Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Recipe

I’m sharing an Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe that uses just a few ingredients and a relaxed timeline so beginners can bake a reliable, bakery-style loaf at home.

I never thought I’d tame a wild starter, but this Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe made me a believer. With just active sourdough starter and bread flour, a little time and patience, the results are almost unfairly good.

It’s simple enough that I messed up a step and still ended up with a crust that crackled, and a crumb that made me wonder why I ever bought store loaves. I’ll warn you though, it asks for attention, not perfection, and that’s the fun part.

You’ll learn the rhythms of dough without feeling overwhelmed, and you’ll brag about it to anyone who drops by.

Ingredients

• Active starter: live culture, gives tangy flavor, gentle sour notes, aids digestion slightly.
• Bread flour: high protein, makes gluten and chew, good structure and more protein.
• Water: hydrates dough, controls crust and crumb, aids fermentation, no calories.
• Fine sea salt: boosts flavor, tightens gluten, balances sourness, provides sodium.
• Whole wheat flour: adds fiber and nutrients, gives nutty taste, denser crumb.
• Rice flour or semolina: keeps dough from sticking, gives crisper bottom crust.
• Olive oil: light grease for bowl, prevents sticking and drying, adds mild richness.

Ingredient Quantities

• Active sourdough starter (100% hydration), 100 g (about 1/2 cup)
• Bread flour, 500 g (about 4 cups)
• Water, 350 g (about 1 1/2 cups)
• Fine sea salt, 10 g (about 1 3/4 tsp)
• Optional: whole wheat flour, 50 g (for a touch of whole grain)
• Optional: extra flour for dusting and shaping, as needed
• Optional: rice flour or semolina for dusting banneton, a few tbsp
• Optional: olive oil for greasing, 1 tsp

How to Make this

1. Make sure your 100 g active sourdough starter is bubbly and jiggles when shaken; if not feed it and wait until lively. Meanwhile weigh 500 g bread flour and optional 50 g whole wheat if you want a touch of whole grain.

2. In a big bowl mix the flours with 350 g water until no dry bits remain, cover and let autolyse for 30 to 60 minutes. This makes the dough easier to handle and gives better crumb, so be patient.

3. Add 100 g active starter to the autolysed dough, sprinkle in 10 g fine sea salt, then mix until incorporated. Use a wet hand or a dough scraper to fold and press until the dough looks cohesive but still a little shaggy.

4. Start bulk fermentation at room temp. Do 4 sets of stretch-and-folds spaced 20 to 30 minutes apart for the first 2 hours: grab one side, stretch up and fold over, rotate the bowl and repeat 4 times. After the folds let the dough rest undisturbed until it has grown about 30 to 50 percent and feels airy, usually 2 to 4 hours total depending on temp.

5. Lightly flour your work surface with extra flour (or use wet hands to avoid adding flour), gently turn the dough out, pre-shape into a loose round and rest 20 to 30 minutes on the counter covered.

6. Final shape the dough into a tight boule or batard, dust a banneton or bowl with a few tablespoons rice flour or semolina, place dough seam-side up into it, cover. You can final-proof at room temp for 2 to 4 hours until puffy, or refrigerate overnight 8 to 14 hours for better flavor and easier scoring.

7. About 45 minutes before baking preheat a Dutch oven in your oven to 260 C (500 F) for at least 30 minutes. If you dont have a Dutch oven use a baking stone and a metal tray for steam. Grease the pot lightly with 1 tsp olive oil or place the dough on parchment for easy transfer.

8. When ready, invert the proofed dough onto parchment, score the top with a lame or sharp knife, carefully place it into the hot Dutch oven, cover and bake at 232 C (450 F) for 20 minutes covered to trap steam.

9. Remove the lid and bake another 20 to 30 minutes uncovered until the crust is deep brown and the internal temp reaches about 93 to 99 C (200 to 210 F). Let the loaf cool on a rack at least one hour before slicing. Dont rush this or the crumb will be gummy.

Equipment Needed

1. Kitchen scale (accurate to 1 g)
2. Large mixing bowl or big bowl
3. Dough scraper / bench scraper
4. Clean work surface or wooden board for shaping
5. Banneton or proofing basket (or a bowl lined with a well floured towel)
6. Dutch oven (preferred) or baking stone plus a metal tray for steam
7. Parchment paper (for easy transfer) and scissors
8. Lame or very sharp knife / razor blade for scoring
9. Instant read thermometer (so you dont cut into a gummy crumb) and oven mitts

FAQ

Beginner’s Sourdough Bread Recipe Substitutions and Variations

• Active sourdough starter (100% hydration) substitute: Use one packet instant yeast (2 1/4 tsp) and add 50 g bread flour plus 50 g water to make up for the flour and water in the starter. Expect much faster rises and less tang, and do a short bulk rise of about 1 to 1.5 hours instead of the long sourdough ferment.
• Bread flour substitute: Swap for 500 g all purpose flour and add about 15 g vital wheat gluten if you want similar chew. If you skip the gluten, 500 g all purpose still works but the crumb will be a bit softer and the oven spring smaller.
• Water substitute: Replace up to 50 g of the water with milk or buttermilk for a softer, richer crumb and a hint of tang. Or use lukewarm water if you want to speed up fermentation when using commercial yeast instead of starter.
• Rice flour or semolina for dusting banneton substitute: Use fine cornmeal, plain all purpose flour, or a mix of flour and a little cornmeal. A well floured clean kitchen towel also works if you don’t have a banneton, it might stick a tiny bit but will still bake fine.

Pro Tips

1) Always trust the starter, not the clock. If it’s not bubbly and jiggly when you mix it in, feed it and wait a few hours. A sleepy starter will give you dense bread, no matter how long you knead.

2) Keep dough temperature in mind. Warmer = faster fermentation, cooler = slower and more flavor. If it’s moving too slow, put the bowl in a warm spot (oven with light on or top of the fridge). If it’s moving too fast, pop it in the fridge to slow things down and develop better taste.

3) Use wet hands or a bench scraper instead of piling on flour when shaping. Extra flour stiffens the surface and ruins oven spring. For tighter shaping, create surface tension with quick, confident tucks and a few single coil folds, then let it rest before final shaping.

4) Score confidently and check doneness by temp not just color. A sharp lame gives better oven spring, so don’t be timid. Bake until the loaf reads about 200 to 210 C at the center or sounds hollow on the bottom when tapped. And honestly, wait the full hour of cooling before slicing or the crumb will be gummy.