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This homemade jalapeno cheddar Dutch oven bread is soft on the inside with an irresistible chewy crust, savory and spicy, and is perfect for serving up with a smear of butter or homemade soup!
If you’ve never made homemade bread before, this dutch oven bread is an easy place to start!
You’ll have artisanal bread with a chewy crust and fluffy interior that’s studded with bits of cheddar and jalapeno – and the only special equipment you’ll need is a dutch oven to bake the bread!
We love to serve this bread warm with a smear of butter, but it’s also perfect alongside soup and salad! Try this dutch oven bread with our cheeseburger soup or hearty steak chili.
Much like our quick dinner rolls, this recipe is very simple, but the results are outstanding. You’ll definitely feel like a master bread baker when you serve this one to your family!
Try this with our bacon butter on top. Heaven.
Ingredient Notes:
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Dough Ingredients – To prepare the bread dough you’re going to need some all purpose flour, warm water, sugar, salt, and active dry yeast.
Cheddar Cheese – You can use the pre-shredded kind from the store, or even better would be to grate a block of good quality cheddar!
Jalapeno – Some chopped jalapenos will add a little kick. Use canned green chiles to keep things mild.
What We Love About This Recipe:
- The cheddar and jalapeno flavors add the perfect spicy and savory kick to this homemade bread.
- You can customize this to be as spicy or mild as you want!
- The crust is so chewy and the interior is nice and fluffy – all with minimal effort.
My Favorite Dutch Oven!
This gorgeous Dutch oven is perfect for making soup, pot roast, and more. It goes from stove to oven as needed and looks pretty enough to leave out on your stovetop as decoration.
How To Make Jalapeno Cheddar Bread:
Dough: To get started you’ll prepare the bread dough. Add the warm water, flour, yeast, sugar, and salt to a large bowl and mix together until the flour is incorporated and it has formed into a shaggy dough.
Proof: Cover the bowl up tightly with some plastic wrap and place it in a warm place, such as your oven. The dough will need to double in size before it is ready.
Mix: When the dough has doubled in size you can remove the plastic wrap and start mixing in the chopped jalapenos and shredded cheddar cheese. Save a little of both for sprinkling over the top!
Knead: Place the dough onto a floured surface then use stretching and folding motions to knead the dough. Make sure the cheese and jalapenos are fully mixed into the dough. Knead until it is a smooth ball of dough.
Preheat: Start preheating your oven to 450 degrees, with the Dutch oven on the top rack with the lid on. While it preheats transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper and cover with a towel to let it rise some more.
Score: When the oven has preheated remove the towel from the dough and score it with a razor blade or sharp knife. This will allow the heat and air to escape while baking.
Bake: Transfer the dough along with the parchment paper into the preheated Dutch oven. That will make it easier to remove the bread when it is ready. Cover it up with the lid and start baking for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove the lid and continue to bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the bread is golden and crispy.
Serve: When the jalapeno cheddar bread has finished baking carefully remove it from the Dutch oven by grabbing both ends of the parchment paper and lifting it out.
Let the bread cool before slicing and serving!
What To Serve With Jalapeno Cheddar Bread:
Jalapeno cheddar bread can be served by itself, as a side dish or as a base for sandwiches, or paired with lots of different kinds of foods! Some options include:
- Slow Cooker Chili
- Cajun Potato Soup
- Crockpot Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Buffalo Chicken Dip
- White Bean and Ham Soup
It’s also a great savory bread to go with a cold beer or cocktail!
FAQs:
Jalapeno cheddar bread is a type of Dutch oven bread that is made with chopped jalapenos and cheddar cheese. The peppers add a spicy kick to while the cheese adds creamy and savory flavor.
It’s best to store jalapeno cheddar bread at room temperature, wrapped in foil or plastic wrap, or in a bread tin, for up to 3 to 4 days.
Yes, jalapeno cheddar bread can be frozen. First wrap it tightly in plastic and then some foil and place it in an airtight container or freezer bag. You can keep it stored for up to 3 months.
MORE HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPES!
- Blueberry Banana Bread
- English Muffin Bread
- Air Fryer Crack Bread
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
- Keto Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Nutella Banana Bread
Jalapeno Cheddar Dutch Oven Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour plus more for working the dough
- 1 1/3 cups warm water
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup chopped jalapeno see notes
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine water, flour, yeast, sugar, and salt with a sturdy spatula. Mix until all the flour is incorporated and you are left with a shaggy dough.
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise for an hour to an hour and a half, until dough has doubled in size.
- Once dough has doubled in size, remove plastic wrap. Add in jalapenos and most of the cheddar cheese (leave a little for sprinkling over the top of the dough). Dump dough onto a floured surface.
- Using stretching and folding motions, knead the bread, making sure to fully incorporate the cheese and jalapenos. Knead the dough until you are left with a nice, smooth ball of dough.
- Transfer dough to a long piece of parchment paper and cover with a towel for another rise, about 20 minutes.
- While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F with your dutch oven on the top rack with the lid on.
- Once the oven is preheated to 450 degrees F, remove the towel from the dough and score it with a razor blade. I normally do a curved line on one side of the dough. This allows heat and air to escape while baking.
- Carefully transfer parchment with dough to the dutch oven, sprinkle with extra cheddar if desired, and place the lid back on top. Place the dutch oven in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, carefully remove the lid to the dutch oven and continue to bake for another 10-15 minutes. This second bake is to get the bread golden and crispy.
- Once the second bake is done, carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven. Grabbing both ends of the parchment, gently lift and place parchment with baked bread on a wire rack to cool.
- Make sure to allow the bread to cool before slicing.
Adam Haden says
This was my first time trying this recipe and I was totally IMPRESSED… however the next time I try it will let the yeast “activate” before adding all the other ingredients as the bread was very dense. And I also added more jalapeños than was called for. My fabulous wife also enjoyed this delicious bread
Diane Barben says
This is awesome bread we love it!
Pam says
Can’t wait to try this recipe! Sounds delicious!
I never have parchment paper so I’ll flip the parts around instead. I use the lid of my Dutch oven as the bottom and the Dutch oven itself as the lid. It works best with silicone oven mitts, but can be down without.
Laura says
Question about the jalapeno. Use a fresh jalapeno or pickled (jar) kind?
Karly says
We use fresh jalapenos, but pickled would be good too!
Sharon Wildner says
I am making this today. Does not specify when to add the extra cheese on top, so I am adding after 2nd rise, before putting in Dutch oven
Karly says
Sorry about that! We add it after it goes in the dutch oven, just before putting it in the oven. 🙂
mary ellen says
do you think this would work with substituting an “all purpose” gluten free flour
Karly says
I’m not sure. I’ve never tried baking bread with gluten free flour blends so I can’t really say.
Dawn Perez says
Can you please tell me how long to knead the dough using the dough hook attachment on my mixer? Thank you!
Karly says
You’ll just want to let it knead until it’s smooth and pliable. It’ll probably only take a few minutes.
Nay says
Maybe it’s my computer or the web browser I am using, but there are question marks in some of the ingredients:
cups all purpose flour plus more for working the dough
1 ? cups warm water
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
? cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup chopped jalapeno see notes
Karly says
Oh gosh, it’s not you! I always forget that my recipe card eats any 1/3 fraction. I’ve fixed it now – 1 1/3 cups water, 2/3 cup cheese. 🙂
Sandra :) says
What are the measurements for the water and cheese? On my screen it shows a ? instead of the number, lol.
Karly says
Sorry about that! 1 1/3 cups water, 2/3 cup cheese. 🙂
Sandra :) says
Thank you!