No-Knead Green Olive and Rosemary Artisan Bread

Last updated on April 23rd, 2026

Made with bold, aromatic rosemary and crisp, buttery green olives, this Mediterranean-inspired No-Knead Green Olive and Rosemary Artisan Bread is chock full of fresh, robust flavours.

This green olive loaf just may be the best reason I can think of to turn on your oven during the warmer months. It’s perfectly chewy, herby and ideal for lighter summer meals and snack boards.

My No-Knead Olive Artisan Bread recipe is a reader favourite, and I’ve been asked so often whether it can be made with green olives that I decided to take some time this summer to really experiment with different types of olives and seasonings.

To be clear, this was not a tough assignment. I love olives in all forms – shapes, sizes, colours and flavours. For this recipe, I like to use Castelvetrano or large green olives that have been marinated in olive oil lightly seasoned with crushed chilis to produce a crave-worthy rustic loaf.

Here’s everything you’ll need to make this No-Knead Green Olive and Rosemary Artisan Bread

• Water
• Active dry yeast
• Bread or all-purpose flour
• Kosher or fine sea salt
• Rosemary
• Green olives
• Optional: ground flaxseed for dusting

Ideally, you will also have:

• Digital scale
• Dough scraper
• Parchment paper
• Razor blade or very sharp knife
• Dutch oven such as this one or this one

New to working with yeast? Reference my Baking with Active Dry Yeast guide for answers to common FAQ’s.

You can read more about why you will achieve your best results using a Dutch oven here.

Like my other no-knead overnight artisan bread recipes, this green olive and rosemary artisan bread is a super easy bake that requires just 20 minutes of hands-on prep time to make.

How to make Green Olive and Rosemary Artisan Bread in 5 steps

1. Mix the dough.
2. Cover and let it rise until it has doubled in size.
3. Shape your dough and dust with flour.
4. Cover and proof the dough in the fridge overnight.
5. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, reshape if needed, score it and bake.

Baking schedule

Making this green olive and rosemary artisan bread is a two-day process where the bread is mixed and prepared on day one, cold proofed in the fridge overnight, then baked on day two.

This is what it looks like:

Saturday morning: Mix dough, cover and let rise.

Saturday afternoon or evening: Shape dough, cover and put it in the fridge.

Sunday morning, afternoon or evening: Remove dough from the fridge and prepare to bake.

Variations and substitutions

• Olives: Any olives will work in this recipe as long as they’re not stuffed and have had their pits removed. Just be sure to dry to them before adding them to the dough so they don’t alter the hydration content. This is easily done by laying them out between two paper towels or wrapping them in a dry kitchen towel.
• Salt: Salt may be added or omitted according to preference and the type of olives you’ve selected for your loaf. The best way to know is to taste them first. If they’ve been soaked in a salty brine, you may want to forego the additional salt.
• Seasoning: If you don’t have rosemary, sage, thyme and oregano are all delicious substitutes. Dried herbs may also be used if fresh herbs are not available.

We love this No-Knead Green Olive and Rosemary Artisan Bread served warm with a generous amount of good quality olive oil, paired with charcuterie or for dipping into a saucy Shakshuka for Sunday brunch!

Try this No-Knead Jalapeño Cheddar Artisan Bread or this Chickpea Tuna Salad with Green Olives next.

For more tips and helpful information, reference my Artisan Bread Basics guides for answers to common FAQ’s.  

If you make this recipe, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! 

And of course, feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews. This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you!

Green Olive and Rosemary Artisan Bread

5 from 1 vote

Made with bold, aromatic rosemary and crisp, buttery green olives, this Mediterranean-inspired No-Knead Green Olive and Rosemary Artisan Bread is chock full of fresh, robust flavours!

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Cook Time:45 minutes mins

Total Time:18 hours hrs

Keyword: artisan bread, bread, castelvetrano, green olive, no-knead, rosemary

Servings: 1 loaf

Author: Kerry

Equipment

• Digital scale
• Spatula
• Dough scraper
• 4 Qt mixing bowl
• Parchment paper
• Dutch oven

Ingredients

• 1½ cups water, room temperature (at or near 70°F/21°C)
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 3¼ cups bread or all-purpose flour, plus for more dusting
• 1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt (see note if using marinated olives)
• 1½ tablespoons rosemary, finely chopped
• 1½ cups pitted green olives Castelvetrano or marinated in chili oil (optional), dried and roughly chopped
• Optional: Ground flaxseed for dusting ~1-2 tablespoons or 7-10 grams

US Customary – Metric

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Instructions

• Add the yeast to the water and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
• Whisk together flour, salt and rosemary in a large mixing bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.
• Add yeast mixture and olives to the bowl and mix just until combined. The dough should look a little sticky and stringy and there should still be a little flour around the edges of the bowl. Cover and let rise somewhere warm (see note below) until it has doubled in size, about 8-10 hours.
• Once the dough has doubled in volume, use your hands (or a dough scraper if you have one) to pull the dough out onto a floured surface. With floured hands, gently fold the dough into itself several times until a soft, flour-covered ball is formed. Seam side up, lift and place it into a flour dusted bowl. Dust with flour, cover and refrigerate overnight. You can even leave it for as long as 48 hours at this point if you’re not able to bake it right away.
• When you're ready to bake your bread, preheat oven to 450ºF (232ºC) with your Dutch oven inside the oven.
• Once the oven is preheated, uncover then invert the bowl to turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface seam side down. If needed, gently turn it with your hands and nudge it into the shape of a loaf. If using ground flaxseed, sprinkle several teaspoons across the top and sides and use your hands to gently press it into the loaf. Place loaf on a sheet of parchment paper and score the top with a razor blade or the tip of a sharp knife with a design of your choosing. This will allow steam to escape while it’s baking.
• Remove the Dutch oven from the oven and transfer the dough, still on the parchment, into the Dutch oven. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for 15-20 minutes more. Your bread will be done once the top is browned, and it sounds hollow when you tap the top.
• Using parchment edges, lift bread from Dutch oven and transfer it to a wire cooling rack to let cool for up to an hour before slicing.

Notes

Olives: Any olives will work in this recipe as long as they’re not stuffed and have had their pits removed. Just be sure to dry to them before adding them to the dough so they don’t alter the hydration content. This is easily done by laying them out between two paper towels or wrapping them in a dry kitchen towel.

Salt: Salt may be added or omitted according to preference and the type of olives you’ve selected for your loaf. The best way to know is to taste them first. If they’ve been soaked in a salty brine, you may want to forego the additional salt.

Seasoning: If you don’t have rosemary, sage, thyme and oregano are all delicious substitutes. Dried herbs may also be used if fresh herbs are not available.

Rise time and temperature: An ambient rise temperature somewhere between ~70º-75º/20º-23ºC is ideal but even high 60’s/18º-19ºC should work if the dough is kept away from drafts. Note that rise times can vary based on temperature, environment and ingredients used. You will know your loaf is ready to shape and proof when it has doubled in size, and this can take a minimum of 8 hours or as long as a full day.

Storage: This bread will keep well on the counter for up to 3 days and in the refrigerator for up to a week. Sliced bread will freeze well for up to 3 months.