One of the best creations from my Instant Pot has been greek yogurt. It’s extremely smooth, creamy and I can control the tartness myself. However, I always have 6 cups of whey left over after straining the yogurt! I used to throw it out but it felt like such a waste. Recently I found a super easy recipe for homemade whey bread and the results were shocking. It came out beautifully in my dutch oven; I’ll never buy bread from the store again!
The dough took a mere 5 mins to combine. I let it rest in the fridge overnight with saran wrap covering the bowl since I started the dough late in the evening. Otherwise you can cover the bowl with a towel or saran wrap and let it rise for 2 hours (or until dough has doubled).
Once the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 450F with the closed dutch oven inside. Meanwhile, turn the dough on a floured surface or parchment paper. The dough will be VERY sticky so make sure the surface and the dough is well floured. Fold the dough in from 4 sides, and then flip the dough around so that the seams are at the bottom and the top of the dough is round.
When the oven has preheated, take out the dutch oven and lightly flour the inside of the pot. Carefully place the dough into the pot with seam side down. Make a few cuts on top of the dough and close the lid. Bake for 25-30 mins, and then 5 mins uncovered until the loaf has browned fully.
I would love to try adding some cheddar cheese, rosemary, or cranberries next time I make a loaf. Let me know if you gave this recipe a shot and how it turned out!
No-Knead Whey Bread in Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 2 cups whey warmed
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 packet active dry yeast (8g)
- 3 cups bread flour (or all purpose/whole wheat flour)
Instructions
Preparing the dough
- Dissolve 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt and 1 packet of yeast (8g) in the warmed whey.
- In a large bowl, combine the whey mixture and 3 cups of flour.
- Cover the bowl with a towel or saran wrap, and let the dough rise for 2 hours (or overnight in fridge).
Baking Instructions
- When the dough has doubled in size, place an oiled dutch oven with lid in the oven and preheat oven to 450F.
- Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface or parchment paper. Pull 4 sides of the dough into the center, and then flip the dough upside down so the seams are underneath and the dough is rounded on top. (Alternative: Turn dough within the bowl and shape into a ball)
- Once oven has been preheated, remove the dutch oven and lightly flour the pot. Place the dough seam side down into the pot. Lightly flour and make a few cuts in the top of the loaf.
- Bake for 25-30 min covered, and then bake for 5 mins uncovered or until the loaf is medium-dark brown. The loaf will sound hollow when you knock on the top.
Amazing bread just like Italian bread in Italy. Crusty on the outside Great medium density texture on the inside when cooled. If you eat it fresh from the oven it will be soft.
It is very very sticky when it is being kneaded by the dough hook. I used my kitchen aid and knead it for a good 8-10 min. To get the elasticity in the bread. Some people like the taste of whey bread. Some don’t. I don’t taste any difference because the whey smells a lot like the yeast. So it doesn’t particularly taste any different to me. The bread disappeared after it came out of the oven. I made it 3 times this week! Thank you for this amazing recipe!
I never write reviews but this one deserves itand it was so easy to do.
Great to know about how it turned out with the dough hook – I’ll try it myself next time as well!
I also used whey left over from yogurt I made…. The dough ended up being REALLY runny. Like Slime. It didn’t form a ball of sticky dough at all…. when I first turned it onto the floured counter, it just oozed into a flat slimy looking thing. Yes, the measurements were exact. Yes, I followed the directions exactly.
So, I told myself “Fk it… try it anyway.”
Figured I might as well, because it’s either try it and throw it out with a slight chance it might end up edible, or don’t try it and throw it out.
So… I followed the directions for the dutch oven… I actually only had a pyrex bowl with a lid, but whatever…. Fk it. I took a sharp knife and scored an 8 pointed star at the top of it. Or tried to… because it was just so sticky and slimy and the marks didn’t really stick around… I shoved the lid on the bowl and shoved the whole thing in the oven.
I baked it at 400, not 450… for 30m then 8m without the lid….and it turned out actually looking decent.
I put butter on a paper towel and buttered the whole top of the loaf… let it sit for about 5 minutes…. then I cut into it.
Heaven. Absolute Heaven. Will definitely make again and again!
Thanks for trying it out, I’m glad you loved it! 🙂
Will instant yeast work??
I had the same issue. I did not use yogurt, but rather the whey from the mozzarella I made that day. I thought the ratio was off for the liquid to flour and ended up adding 1.5 c more flour. It turned out great in the end.
I make this all the time with my leftover Instant Pot yogurt whey. Turns out great every time! Thanks
I have been making this recipe for years, and one way or another, it always works out! I just wanted to comment to add that I tried something different this time— I made mozzarella and used that whey instead of my usual whey from yogurt. The result was that the bread was a bit saltier and almost a bit cheesier in flavor (makes sense), but that it worked, as well! This never-fail recipe has continued to succeed!!
That sounds delicious! Glad it worked!
Any suggestions for those of us without cast iron Dutch oven? I do have a 12 “ cast iron skillet.
If you run the yogurt through another cycle you will get less whey, unless you’re fine with that much.
Can anyone tell me if excess whey be frozen and then thawed for use (in this bread, or french bread) at a later time? Thanks!
Per Amy’s experience, my dough remained very wet. I refrigerated the dough overnight and the next morning added some cheddar (per another recommendation) tossed in additional 1/2 cup flour, to see if that would bulk up the dough, waiting several more hours before baking. Alas, it resulted in a rather runny dough and a flat, tough loaf. What went wrong?
I had the same experience as “V” above. My dough came out like batter. I added a bit more flour to try and thicken it up, but didn’t want to add too much. I poured it into my Dutch oven and baked it for 30 minutes at 450 with the lid on, then another 10 with the lid off. It only rose in the oven to about 2 inches thick. It never did get medium dark brown, just golden. It’s kind of dense but really moist.
I’m wondering about how you’re supposed to measure the flour for this. I sifted my flour – could that be the problem?
Should the flour simply be scooped out resulting it being more packed and thus a larger quantity than my sifted flour measurement? Just a thought.
I may try again and not sift the flour.
I used the whey leftover from making ricotta and it worked not at all. It was beyond oozy after rising and I was concerned that I couldn’t “pull 4 sides of the dough” with the consistency I had and that perhaps the issue was that the whey had not come from instant pot yogurt. Ultimately, I almost doubled the flour to get it to a dough consistency and let it rise overnight then baked it as directed. It took 40-45 minutes instead of the recommended time but turned out well: crusty outside, dense inside. We use it as a hearty sandwich bread, and everyone views it as a treat. I’ll try to bake it when it’s still oozy as another baker above tried (also named V 🙂 and see how that goes next time. I make quite a bit ricotta and paneer from scratch and I hate to throw out the whey, so I’ll have more opportunities to experiment with extra ingredients, shapes, and sizes.
I just love this recipe and am making it almost weekly. It is so easy to make. I use leftover whey from making yogurt and cottage cheese. The dough is always pretty sticky and hard to handle. After making it a few times I decided to leave it in the bowl and just slide it directly into the Dutch oven. It worked perfect and made the whole process so much easier. I’ve also add honey and rosemary when we want a sweet treat 😋
Love this bread! It is so easy to make. After making it several times I decided to skip turning the dough out and just poured it into the Dutch oven. It worked great and I avoided having to work with the very sticky hard to handle dough. I’ve also added raisins and rosemary what a treat!