This Easy No Knead Jalapeno Cheese Artisan Bread is the BEST savoury bread for sandwiches! It’s packed with spicy pickled jalapeños and real cheddar cheese, and it’s SO easy to make!

NEVER MISS A POST! FOLLOW ME ON:
FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER
This No Knead Jalapeno Cheese Artisan Bread is a savoury version of my Easy No Knead Artisan Bread that I shared as one of my very first recipes on this blog! One of my favourite variations of that recipe is this No Knead Jalapeno Cheese Artisan bread – it’s SO cheesy and spicy, and it’s GREAT For sandwiches!! And the best part? It’s SO easy to make it’s almost embarrassing, so anyone can do it! And with my pro tips below, you’ll be a total Artisan Bread pro!

Pro tip#1: Pre-heat your Dutch Oven pot before baking.
This bread is baked in an oven-safe Dutch Oven pot which traps in steam, making the crust of the loaf extra crispy and golden brown! If you’re looking for a great Dutch Oven pot, I will tell you that it’s one of the best investments you can ever make for your kitchen – mine is a total beauty from Le Creuset (affiliate link) and I use it multiple times a week throughout the year for soups, stews, sauces, curries, and of course for baking this bread (if you want my original Dutch Oven Crusty Bread recipe, get it HERE!). A pot like this one is definitely a financial investment, but considering how much I use mine and considering its high quality, it’s definitely a worthy investment that will last you for 10 or 20 years. I’ve also used similar cast iron pots from other brands, like THIS ONE from KitchenAid and THIS ONE from Lodge Cast Iron (both affiliate links) if you’re looking for something a little less expensive but still high quality – they’re both great!
Pro Tip #2: Shape your loaf firmly but gently and dust the top of the loaf with flour.
Creating a round shape will help the loaf bake evenly and dusting the top with flour will create that gorgeous, bakery-style appearance that everyone loves!
EASY NO-FAIL HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPES AND BAKING TIPS
Get my easy no-fail bread baking e-cookbook!

Why you should NEVER cut into a hot loaf of bread
Pro Tip #3: Let the loaf cool completely (or almost) before cutting into it!!
Resist the urge to slice the bread while it’s hot. Did you know that after removing a loaf of bread from the oven it continues to bake inside as it cools?? Slicing into this gorgeous loaf too early will cause the inside of the loaf to be under-cooked and gummy. Letting the loaf cool completely before slicing ensures the perfect fluffy texture when you slice into it!

NEVER MISS A POST! FOLLOW ME ON:
FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER
I hope you love this No Knead Jalapeno Cheese Artisan Bread as much as we do! Let me know in the comments below, what’s your favourite homemade bread recipe? I’d love to know!
KITCHEN PRODUCTS I RECOMMEND:
Looking for even more delicious bread recipes? You’ll LOVE these:
-
Garlic Butter Dinner Rolls
-
Healthier Cornbread
-
Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins
-
Easy No Knead Artisan Bread
-
Easy No Knead Cinnamon Raisin Artisan Bread
EASY NO-FAIL HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPES AND BAKING TIPS
Get my easy no-fail bread baking e-cookbook!
Recipe Video
Watch the video below to see exactly how I make this quick snack. You can find more delicious recipe videos on my YouTube channel
If you made this, share a photo!
Are you trying this recipe? Use the comment form below to share your take; now with support for image uploads and comment voting!
Easy No Knead Jalapeno Cheese Artisan Bread

Recipe: Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup sliced pickled jalapenos (or more, if you wish!)
- 1 1/2 cups water at room temperature
Recipe: Instructions
- Start with a large bowl and a wooden spoon, and add your flour to the bowl. Measure the yeast and add it to one side of the bowl. Measure the salt and add it to the other side.
- Using a wooden spoon, stir the yeast into the flour on its side of the bowl first and then stir the salt into the flour on its side of the bowl. This will prevent the salt mixing directly with the yeast. Give the whole mixture a few good stirs to make sure everything is combined.
- Add the sharp cheddar cheese and the sliced jalapenos to the flour mixture and stir until well coated and evenly distributed.
- Once the dry ingredients are combined, measure the water. Make sure the water is at room temperature; water that is too warm or too cold can kill the yeast and prevent the bread from rising at all. Pour the water in and stir with a wooden spoon. The dough will be rough and a bit sticky, but that's normal.
- Stir until all the flour is combined. This is not normal bread dough (there's no kneading involved in this recipe), so you don't need to be too concerned about the appearance of the dough at this point. Just make sure the ingredients are combined well.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. It's a good idea to ensure there's adequate space left in the bowl for the dough to at least double in size. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free place and let it rise for 12-18 hours.
- After the dough has risen for 12-18 hours, preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Place your Dutch oven with the lid on in the cold oven and let it heat up with the oven.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter and dust it with flour. Rub flour on your hands and scrape the dough away from the sides of the bowl, gathering it in your hands as best you can (it may feel kind of fluid and not at all like regular bread dough) and forming it into a circular loaf on the parchment paper. Don't worry if it still looks a little rough in places. This lends to the rustic look of this loaf.
- Once you have it shaped, the dough needs to undergo a second rise (much shorter than the first). The goal is to handle the dough as little as possible at this stage because any amount of tugging at the rough can cause it to deflate after it has undergone its second rise. The next few steps will help prevent this. But don't worry if it deflates a bit. This bread dough is pretty forgiving.
- Sprinkle flour over the top of the loaf and loosely cover it with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming over the dough. The flour also prevents the plastic wrap from sticking to the dough so when you take it off at the end of the rise, it doesn't disturb the dough and wreck the rustic shape you've created. Let the dough rise for about 45 minutes. Your oven will also be preheating during this time (and so will your pot).
- Once 45 minutes have passed remove the plastic wrap from the dough and trim the parchment paper into a circle closely around the dough. If it doesn't look like the dough has risen that much, don't worry about it. The loaf will puff up a bit when it hits the heat of the oven.
- Remove the preheated pot from the oven and transfer the dough into the pot as carefully as possible by handling only the parchment paper. Place the lid on the pot and return it to the oven for 30 minutes. Don't open the oven during this time, and certainly don't take the lid off the pot; the crispness of the crust develops because of the steam that builds up in the pot during this 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes have passed, remove the lid from the pot and continue baking for another 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes have passed, remove the pot with bread from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. You'll probably hear it crackling as it cools - this is normal.
- If you can, resist the urge to cut into the bread until it has pretty much cooled completely. The bread continues to bake on the inside even after it has been removed from the oven and cutting it too early could result in the inside becoming gummy or rubbery.
Recipe: Notes
Quick rise method:
- Add 2 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast instead of the amount listed in the recipe.
- Rise for 2 hours and follow the recipe directions after the rise time as written.
No Knead Bread Troubleshooting Tips:
- If your dough seems too fluid after the first rise, simply add 1/3 cup of flour to the top of the dough and mix it in, shaping the loaf into a round shape to rise again while the oven pre-heats.
- If your loaf falls or flattens during the second rise, simply re-shape before baking into as tight a ball as possible (creating surface tension should prevent the dough from falling).
- Add 1 tablespoon of Vital Wheat Gluten to the dough with the flour to create a very voluminous dough that rises beautifully every single time and isn't too dense.
- If the bottom crust of your bread burns or becomes too hard or tough, it's likely that the bottom burner of your oven is too hot OR you're using a pot that's black on the inside (these conduct heat more efficiently than one that's a light colour on the inside). Try lowering your oven temperature by 25 degrees, using the convection setting, or using a different pot that's light in colour on the inside.
- Use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven temperature is correct. If your oven runs hot, lower the temperature of your oven by 25 degrees to be sure you don't burn the bread.
Recipe: Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.

I have made this several times and it comes out perfectly every time – thanks to your excellent tips.
I don’t have a dutch oven; I’ve been using my square casserole and it’s still perfect!
I do have a request: could you add the rise time to the recipe. It’s been a while since I made it and I forgot the rise time is so, so lengthy. If that were at the top of the recipe it would help for those of us planning menus and prep times. Thanks for an absolutely excellent, incredibly easy bread recipe!!
I am so glad you liked it!!
Quick question…Has anyone tried this in the crock pot? I would like to make it, but don’t really have a large enough oven to do this in…Thanks!
Hello there, I just put the recipe together and will bake it tom. This is my first try at no knead bread… I don’t own a Dutch but have a terracotta clay pot (also using for the first time). Do you know if that would work? Thanks in advance!
Any covered pot will work for this recipe.
Hello,
I’m a beginner bread baker and followed your recipe exactly. Unfortunately I used active dry yeast (l didn’t know about instant yeast) After putting the plastic wrap on the bowl, I sat down and read comments to find I should have put the yeast in the water and not directly into the flour. What can I do at this point to save my bread, I’m distraught!
It’ll probably be ok! Active yeast is already activated, so it might cause the bread to rise a little slower than the Instant Yeast would, but it should still rise. No worries! 🙂
Hello, I really want to try this bread but do not have a Dutch oven…….any suggestions on how I can make this without the Dutch oven.
Thanks
You can use any heavy bottomed oven safe pot. Happy baking!
Can you freeze this once baked? I have a lot of jalapenos to use 🙂
Yes, this bread freezes very well.
I made this recipe yesterday and it was amazing! Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome Jodi! Glad you tried it!😊
Oh shoot! I forgot to mention that I do not own a dutch oven. I used my pizza stone with a cookie sheet on a rack right underneath that I poured boiling water into to create a steam environment in my oven. For those who might not have a dutch oven 🙂
Just made this today. It was very good! Mine did not rise much but I think it was because of my yeast. I also replaced some of the water with the jalapeno juice and added red chili peppers… we LOVE spicy. It has a nice warm after feeling in the mouth 🙂 Would totally make this again!
That sounds like such a nice addition! I can imagine the extra heat from the jalapeno juice.🙂Glad you like the recipe Roxanne!☺️
What if you do not have plastic wrap for the second rise? I have parchment and aluminum foil
You can also use a clean kitchen towel.
I have a lot of shredded mozzarella. Can I use that instead of cheddar?
Yes, absolutely!
I would like to add some Bacon to the recipe. Do you think that would be a good idea or is it going to affect the yeast as it’s so salty?
Adding some bacon should be just fine. Sounds yummy!
I followed your instructions and the bread was delicious. I found a recipe to make the pickled jalapeños and it worked wonderfully in the bread. I used a Pampered Chef Dutch oven and the crust was crisp and browned perfectly.
That sounds perfect! So glad you liked the recipe Jacki!😊
Awesome recipe. This was my first time baking bread (not in machine). I loved it.
Only complain was that it was slightly in the salty side but other than that it was delicious.
I love love the crust. It was crunchy but not too hard. Bread was simply devine with butter.
I’ll be trying your cranberry honey walnut next. Can’t wait!!
Thanks so much Monica!🙂Let us know how it goes with the Cranberry Walnut one!!
How closely do you need to trim the parchment paper? And have you made a video to go with this recipe?
I trim it small enough that it doesn’t stick out of the pot but big enough that i don’t burn my fingers. Watch for the tutorial video coming soon!
This is one of our favorites, I’ve made this bread several times and it’s been amazing every time!
Thanks Kathryn, we love it too!🙂
Will a 6 quart Dutch oven work ok? The larger sizes are pretty expensive.
Hello Beth! Yes, a 6 quart Dutch oven would work just as well. I have used this one with great results. https://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Ec6d33-Enameled-Cast-iron-Dutch/dp/B00FX9RCK4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1513424843&sr=1-18&keywords=lodge+cast+iron+dutch+oven&linkCode=sl1&tag=thbuba02-20&linkId=41bd76cc02befd78754193f4bf859754 (affiliate link)
Can recipe be used in bread machine
I wouldn’t recommend that, as I have never tried it (I don’t own a bread machine).
We make grilled cheese sandwiches with this bread and it is SO good dipped in tomato soup.
Sounds so yummy!! 🙂
With apologies to those who are upset about comments by those who haven’t yet made this recipe. I will be making it this afternoon, but I do have a question.
Lately, I’ve been making my no knead bread (recipe calls for 3-1/2 cups flour) with 1/4 tsp yeast, and it has been working out very well, better actually than when I used 1/2 tsp.
Do you think that would work with this recipe, or would the cheese and jalapenos cause the dough to require the 1/2 tsp of yeast?
Thanks in advance.