Slather with homemade honey butter or cinnamon butter
- Slice and dunk in crab dip, beer cheese dip, garlic & bacon spinach dip, or even homemade Italian dressing
- Serve alongside slow cooker chicken chili or pumpkin chili
- As a dunker for homemade tomato soup, creamy cauliflower potato soup, minestrone soup, creamy chicken noodle soup, crab soup, or slow cooker creamy chicken & corn soup
- With a big bowl of mac & cheese or spaghetti with slow cooker turkey meatballs
- Use for my goat cheese & honey crostini
- It’s the perfect starch in breakfast casserole or baked apple cider French toast
- Use it to make homemade garlic bread or homemade croutons
- With anything because homemade bread is everything’s best friend
Homemade Artisan Bread Recipe
- Prep Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours, 25 minutes
- Yield: 2 8-inch loaves
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Even if you’ve never made homemade bread or worked with yeast before, this homemade artisan bread is for you. Watch the video tutorial below and review the recipe instructions and recipe notes prior to beginning. If you’re new to working with yeast, reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
Ingredients
- 3 and 1/4 cups (about 430g) bread flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and pan
- 2 teaspoons (about 6g) instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons (about 9g) coarse salt (see note)
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) water, close to room temperature at about 70°F (21°C)
- optional: cornmeal for dusting pan
Instructions
- In a large ungreased mixing bowl, whisk the flour, yeast, and salt together. Pour in the water and gently mix together with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon. The dough will seem dry and shaggy, but keep working it until all the flour is moistened. If needed, use your hands (as I do in the video tutorial below) to work the dough ingredients together. The dough will be sticky. Shape into a ball in the bowl as best you can.
- Keeping the dough in the bowl, cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and set on the counter at room temperature (honestly any normal room temperature is fine!). Allow to rise for 2-3 hours. The dough will just about double in size, stick to the sides of the bowl, and have a lot of air bubbles.
- You can continue with step 4 immediately, but for absolute best flavor and texture, I strongly recommend letting this risen dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. Place covered dough in the refrigerator for 12 hours – 3 days. I usually let it rest in the refrigerator for about 18 hours. The dough will puff up during this time, but may begin to deflate after 2 days. That’s fine and normal—nothing to worry about.
- Lightly dust a large nonstick baking sheet (with or without rims and make sure it’s nonstick) with flour and/or cornmeal. Turn the cold dough out onto a floured work surface. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut dough in half. Some air bubbles will deflate as you work with it. Place dough halves on prepared baking sheet. Using floured hands, shape into 2 long loaves about 9×3 inches each (doesn’t have to be exact) about 3 inches apart. Loosely cover and allow to rest for 45 minutes. You will bake the dough on this prepared baking sheet.
- During this 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 475°F (246°C).
- When ready to bake, using a very sharp knife or bread lame (some even use kitchen shears), score the bread loaves with 3 slashes, about 1/2 inch deep. (“Score” = shallow cut.) If the shaped loaves flattened out during the 45 minutes, use floured hands to narrow them out along the sides again.
- Optional for a slightly crispier crust: After the oven is preheated and bread is scored, place a shallow metal or cast iron baking pan or skillet (I usually use a metal 9×13-inch baking pan) on the bottom oven rack. Carefully and quickly pour 3-4 cups of boiling water into it. Place the scored dough/baking pan on a higher rack and quickly shut the oven, trapping the steam inside. The steam helps create a crispier crust.
- Place the shaped and scored dough (on the flour/cornmeal dusted pan) in the preheated oven on the center rack. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Gently tap the loaves—if they sound hollow, the bread is done. For a more accurate test of doneness, the bread is done when an instant read thermometer inserted in the center reads 195°F (90°C).
- Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving. Store leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The dough can sit in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, so this is a wonderful recipe to begin ahead of time. You can also bake the bread, allow it to cool, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving. You can also freeze the dough. Complete the recipe through step 3. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in a freezer-friendly container. To bake, allow dough to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, or for 2-3 hours at room temperature. Continue with step 4 and the rest of the recipe instructions.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Silicone Spatula or Wooden Spoon | Baking Sheets | 2-cup Measuring Cup | Bread Lame | Instant Read Thermometer
- Flour: For absolute best flavor and chewy texture, I strongly recommend using bread flour. You can use a 1:1 substitution of all-purpose flour in a pinch with no other changes to the recipe. I recommend avoiding whole wheat flour in this dough. If necessary, use half bread flour and half whole wheat flour. The bread will taste dense.
- Yeast: You can use instant or active dry yeast, but I highly recommend an instant (aka “rapid rise” or “quick rise” yeast). The bread will rise faster. I usually use Platinum yeast by Red Star, which is an instant yeast. 2 teaspoons is a little less than 1 standard packet. If using active dry yeast, there are no changes needed to the recipe. The rise time in step 2 may take longer.
- Salt: Use a coarse salt, such as coarse sea salt, in this bread. I find the flavor slightly lacking when using regular table fine salt. If you only have fine salt, reduce to 1 and 1/2 teaspoons.
- Water: Use cool water. 70°F (21°C) is great, but the exact temperature doesn’t matter as long as it’s not hot or warm.
- Round Loaf: If you want to shape the dough into a boule (round loaf) simply shape into a round ball instead of 2 loaves in step 4. Baking instructions are the same, but the loaf will take a few extra minutes in the oven. If you want to bake the boule in a dutch oven, see next note.
- Using a Dutch Oven: Follow this dough recipe through step 3, then follow the simple shaping/baking instructions (steps 2-5) in my Cranberry Nut No Knead Bread recipe including using the parchment paper. If your parchment paper can’t withstand heat this high, you can either lower the oven temperature and bake the bread for longer or grease the Dutch oven instead.
- Using a pizza stone: If you want to bake your bread loaves on a pizza stone, place pizza stone in the preheating oven. In step 8, place the shaped and scored dough on your preheated pizza stone. If the bottom of the shaped dough is pretty sticky, dust the hot pizza stone with some extra cornmeal. Bake as directed.
- No Nonstick Pan: If you don’t have a nonstick baking sheet, line it with parchment paper instead. Coat with a dusting of flour and/or cornmeal before placing the dough on top. Parchment paper can burn, so it’s best to check the box to see how much heat yours can tolerate. Lower your oven heat if necessary and bake the bread for longer until golden brown and when gently tapped, sound hollow.
- Flavor ideas: Before pouring in the water in step 1, add any of the following ingredients/combination of ingredients to the dry ingredients in the bowl: 4 cloves minced garlic + 3 Tablespoons chopped rosemary, 3 Tablespoons your favorite fresh herb (chopped), 1 cup your favorite shredded cheese, a diced jalapeño, 3/4 – 1 cup dried cranberries and/or chopped nuts, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, etc.
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour & Red Star Yeast, similar method originally from Jim Lahey.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 slices
- Calories: 136
- Sugar: 0.1 g
- Sodium: 389.8 mg
- Fat: 0.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.2 g
- Protein: 4.7 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Reader Comments and Reviews
We love this recipe !! I make this almost weekly.
Was wondering if this can stay in the fridge for more than 3 days? thanks! 🙂
Hi Shalini, we find it’s best up to 3 days. Enjoy!
Such a brilliant site. Everything you need
Thank you very much!
Easy loaf and amazing results
10/10
Thank you!
I have been using this recipe for two years now and everyone I serve it to loves it. I like to try mixing things into it – cranberries was a good one, a niece requests cut up olives, sometimes I I add some cubed ham and shredded cheddar. It’s such a good recipe, thanks for posting.
Shredded parmesan and chilli flakes is my favourite combination to add. Definitely worth a try if you haven’t already.
This recipe was SO easy! My family was so impressed that we were able to actually execute bread! It was awesome!
One question- would I be able to sub millet flour or other types of flour to increase the nutritional value? I’d like to start avoiding commercial breads and do this more often but love the fact that we can get a bread with barley and millet and rye for nutrition into our kids
Hi Jessica, we haven’t tested this bread with those flours, so are unsure of the result. If you try it, please let us know how it goes!
This a great bread! How would one go about doubling it? Can it be doubled easily or is it more complicated than that?
Hi John, we’re so glad you enjoyed it! For best results, we recommend making two separate batches rather than doubling.
Love this recipe. Super simple but I do have some questions!
The yeast I use is fleischmans instant and it says the water needs to be 120° to activate the yeast. Is that okay for this recipe?
I live in the desert and at a higher altitude. When I tried shaping the loaves and cooking them at 475° they burnt to a crisp. Even in a Dutch oven at that temp they tend to burn in the bottom. Any suggestions?
And lastly, if I were to make this into sandwich bread, can I bake this in a loaf pan or will that affect it?
Thank you so much!
Hi Meg, we don’t find it necessary to proof the yeast for this bread, but you can if you wish. Just make sure to let the water + yeast come back down in temperature before adding to the flour and salt. A cooler liquid is necessary for this slow rise bread. There is a little too much dough for a standard size (9×5-inch) loaf pan, so you could try dividing the dough in half and using 2 loaf pans. The edges should still crisp up and the bake time may vary. Or, here is our sandwich bread recipe if you’re interested. We wish we could help with high altitude adjustments, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Honestly I do not understand why bother putting things and cups and teaspoons when they do not align with the equivalent in cups. How are two teaspoons 6 grams when talking about yeast, but 9 grams when talking about salt?? 3 cups and 1/4 cup is AT LEAST 700 gr not 430 gr
Hi Ines, we’re happy to help clarify. While some ingredients may have the same volume (i.e. the 2 teaspoons of yeast and 2 teaspoons of salt), they can have different weights (i.e. a cup of feathers does not weigh the same as a cup of gold). We consistently measure a cup of flour to be 130g, so about 430g (give or take, since some bakers may need to add an additional Tablespoon or so if the dough is especially wet) is correct for the 3 and 1/4 cups needed for this recipe. 700g of flour is entirely too much and would lead to a very dry, crumbly bread. Hope this is helpful.
The steam cracked the glass on my oven door – wish there was a warning this could have happened
I want to thank you Sally. I have tried many, many times to make bread, but never with success. This recipe was terribly easy and worked like a charm. I made a boule in my Dutch oven. I’m not sure why (I live in Mexico), but my oven only goes to about 425F, but the bread still came out great with only a few more minutes added to the baking time. It’s crusty, chewy and delicious.
I’ve made quite a few of your other recipes and I adore you. Sally’s is my #1 go-to site for recipes and I recommend it to everyone interested in cooking. Thanks!!!
This was my first time baking Artisan bread! I’ve baked Sally’s whole wheat bread, pizza dough, and sandwich bread and they’ve all turned out stunning! This Artisan bread did not disappoint the loaves were a beautiful golden brown when they came out of the oven and I dipped them in some balsamic vinegar and lemon olive oil for a snack. Excited to use this recipe in the future for garlic bread as well!
Thank you. My daughter and I love your site. I made this & while the flavor is delicious it got flat after I refrigerated it over night…. And stayed that way.
Easy recipe I added sugar to the recipe.
Hi
Second time baking this bread and my dough is far too runny.
I followed the recipe down to a tee. The bread is very nice but rather flat due to how much the dough spreads.
How much more flour wopuld you rec0mmend to use?
Thanks.
Hi Mat, this is a very wet dough. There are a lot of variables that can go into the consistency of dough, down to even the weather/humidity. If you find your dough is especially wet/loose, you can certainly add more flour (1 Tablespoon at a time) until the dough comes into a workable consistency. Hope this helps!
Thank you. Will try.
This was incredible! Thank you for sharing!
Can I use an aluminum bowl for mixing
Hi Josie, yes, any mixing bowl will work just fine.
I make this recipe about once a week now, so delicious and such a great texture BUT I found that 430 g of flour isn’t enough. The dough was unmanageably wet and the bread came out with huge bubbles.
I now use 450 g and it is perfect every time!
Added a cup of sharp cheddar and 1/4 cup diced jalapeno peppers. Used boiling water to crisp the crust. Needed additional time in oven, but what a great loaf.
Hi Sally. When I baked this for the first time it turned out well. I used whey liquid instead of water and it was nice. This time I tried it with adding herbs and garlic and water but it was dense, not as airy and taste wasn’t as good :// I used active yeast and kept it at room temperature for 8 hours 🙁 Would this be the reason? I still have some dough kept in the fridge. Can you please suggest what I can do to make it right? Thanks so much
Hi Jessica, 8 hours at room temperature is a long time for this dough and it was likely overproofed. After 2-3 hours when it’s doubled in size, it’s best to move it to the refrigerator.
This is the best and so easy! Has anyone tried to bake these in a baguette pan? Any tips?
Even though i forgot to score the bread, I remembered about 10 mins into cooking, it turned out AMAZING!!! I added dried minced onion and garlic. I don’t eat much bread bc of how processed everything is but will definitely be adding this to my regular makes. Thanks for a simple delicious recipe!!!!
I love making this bread and I do it very often. However, I always end up getting big bubbles in the middle, is there any way I can avoid getting those? Thanks!!
Hi Veronica, every loaf will turn out differently, some with more air bubbles than others. They are completely normal and to be expected. If you overwork the dough and pop those bubbles, it would result in a denser loaf. So glad this is a favorite for you!
This is the best bread recipe! I’ve made this a zillion times now. Sometimes I bake it same day, other times I fridge it overnight. Love it!
Hello
This will be my second round of baking the artisan bread! This is a really good recipe-the way bread should always taste!!
My question- I wanted to add extras to the bread, (number 11 of the notes). The only problem is that I did not do it the way it says to (add to dry ingredients).
Wondering if It advisable that I can add the shredded cheese and herbs prior to shaping the loaves? So when one slices the loaf, the cheese will ooze out of the middle.
Hi Lee, you can certainly try “shaping” the loaves around the cheese, but since this is a no-knead bread you’ll want to be very careful not to overwork or knead the dough too much, as it will collapse the air bubbles and bake up quite dense. You might like this cheese bread recipe instead.
I love this recipe so much I have made it 4 times in the past week! I am wondering if I can substitute whole wheat flour for the bread flour? And if so, would I need to adjust the amount of water, salt or yeast and cook any differently? Thank you!
Hi Lisa, we’re so glad you enjoyed it! We recommend avoiding whole wheat flour in this dough. If necessary, use half bread flour and half whole wheat flour. The bread will taste a bit dense.
made a round loaf with garlic and dried herbs and it’s delicious! I had to add some extra flour because my dough was so wet and sticky but besides that it was pretty simple to make and turned out perfect. currently enjoying a slice with some butter and cheese :]
I have whey liquid from yogurt I recently made. Could I use it in this recipe in place of the 1.5 cups of water this recipe calls for? Looking forward to trying this recipe.
Hi Joy, we haven’t tested it so aren’t sure of the resulting taste, but I don’t see why you couldn’t use it. Let us know how it goes!
Hi Shelly, we’re so glad you enjoyed it! We recommend avoiding whole wheat flour in this dough. If necessary, use half bread flour and half whole wheat flour. The bread will taste a bit dense.
Thanks. I like using whole wheat but I can stick to just bread flour for this recipe. I appreciate the feedback as always!
Hi! Hav tried your soft loaf to great effect! Trying this next – one quick question- is the oven temp in c for a fan oven? Seems super hot! Thank you
Hi Emily, the temperature for all of our recipes is for a conventional oven setting. We hope you enjoy this one!
Will be trying this recipe. I bake bread at leaast 3 times a month.