This basic Sourdough Bread Recipe produces an artisan loaf with a crisp crust and chewy crumb. It is best baked in a Dutch oven, but the recipe is very flexible and adaptable.
I think that this recipe for crusty sourdough bread is reason enough for making a sourdough starter.
Because the bread freezes really well, I make a loaf of this artisan Sourdough Bread each time I need to feed my sourdough starter.
How to make Artisan Sourdough Bread at home:
Any bread that you make with a sourdough starter is a “sourdough” bread. But there are a few key steps that will produce a light, crusty and chewy bread that is the quintessential loaf we all imagine when we hear “artisan sourdough bread ” .
To make a light and moist bread, you’ll need to make a fairly wet dough with well-developed gluten.
A wet dough is a sticky dough and can be a bit fussy to handle. But because this bread has a long, slow fermentation, the bread has time to develop plenty of gluten without lots of kneading.
I made the dough once completely by hand using the “no knead” method where you just mix the ingredients until combined. I made it another time letting the dough knead for 5 minutes on the mixer. The two loaves were very similar.
So I adopted a process to use the mixer to make the dough, but I don’t continue kneading the dough after it’s mixed. If you don’t have a stand mixer the dough can be mixed by hand for a truly “no knead” dough.
I also give the dough a couple of quick kneads before the final shaping.
If the holes in the baked bread are very large I think it’s harder to eat with a filling or spread. A few quick kneads will knock out some of the larger air bubbles. You can skip this step if you like an irregular crumb.
The other key to making an “artisan” loaf is baking the bread in a Dutch oven. This process was created by Chad Robertson of Tartine fame, and it has transformed home bread baking.
The Dutch oven creates a moist environment that develops that thick, crispy crust on the bread. Any oven-safe, heavy pot with a lid will work if you don’t have a Dutch oven.
Timeline for making basic sourdough bread:
- If your starter needs feeding, do that the night before or early in the morning of the day you want to make the dough.
- Mix the dough in the afternoon. Allow it to ferment at room temperature all day and refrigerate the dough in the evening before going to bed.
- The dough can stay in the refrigerator for 2-3 days at this point.
- Take the dough out first thing in the morning and shape the loaf.
- Leave the loaf at room temperature to rise for 1 1/2- 2 hours.
- You should have fresh bread by lunch time.
Scroll through the step by step process photos to see exactly how to make Sourdough Bread:
FAQs for making sourdough bread at home:
- Can I bake the bread the same day I make the dough? Yes, start the dough early in the morning and skip the refrigeration step.
- What if I don’t have a proofing basket? You can proof the dough right on the parchment paper that will go into the Dutch Oven.
- What if I don’t have a Dutch oven? Use any heavy, oven-safe pot with a lid, or slide the parchment onto a sheet pan to bake. The crust might not be quite as crisp as it is when baked in a Dutch oven.
- How long does Sourdough Bread stay fresh? The bread keeps for 2-3 days at room temperature.
- Can I freeze Sourdough Bread? Yes! Store the loaf or slices in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Since you’ve got your starter fed, peruse the entire list of My Best Sourdough Recipes. Have fun!
I know you hate to throw away that sourdough discard. Check out these recipes that use sourdough discard.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.
Basic Sourdough Bread
This basic Sourdough Bread Recipe produces an artisan loaf with a crisp crust and chewy crumb. It is best baked in a Dutch oven, but the recipe is very flexible and adaptable.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (8 oz, 224) active sourdough starter (100% hydration)
- 1 cup (8 oz, 240ml) warm water
- 2 1/2 cups (12.5 oz, 336g) unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
- Rice flour for proofing basket
Instructions
- Combine the starter, water and 1 1/2 cups of the flour. Mix with the paddle on low speed until it forms a thick batter. Cover the bowl and set aside for 30-60 minutes.
- If using a stand mixer, change to the dough hook. Add the salt and the rest of the flour and mix until the dough begins to form a ball around the hook. If mixing by hand add the flour using a wooden spoon and/or a plastic bowl scraper. This dough is quite sticky.
- Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turn once to coat the dough. Cover the bowl and set it aside at room temperature.
- After 30 minutes uncover the bowl, lift one side of the dough and fold it into the middle of the dough. Repeat with the other three sides of the dough then flip the dough over. You're basically turning the dough inside-out to redistribute the yeast. Cover the bowl and after 30 minutes repeat the procedure. Cover the bowl and after 60 minutes repeat the procedure again.
- Cover the bowl and after 60 minutes turn the dough one more time. By now the dough should be lively, elastic and airy. If the dough is still sluggish give it another hour or two at room temperature. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and dump it onto floured surface. Without kneading, use your cupped hands to form the dough into a smooth ball. Cover lightly with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes.
- Uncover the dough and knead 1-2 times. Reshape the dough into a smooth ball and place the dough into a well-floured proofing basket (I use a mix of 1/2 rice flour and 1/2 all purpose flour in the basket) or directly onto a sheet of parchment paper.
- Cover the dough and leave in a warm place until it's almost doubled in size and it springs back slowly when poked, about 1 1/2-2 hours depending on the room temperature and dough temperature. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425°F. Place a Dutch oven with a lid into the oven to preheat.
- If the loaf is in a proofing basket, place a sheet of parchment over the dough and gently flip it over. Use a single edge razor or very sharp knife to cut a 1/4" deep X across the top of the loaf. Remove the preheated pan from the oven and remove the lid. Use the parchment to lift the loaf into the Dutch oven.
- Replace the lid on the pot and slide it into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid from the Dutch oven. The loaf should be well risen and pale in color.
- Continue baking another 20 minutes until the loaf is nicely browned and beginning to crisp. Remove the pan from the oven. Use the parchment to lift the loaf out of the pan. Use the parchment to place the loaf directly onto the rack in the oven. Bake another 5-10 minutes until the loaf is deeply browned and very crisp. Total baking time is about 40-50 minutes.
- Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
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Michelle
Was looking for a straightforward recipe, using the dutch oven and this one seems to have worked for me. My second attempt ever turned out great. Thanks.
Eileen Gray
That’s great, Michelle!
Norma
Love the instruction and the video! Thanks!
Eileen Gray
Thanks!
Nancy
Would you change any proportions if using bread flour?
Eileen Gray
Bread flour will absorb a bit more of the water than ap flour does. The dough will be a little less wet than it is with ap flour and the final crumb could be a bit tighter. But honestly, you’ll get a great loaf of bread using bread flour.
Christina
Hi- what if I have a starter that is 2:1 (ex: 1/2 cup flour to 1/4 cup water)? How would I adjust the recipe? Thank you.
Eileen Gray
1/2 cup of flour weighs about 2.5 oz and 1/4 cup of water weighs 2 oz. So you’re not far off 100%. I would think that you’d be ok using with the recipe as written (still use 8 oz of starter). If anything, your starter would be a little thicker and this is a fairly wet dough.
Christina
It worked out great! I left a review – thank you for your help.
Debbie
Hi Eileen,
If you want to skip the overnight refrigeration, what do you do between steps 4 and 5?
Thank you,
Debbie
Eileen Gray
Do everything exactly as written except once the dough is finished with the long fermentation you go right on to shape the dough for the final rise and bake.
Debbie
Awesome! I kinda figured it out, but wanted confirmation.
Rosemary
I’ve been experimenting with sourdough during our lockdown. So far everything has been edible, even if some of it needs work. I hadn’t done a boule. I followed the instructions, easy peasy and straightforward for which I thank you very much, and I got a great result. I used a bit more flour than asked for but it was all-purpose. No bread flour to be found around here, lol, everyone is baking! What difference would that make? Pinterest won’t let me post pictures. I’d love your opinion of the crumb.
Eileen Gray
I use all purpose for this dough so no bread flour is no problem. You can post a photo on either Facebook or Instagram and tag me there. Pinterest should let you post a photo onto my pin for this recipe. Folks do it all the time.
Deb
If I wanted to could I make this into raisin bread?
Eileen Gray
You could knead in some raisins, but for my taste it wouldn’t be the best base for raisin bread. I would use White Sandwich Bread with a soft crumb. But of course that’s a matter of taste.
Mary Kate Long
I have gained a lot of confidence just from using this recipe several times. I upped the salt to 2 1/2 teaspoons just for our personal taste, and tweaked the “twang” factor by feeding my starter with rye flour every other time. Thank you so much for making this recipe available and for providing the pictures of the different steps. Love it!
Eileen Gray
You’re very welcome.
mark sorg
First attempt at this recipe……it did not raise at all. ??
Eileen Gray
I’ll need more information before I can trouble shoot. At what stage did it not rise? During fermentation, overnight, in the oven?
Krista
Hello there, I made my starter and the dough but I find the dough to be extremely wet and after the refrigerated proofing my dough more resembles a pancake than a ball on my floured surface. I feel I may have made my error by not weighing the starter going into the recipe, I just measured out one cup. My starter had already fallen at that point as well, it was a bit runny. Is there anything I can do to save my hopeful rustic loaf? Knead more flour into the dough?
I’m enjoying this challenge. I’m a seasoned chef but this is my first time baking sourdough from scratch and I welcome whatever learning curves are coming my way. Thank you for the recipe compilations. I look forward to many sourdough adventures.
Eileen Gray
This is a much wetter dough than a regular yeast-risen dough. The wet dough makes a light and moist crumb that is typical for this style of bread. Did you weigh any of the ingredients? If you used cup measures for the flour you could also be off there. You can certainly knead in more flour to make the dough manageable. Generally, after the fermentation and time in the refrigerator the dough is more cohesive. If you just can’t work the dough I would knead in more flour and give it some time to see how it does.
Melissa
Learning how to bake sourdough bread from your website has been so gratifying and fun these past few months..working from home.
I will never enjoy store bought bread again after having mastered (a little) your delicious bread recipes. Thank you.!
Melissa
Eileen Gray
Thanks so much, Melissa. Once you get the hang of it you realize that baking bread isn’t really that much work. I hope you keep it up when you go back out to work away from home.
Kerry
Hi Eileen! Thank you so much for sharing! I am in the beginning stages (day 4 and so far so good!) On my starter. But noticed in the recipe it calls for table salt. In your opinion, If I use sea salt or kosher would I use an equivalent weight or same measurement as the table salt?
Eileen Gray
If you use something other than table salt you should weigh the salt. The same volume of larger-grain sea salt or kosher salt will weigh less than table salt. I use table salt for baking because any nuance in flavor from sea salt or other specialty salts would be lost. If you don’t have table salt in the house use what you have, but you’ll need to weigh to account for the size of the salt grain. Here’s a post all about salt which includes a table of different salts and how the weight can vary.
Kim
Hi there. I’ve tried this recipe 2 times now and second time better than the first, however my bread doesnt rise. It’s not rising much during step 8 or in the oven much. It comes out tasting good and sour but its dense and not airy at all. Any thoughts on what I am doing wrong? I have pictures but not sure how to share.
Eileen Gray
Sounds like maybe your starter is not active enough. Do you feed with within a couple of hours of mixing the dough? Is the dough nice and light after the long fermentation?