We’ve officially entered soup season. It’s one of my favorite seasons here on PWWB – there’s something so warm, cozy, & comforting about a giant pot of soup simmering on the stove all day long. Whether you make Chicken Tortilla Soup, Vegan Pumpkin Chili, or any of my other favorite soup recipes, homemade soup just feels right this time of year.
In our house, no soup night is complete without soup’s carbalicious partner-in-crime: crusty bread. We’re talking a thick slice of warm & buttery perfectly crusty bread. & If I’m on my A-game (meaning dinner is planned at least 12 hours in advance…), I’m sure to whip up a loaf of no-knead bread.
So that’s what we’re doing today! Fancy, homemade Italian herbs and cheese bread, made easy AF…
This Is EASY (But Fancy AF!) Italian Herbs and Cheese Bread
I’ll preface this by saying I am not a baker. Not in the slightest. If you’re thinking “homemade bread? too fancy!!! I can’t do that!” right now, push those thoughts aside.
I’ll walk you through the whole process step by step in just a sec, but for now, just trust me: if I can do it, you can totally do it too! (Double pinky swear.)
I’ve been making homemade no-knead breads for a few years now (exhibit A: No-Knead Spicy Cheese Bread) & they never cease to amaze me. Something as simple as literally stirring together flour, yeast, & water turns into the most glorious bakery-worthy loaf of golden & crusty bread. It’s pretty much magic.
This no-knead bread recipe is made even more magical with the addition of two simple ingredients:
- Some Italian seasoning, &
- A generous handful of shaved asiago (or parmesan!) cheese
Easy, cheesy, yes please-y! ♡ Read on to learn more about this Italian Herb Asiago Cheese No-Knead Bread, or jump straight to the recipe & get cookin’!
Oh HELLO crusty, warm, makes-your-kitchen-smell-like-heaven lover. Easy AF & fancy AF homemade bread. We. Are. Doin’. It!!!
Italian Herbs and Cheese Bread Recipe Highlights
It’s easy to fall in love with this quick asiago cheese bread recipe because it’s…
- EASY & FANCY. This no-knead bread recipe is easy enough for weeknight dinners yet fancy enough for holiday meals.
- MADE WITH BASIC INGREDIENTS. You only need a few simple pantry ingredients.
- PERFECTLY CRUSTY. This recipe yields a perfect loaf with a chewy, crusty exterior and soft interior.
Asiago Cheese Bread Ingredients
Similar to my spicy cheese bread recipe, you need super basic ingredients for this Italian herbs and cheese bread recipe:
- Flour
- Italian seasoning
- Salt
- Yeast
- Asiago cheese
- Water
That’s it! The asiago creates pockets of melty, cheesy goodness throughout the loaf, & the Italian seasoning adds a punch of garlicky, herbaceous flavor to each bite.
Dreamy, right?
Things are about to get even dreamier. Homemade Asiago Cheese Bread couldn’t be easier to make!
How To Make Italian Herbs and Cheese Bread
Making a loaf of asiago no-knead bread can really be broken down into 3 simple steps:
- Prep the Dough: Making any no-knead bread takes a little bit of planning, since the dough needs to rest for at least 12 hours prior to baking. This is know as “long fermentation” & is what allows the gluten in the dough to develop since we’re not kneading this dough. (No-knead, remember?!) The good news is, prepping the dough for this asiago cheese bread is truly a 5-minute, one-bowl task: add flour, Italian seasoning, kosher salt, yeast, asiago cheese, & water to a large bowl & stir to combine. After 12 hours, the dough will have risen into a beautifully puffy dough ball & you’ll be ready to bake your Italian herbs and cheese bread!
- Bake: The secret to achieving the perfect crust lies in baking the bread in roaring hot dutch oven. Once the dough has risen, & about 30 minutes before you want to bake your bread, pop your dutch oven into your oven while it preheats. This gives the dutch oven time to heat thoroughly & evenly, & creates the most gorgeous crust while the bread bakes inside the pan. Halfway through baking, I like to lightly mist the loaf with some olive oil spray – this helps the bread develop an even richer golden color as it finishes baking. If you’re feeling a little extra, sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt over top. It adds the tiniest bit of addictively salty crunch to the bread.
- Devour the Bread: (obviously.) So seriously simple, but sooo seriously good.
It’s really as simple as that! You’ll have a golden hot loaf of crusty homemade bread & your kitchen will smell like homemade bread heaven. If life gets better than that, I don’t even know how!
No-Knead Bread FAQs
Does No-Knead Bread Rise?
Yes! No-knead bread will rise because there is yeast in the dough. While we aren’t kneading this dough like traditional yeast breads, the dough will rise, slowly (12+ hour rise time), as the yeast forms gluten and essentially kneads the bread for us.
What Pan Do I Use for No-Knead Bread?
The key to making crusty bread at home = a Dutch oven! Use an oven-safe dutch oven (at least 4-quart) with a lid.
Serving Italian Herbs and Cheese Bread
Once you realize how easy it is to make, you’ll be obsessed with having a loaf of homemade asiago cheese bread on hand at all times – totally fine considering how versatile it is.
You can enjoy this Italian herbs and cheese bread…
- On its own (might I suggest a smear of butter & a sprinkling of flaky sea salt?!)
- Dunked in a cozy bowl of soup (it pairs perfectly with my Hearty Minestrone Soup – pictured here! & my Italian Wedding Soup with Turkey Meatballs)
- Served with a big bowl of pasta (hellooo Lamb Ragu, Turkey Bolognese, & Marsala Pasta!)
- Along with your favorite antipasti spread
- Sandwiched around your fave fillings for the ultimate Italian sandwich
…the possibilities are seriously endless!
Endless possibilities + easy AF homemade bread? That’s pretty much magic if you ask me (told ya I double pinky swear).
I’m convinced Italian herbs and cheese bread makes the world go ’round! If you do give it a try, be sure to let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo & tag @playswellwithbutter on Instagram. I LOVE hearing about & seeing your PWWB creations!
Print Italian Herbs and Cheese No-Knead Bread
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes (includes inactive time)
- Total Time: 14 hours (includes inactive time)
- Yield: 1 loaf bread (serves 4-6) 1x
- Category: Breads & Cakes
- Method: No-Knead, Baked
- Cuisine: American
Description
Italian Herbs and Cheese Bread is prepped in less than 10 minutes active time & baked to crusty, golden perfection in a dutch oven! Made with only 5 pantry ingredients, this homemade Italian herb asiago cheese bread couldn’t be easier to throw together, & is perfect to serve with any of your favorite soups for a totally cozy dinner this winter!
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 cup shaved Asiago cheese (or parmesan cheese!)
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm water
- optional: olive oil spray, flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Make the Italian herbs and cheese bread dough: About 12 hours before you’d like to bake your Italian herb Asiago cheese no-knead bread, make the dough. In a large bowl, combine the flour, Italian seasoning, Kosher salt, & active dry yeast. Whisk to combine. Add the Asiago, stirring to combine. Slowly & gradually pour in the lukewarm water, mixing the dough with a wooden spoon until just combined. The dough will look shaggy & will be very sticky at this point – & that’s totally fine! Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel & let rest in a warm, dry place for 12 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees about 30 minutes before you are ready to bake your bread. Make sure one of the oven’s racks is positioned in the middle of the oven, & place an oven-safe dutch oven (at least 4-quart) on the rack, with its lid on, to heat along with the oven while it preheats. Once the oven is preheated, let the dutch oven sit in the hot oven for 20 minutes longer to really make sure it’s up to temperature – I literally set a cook timer for 20 minutes once the oven is preheated.
- Prep the dough: Meanwhile, as the oven preheats, transfer the Italian herbs and cheese bread dough to a large piece of parchment paper. I like to quickly spritz my hands with nonstick cooking spray – it makes it so much easier to handle the dough without it sticking to your hands!
- Bake the bread: Once the dutch oven is up to temperature, very carefully remove it from the oven. Quickly & carefully remove the lid of the dutch oven, place the dough inside (you can just drop the parchment paper right in!), put the lid back on the dutch oven, & place the dutch oven back into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the dutch oven from the oven. Remove the lid and spray the top of the Italian herb asiago cheese no-knead bread generously with olive oil spray. Sprinkle some flaky sea salt over top, as desired. Return the dutch oven to the oven & bake, uncovered, for an additional 20 minutes, or until the loaf is crusty & golden brown (see photos above for reference).
- Serve: Carefully remove the bread from the dutch oven – you can just lift the parchment paper right out of the dutch oven. Allow to cool slightly before slicing or tearing the bread. Enjoy!
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
- Serving: Italian herbs and cheese bread is best served when dunked in your favorite cozy bowl of soup! I highly suggest pairing it with this hearty minestrone soup (pictured) or with Italian Wedding Soup with Turkey Meatballs. A match made in heaven!
- Dutch oven: A nice Dutch oven is absolutely essential to make this no-knead bread. This is the Dutch oven pictured in this post. I love it.
- This Italian herb asiago cheese no-knead bread is adapted from my no-knead spicy cheese bread recipe.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 283
- Sugar: 0.2 g
- Sodium: 589.7 mg
- Fat: 4.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 48.5 g
- Fiber: 2.2 g
- Protein: 10.4 g
- Cholesterol: 12.6 mg
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So tasty! The bread comes out a little dense, but that also makes it perfect for dipping in soup! And the salt on top makes all the difference, in my opinion (plus a little sprinkle of Parmesan), so definitely don’t skip that step! I will absolutely be saving this recipe.
It’s definitely the perfect soup companion, Meridith! Thanks so much for leaving a review and for saving the recipe, too! 🙂
Recipe is good. There is a hint of cheese.
I would have liked a little more. I think it needed a little bit more water as well.
Adding more cheese is always welcome!! Hope you give it a try again soon!
I love this recipe. I’ve made it a few times. Everyone always loves it, and it’s super easy to make. The question I have though is, if I don’t want to wait the 12 hours to rise, can I proof in the oven with the proofing setting I have? And it so, what time would be required. If not, could I let it go for more than 12 hours? If I made it the night before and wanted it for dinner the next day, could it sit for 18 hours?
One of my favorite breads to make! So flavorful and easy!
Hi Emily! So glad to hear that you enjoyed – it truly is so easy to make!
Hello! So I made the bread and while the flavor is INCREDIBLE… my bread came a bit flat and dense. What did I do wrong?
Hi Diana! Since it is a no knead bread it may not necessarily rise as much as you’d expect a traditional bread recipe but there could be other factors at play too (ie. variations in oven temperature, altitude, how new the yeast was that was used). It’s so hard to say for sure! Did you notice anything along the way or was the yeast packet used fairly new?
Does it make a difference if you use bread flour vs. all purpose flour?
Hi Cindy, the recipe was developed with all-purpose flour but if you have bread flour on hand you can certainly try it! Bread flour tends to have higher amount of gluten & can lead to a chewier texture but keep in mind using bread flour will likely require some kneading. Hope this helps & let us know if you give it a try!
Wow – I love to cook but baking is not really my thing . Well – I tried this recipe today.. and this bread turned out – amazing!!! This was a positive thing in the midst of the coronavirus stuff. Thank you for the recipe. I really enjoyed the whole experience 🙂
Hi! A question – is it safe to leave cheese like Asiago in the dough to raise overnight/12 hours at room temp?? Seems like usually the recommended time is 2 hours max for cheeses like these! Thanks 🙂
Hi Kate! Asiago is a hard cheese, so it’s typically more resilient to sitting out for longer periods of time. I have never had issues with preparing the recipe as described, but, of course, if it’s something that concerns you, this might not be the recipe for you! Hope this helps!
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Question. Can I let the dough rise 24 hours? Its 1:00 pm here and I I mixed a batch of dough without noticing the instructions said to bake 12 hours later. I certainly don’t want to be baking bread at 1:00 am.
Hey Claudia! A 24 hour rise should work just fine…no need to wake up at 1 am to bake. =) xx
Dutch oven baking is so easy that I make this recipe to give away as gifts. Sometimes I wake up early to get the dough prepared in the morning before work. Then I come home and bake it for fresh hot bread with dinner.