This is no kneading olive bread recipe tastes like it’s from a bakery, but it’s so easy to make at home! It has a delicious crispy crust, soft and chewy interior and developed, spicy taste. Everyone will sing its praises (every time we make it, our family can’t stop eating it).
As two professional recipe developers and cookbook authors, Alex and I always encourage home cooks to learn one skill: homemade bread! There really is nothing like pulling a golden brown loaf of bread out of the oven (the aroma in your kitchen alone is worth it!).
Here’s a bread recipe we’re head over heels for: this no knead olive bread recipe! It was inspired by our trip to France this summer, but you can easily whip it up at home with this recipe. Every time we make this for the family, everyone keeps exclaiming how good it is! Here’s everything you need to know about making olive bread at home.
How to make olive bread: an overview
Here is the basic outline of the tasks for this olive bread recipe. The process takes 5 minutes the night before, and then about 2 hours the day after. While you have to think ahead for the rest, this bread recipe is so much easier than our sourdough bread and/or artisan bread recipe. In fact, it’s the fastest and easiest bread method we have. Here’s an overview of what you need to do:
| Mix, rest overnight | 5 minutes active, 12 to 18 hours hands-free |
| Form & proof | 5 minutes active, 1 hour hands off |
| Bake | 45 minutes, hands off |
| Cool | 45 minutes, hands off |
Making no-knead bread requires a few tools. It’s easiest to make with a dutch oven, but you can also use a pizza stone. There are also several optional tools that make things easier but are not necessary. Here’s what you need!
- Large Dutch Oven: Baking bread in a covered Dutch oven retains the steam that the bread releases as it cooks. This gives an extra crispy crust and perfect rise. If you don’t have a dutch oven, you can use a pizza stone.
- Parchment paper: You will need parchment paper inside the dutch oven to prevent it from sticking while baking.
- Lamb or knife: A blunt or sharp knife is used to cut the bread.
- Kitchen scale: The best way to make bread is to weigh the dry ingredients, which makes the most accurate measurements (we use this kitchen scale).
Dutch oven vs pizza stone
A Dutch oven is a heavy, lidded cooking pot used to braise meats and make soups and stews. You can use it on the stove or in the oven. All Dutch ovens are made of cast iron; some have an enamel coating that makes them easier to clean.
The Dutch oven that we use for bread is the Lodge 6 Quart Cast Iron Dutch Oven. As it retains the steam, it gives the best crispy crust during baking. You can also use a Dutch oven to make soups, stews and more: Go to our best Dutch oven recipes.
As an alternative, you can use a pizza stone to bake this no-knead bread! You will also need to create extra steam in your oven by using a baking sheet and pouring boiling water on it when you add the bread. This creates steam, which makes the crust crispy. Here is the pizza stone we recommend. (Of course, you can also use it for our popular pizza dough recipe and all our pizza recipes!)
The flour for olive bread
For this olive bread recipe we use a mixture of all purpose flour (for texture) and bread flour (for strength). We find that this mix produces a moderately open crumb (the beautiful holes in the interior), a chewy crust and tangy flavor.
Personally, we use organic flour from the King Arthur brand. When we test many different types of flour, we find that it has the best and most consistent results for homemade bread recipes.
A note about olives
You can use any olive you like in this recipe: including green, black or purple olives. We like the Castelvetrano olives: they are a green olive variety grown in Sicily with a mild and fruity flavor that does not overpower the bread. But you can use any type you like: Kalamata olives, black or green olives, etc.
Why the night’s rest?
This olive bread recipe requires you to think 1 day ahead: you need to rest the bread dough overnight. If you’re like us, you might have trouble thinking ahead and wonder if you can skip this step. Unfortunately, it is important for this recipe! Here’s why:
- No kneaded bread requires only 1 proof. Proofing is leaving the bread at room temperature while the leavening agent (in this case yeast) does its magic to help the bread rise. Usually a proof is about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Both our sourdough bread and artisan bread require folding and “rising” the bread several times. So it is almost unheard of to make 1 sample for home-baked bread!
- The balance rests overnight. Proofreading requires a lot of time and effort to fold and proof print several times. So to shortcut it, you can rest the bread at room temperature overnight. For us, it is a very worthy trade-off! You save hours of bread and make time for baking day.
How to shape the boule
The main part of making olive bread that requires technique is shape the dough. You will shape it into a ball, called a boule. It is easiest to learn how to shape the dough by watching. Here is a video instruction for shaping the boule.
How to score the bread
The lines on the top of a beautiful loaf of bread are called cutting lines. Scoring is cutting the top of the dough with a sharp knife to allow it to expand as it bakes. Here are a few tips to score no knead bread:
- Use your sharpest knife or a lam. You want the knife to be ultra sharp. We bought a lamb for this (pronounced “lahm”) since we make lots of bread recipes – but it’s completely optional.
- Make flat cuts in the top of the dough. You just want to cut the surface – if it’s too deep it collapses, if it’s too shallow it cracks.
Storage of leftovers (important)
Storing home-baked bread is different from store-bought as it does not contain preservatives. There is also an important thing to remember:
- Do not store in plastic! Placing home-baked bread in plastic makes it soft and ruins the crispy crust. Be sure to store it wrapped in a fabric: a towel or a bread bag!
- Store at room temperature for 2 days: Once you have baked your olive bread, it is best eaten within 48 hours. We store ours wrapped in cloth at room temperature. Use a clean tea towel or a bread bag.
- Or freeze up to 3 months: You can also freeze olive bread. It’s easy to cut your loaf in half and freeze half of it! Allow to cool to room temperature, then slice and place in a sealed bag or container.
Diet notes
This olive bread recipe is vegetarian, vegan and plant-based.
Press
Olive bread (no kneading)
This no-knead olive bread recipe tastes like it’s from a professional bakery, but it’s so easy to make at home! It has a delicious crispy crust, soft and chewy interior and developed, spicy taste. Everyone will sing its praises (every time we make it, our family can’t stop eating it).
- Preparation time: 1 hour and 30 minutes (plus overnight)
- Preparation time: 45 minutes
- Total time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 to 14 slices 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baked
- Kitchen: French
- Diet: Vegan
- 2½ cups bread flour (350 grams)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (140 grams)
- 1 tsp instant or active dry yeast
- ½ tbsp kosher salt (9 grams)
- 1½ cups lukewarm water (354 grams)
- 1 cup pitted green olives, (dry weight 5.6 oz) sliced and dried (we used Castelvetrano olives)
- Mix the dough (the night before): Roughly chop the olives and pat them dry. In a large bowl, stir together the bread flour, all-purpose flour, yeast and salt. Add the hot water and olives. Stir with a wooden spoon or whisk until all the flour is incorporated and the olives are evenly distributed. Cover tightly and rest for 12-18 hours (overnight) at room temperature.
- Form the dough: When you’re ready to bake, remove the dough from the bowl onto a clean, lightly floured counter. With wet hands, place your hands behind the dough and gently pull the dough towards you to increase the tension on the surface of the dough. Turn and repeat until you have a boule shape, being careful not to tear the dough where the olives are close to the surface.
- Rest 1 hour: Place the boule on a piece of baking paper about twice the width of the boule. Cover the dough with an inverted large bowl and let it rest for 60 minutes.
- Preheat the oven: Preheat Dutch oven (with lid) at 450°F for 30 minutes.
- Cut the bread: Use a sharp knife or blade to cut a flat slit at a slight angle across the top of the dough.
- Bake in a Dutch oven for 17 minutes at 450°F: Working quickly and carefully with oven mitts or mitts, transfer the dough onto the parchment paper to the preheated Dutch oven, then place the top on. Bake for 17 minutes.
- Reduce to 400°F and bake for 27 to 30 minutes on a rack: Reduce oven temperature to 400°F. Remove the Dutch oven, carefully remove the bread, and place the bread directly on the oven rack (without parchment). Bake for an additional 25 to 27 minutes, until they are hollow when pressed or the internal temperature is 205 to 209 Fahrenheit.
- Cool and enjoy: Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for at least 45 minutes. After cooling, the bread is ready to eat.
- Storage information: Store the olive bread wrapped in cloth or in a bread bag on the counter for up to 2 days (do not store in plastic as it becomes soft!). Alternatively, you can freeze (cut) wrapped in foil in a plastic bag for several months. This bread is perfect for serving with cheese, as a base for bruschetta or just enjoyed on its own. Enjoy!
