Easy Oil Free Bread (4 Ingredients)
This oil free bread recipe doesn’t get much easier, which is great because we’re on quarantine here in Olón Ecuador without reliable access to vegan bread.
Most bread in this part of Ecuador is made with manteca, which is either vegetable or pig lard and we don’t eat either of those. There is an organic bakery in Olón that doesn’t use manteca, but they haven’t been open regularly and are often out of bread when we go.
The tiendas here in Olón have plenty of harina (flour) so I (this is JP) decided to take my chances making our own bread and it came out great!
Sadly, we haven’t found any whole wheat flour in any of the tiendas in this area, and we didn’t think to buy any last time we were at SuperMaxi in Salinas. It’s on the list now!
Luckily, we did have some active dry yeast on hand that we bought back in Cuenca to make pizza dough. While we haven’t looked for it yet, it was hard to find in Cuenca and we haven’t noticed it here either. Hopefully we can find it because I have a feeling we’ll be eating a lot of this bread!
The third ingredient is a little salt, which is needed for the dough to rise properly. And the last ingredient is warm water! Easy peasy!
HINT: We also like to add 2 teaspoons of garlic powder to our bread to give it some extra flavor. You can also try adding other seasonings like basil or oregano, or even some minced black olives or beets. Get creative and let us know how it turns out in the comments!
It only takes about 10 minutes to prepare the dough, but it needs to sit for 2 hours before you bake it and it needs to cool for a bit before you can cut into it. That means it takes closer to 3 hours total from mix to munch, so take that into account when you’re planning your baking time.
IMPORTANT: The key to getting a golden brown, extra crispy crust is to put some water in a baking dish on the bottom rack. I forgot it one time and the bread came out looking like a giant biscuit, and it stuck to the pan. Just be careful when you open the oven or you might get a steam burn! ¡No bueno!
Let’s get started!
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 12 slices | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 20 minutes | 2 hours |
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This oil free bread recipe doesn't get much easier, which is great because we're on quarantine here in Olón Ecuador without reliable access to vegan bread.
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- 4 cups flour all purpose or whole wheat
- 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast or 2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 1/2 cup water warm
- 1 tsp salt
- Warm the water on the stove or in the microwave or just use warm tap water if it's potable (ours isn't).
- Add the yeast and salt (and any other seasonings you like) to the water and let it completely dissolve. Stir a few times.
- Add the flour to a large mixing bowl and pour the water mixture in. Stir until it's mixed.
- Knead the dough just a little by folding it over on itself a few times to capture all the flour and clean the bowl.
- Sprinkle a little extra flour over the dough and flip it upside down a couple times. This will keep it from sticking to the bowl while it rises. Without oil, the dough can get a little sticky.
- Cover the bowl with a towel and let it sit for 2 hours.
- Near the end of the 2 hour rise cycle, place a baking dish on the bottom rack of the oven with about an inch of water in it. The steam from the water during baking will make the crust of the bread golden brown and crispy.
- Place a cast iron skillet or pizza stone or baking sheet on the top rack and preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C). You want the cooking surface to be nice and hot when you put the dough on it.
- Once the oven is preheated, remove the cast iron skillet or whatever baking surface you're using and sprinkle a little flour on it to keep the dough from sticking. You don't need to use oil or grease the cooking surface.
- Fold the dough over on itself a couple more times to form it into a nice round loaf.
- Place the dough on the cooking surface and use a serrated knife to gently cut an X on the top of the dough to make it look all fancy after it's done baking.
- Put it in the oven for 15 to 30 minutes. When the crust is golden brown, it's done. Be careful when you open the oven because the steam from the water can burn you!
- Remove the bread from the oven and let cool on the baking surface for about 10 minutes, then cut with a serrated knife.
- We just eat it plain, but you might also like some hummus, jam or your favorite non-dairy spread.
- Now, and this may be the most important step, try NOT to eat the whole thing in one sitting. ¡Buena suerte!
Serving Size is 1 Slice of Bread
Have you ever tried a Gluten Free Flour as in Bob’s Red Mill Pizza flour, brown rice flour or almond flour, etc.?
We haven’t tried any of those, but they will probably work fine.
I love this recipe! I’ve made this bread several times and it comes out great every time. I love that it’s oil free and a heartier bread that goes perfect with spaghetti and pasta dishes. Thanks for sharing!
Great! Thanks for sharing!
My dough came out very dry, to the point I had to add extra water. I made sure to follow the measurement of the flour. I was wondering what I could have done differently. This is my first time handmaking bread.
The first time I made this, I seemed to need more water too. It turned out pretty good. I have tried on two more occasions and although it does rise during the 2 hours, I reshape and bake and get a dense brick. I read somewhere about a golden ratio of 100\60\2\1 for flour, water, yeast and salt – might adjust the water next time.
I’m new to baking bread. My dough didn’t rise, would you happen to know why? I followed all the instructions!
Mine did rise during the 2 hour covered, but I had to buy new yeast as my first attempt didn’t do anything. Even after the 2 hour rise, when I baked it, it stayed dense.
Make sure the water you are using is not above 120°F. When mixing the yeast. If the water is too hot it will kill the yeast.
I have just made this bread for the first time and it looks delicious and I must admit I was thinking about buying a bread maker now I am not. I made mine with whole meal flour and worked well. Thank you
Maybe you could try sour dough when you can’t find yeast
Well, it was my first time and it came out alright I guess. And I have two questions. How much kneading does dough need and at what point? How to avoid the crack in the bread? Mine didn’t have many pores inside, probably because I didn’t knead much. Thank you!
Hi Vasyl, the bread doesn’t require a lot of kneading. You knead the bread after you’ve combined all the ingredients. We knead it just enough to ensure everything is thoroughly combined and it has formed a ball. It is a dense bread so you won’t get a lot of pores inside it either.