Making homemade bread doesn't have to be intimidating or require lots of ingredients. This easy no-knead bread recipe for 3 ingredient bread is made in a loaf pan and is perfect for sandwiches. The recipe is similar to quick breads in that there is no yeast and the texture is heartier and denser than a yeast bread recipe. The secret to three ingredient bread with no yeast is using self-rising flour. Combining this type of flour with a mild beer and sugar makes the bread rise while it bakes. And because there’s no yeast, it requires no extra rising time.
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The secret to 3 ingredient bread
The secret to making this delicious homemade bread lies in the power of self rising flour. Self-rising flour is a combination of low-protein flour, baking powder, and salt. With the leavening agent (baking powder) already in the flour, you do not need to worry about adding additional ingredients to your bread.
You might be tempted to skip the self-rising flour if you don’t have it in your pantry. Don’t substitute it for all-purpose flour or another type of flour. Here’s why: the bread will not rise without it.
World’s easiest beginner bread to make
If you are new to baking homemade bread, this is the recipe for you. As a seasoned home baker with dozens of bread recipes on my site, I can say with confidence that this one is the easiest bread recipes for beginner bakers.
Key ingredients to making bread without yeast
In addition to self rising flour, you will also need a mild beer, something like Coors Light, Budweiser, or Michelob Ultra. If you can’t find one of those, look for a pale lager. I used Landshark lager and it turned out beautifully.
I tried this recipe using a darker beer and it did not work well. A more heavily flavored beer like Guiness or an IPA (India Pale Ale) will change the flavor and texture of this bread when baked. A mild beer turned out to be the magic type of beer for this recipe.
The third key ingredient is sugar. The sugar helps balance out the bitterness of the beer. You may substitute the granulated sugar for brown sugar for a flavor variation.
You’ll notice in the recipe a fourth optional ingredient listed in the recipe: butter. Hear me out: this bread will turn out well without the added butter. I have tried it that way and it works nicely, especially when topped with butter or jam or served as the side dish for soup or stew.
In my opinion, you should include the butter. Butter makes almost everything better, this bread included. The butter does not get incorporated into the bread dough, but rather used to create a nonstick surface on the pan and to top the dough and baked bread when it’s fresh from the oven. If you opt not to use butter, it is a good idea to spray the loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray such as Pam, before adding the bread dough in and baking.
How to make 3 ingredient bread with self-rising flour
How to store 3 ingredient bread
Store your bread in an airtight container or ziplock bag at room temperature on the countertop for 2-3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To freeze, tightly wrap the bread in plastic wrap or parchment paper and place it in a sealed container or ziplock bag. Freeze for up to three months.
If you have leftover self-rising flour sitting on your counter or in your pantry, use it to make pancakes, biscuits, or banana bread.
Ready to try a homemade bread recipe with yeast? Lazy No-Knead Quick Ciabatta is just the recipe!
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups self-rising flour*
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 12-ounce mild lager (1 ½ cups) bottle, such as Budweiser
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter melted, divided (optional)
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400ºF. Brush melted butter liberally on the bottom and sides of an 8 ½ x 4 ½ -inch nonstick loaf pan. Set loaf pan and remaining melted butter aside5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Stir flour and sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in beer and mix until a shaggy, sticky dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 15 minutes3 cups self-rising flour*, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 12-ounce mild lager
- Transfer dough to the prepared loaf pan. Brush 3 tablespoons melted butter over top, smoothing the top of the bread dough a bit as you brush on the melted butter. Reserve about 1 tablespoon of the melted butter for brushing on the baked loaf5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out with no crumbs attached and the top is light golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. After removing from the oven, Immediately brush top of the loaf with remaining melted butter
- Transfer pan to wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Turn loaf out onto a wire rack, turn right side up and let cool completely on rack, at least 1 hour. Slice and serve
Video
Notes
- *Do not substitute all-purpose flour for the self-rising flour, or your bread won’t rise
- I would not recommend using a dark beer for this recipe. It will change the flavor and texture of the baked bread.
- The butter is optional. If not using, spray the loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray such as Pam, before pouring the bread dough in and baking
- Store cooled bread in an airtight container or ziplock bag at room temperature on the countertop for 2-3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days
- To freeze, tightly wrap the bread in plastic wrap or parchment paper and place it in a sealed container or ziplock bag. Freeze for up to three months. Defrost at room temperature then warm in the oven or toast
- Recipe slightly adapted from CooksIllustrated.com.
Nutrition
Comments
Livie
Perfect! I call this frugal old lady bread! I've never used beer. Always looking too save$, I HAVENT
purchased a loaf of bread in 6 mos. Thank you!
Kimberlee Ho
This bread is like magic, isn't it?! What do you use instead of beer? I want to try it that way, too!
Livia Barreca
I used a lite beer michelob ultra. It was perfect. Kinda had a nutty flavor but perfect alone w real butter! I thank you so much
Kimberlee Ho
Sounds perfect!
Resell Proxies
It’s onerous to find educated people on this topic, however you sound like you realize what you’re talking about! Thanks
Terry
Just made this bread easy peasy. My husband and I love it.
Kimberlee Ho
Great! So glad to hear that 😊.
Mara
Please correct the name of the recipe. There are 4 ingredients, not three. The butter is a necessary ingredient to make this recipe work correctly even if it is
just to coat the pan and dough. I made the mistake of leaving out the butter because the recipe said three ingredients and ended up with a dry rock hard bread.
Kimberlee Ho
Thanks for your suggestion, however, I do have to disagree. The butter is not required. I've made this recipe with and without the butter and while I like the flavor the butter provides the loaf, it does not impact the way the loaf bakes up.
Jackie
Do you have to use beer?
Kimberlee Ho
You can try using something like seltzer or sparkling water, however, I have never tried that. The recipe calls for beer for best results. If that's not your thing, I get it. Perhaps there's another bread recipe that may be better suited.
Bernie Lister
I used sprite, and it turned out fantastic.
Kimberlee Ho
That's great! I will have to try it with Sprite. Thanks for sharing this.
Jackie
Can i use something in place of the beer?
Kimberlee Ho
I haven't tried this recipe with anything other than beer, so I don't know for sure.