Bread recipes get grouped together as though they are one project, and they are not. A soda bread is stirred together in one bowl and baked in fifty minutes. A sourdough loaf needs an active starter, a long bulk ferment and most of a day. Both say bread on the label, and only one of them is dinner tonight.

These twenty-five are sorted by the thing that actually matters, which is time. No-yeast breads first, then flatbreads you cook in a skillet, then sandwich loaves, crusty no-knead loaves, sourdough, cheese and savory breads, sweet breads, and finally two that need no oven at all. Each entry lists the real total time, the servings and the ingredient count, so a four-ingredient loaf is easy to spot.

No-Yeast Breads

No proofing, no rising, no waiting. Baking powder or baking soda does the lifting, and all three are in and out of the oven in just over an hour.

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread

Six ingredients, and two full cups of cold buttermilk reacting with baking soda is the only leavening. Nearly two cups of whole wheat flour give it the dense, nutty crumb soda bread is supposed to have. View the full recipe — 50 minutes · 8 servings · 6 ingredients

Butter Topped Beer Bread

Three cups of flour, a tablespoon of baking powder and a whole twelve-ounce beer, with four tablespoons of butter poured over the top before baking. The carbonation in the beer does part of the lifting. View the full recipe — 55 minutes · 8 servings · 6 ingredients

Cheese Garlic Herb Quick Bread Without Yeast

Seven ounces of sharp cheddar, fresh rosemary and parsley, garlic, olive oil and plain yogurt in a baking-soda batter. Sixteen ingredients, which is a lot for a quick bread, and it tastes like it. View the full recipe — 1 hour 5 minutes · 8 servings · 16 ingredients

Flatbreads and Skillet Breads

Cooked in a pan rather than baked, which means no oven heat-up and no waiting on a loaf to cool. The first one has no flour in it at all.

Skillet Cottage Cheese Flatbread

A cup of small curd cottage cheese blended with two eggs and seasoning, then cooked in a skillet. Seven ingredients, no flour and no yeast. Twenty-six minutes. View the full recipe — 26 minutes · 4 servings · 7 ingredients

Soft No Yeast Flatbread

Five ingredients: flour, salt, three and a half tablespoons of butter and three quarters of a cup of milk. Rolled thin and cooked dry in a hot pan. View the full recipe — 1 hour · 6 servings · 5 ingredients

Homemade Puffed Pita Bread

Six ingredients and a hot oven are all it takes to get pita to balloon into a pocket. Instant yeast, so the rise is short. View the full recipe — 1 hour 38 minutes · 8 servings · 6 ingredients

Skillet Garlic Naan Bread with Yogurt Dough

A yogurt dough with bread flour and instant yeast, cooked in a skillet and brushed with a garlic butter made from five tablespoons of butter, two cloves of garlic and parsley. View the full recipe — 2 hours 15 minutes · 6 servings · 13 ingredients

Sandwich Loaves

Soft-crumbed loaves meant to be sliced. One makes a single loaf, one makes enough for the week, and one is sweet.

Single Loaf Sandwich Bread

Six ingredients and one loaf: three cups of flour, active dry yeast, salt, sugar, warm water and two tablespoons of oil. The recipe to start with if you have never baked with yeast. View the full recipe — 2 hours 30 minutes · 12 servings · 6 ingredients

Classic White Sandwich Bread

Thirty-six servings, because this makes multiple loaves. A third of a cup of instant mashed potato flakes goes into the dough, which is an old trick for keeping sandwich bread soft for days. View the full recipe — 2 hours 20 minutes · 36 servings · 10 ingredients

Hawaiian Sweet Bread

Three quarters of a cup of pineapple juice as the main liquid, with an egg, bread flour and only three tablespoons of sugar. Sweet, soft and faster than most yeast loaves at seventy minutes. View the full recipe — 1 hour 10 minutes · 12 servings · 8 ingredients

Crusty Loaves and No-Knead Bread

Open crumb, hard crust, almost no hands-on work. Three of the four are six ingredients or fewer.

One Hour Bread

Four cups of flour, warm water, instant yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil, with the whole process done in eighty-five minutes. The fastest yeast loaf on this page. View the full recipe — 1 hour 25 minutes · 12 servings · 6 ingredients

Focaccia Bread Rolls

A wet dough at one and two thirds cups of water to four cups of bread flour, with four tablespoons of olive oil and flaky salt on top. Baked as rolls rather than one sheet. View the full recipe — 2 hours 17 minutes · 12 servings · 6 ingredients

Crusty Homemade Italian Bread

Four cups of flour to one cup of water makes a firmer dough than the focaccia, which is what gives it the chewy crumb and hard crust. Six ingredients. View the full recipe — 2 hours 20 minutes · 12 servings · 6 ingredients

Dutch Oven No Knead Bread

Four ingredients: twelve ounces of bread flour, twelve ounces of water, a teaspoon of instant yeast and two teaspoons of salt. No kneading at all. The Dutch oven lid traps steam and does the work of a bakery oven. View the full recipe — 3 hours 5 minutes · 8 servings · 4 ingredients

Sourdough

All three need an active starter, which you have to build or be given first. The times below are from mixing to cooling, not including feeding the starter.

Beginner Sourdough Bread

Four ingredients and nearly fifteen hours: bread flour, warm water, half a cup of active starter and sea salt. Almost all of that time is waiting. The one to try first. View the full recipe — 14 hours 50 minutes · 12 servings · 4 ingredients

Soft Sourdough Sandwich Bread

A quarter cup of starter with sugar, oil and a mix of bread and all purpose flour, which is what makes it sliceable and soft rather than crusty. Sourdough flavor in a sandwich loaf. View the full recipe — 8 hours 35 minutes · 12 servings · 7 ingredients

Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Bread

An enriched sourdough with half a cup of butter, honey, a whole lemon and a cup and a half of fresh blueberries folded in. Closer to a breakfast bread than a dinner loaf. View the full recipe — 8 hours 15 minutes · 12 servings · 9 ingredients

Cheese and Savory Breads

Three loaves with something folded in. The cheese quantities here are not timid.

Buttermilk Cheddar Bread Loaf

Two cups of shredded cheddar with garlic powder and dried herbs in a dough made with a cup of warm buttermilk. Ten ingredients. View the full recipe — 2 hours 25 minutes · 8 servings · 10 ingredients

No Knead Cheese Bread with Colby Cheese

Two and a half cups of Colby cheese in a no-knead dough with three cups of bread flour. The long time is an unattended rise, not work. View the full recipe — 11 hours 20 minutes · 8 servings · 6 ingredients

Savory Braided Pesto Bread

Half a cup of basil pesto rolled into a bread flour dough and braided, so the pesto shows in the cut. Seven ingredients. View the full recipe — 2 hours 45 minutes · 12 servings · 7 ingredients

Sweet Breads and Rolls

Two quick breads and a yeasted roll, all three closer to dessert than to dinner.

Soft Bread Machine Rolls

An enriched dough with milk, two eggs and half a cup of butter, mixed in a bread machine, then brushed with a cinnamon butter made from another half cup of butter and powdered sugar. Forty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 45 minutes · 12 servings · 10 ingredients

Sour Cream Cinnamon Swirl Bread

A cup and a third of sour cream in the batter with a cinnamon and brown sugar swirl running through it. No yeast, so it goes straight into the pan. View the full recipe — 1 hour 20 minutes · 10 servings · 12 ingredients

Amish Apple Fritter Bread

One large apple tossed with brown sugar and cinnamon, layered into a butter batter and finished with a powdered sugar glaze. Tastes like an apple fritter and is baked rather than fried. View the full recipe — 1 hour 30 minutes · 8 servings · 13 ingredients

Bread Without an Oven

For a hot kitchen, a broken oven, or a camper. Both of these produce a real loaf.

Stovetop Skillet Bread

Two cups of flour with a tablespoon of baking powder, butter and milk, cooked covered in a skillet on the stove. Forty minutes and no yeast. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 8 servings · 6 ingredients

Crockpot Bread

A standard six-ingredient yeast dough baked in a slow cooker. Four hours twenty, almost all of it unattended, and the slow cooker never heats the kitchen. View the full recipe — 4 hours 20 minutes · 8 servings · 6 ingredients

Bread Baking Questions, Answered

Which of these should I bake first if I have never made bread?

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread, because there is no yeast and nothing to get wrong, or One Hour Bread if you want to try yeast with a short timeline. Single Loaf Sandwich Bread is the next step: six ingredients, one loaf, and a standard rise.

What is the difference between no-knead bread and regular bread?

Time replaces kneading. A long slow rise lets the gluten organize itself, so a four-ingredient dough like the Dutch oven loaf gets an open crumb without being worked at all. The trade is that you have to start it hours before you want it.

Do I need a Dutch oven for crusty bread?

It helps a lot. The lid traps steam for the first part of the bake, which keeps the crust soft long enough for the loaf to expand, then the open bake crisps it. Without one you can put a pan of water on the lower rack, but the crust will be thinner.

Can I make sourdough without a starter?

No. All three sourdough recipes here call for an active starter, and that takes about a week to build from flour and water or a few minutes if someone gives you some. If you want sourdough flavor without the wait, the soft sourdough sandwich loaf uses only a quarter cup, so a small starter goes a long way.

Which bread has the fewest ingredients?

Dutch Oven No Knead Bread and Beginner Sourdough Bread both have four. After that, Soft No Yeast Flatbread at five, and six each for the soda bread, beer bread, pita, single loaf sandwich bread, one hour bread, focaccia rolls, Italian bread, no knead cheese bread, skillet bread and crockpot bread.

Why does bread flour matter?

More protein, which means more gluten and a chewier crumb. The crusty loaves, sourdoughs and cheese breads here specify it for that reason. All purpose flour works in the quick breads and flatbreads, where you do not want chew.

How should I store a homemade loaf?

Cut side down on a board or in a paper bag for two days, which keeps the crust crisp. Plastic keeps it soft but goes gummy. Freeze anything you will not eat in two days, sliced, so you can take out what you need.