Quick Dutch Oven Bread for those times when you need bread today, not tomorrow!

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If you’re looking to make a crispy artisanal loaf of bread in your home oven you should try this Quick Dutch Oven Bread recipe! It comes together quickly in a stand mixer and bakes up in under an hour. The end result is a rustic loaf of bread perfect for serving with soups or stews.

This IS the Dutch Oven Bread you’ve been looking for! Crispy exterior, soft tender interior, perfect for buttering and it’s quick. No 24-hour rise on a “no knead loaf” here.

Why This Loaf Is So Fast

The big trade off here is the actual effort. In no knead bread you just mix up, let it rest and do the fold overs a couple times and let the dough do its thing. 12-24 hours later you’ve got a loaf that’s ready to bake. Your mileage may vary on that equation because all the no knead recipes are different.

In my Quick Dutch Oven Bread Recipe you spend the time at the beginning of the recipe kneading the dough. Then it’s two short rises and it’s ready to enjoy. You still pop it in a HOT Dutch Oven to bake but your total time start to finish is around 3 hours, depending on how warm your house is. There’s no guessing, no waiting, no having to be thinking ahead for the next day, you want bread, you get it in 3 hours.

round loaf of crusty bread on a cooling rack

What You Need For Quick Dutch Oven Bread

The only things you need are regular bread ingredients. Nothing fancy or special is needed to make this bread. There are few tools that make the job easier but I’ve got ideas on substitute tools that work just as well and you probably already have them around the house.

bread flour, you can use all-purpose flour it will work just fine, it might take a little longer but it still works
instant yeast or active dry yeast
salt
warm water

Tools you need and their substitutes:

dutch oven OR other heavy duty pot, see notes below
a bread sling, or use folded aluminum foil to make a sling
razor to slash the top of the bread, or use a sharp paring knife

A fresh loaf of bread on a cutting board.

Instant Yeast VS Active Yeast

You can use one or the other in this recipe. If you’re using instant yeast just add it to all the ingredients. If you’re using active yeast add it to the warm water and let it bubble up for a bit and then add the water to the flour mixture.

Do I need a Dutch Oven for Dutch Oven Bread?

NO! You just need a heavy cast iron pot with a lid that can withstand the 450˚ heat of the oven. You can use any 5-6 inch deep cast iron pan. I’ve had braisers that work for this recipe or the Le Creuset Bread Oven is nice too.

You will Not regret Buying this Bread Sling!

For my money the ONE tool I would insist on having is the bread sling. You can get similar results from folded foil OR parchment paper but the bread sling is easy to use and resuseable. Use this silicone Bread Sling to get your bread into and out of the Dutch Oven. I make the dough, let it rise, punch it down, shape my loaf and put it on this Bread Sling to rise. If using foil or paper let the dough rise right on it in the same fashion.

How Can I Proof My Bread Quickly?

What if you want to prove or rise quickly? You can do a lot of different things to get your bread to rise better. It just takes a little ingenuity. Here’s a few hacks for you to try:

Preheat your oven for 5 minutes or so, shut it off, make sure it isn’t too warm, and put your covered bowl in there to rise, keep an eye on it because it will go quickly
The top of the stove can be warm too if you’ve already got your oven on for some baking
Some people use their dehydrator, if you have a large one like an Excalibur you can take out the drying racks, turn it on low and put your dough bowl in there, again watch the dough for over proofing and be sure to keep the heat low
You can warm up a heating pad, turn it off and set your dough on it to rise
Place the covered dough bowl in the window if it’s warm there
Or place it near a heater

Anytime you use a heat source to speed up the rise be sure to keep an eye on your dough so it doesn’t bubble up and out of the bowl. OR over prove and collapse.

When you over prove bread dough it will not form a loaf correctly. It won’t be able to hold its shape, and it make a flatter loaf.

You Don’t Have to Hurry This One Though!

If you’re not in a hurry to have this bread as fast as possible let it slowly rise. A long slow rise will build flavor in your bread. And sometimes making the dough with cool water like this Ciabatta Bread Recipe will really make the flavor exceptional!

It will not be like sourdough though! If you HAVE a sourdough starter and you want to make bread with it try this sourdough cheese bread recipe, it’s full of cheese and jalapeños!

An ear on a NON-Sourdough loaf, how exquisite!

How To Store Quick Dutch Oven Bread

Let the loaf cool all the way through before you put it away, because a warm loaf gives off steam and trapped steam softens the crust you just worked for. Once it’s completely cool, keep it at room temperature. Skip the refrigerator, since bread actually goes stale faster at fridge temperature than it does on your counter.

How you wrap it is a tradeoff and there’s no way around it: a paper bag or bread box keeps that crackly crust but the inside dry out faster. A plastic bag keeps the crumb soft and turns the crust leathery by morning. For the first day I just set the loaf cut side down on the board and leave it be, which protects the cut end and leaves the crust exactly as it should be.

If the loaf makes it paste day one and dries out you can use the old “get it wet” trick. Run the whole loaf under running water, try not to let water hit the cut side it could get soggy. Then put it in a 350°F oven for ten minutes. It will crisp up but the inside will still be soft.