Instant Pot No Knead Bread made with the whey from yogurt proofs in the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or GoWise and bakes up creamy and crusty in a Dutch oven.
Instant Pot No Knead Bread [Photo credit Tammy Schill]Save the whey from your Instant Pot Yogurt and make my easy Instant Pot No Knead Bread!
One of the most asked questions I get is, what do I do with my leftover Whey after making Homemade Greek Yogurt in my Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or GoWise? Pressure Cooker Grandma Mills’ Banana Nut Bread, Smoothies and lots of Sourdough Bread is my answer.
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Why Make Instant Pot No Knead Bread?
- Those who know me, know that I am a Sourdough Bread Baker. I’ve kept one Sourdough Starter for over 20 years. Several years ago, I started a new Sourdough Starter, which I love to use for my Hokkaido Sourdough Sandwich Bread, Country Sourdough Bread, Hokkaido Hot Dog and Hamburger Buns and so much more.
- Since then, I have been using my Sourdough Starter and baking Sourdough Bread and other types of bread using natural fermentation for the rising agent.
- Because not everyone keeps a Sourdough Starter, I thought I would show you how to proof your dough in the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or GoWise, using your Whey from your Homemade Instant Pot Greek Yogurt..

Cast of Ingredients for Instant Pot No Knead Bread
It’s been a few years since we lived in our RV and I have made this Dutch Oven Crusty Bread, because of my Sourdough LOVE. The dough took take 12-14 hours to proof (with commercial yeast) and then you bake in a Cast Iron Deep Chicken Fryer or Cast Iron Dutch Oven.
It’s delicious, but you have to do some planning. With my Instant Pot No Knead Bread recipe, and an Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or GoWise Multicooker, dough can be proofed in just a few hours!!!
Ingredients for Instant Pot No Knead Bread
- All Purpose Flour
- Dry Active Yeast
- Sea Salt
- Instant Pot Yogurt Whey or Fresh Water
Is Instant Pot No Knead Bread Gluten Free?
- No. Instant Pot No Knead Bread uses Dry Active Yeast which makes the dough quickly proof.
- When using a Sourdough Starter for natural fermentation of the dough, the dough slowly proofs and the bread is easily digested by most people.
- I find that with using natural fermentation (no commercial yeast), I no longer have troubles digesting bread. Many people who have become Gluten Intolerant, are able to handle Sourdough bread. From what I have read and experienced, commercial bread products are processed so quickly and is often the cause of becoming Gluten Intolerant. We no longer purchase bread. Hot Dog Buns, Sandwich Bread, Hamburger Buns, New York Style Pizza Dough, all are homemade, using natural fermentation.
That being said, I know many of you do not have the time or a Gluten issue and just want a loaf of Bread, that is delicious and also fast.
How To Avoid Heavy Bread
- Simple, use a scale. When baking bread, it is very important to get the proper measurement.
- I like to weigh in grams and most of my baking recipes are in grams.
- If you do not have a Bakers Scale, check out my Article on How to Properly Measure Bread, using a measuring cup and a spoon.
- The number one cause for Bread failures, is improper measurement.
Missing your dinner rolls or sweet rolls?
Make Some Dinner Rolls or Sweet Rolls
How about making a savory dinner roll with some delicious cheesy goodness inside? Mix together a batch of my Hot Onion Cheese Dip and divide the bread into twelve pieces. Stuff each ball of dough with the cheesy dip and bake. OMG, so much yum.
For a sweet bread, make a batch of Instant Pot Spiced Cranberry Sauce or Pressure Cooker Easy Lemon Curd and stuff individual pieces of dough.
Don’t forget to check out my This Old Gal’s Pressure Cooker Cookbook for more wonderful recipes!!!!
I make Homemade Greek Yogurt about every two weeks. That means a lot of Whey. Try my Instant Pot Yogurt Whey Indian Chapati (Flatbread) recipe! If I don’t use it up right away, I freeze it for later use to make Waffles, Pancakes, Hokkaido Sourdough Sandwich Bread, Country Sourdough Bread and more. Using Sourdough Starter is a three day process. If you want to learn more about Natural Fermentation, please feel free to join my Natural Fermentation Bread Group.
What Type of Flour is Used in Instant Pot No Knead Bread?
- I enjoy using both Bread Flour and All Purpose Flour.
- You can use both, or either. Try the recipe different ways and see which is your preference.
Expect the dough to be a bit shaggy and quite sticky. A Danish Dough Whisk (or other tool) helps to mix up and combine the dough.
You really don’t need special equipment to make this bread. Since I bake bread frequently, I have all the fun Kitchen Tools. If doing a single loaf of bread, I like to use a Cambro 2 Quart Container to mix up my Dough. If you are interested in some of the gadgets I use, check out my Favorite Bread Baking Tools Page.
When Referring to Bread, what is the Crumb?
- You may have heard people say “the bread has a nice crumb,” or that the texture of the crumb is soft or firm.
- Simply put, the crumb is the inside of the bread.
You don’t want to over work this dough. Just get it mixed up and into a ball, as best you can. A higher hydration dough means you will end up with bigger and lovely holes in the crumb. I prefer a higher hydration bread, so I have added a little extra Whey to mine, as you can see in the photo on the right.
If you want to do that, use your fingers to pinch the Whey into the Dough.
You may also need to do a “Stretch and Fold,” after an hour to get the rest of the liquid incorporated, so, don’t worry about making sure all the liquid is incorporated. The end result is a nice crumb (big holes).
If you don’t have a Cambro 2 Quart Container or other large container, just drop in your dough.
Do I have to Use an Instant Pot for No Knead Bread?
- No, you don’t. The Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or GoWise just helps the dough to proof quicker, so that you can bake it the same day the dough is prepared.
- The original way to make No Knead bread, is to retard the dough in the refrigerator over night and then shape and bake the next day.
- A couple hours before you are ready to bake, let the dough bench rest for one hour and then shape and follow the rest of the instructions on the below recipe card.
Make sure you set your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or GoWise to the “Less” setting after pushing Yogurt.
I like to do 3:30 or 4:00. If your Dough does not look double in size after 3:30 hours, add more time. There are so many variables and I don’t want to specify an exact time.
Your Dough will double in size and you will see some nice bubbles.
That is wonderful and what you want!
How to Shape the Dough for Instant Pot No Knead Bread.
This is probably the hardest part, if you are not an experienced bread baker….and sometimes if you are too.
Toss some Flour on your Pastry Board or on your Kitchen Counter. Carefully dump out the Dough from your Container or cooking pot.
Sprinkle a little Flour over the Dough; just a little! Using a Bench Knife, or your hands, quickly flip the dough over. Using your Bench Knife, or your hands, twirl the Dough into a Boule or a Batard.

Rest the Dough
What is Bench Rest?
- Bench Rest simple means to let the dough sit undisturbed on your working surface.
- In this case, the Dough is resting on my Pastry Board, since we have just shaped the Dough.
- Any time you disturb the Dough, you let it Bench Rest for 30 minutes.
I like to do kind of a mix between a Boule and Batard (round v. oblong).
At this point, place your Cast Iron Dutch Oven or Baking Stone into the oven to heat. You want turn the oven on at least 30 minutes before baking bread to make sure the cooking vessel is nice and hot.
Cover the dough with a Flour Sack Towel or other clean towel and set a timer for 30 minutes.
I have all kinds of baking vessels for bread baking. Sometimes I bake right on my Baking Stone with a cover and sometimes uncovered.
Covering the bread helps to steam the allow the bread to rise, which will happen in the first 15 minutes. If you do not cover the bread, you can place a pan below the rack and add some water to the pan, which will steam the oven.
I like “blisters” on my bread, so I generally use a water bottle and spritz the dough after I have placed it into the oven, before covering.
My 3 Quart Combo Dutch Oven can be used with the top as the bottom or the top. For bread baking, I use the top skillet as the base. Then I put the larger skillet on top.
You can do it either way, or you can use a classic style Cast Iron Dutch Oven, which I sometimes use as well. Both work equally well.
Tips and Tricks to Instant Pot No Knead Bread.
- Weigh the flour so that is is very accurate.
- Gently combine the water until just mixed. The flour will continue to absorb the liquid while resting.
- If you reshape the bread, let it rest another 30 minutes.
- Don’t be afraid to cook the bread until it is dark in spots.
Remove the Bread from the oven and place it on a Baking Rack.
Try not to cut into the Bread until it has cooled. It needs some time to rest, before cutting in your Instant Pot Yogurt Whey Dutch Oven Crusty Bread.
One of the best things I ever put into my mouth is my Hot Onion Cheese Dip in Bread Bowl and Instant Pot No Knead Bread is perfect for this recipe. It is requested that I bring this Appetizer to almost all of the Holiday parties, where I am invited year after year.

GoWise / Instant Pot Yogurt Whey Dutch Oven Crusty Bread
This Instant Pot Dutch Oven Crusty Bread is so good. You won’t believe that you mixed up the dough and baked it all in the same day. While not sourdough bread, the whey from the Greek Yogurt, gives it a big of that wonderful sour taste.
If you would like to try a chocolate crusty bread, try using the whey from my Instant Pot Mexican Hot Chocolate Frozen Yogurt Bars recipe. Enjoy!
More Instant Pot Bread Recipes to Make:
- You won’t believe how easy it is to make Instant Pot Yogurt Whey Indian Chapati / Roti {Flatbread} all by yourself.
- Another recipe which uses the leftover whey from Instant Pot Yogurt is my Pressure Cooker Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding. As in this Instant Pot No Knead Recipe, water can be used in place of whey.
- Pressure Cooker Grandma Mills’ Banana Nut Bread is what is considered a “quick bread,” and cooks up nicely and easily.
- Authentic Homemade Indian Naan Flatbread is a must make with my Instant Pot Indian recipes.
- A favorite during the holidays is my Instant Pot Holiday Creamy Corny Cornbread Casserole, which is somewhere between a bread and a bread pudding. It’s delish.
Kitchen Equipment and Essentials
- Instant Pot DUO 6 Quart or GoWise 8 Quart Pressure Cooker
- Bakers Scale
- J.A. Henckels Classic 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
- Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
- Simply Gourmet (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
- Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
- My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board & Compartments
- Instant Pot Greek Yogurt
- Cambro 2 Quart Container
- Danish Dough Whisk
- Flour Sack Towel
- 3 Quart Combo Dutch Oven
- Baking Rack
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Here is the handy printable recipe:

GoWise / Instant Pot Yogurt Whey Dutch Oven Crusty Bread
Print Pin Save RateIngredients
- 375 grams All Purpose Flour (3 cups)
- 2 grams Dry Active Yeast 1/2 tsp
- 6 grams Sea Salt (1.5 tsp)
- 350 ml Yogurt Whey (or fresh water) (1.5 cups)
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Instructions
- Warm whey (or water) to 100˚ F).
- In large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, yeast and salt. Add warmed Whey (or water) and mix together until a shaggy mixture forms (mixture will be loose and sticky; this is what you want).
- Place dough in Instant Pot and push the Yogurt button and adjust until display reads 24:00 and "Less." Use the - button and adjust down to 3 hours. Place cover on Instant Pot.
- When Instant Pot beeps, place a Cast Iron Dutch Oven into your oven and turn oven on to 500 degrees.
- Remove dough from Instant Pot and place onto a floured surface. Sprinkle a little flour on to top of dough and form into a ball.
- Cover with a tea towel and bench rest 30 minutes. (That means leave on the counter undisturbed.)
- Place the dough into the heated Dutch oven and spritz with a little water. Place on lid and close oven door. Turn temperature to 450 degrees and bake for 25 minutes..
- After 25 minutes is up, remove lid and bake for an additional 20 minutes
- Remove Bread from Dutch Oven and place on cooling rack. Allow to cool before cutting Bread.
Notes
How to Proof Dough in Instant Pot Lux.
- Add one cup of water to cooking pot and place a stainless steel trivet into the pot.
- Place container with the dough on top of the trivet.
- Close the lid and push the "Warm" button. After 10 minutes, hit cancel.
- After 3.0, remove lid and check that the dough has risen to double the size. If dough needs to rise more, replace lid and check after 30 minutes.
Nutrition
PIN this GoWise / Instant Pot Instant Pot No Knead Bread!

Instant Pot Yogurt Whey Dutch Oven Crusty Bread















How do we make this sourdough crusty bread gluten free? Can we substitute the flour for a GF version? Any recommendations?
I have sourdough starter. How much of that would I use instead of the instant yeast and how else would I adjust the recipe?
I have a PChef baking stone. Should that be preheated if not using cast iron? I had a pizza stone shatter on me once when it was preheated and I put room temp homemade crust on it.
Hi Kathy. Definitely preheat a baking stone. Jill
I’ve made this recipe twice. The first time I used whole wheat flour and thought that was why it didn’t turn out like yours. Yesterday, I used all purpose and got the same result. I see from your pictures that yours looks really wet after proofing, which is the same mine looked. But when I dumped it onto the counter, it was so sticky and wet, even though I added some flour, that it was hard to shape it into a ball. It never rose during the 30 minutes and it was difficult to get it into the cutch oven. It is a rather flat loaf, though it still tastes delicious. Is there something that I’m doing wrong?
Hi, can gluten free flour ER substituted 1:1? Thank you.
Andrea P
When you use your baking stone, what do you use as a cover?
Hi Lorraine. I have a turkey roasting pan that fits perfectly over the dough on the stone. Jill
My bread was so sticky after the 30 minute sitting time I could barely get it in my Dutch oven. What did I do wrong?
Ann, when you took it out to shape it, did you add flour to your board to help shape? It is supposed to be sticky. Jill
Hi Jill, I have the same problem with the dough being too sticky, so it’s hard to shape and looks nothing like your shaped boule, it just kind of flops making it very hard to place on the stone/Dutch oven and it makes a much flatter loaf although still delicious. Should I reduce the whey slightly?
Hi Malu. Add a little flour to your board and hands and keep turning the dough, until it starts to take shape. Jill
Hi Jill,
What’s the timing of when we get whey from straining the yogurt to make this bread? Meaning, how fresh must the whey be?
Thanks as always for your great recipes!
Hi Myrna. The whey can be a week old. Jill
My dough was super sticky after proofing in the instant pot. I never got it into a pretty boule. And it’s like half the size of the pic in the instructions. Do I need more flour?
I have made this bread and it was wonderful. Do you know if I can make it with a sourdough starter instead of yeast?
Hi Sandy. I have recipes for Sourdough Bread on the Blog. It’s the way I bake my bread weekly. If you use the Starter, you will need to put the dough in the fridge overnight and then shape the next day and bake. Make sure to do a 30 minute bench rest after shaping. Jill
Well that was a bust. Literally. I followed the instructions exactly. I was on the “spritz it with water step.” The water made the ceramic lining on my Lodge Dutch oven explode. All over the bread, me, and my kitchen. I’m so disappointed and sad. 🙁
The lady at Lodge told me to put 2c of water in the Dutch oven next time before preheating it. Never preheat it empty. Then dump the water out and proceed with the bread baking. Sounds like a good tip.
Thanks for this information. I have done that without explosive results (on other bread recipes) but would be so sad also! Good to know in the future. Thanks for sharing to help the rest of us! This looks yummy and can’t wait to use my whey. #instantpotrocks
Thank you. This makes good sense.
If I don’t have a Dutch Oven what could I use to get similar results?
What a gorgeous loaf of bread! I don’t strain my yogurt, but I really want to try this recipe. The struggle is real 😉
Had no idea you used to live in an RV – how cool. We are about to do the same. My IP is definitely coming with.
Can I use the whey from making ricotta?
Sure, no problem. Jill
I was wondering if this dough freezes well. I am thinking of making smaller “rounds” and then vacuum sealing until I’m ready to bake. Have you tried that? And how would you adjust the baking time/temp? For instance I’m thinking of quartering the initial ball.
Thanks!
I made this recipe with whey from the yogurt I made, also using your yogurt recipe (which I have been making for some time and now we enjoy homemade yogurt all the time). I made a pot of potato soup from scratch and thought this bread would go great with it. First try, nailed it! I love trying your recipes. With all the details and pictures, I cannot go wrong. I am not a novice cooker/baker so I don’t always need to follow the pictures and descriptions but I love the explanations. You do an awesome job. By the way, the bread tasted FANTASTIC! I wanted to make another loaf the next day just to eat it for my meal! Thanks!
Made it 2x now and it turns out great. My only problem is that after I put it in the instant for 4 hours it hasn’t quite doubled in size and there are no bubbles. What am I doing wrong?
Is there any other kind of pan you could bake in ? I don’t have a dutch oven. Would a glass or Pyrex work?
Hi Nancy~
Please check the recipe notes, I explain about using different methods of cooking. Jill
While preheating the Dutch oven in the oven, with the lid on or not?
Burned bottom? I’ve made a similar bread in a cast iron dutch oven. I use parchment paper with just a swipe of oil on the bottom and then form the boule on it. When it’s risen, I just pick the parchment paper up and put it in the dutch oven and cover it with the lid. If you still have a burned bottom, you can reduce the cooking time.