No baking skills are needed to make this super easy beer bread. It's made with only 3-ingredients and requires no kneading at all. Soft and delicious!
You don’t need any baking skills to enjoy a fresh loaf of homemade bread hot from the oven! This no-knead, no-yeast 3-Ingredient Beer Bread is the quickest, easiest, and tastiest loaf that you will ever prepare.
Does your family love bread as much as mine does? My boys would be happy with nothing but fresh buttered bread and a glass of milk for dinner every night, so clearly this 3-Ingredient Beer Bread is a huge hit in our house!
Yes, that’s right — my kids love something called “Beer Bread.” But trust me — it doesn’t have a strong beer taste!
The rich, full-grain flavor is balanced by a little bit of sweetness, making it perfect with savory dishes like soup and chili, and equally tasty when toasted with butter and jam for breakfast.
Ingredients for Making Beer Bread
The beer bread comes together with 3 basic ingredients, which you can keep in your pantry for any last-minute bread cravings!
You literally just stir together the self-rising flour, the room temperature beer, and the sugar and your work is done! Five minutes of prep, you guys!!!
The yeast in the beer helps the bread rise, and you don’t even have to knead the dough!
How to Make No-Knead Beer Bread
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together all of the ingredients until just combined.
- Transfer dough to the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean).
There’s nothing better than the smell of bread baking in the oven, is there?! You can create a cozy, comforting ambiance, sit back and relax, and enjoy a slice of warm bread with melted butter just a short time later.
Basically, it’s heaven.
A loaf of my 3-Ingredient Beer Bread would be a perfect treat to share with your favorite teacher, neighbor, coworker, or relative this season.
Homemade Christmas gifts are more flavorful, more affordable, and often more thoughtful than anything that you can buy in the store — and this bread is no exception.
Best of all, it’s easier to stir together this beer bread dough than it is to brave the local shopping mall during the month of December!
Top Tips for Making Beer Bread
- You can omit the sugar if you prefer but it does give the bread a lovely flavor.
- You can adapt the flavor of this bread by making it sweet or savory. Try adding raisins or cinnamon for a sweet bread or dried herbs, cheese or cubed ham for savory.
- Leftover bread will store well in a cool dry place covered in plastic wrap or foil for up to 5 days or longer.
- You can breeze this bread and easily defrost it in the oven or broiler.
Whether you consider yourself a “baker” or not, this is one project that you can tackle.
Trust me — this is coming from the girl who uses refrigerated cookie dough and boxed cake mix 90& of the time! But wow, this beer bread is so much better than anything that you could prepare from a package!
More Easy Bread Recipes You Might Like
- Old Virginia Plantation Spoon Bread
- The Perfect One Bowl Whole Wheat Banana Bread
- 3-Ingredient Homemade Breadsticks
3-Ingredient Beer Bread
No baking skills are needed to make this super easy beer bread. It's made with only 3-ingredients and requires no kneading at all. Soft and delicious!
Ingredients
- 3 cups self-rising flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 (12 ounce) can of beer, at room temperature
- Optional: I like to add ¼ teaspoon of salt to balance the taste of the sugar but it’s not necessary for the rising process if you prefer to omit it
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
-
In a large bowl, stir together all of the ingredients until just combined.
-
Transfer dough to the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean).
Recipe Notes
- You can omit the sugar if you prefer but it does give the bread a lovely flavor.
- You can adapt the flavor of this bread by making it sweet or savory. Try adding raisins or cinnamon for a sweet bread or dried herbs, cheese or cubed ham for savory.
- Leftover bread will store well in a cool dry place covered in plastic wrap or foil for up to 5 days or longer.
- You can freeze this bread and easily defrost it in the oven or broiler.
I noticed you used a can of lite beer.
Does it matter?
Do you taste the beer?
Hi, Barbara! No, it doesn’t matter at all.
I used the Miller Lite because that’s my personal preference so that’s what I had on hand. With a light, mild beer you definitely don’t taste it. The beer gives the bread a “yeasty” flavor, but not a strong beer flavor.
If you want a bit of beer flavor, then I would use a darker, stronger beer. It still won’t be overpowering, but you’ll get more of that beer taste.
Enjoy!
Hi, How do I make self rising flour for this recipe?
Hi, Tina! If you don’t have a bag of self-rising flour in your pantry, that’s no problem. You can make 1 cup of self-rising flour by placing 1 cup of all-purpose flour in a bowl. Whisk in 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
This recipe calls for 3 cups of self-rising flour, so you would need to combine 3 cups of all-purpose flour with 3 teaspoons of baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon of salt.
I would add 1 1/2 baking powder to 1 cup all purpose flour, so in total 4 1/2 tsp baking powder, also added 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, 1 tbsp herbs de Provence, 1/8 cup sunflower seeds, and after 45min baking, smeared butter on top and sprinkled with sesame seeds and baked another 10min. As an idea, change sun dried tomatoes with black olives or onion chutney. Otherwise Blair, excellent recipe.
Can Iuse gingerale instead of beer?
Thanks, Linda
Hi, Linda! Yes — I think that would technically “work;” however, the bread will have a much sweeter (and slightly ginger-y) taste to it…so just be aware that the end result will taste different if you decide to use it. 🙂
Can this bread be frozen? I would love to make more than one loaf at a time. Thank you
Hi, Sandra! Yes, the bread can definitely be frozen after baking. Just allow it to cool completely and then wrap tightly. Enjoy!
no eggs?
No eggs! Just those 3 ingredients (and salt if you like). 🙂
No bread recipe out there ever uses eggs.
Lol!! Ok. Except more than half the recipes that came with my bread machine have egg in them.????♀️ The internet is full of bread recipes with egg in them. But “no bread recipe EVER uses eggs”! So sure, you go on with your bad know it all self. Google is a useful tool. USE IT!!!!! You,sir, are not google????????
Awesome easy recipe Blair. My first loaf turned out perfect and the flavour was great. Everyone enjoyed it. Will certainly make again.
Paul
Eggs in bread???
That’s awesome, Paul! Thanks for letting me know! So glad that it worked well for you. 🙂
You are wrong. Beer has yeast in it.
I know that. 🙂 I said in the post that “the yeast in the beer helps the bread rise.” When I noted “no yeast” on the image, I meant that you don’t need to use an active yeast packet and take the dough through the rising process. Just read the post a bit closer next time before criticizing, please.
I understood what you meant by no yeast right away! Thanks for the recipe. I’m making it now – without the salt. Almost wish I’d have put it in. Guess I’ll have to make it again!
Thanks, Jen! 🙂
Enjoy the bread! It’s so good with chili — now I want another loaf…
Have a great week!
This bread also makes good homemade garlic bread. Just find a good recipe for garlic spread and you’ll never buy frozen garlic bread again.
Great tip about the garlic bread! 🙂
I don’t get it. No matter what recipe I use with self-rising flour, it never ever rises at all and comes out heavy and dense. I followed this recipe to a T and the results are the same. Would it help at all to add baking powder? If I buy a pre-packaged box of beer bread mix at Walmart, it turns out perfect every time. I just can’t figure out why the bought mix turns out great but homemade from scratch doesn’t.
Hi, Russ! I’m honestly not sure why it didn’t work for you. Is your self-rising flour fresh? If the active ingredients are old, they lose their effectiveness and can result in a baked good that doesn’t rise properly. Also, you want to be sure that you’re not overworking the batter before baking. As with muffins or any other quick bread, too much stirring, kneading, or overworking will cause the final product to be dense and dry. You just want to gently fold everything together until it’s barely combined. Maybe those tips help?
I have read that the absence of sifting the flower causes the bread to be like a brick! I always sift my flour and the results are outstanding
White bread is not for me. Only the healthy European rye and whole wheat or spelt bread and also crispy whole wheat rolls and not mushy.
This was easy and delicious. I stored it in a gallon zip lock bag for a couple of days and it stayed nice and fresh.
Thanks, Michele! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it! I appreciate you taking the time to come back here and let me know. Have a great weekend!
Hi,
I love making this bread. Always make it with corned beef and cabbage on St. Patty’s every year. I add rosemary to mine and the recipe I have also calls for pouring melted butter on top.
While it tastes yummy, mine looks lumpy an not smooth in the middle. Yours looks more smooth like a loaf of bread.
I wonder if it’s because your flour is presifted or maybe because my recipe calls for butter poured on top?
Do you think either of those would make a difference? I’m definitely going to try making it your way.
Thanks,
Chris
Hi, Chris! I wouldn’t think that the butter on top should change the texture too much, but I do think that the pre-sifted flour could make a significant difference. I would try using pre-sifted flour next time (or just sifting your own flour) and see if that helps. 🙂 The rosemary sounds like a delicious addition!
Do we measure the SR flour before or after sifting?
Hi, Vicki! I don’t even bother to sift the flour. 🙂 I just kind of fluff it in the jar, scoop it, level it off, and then whisk the ingredients together to remove any lumps.
can I add bannas or carrots toit
Hi, Susan! Yes, I think either of those would work well! 🙂
This sounds soooo delicious, what a great idea to use beer instead of yeast.
The recipe calls for 112 ounce can of beer, That is 4.7 cans of 24 fl oz beer that i bought, is this right?!
Hi, Helena! Sorry that looks confusing. It’s supposed to be 1 (12 ounce) can of beer. So a total of just 12 ounces — nothing more. I’ll try to make that more clear in the recipe card formatting. Enjoy! 🙂
This bread turned out very badly. I am an avid baker and followed the recipe perfectly. The bread tasted of play dough and was very very dense. I was super excited for the recipe so it was very disappointing 🙁
Sounds just like a perfect beer bread!
Mine turned out lovely and I am a avid Baker. Love this quick minimal ingredient bread. I usually plan ahead and make a loaf in my bread machine. But there are times I make something and wish I thought to add bread. This is perfect and so simple. And quick. Love the texture and the beer does add a unique earthy flavor to it. I did add flax seed to mine. I’ve made this 3 times this week because the kids can’t keep their hands off of it. I have 3 teenagers so I’ll probably have to make 2 at a time. Lol. Thanks for the recipe. It’s perfect for fall crockpot meals like chili and. stew. This one is definitely a keeper.
Thanks, Gail! So glad to know that you’ll continue to enjoy this recipe. 🙂
Have you ever made this int mini muffins? I can’t find my loaf pan
Hi, Keri! I haven’t tried that! I bet it would work — you’d just need to cut the baking time down to about 20-30 minutes. Enjoy!
Hi,
I recently found a similar recipe for Beer Bread I had scribbled out about 40 years ago, no kidding! My recipe didn’t mention the temperature of the beer, or sifting or mixing method so I didn’t sift, used cold beer and mixed, I think, ok. It also said to let rise for 1 hour before baking. At first the bread was a bit crumbly but once it cooled, it seemed to hold together better but was quite dense and broken up in the center, not smooth like yours in the photo. Do you think it was not sifting, the cold beer or the rising that might have caused it? I’m going to try it again using your recipe next week with my granddaughters but wanted to make sure it was an improvement from my bread so they can enjoy the results better. Open to suggestions. Thank you for providing the recipe!
Hi, Marge! I honestly have no idea! 🙂 I am definitely not an expert when it comes to the science of baking, so my best advice is to just tweak it or try something different and see how it goes. 🙂 I hope that you enjoy this recipe!
Loved this recipe, it turned out perfectly! In response to Marge, I used cold beer (as I’m impatient!) and it turned out just fine. I’ll definitely make this one again.
Thank you, Megan!
What if I don’t have self-rising flour. what can i substitute ?
Hi, Ellen! You can make your own self rising flour at home. Here’s a good explanation: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/homemade-self-rising-flour-recipe
Thank you.
5 stars for anticipation. I have no doubt this bead will be amazing g. Just like my gra mother made for me when I was small. Now I work at a brewery……how handy.so my question is can you use flat beer ie opened but sitting in the fridge with similar results. Cant wait to try my passionfruit cream stout..yummy.
Hi, Kalady! I wouldn’t recommend using flat beer. It might work, but the bread won’t rise as much, since part of the leavening comes from the carbonation. I hope that you enjoy the bread!
I’ve tried other beer bread recipe and love the simplicity of this one. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks, Edwina! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it!
Just a quick question: Does this end up tasting or looking like cake or does it have more of a loaf of bread consistency
Hi, Sarah! I’d say it’s more like a loaf of bread. Similar to Irish Soda Bread, if you’ve had that before. 🙂 Kind of a cross between a quick bread and a regular white bread.
Going to try this right now! I am under “self quarantine” for 2 weeks and am already losing my mind!!! Thank you for such a simple, yet thorough recipe. Definitely going to sift my flour first, as I’ve read a few comments suggesting so. I may just make some banana cinnamon loaves as well ❤️
Thanks, Sarah! I hope that you enjoy the bread. I think it’s perfect with a bowl of soup or stew on a chilly day. Don’t lose your mind — we can all relate to how you feel right now! Hang in there. 🙂 Baking helps!
I was wondering if you can make this in a bread maker? Any help would be appreciated
Hey, Rick! I honestly have no idea, because I’ve never used a bread machine before. Sorry that I can’t be more helpful.
The aroma of this bread baking was wonderful. Grated extra sharp cheese into batter and covered top of bread with cheese before baking for dinner tonight.
Awesome! I agree — it smells so good while it’s baking. Enjoy, Deby!
I have all purpose flour and saw how to convert it to self rising. If the recipe already has salt in it, do you need the salt to convert? Dues that help in the conversion?
Hi, Amy! Yes, I would use the salt in the self-rising flour in addition to the salt called for in the recipe. Enjoy!
If I want to turn this recipe into rolls, should I use muffin tins or do something else?
Hey, Sara! This is more like a quick bread — not a typical yeast bread. As a result, you won’t get “rolls” — they would be more like muffins — so I suppose I would try it in a muffin tin. 🙂
Should the dough proof or rise at all before being baked? Or just mix, transfer, bake?
Nope, just mix and bake! It’s more like a quick bread as opposed to a traditional yeast bread (that requires rising time). 🙂
i came across this recipe some 40 or 50 years ago in an Irma Bombeck cookbook. I’ve since lost the book and the recipe. Since COVID-19 I’ve been thinking of making beer bread since bread is in short supply here as is yeast. I used to make it into 4 long sandwich rolls by just shaping them and putting them on a cookie sheet. That’s the way my family liked it best. I never tried a loaf but think I’ll try it. Thanks for reminding me of this great bread!
I love the idea of making it into sandwich rolls, Nancy. I hope this recipe brings back good memories! Enjoy. 🙂
Hi,
I am not a baker. So I like this really simple recipe. We are running short of self raising flour. Can I use whole meal flour? Thank you very much.
Jo
Hi, Jo! This is a perfect bread to start with if you’re not an experienced baker. You don’t want to substitute with regular flour because you need the leavening in the self-rising flour to help the bread rise. If you’d like to make your own self-rising flour at home, it’s really easy. Here’s an article that explains how to use regular all-purpose flour to make self-rising flour: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/homemade-self-rising-flour-recipe
Hope that helps, and enjoy!
Sheltering at home and using what I have on hand to reduce the times I must shop for food. Made soup and wanted some bread – but had no milk or yeast. Found this recipe and gave it a try. I did not have self rising flour but found out from King Arthur Flour website how to make some with what I had. It was so easy. The bread came out beautifully and tasted just as good as it looked. We will definitely have this again. Thanks.
That’s so good to hear, Marion! I’m glad that you enjoyed it and were able to make it work with what you had on hand. Thanks for letting me know!
Was excited to bake the beer bread and attempted to make it tooday. But disappointed that it came out very dense and heavy. .. flavor was good. Not certain why. Any thoughrs?
Hi, Deb! I’m not sure — it’s hard to say what might have gone wrong. Sometimes overmixing or overworking baked goods (like muffins or quick breads) will cause the finished product to be too dense or tough. Maybe that was the case here? Or, it could just be that you were expecting a lighter yeast-like bread, which is different from this bread. This is more like a dense quick bread (like banana bread, for example) because it’s not made with yeast. Sorry that it wasn’t what you wanted. 🙁
Sounds good, as we are not able to go around much I will try your recipe.
I may try a round loaf though.
Thanks for the recipe.
Cheers Lin.
I don’t have a loaf pan – think I can use something else? Not going out to the store anytime soon during these crazy times
Hi, Denise! Maybe a muffin tin? They would be more like rolls or biscuits in the muffin tin, but that would be my next best bet. You’ll need to reduce the baking time, though, since the muffins would be smaller (probably about 25 minutes or so).
I was only able to find gluten free flour at the store… can this be made with gf flour?
Hi, Leslie! You need the leavening in the self-rising flour in order to help the bread rise, so a regular all-purpose or gluten-free flour (unless it’s gluten-free self-rising flour) will not work here. I’m not familiar with baking with GF flour, but you can make your own self-rising flour at home with all-purpose flour. You might be able to do the same with the GF flour — I’m just not sure. Here are the instructions if you want to give it a try: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/homemade-self-rising-flour-recipe
Thank you! I was able to find all purpose flour and modified it to use in this recipe. The bread turned out great and we all loved it!!!
Awesome! So glad that it worked, Leslie. Thanks for letting me know!
Just made this bread, and it’s delicious! So quick and easy! Love the slightly sweet taste. This will be breakfast tomorrow. Thank you so much for sharing.
Stay well
Thanks, Louise! So glad that you love it too!
Can a carbonated soda be substituted for the beer. I do not have ant beer in my house.
Hi, Beverly! I think the soda would probably “work,” in that the bread would probably rise okay. That said, I would worry about the taste of the bread with the soda. The beer isn’t very sweet, and adds a rich “yeasty” flavor to the bread. If you omit that and use a sweet soda, I’m concerned that the bread will be very sweet and will taste like whatever soda you use. I haven’t actually tried it, though — so just a thought!
Has anyone used non alcoholic beer in this recipe? Just me not wanting to “waste” beer 🙂
Hi, Lisa! No, not that I know of. Sorry that I don’t know the answer *for sure,* but my guess is that the non-alcoholic beer would work fine. 🙂
Thanks Blair! I’ll be making this in the next day or so will let you know how it turns out, and which type of beer I used! Take care!
I made this yesterday using a non alcoholic Heineken lager and it turned out really well
Awesome! Thanks for following up to let us know, Lisa!
I’m gonna make this tonight for me and the boys, along with your dump corned beef and cabbage. Gonna add some lightly roasted caraway seeds and dill to give it a bit of a rye bread flavor.