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The #1 Dough That Makes It All: The Ultra Simple No Knead Refrigerator Bread Dough You Need In Your Fridge!

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This no knead refrigerator bread dough recipe will change your cooking.  Truly.  We’ve been making it for years and we will make it for many more years.  

no knead dough recipe

It takes minutes to mix up and gives you so many options for meals and desserts.

We posted about this dough before, shortly after we started making it.

After a few years, we’ve adapted it.  Mostly to be healthier.  We’ve added more fibre and taken out some salt.  And no one around our table has any complaints.  It’s still wonderful!

We found the inspiration for this recipe in the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.  We’ve made it our own with a few hacks.  But this cookbook, and their follow-up The New Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day are packed with terrific ideas for using the dough.

Over the years we’ve shared some of the many ways we use the dough.  

We make homemade pizza every week.  We never buy frozen or pay for delivery.  This dough makes it seem crazy to pay more for something that tastes nowhere as good and is half as tasty.  Our kids LOVE this pizza crust.

Here’s just a sampling of ways we use our no knead dough recipe.  We’ll update the list as we add more recipes to the blog:

  1. Pizza Dough
  2. Basic Artisan Loaf
  3. Sandwich Style Loaf
  4. Easy Naan
  5. Cinnamon Buns
  6. Pull-Apart Monkey Bread Recipe 

  What follows is pictures of the step by step process for this recipe.  You’ll see, it’s incredibly easy!

This post will take you longer to read than it will to make.  Hands-on time is about 5 minutes.  

no knead refrigerator bread dough

No Knead Refrigerator Bread Dough Recipe:

The Insanely Simple Dough Recipe You Need In Your Fridge All The Time to Make Tons of Things

(aka 5 Minute Bread Dough Recipe)


Makes 4 bread loaves or 4 pizzas

Tools:

  • Large Plastic container with lid for mixing/storing.  
    • It fits perfectly in our old 17-cup Rubbermaid container, which I can’t find to link for you.  This one would work great:
really useful dough to make lots of meals and desserts including pizza and naan

No Knead Refrigerator Bread Dough Recipe Ingredients:

  • 4 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2.5 cups white flour 
  • 3 cups warm water
  • 1 tablespoon coarse salt (Don’t use table salt – it will be way-way too salty!)
  • 1.5 tablespoons yeast (I have used traditional and quick rise with success)

No Knead Dough Recipe Steps:

Step 1: Prepare Warm Salt Water

In a large measuring cup mix 3 cups warm water with the salt. 

Step 2: Add the yeast. 

Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let sit to activate while you mix the flour.        

Step 3: In your large container, mix the flours.

(You can also use a stand mixer if you have one, and then transfer your completed dough over to the container.  But you still get great results without a fancy mixer!)

Step 4: Mix Well.

Stir the yeast/salt/water mixture to make it pourable.  

Add it to the flour mix.  Mix well.

Here’s the dough at about halfway mixed.

Notice the dry clumps of flour.  You don’t want that.  

Your wrists may disagree, but keep mixing, paying close attention to the corners of your container (where the dry flour hides!).
Fully mixed.

The dough will be a sticky glutinous ball that will gradually sag out and take the shape of the container.  

  Step 5: Let the no-knead dough Rise

Leave the lid to your container slightly ajar on one corner and leave it at room temperature for a couple of hours.

no knead bread dough container
If you use quick rise yeast, it may be ready in less than 2 hours. 

We’ve forgotten and left it out for much longer (went out to run errands) and returned to find a dough monster had pushed the lid off and was creeping out of the container.  Don’t do that.

Step 6: Let the dough rest in the fridge  

After the rise, clear a space in your fridge.  You can make and use this the same day.  A couple hours in the fridge are required to make it easier to work with.

It will benefit from an overnight rest and improves in flavour over the next week.  

We have never had a batch last longer than a week and a half, but if you store it longer than two, you may want to cut the dough up and freeze it.  

That likely won’t ever need to happen. It’s so tasty and versatile!

The One Dough That Makes It All

The One Dough That Makes It All

Yield: 1 batch
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

Makes one batch of dough that can make so many other things! Stores in the fridge - so it's always ready when you are.

You will need a Large Plastic container with lid for mixing/storing (approx 17 cups)

Ingredients

  • 4 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2.5 cups white flour
  • 3 cups warm water
  • 1 tablespoon coarse salt (Don't use table salt - it will be way-way too salty!)
  • 1.5 tablespoons yeast (traditional or quick rise)

Instructions

  1. In a large measuring cup mix 3 cups warm water with the salt.
  2. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let sit to activate while you mix the flour.
  3. In your large container, mix the flours.
  4. Stir the yeast/salt/water mixture to make it pourable. Add it to the flour mix. Mix well. The dough will be a sticky glutinous ball that will gradually sag out and take the shape of the container.
  5. Rise time. Leave the lid to your container slightly ajar on one corner and leave it at room temperature for a couple of hours.
  6. After the rise, clear a space in your fridge. You can make and use this the same day. A couple of hours in the fridge are required to make it easier to work with.
  7. It will benefit from an overnight rest and improves in flavour over the next week. If you store it longer than two, you may want to cut the dough up and freeze it.
  8. Head back to FrugalFamilyTimes.com to get one of these recipes for baking instructions: • Pizza Dough • Basic Artisan Loaf • Sandwich Style Loaf • Easy Naan • Cinnamon Buns • Pull-Apart Monkey Bread and more!

Cooking instructions:  Go prep your dough and then head to one of these recipes for baking instructions:

Can you refrigerate bread dough after it rises?

Yes! That’s exactly how this dough is intended to be used. Combine the ingredients, mix in minutes and then store in the fridge until you need it.

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Neeta

Monday 22nd of February 2021

No sugar added to activate the yeast ?? Does it rise well??

frugalfamilytimes

Tuesday 16th of March 2021

Hi Neeta - there's no sugar in this dough - and yes it rises very well! :)

Unknown

Thursday 1st of November 2018

do you punch it down before you put it in the fridge?

frugalfamilytimes

Thursday 1st of November 2018

Not at all! Once it expands to fill the container we put it right in the fridge. :)

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Tuesday 12th of September 2017

hmmmmm

Anonymous

Monday 31st of October 2016

Does the container need to be sealed? (When it is stored in the fridge)

Thank you!

Carmen

Friday 30th of October 2020

My dough doesn't seem sticky at all. Did I do something wrong?

frugalfamilytimes

Monday 31st of October 2016

Nope. It does best with one corner lifted on the lid. :)

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