Sourdough Bread

This guide to how to make sourdough bread is an easy-to-follow step-by-step guide to making classic sourdough bread from scratch. This recipe calls for 4 simple ingredients to make delicious, homemade bread.

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Have you always wanted to bake sourdough bread? Then you have come to the right place. Sourdough bread is easy to make with an active, bubbly sourdough starter.

Our recipe for sourdough bread is simple and made with only 4 ingredients - sourdough starter, water, flour and salt. This guide takes you step-by-step through the process of making classic sourdough bread.

Jump to:

• What is Sourdough?
• When is the Starter Ready to Use?
• Stages of Sourdough Bread
• Ingredients for Sourdough Bread
• Kitchen Tools & Equipment
• How to Make Sourdough Bread
• Recipe Serving Suggestions
• Expert Tips & Variations
• How to Store Sourdough Bread
• Recipe FAQ
• More Sourdough Recipes
• Sourdough Bread

What is Sourdough?

Sourdough bread is bread made with a sourdough starter as the leavening agent. A sourdough starter is an active culture of beneficial bacteria and yeast made through the process of fermenting flour and water.

Because your sourdough starter is the sole leavening agent in the recipe, it is important to use a healthy, active, bubbly starter. A healthy and active starter will produce great bread. Using a starter that is not bubbly or active will result in a dense loaf that doesn't rise.

When is the Starter Ready to Use?

You want to use an active, bubbly starter at its peak for this recipe.

Your sourdough starter is ready to use when it has fermented at room temperature, has doubled in size and is bubbly.

This can take anywhere from 4-12 hours depending on how mature and strong your starter is as well as the temperature in your home.

You can do the float test to check if your starter is ready to bake with.

1. Fill a bowl with room temperature water.
2. Add 1 teaspoon starter to the water.
3. If it floats, it is ready to use.

Stages of Sourdough Bread

1. Leaven. The leaven is the active, bubbly starter that will be used to leaven the bread. Combine ½ cup flour, ½ cup water and 1-2 heaping Tablespoons sourdough starter in a clean jar. Stir to combine and allow to ferment at room temperature until bubbly and active.
2. Autolyse. Combine water, leaven (starter) and flour in a bowl and allow to sit for 30 minutes. This allows the dough to start developing gluten strands and begin fermenting.
3. Bulk Ferment with Stretch and Folds. After you allow the dough to autolyse, add the salt and stretch and fold to combine the salt into the dough. During this stage, stretch and fold the dough every 30 minutes over the course of 2 hours to allow oxygen into the dough which helps facilitate fermentation and the development of gluten strands.
4. Long Ferment. The long ferment occurs over the course of about 12 hours (can be done overnight). Cover the dough and set in the fridge or leave at room temperature for 12 hours to allow it to ferment and double in size. I prefer to leave my dough at room temperature for this stage, but there is risk of over-fermenting if left at room temperature for too long.
5. Lamination. After the long-ferment, stretch the dough out into a thin rectangle on the countertop. The dough should be smooth, stretchy and not rip.
6. Shape the Dough. After stretching the dough out thinly, fold one side over into the middle, then the fold the other side over. Roll the dough up into a ball with the seam-side down. Build tension in the dough by moving the dough away from you on the countertop, then pulling it back toward you, keeping the seam side of the dough down.
7. Proofing. Place the shaped dough into a banneton basket to proof in the fridge.
8. Score and Bake. Scoring the dough gives the dough a weak point that allows it to keep its shape while it expands during baking.

Ingredients for Sourdough Bread

• Sourdough Starter - A bubbly, active sourdough starter is essential for leavening sourdough bread. You want to use a starter at its peak in this recipe. This is when the starter has doubled in size, is bubbly, smells sour and passes the float test.
• Water - Water helps allow the process of fermentation to occur. Use room temperature or slightly chilled water for this recipe. Do not use hot water.
• Flour - It is important to use an unbleached flour for sourdough baking. Unbleached flours are less processed and have a better gluten structure to support fermentation. You can use unbleached all-purpose flour or unbleached bread flour.
• Salt - Salt is essential in sourdough for tightening the gluten structure and therefore tightening the dough. It also helps enhance the flavor of the bread.

Complete list of ingredients and amounts is located on the recipe card below.

Kitchen Tools & Equipment

• Kitchen Scale - We highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure out the ingredients for accuracy and best results.
• Large Glass or Stoneware Bowl - A large bowl is necessary for mixing the bread dough and allowing it to ferment. We recommend a glass bowl or stoneware bowl. We don't recommend using a metal bowl, because it may affect your sourdough as acid reacts with metal.
• Dough Whisk - A dough whisk helps to combine the ingredients.
• Plastic Wrap - We like to use plastic wrap to cover the dough as it ferments because it helps to keep the moisture in the bowl so the dough doesn't dry out.
• Bench Scraper - A bench scraper helps to transfer the shaped dough to the proofing basket.
• Proofing Basket - A proofing basket helps the dough to hold its shape as it proofs. You can use a bowl lined with a tea towel if you do not have a basket.
• Bread Lame - A bread lame makes scoring the loaf easy to do, but a sharp knife or razor blade works great too.
• Dutch Oven - A Dutch oven is necessary for baking the sourdough loaf in.
• Parchment Paper - Parchment paper sits under the loaf as it bakes in the Dutch oven so it can easily be removed after baking.

How to Make Sourdough Bread

Follow this step-by-step guide to make sourdough bread. Specific instructions and timing is located on the recipe card below.

Recipe Serving Suggestions

This recipe makes one loaf of sourdough bread that can but cut into 10-12 slices. We love eating this warm or toasted with butter and jam, as a sandwich and even as a side dish with meals.

If you like this recipe, you will love our other sourdough recipes.

• Homemade Sourdough Bagels
• Sourdough Pancakes
• Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies

Expert Tips & Variations

• Start the bread at night to bake in the morning. We love starting this bread in the evening so it is ready to be shaped, proofed and then baked in the morning.
• Customize with add-ins. One of our favorite ways to make this bread even more delicious is adding jalapenos and cheddar cheese during the shaping stage. This makes delicious jalapeno cheddar bread.
• Feed the sourdough starter. It is important to feed your sourdough starter with more flour and water after you use a portion of it for this recipe. After you remove the active starter for the dough, feed your remaining starter equal parts flour and water so your starter continues to grow.

How to Store Sourdough Bread

Sourdough bread is best when stored in slices. Allow the loaf to cool completely then cut it into slices to then store on the countertop or in the freezer.

• Countertop - in an airtight container for 5 days
• Freezer - in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

Recipe FAQ

More Sourdough Recipes