No.3 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

No-knead bread

Made famous by Jim Lahey

Photo: daisybush, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Sullivan Street Bakery, published by Mark Bittman in The New York Times, 2006; and My Bread, 2009.

When Mark Bittman printed Jim Lahey's method in 2006, home cooks everywhere baked a crackling, open loaf for the first time. It is still one of the Times's most popular recipes.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in My Bread.

Ingredients

• 3 cups (400 g) bread flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 1/4 tsp (8 g) fine salt
• 1/4 tsp (1 g) instant yeast
• 1 1/3 cups (300 g) cool water (about 55 to 65F)
• Wheat bran, cornmeal or more flour, for the towel

Steps

1. In a large bowl, stir the flour, salt and yeast. Add the water and mix with a spatula or your hand for 30 seconds until there is no dry flour. The dough will be shaggy and sticky.
2. Cover the bowl with a plate or plastic and leave at room temperature (about 70F) for 12 to 18 hours. It is ready when the surface is dotted with bubbles and it has more than doubled.
3. Dust a work surface well with flour. Scrape the dough out; it will be loose and stringy. Fold it over on itself 3 or 4 times from each side to make a rough ball.
4. Generously dust a cotton (not terry) towel with bran, cornmeal or flour. Set the dough on it seam side down, dust the top, and fold the towel over it. Let rise 1 to 2 hours, until it has nearly doubled and a fingertip poke springs back slowly and leaves a dent.
5. Half an hour before the dough is ready, put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron or enamel) in the oven and heat to 450F (230C).
6. Carefully take out the hot pot. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough into the pot seam side up. It will look messy; that's fine. Shake the pot once to settle it.
7. Cover and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until the crust is a deep chestnut brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath (about 205F inside).
8. Cool on a rack at least 1 hour before cutting. The inside is still cooking as it cools; cut it hot and it turns gummy.

Chef's tips

• If your kitchen is cold, the first rise can take 20 to 24 hours. Go by the bubbles, not the clock.
• Parchment under the dough makes the transfer into the hot pot much easier.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in My Bread by Jim Lahey: get the book.

← No. 2Banana bread→ No. 4Tomato sauce with onion and butter