Questions About

Unleavened Bread In The Bible

I get specific questions about healthy living and eating in our Facebook group, which I answer weekly on my podcast and YouTube channel. Today, I’ve compiled questions about unleavened bread to bless you with this rich, meaningful food.

Unleavened Bread in Scripture

We first see a mention of unleavened bread in the book of Genesis 19, when Lot receives the two angels in Sodom. The next time it’s mentioned is at the first Passover, as the Isrealites prepare for God’s deliverance.

Unleavened bread symbolized the Israelites’ haste when they escaped from slavery in Egypt after the death of all first-borns. According to the scriptures, the Israelites fled so quickly and immediately the bread didn’t have time to rise.

This is why God commanded the Israelites to commemorate this event by celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread. By eating this kind of bread, they will always remember the victory that God has given them to enter the promised land.

God’s people celebrate The Feast of Passover, a synonym to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for seven days. The Israelites ate unleavened bread for those seven days, as the Jews still do today.

Observing the Feast of Unleavened Bread is also a great way for Christians to connect with Jesus and His Jewish heritage, as well as God’s complete story.

In addition to the Book of Exodus, unleavened bread is also mentioned in Numbers 9:11, Deuteronomy 16:3, and many other places in scripture.

Not as familiar to many people today, I often get questions about unleavened bread, how to make it correctly, what it symbolizes, and when are good times to add it to the menu.

Today I’m sharing the most common unleavened bread questions I’ve received. Hope it's a blessing!

How Is Unleavened Bread Made?

I have several videos about making unleavened bread. 

- Classic Unleavened Bread Recipe from the Bible

- 7 Healthy Unleavened Bread Recipes

- How to Make Unleavened Bread from the Bible

Check one of these out and/or keep reading for a recipe below!

Unleavened bread can be enjoyed daily, weekly, or just on special occasions.

It can be flavored, basic, or used as your pizza crust!

Here's one of my videos on how to make unleavened bread in the Bible with only 4 ingredients!

Once you know how to make unleavened bread, there are simple ways to make this even without power in your home. This can be a mainstay when times get tough or we are dealing with a storm and power loss.

You can confidently know you are feeding your family well by learning simple and flexible recipes like unleavened bread.

Is unleavened bread only flour and water? 

Flour and water alone will make it inedible. Without salt the bread tastes horrible. So we need flour, water (or other liquid), and salt. It’s that simple.

How much honey should I use?

I start with just 1 tablespoon of honey. Begin with that and experiment to see how your family likes it. 

If you desire sweet bread, adding vanilla and cinnamon are also great options. They’ll cause a sweet reaction in your mouth and less honey is needed.

Does adding baking powder to the recipe disqualify the bread as Biblically consumable during the Feast of Unleavened Bread?  

Yes, baking powder is a leavening agent. Other leavening agents to avoid are yeast, baker’s ammonia, cream of tartar, and sodium bicarbonate.

How much olive oil and salt do you add to make unleavened bread? 

Love this question.

The recipe I use is 2 cups of flour.

Be creative and try several options such as spelt, kamut, and even oat flour.

Recipe for Unleavened Bread

All that’s needed for unleavened bread is:

2 cups flour¾ cup cold water 

2 tablespoons olive or avocado oil

1 teaspoon salt

Beyond that, feel free to explore with a variety of flavors and additions.

Can you please tell me what is the best flour to use to make unleavened bread?

Actually, any flour such as red wheat, hard white, spelt, or a mix of amaranth, einkorn, rye, kamut work for unleavened bread. It’s not about the type of flour, but the lack of leavening agent.

Experiment and enjoy.

Is it possible to make unleavened bread in my slow cooker? 

Good question. A hot plate is the best option if an oven isn’t available. A stove will also work.

Unleavened bread is similar to a pancake. It can be made on any flat, hot surface.

I have not used a slow cooker for unleavened bread, but if there’s heat, the bread will cook. And since we don’t need it to rise, it might work.

Would it be possible to make just one large loaf of unleavened bread from four quarts of flour that weighed around 11 lbs.?

Would a loaf like this hold together and still be edible? 

I love this question because I had never considered it before.

There is much confusion in the interpretation of whether or not the showbread was leavened or unleavened. Josephus claims it was unleavened.

Aren’t you glad when we get to heaven all the answers will be evident?!

To your answer, I don’t see that your recipe of 11 pounds of flour would be a good presentation or delicious.

Unleavened bread is able to be frozen for future use or if you’re making unleavened bread for an entire congregation, it can be made in larger batches but smaller loaves.

Spiritual Significance of Unleavened Bread

Unleavened bread has many spiritual meanings. Here are commonly asked questions about unleavened bread in the Bible and its spiritual significance:

When scripture says, “Do it in remembrance of Jesus”, does it mean we should do it at a specific date or can we do it anytime?

Unleavened bread is a beautiful addition to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which starts with Passover and goes for 7 days. This is a wonderful opportunity to teach our family about sin and how it can be hidden in all areas of our home.

Unleavened bread can also be enjoyed on Resurrection Sunday  or, as some call it, Easter. Hot cross buns have a feel good, but are a later addition when the Jewishness of our holy days was removed.

Additionally, unleavened bread is to be enjoyed any day of the year when you desire it for foodie fun or a spiritual significance.

Isn't the unleavened bread supposed to remind us of the hardship people had to go through?

It can be a reminder of the hardship, but I see it more as remembering the deliverance God brings when we are willing to remove the sin from our life.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.John 8:36 

The stripes on the bread are a reminder of the freedom offered to us.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Anything that has interrupted the evidence of freedom in Christ in my life is a sin.

I am to live in freedom, knowing Christ has set me free.

The unleavened bread, at Passover in the spring and each morning I choose to use it during my devotion time, is a chance to review my life.

To ask if sin has crept in and then remove it through repentance and change. This keeps my heart pure and free to live in Christ open. No entanglements.

Doesn't leaven represent pride or sin being puffed up? Leveling the whole lump does that mean it goes before a fall?

Like our sin affects others, it will bring us down in the end. God uses this to create in us a broken and a contrite heart, which He views as a good sacrifice.

In the New Testament, leaven represents wickedness (The teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees), and malice and lying of Herod.

In I Corinthians 5:7-8, Paul commands,

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Accordingly, in the New Testament leaven implies wickedness and malice in contrast to sincerity and truth.

Through the work of Christ on the cross we can come to Him with sincerity of heart and truth in our spirit.

Can I eat unleavened bread on the Daniel Fast?

My answer is yes. Others will say no. 

The reason I say yes is because I believe that the Daniel Fast is about putting aside time and food for a deeper relationship with God. 

I don’t make “eat this and don’t eat that” the primary focus of the 21 days. 

For me, to spend the morning with a piece of unleavened bread and water (I forgo juice, since the sugar can cause me to want more) and Bible creates a precious time of devotion. Plus, bread and water is a fast on its own.

Others will say bread isn’t allowed. That is fine. I don’t find this a point of contention. 

Make the Daniel Fast what you want it to be, but it needs to be different from your regular routine and eating plan. The change in eating is what causes us to be reminded we are in a time of fasting. We say, “Oh yeah, I am not eating that now. I should go pray.”

Unleavened Bread Conclusions

I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey of unleavened bread as much as I have!

This simple, quick bread is great to add to a meal or share with a group. To include in an everyday menu, or plan for a special celebration.

There are endless ways to tailor it and spice it up. 

I’d love to know what you think after trying the recipe and what all ingredients you add. Let me know in the comments below!