No Knead Skillet Bread with Olives
Dec 18, 2016, Updated Nov 02, 2023
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Enjoy a crusty, fluffy, and incredibly flavorful loaf of no-knead bread filled with marinated olives and garlic, cooked in a skillet! It’s simple to make and irresistibly delicious!
If you love homemade bread as much as I do, you’ve got to try my easy garlic breadsticks or these crispy, flavorful grissini, too; both are perfect for dipping or snacking!
If you’re a bread lover who craves freshly baked goodness without a lot of work and kneading, this no knead bread in a skillet is the recipe you need! This simple, flavorful homemade bread is crusty on the outside, soft on the inside, and studded with savory olives. With just a few basic ingredients and a cast iron skillet, you can easily create a delicious loaf that will impress everyone, including yourself!
Why I Love This Skillet Bread Recipe
- Perfect texture: Achieve a delicious, soft, fluffy bread without kneading.
- Adaptable: This recipe includes marinated olives and garlic, but you can easily swap and customize it by incorporating other ingredients.
- Effortless: This bread recipe requires minimal effort, making it a perfect choice for bakers of all levels.
Ingredients For Skillet Bread
- For the dough: lukewarm water, yeast, all-purpose flour, and salt.
- For the filling: olives, herbs, and garlic.
How To Make No Knead Skillet Bread
As championed by the authors of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, in a nutshell, this Skillet Bread is just a batch of straightforward dough.
- Start by combining lukewarm water, yeast, flour, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the olives, herbs, and garlic and let the dough rise for 1 hour.
- Coat a 10-inch skillet (a 12-inch skillet works, too) with olive oil. Shape the dough into a disk, transfer it to the skillet, and let it rest for 30 more minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Drizzle the dough with olive oil, sprinkle it with salt and parsley, and bake for 30 minutes or until browned.
- Invert the skillet bread and cool it completely on a rack before cutting and serving.
Recipe Tips
- Mixing the dough: When combining the ingredients, the water should be warm but not hot. Hot water will kill the yeast, but warm water will make it easier to mix the dough.
- Flour options: I have only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour and haven’t tested it with other types.
- Resting and rising: After mixing the dough, cover it with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it rest in a warm spot to double in size.
- Baking time and temperature: Every oven is different, so keep an eye on the bread towards the end of the baking time to ensure it doesn’t overbake. Bread is done baking when the center reaches about 190˚F to 210˚F (88˚C to 99˚C) on an instant-read thermometer.
- Cooling and serving: Once the bread is baked, transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. This helps the bread retain its structure and moisture. To maintain the ideal texture of your bread, it’s crucial to remove it from the pan promptly after baking. Allowing the bread to remain in the pan can result in it becoming wet and soggy.
Variations
- Herbs and Seasonings: Add dried herbs like oregano, rosemary, or basil to the dough for extra flavor.
- Cheese: Mix in grated or crumbled cheese such as cheddar, Parmesan, or feta for a savory twist.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes: Incorporate chopped sun-dried tomatoes for a tangy Mediterranean flair.
Ways to Serve It
Spread it with butter, dip it in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sop up some tomato soup or chicken noodle soup with it, grab an heirloom tomato salad, or do what I do: break off a chunk and inhale it as is.
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No Knead Skillet Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups lukewarm water, about 105˚F
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 4⅓ cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 cup garlic and basil marinated olives, drained, herbs and garlic reserved (you can also use any other pitted olives you have on hand)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- coarse salt
- dried parsley
Instructions
- Make the dough. In a large mixing bowl, combine the water and yeast. Add 1 cup of flour and salt; stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Stir in the olives, herbs, garlic, and garlic powder. Add remaining flour, one cup at a time, stirring until thoroughly combined.
- Let it rise. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour.
- Prep the skillet. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a 10-inch to 12-inch cast-iron skillet; using a napkin or your fingers, coat the bottom and sides of the skillet with the oil.
- Transfer the dough to the skillet. Flour your hands; remove the plastic wrap, and using your hands, transfer the dough to the prepared skillet and shape it into a disk. Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand for 30 minutes.
- Prep for baking. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400˚F.
- Bake. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top of the bread, then sprinkle it with salt and parsley. Score the top of the loaf with a knife, then bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.
- Let it cool. Remove from the oven, turn the bread onto a wire rack, and let it cool completely before cutting and serving.
Video
Notes
- The olives sit in a liquid with garlic and herbs; reserve as much of the herbs and garlic as possible when draining. Alternatively, add your own garlic and freeze-dried basil to the dough.
- If you can’t find the specified olives, use whatever marinated olives you can find. Then, you can add garlic, dried basil, or other herbs.
- Dough Mixing: Use warm, not hot, water to combine the ingredients. Excessive heat can harm the yeast.
- Flour: This recipe has been tested with all-purpose flour.
- If you do not have a cast iron skillet, use a stoneware baking dish instead.
- It is crucial to remove bread from the skillet when it comes out of the oven because it will get moist and soggy if left in the skillet.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
More Bread Recipes
- Rosemary and Garlic No Knead Skillet Bread
- No Rise Slow Cooker Bread
- Skillet Soda Bread
- Apple and Zucchini Bread
Made it this evening-turned out amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
looks amazing!! Can I use a ceramic or glass baking dish instead?
Hi! Yes, a stoneware baking dish will work.
Yay! Can’t wait to give it a try!! THANK YOU!
Can’t wait to bake this! May I use an 8 inch cake pan?
HI! Please just make sure that your pan is oven safe for the suggested high temperature. Also, while this will likely work fine with a normal cake pan, it may not develop the same kind of crispy exterior that it might with cast iron skillet.
I’m making this now. I’m using a cast iron loaf pan, rather than a cast iron skillet. I just wanted the loaf to rise a bit higher than the height of the skillet. It’s rising now, and it smells lovely! I can’t wait to get it into the oven! I’m sure it’ll smell even better, then!
can you use a cast iron square griddle skillet?
Hi! I think with that kind of a skillet – assuming that it’s wider? Mine definitely is – the bread may come out almost flat. Again, this depends on the size of the skillet and its depth. It’s up to you. You can definitely use it.
I Have just made this today.. smells absolutely lovely, i used a non stick dish which took about 45 mins to cook perfect….. thank you for the recipe.
regards
Jane
I just made this and it is beautiful and delicious. I regularly bake bread, and I followed your very clear directions exactly as written. I’m serving for dinner tonight with a lovely Acorn Squash Soup. Thank you so much for your recipe, I will be adding it to my Bread file.
PS I don’t understand why all of the comments are about altering your original recipe. (?)
Want to use black olives do I have to adjust The recipe
What would happen if you put some grated cheese in the mix?
Hi, I just made this tonight. It is great! I did add some Parmesan and mozzarella (about 1/2 cup total), and it gave it great flavor. I also baked it in an oval (10 x 14) calphalon pan and it cooked just fine.
Can you use almond flour or coconut flour in this recipe…thank you
I’ve made this recipe countless times and it’s always a hit.
I do have a question:
Would it be possible to freeze or hold the dough for a day before baking after it’s proofed in the bowl?
Yes! I actually have a very thorough recipe for no-knead dough (and how to store it) on my other website; you can get that here at https://easyweeknightrecipes.com/no-knead-dough/
Hope that helps. 🙂