Sourdough Hoagie Rolls! Hoagie, hero, sub, grinder, whatever you call your sandwich, this is a great roll for building your masterpiece.

I live near Philadelphia and we call them Hoagies. But I grew up in the part of New Jersey that is closer to New York. There we called them subs. You might also know them as a grinder or a hero.

Whatever you call it, there is no doubt that the key to a great sandwich is the perfect long roll.

Much as I love a good crusty loaf of artisan bread, that’s not the best base for a great submarine sandwich. You’ve probably had it happen…you bite into one end of that crusty sandwich and all the fillings squirt out the other end.

The perfect hoagie roll should have a thin, crisp crust and a light, soft, slightly chewy crumb. By the way, if you don’t have a sourdough starter, you can make Hoagie Rolls with commercial yeast.

Scroll through the step by step photos to see how to make this recipe:

two photos showing sourdough hoagie dough after a night in the refrigerator — 1. Leave the dough to ferment overnight in the refrigerator. 2. In the morning the dough should be well-aerated and ready for shaping.

three photos showing how to form gluten in hoagie rolls — 1. Roll the dough to a 12″ log. 2. Fold the two ends of the log towards the center. 3. Roll the dough to a 12″ log again.

the photos showing how to cut and shape the dough for sourdough hoagie rolls — 1. Cut the dough into 6 pieces. 2. Form each piece into an oval and roll the oval into a small log. 3. Roll the dough to 10″ long.

three photos showing sourdough hoagies before rising, after rising and after baking. — 1. Set the rolls onto a sheet pan to rise. 2. Rise until doubled in size. 3. Bake until golden brown.

A timeline for making Sourdough Hoagie Rolls:

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 hoagie rolls.
Leave them at room temperature to rise for 1 1/2- 2 hours.
You should have fresh rolls by lunch time.
If you want to bake the same day, feed the starter the night before. Make the dough early in the morning and leave it to ferment until the afternoon. Form the rolls and leave them to rise, skipping the refrigeration step. Bake the hoagie rolls in time for dinner.

I know you love a good sandwich, so I highly recommend my Sourdough White Sandwich Bread and my Sourdough Whole Wheat Bread. Sourdough Rye Bread is also the base for a great sandwich.

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.

a submarine sandwich on a fresh baked roll on a plate

Print Recipe

4.78 from 36 reviews

Sourdough Hoagie Rolls

By: Eileen Gray

Sourdough Hoagie Rolls. Hoagie, hero, sub, grinder, whatever you call your sandwich, this is a great roll for building your masterpiece.

Prep Time45

Bake Time20

Rising Time12

Total Time13 5

6 rolls

Ingredients

8 oz Active Sourdough Starter (1 cup)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
8 oz warm water (1 cup)
12 ½ oz unbleached all purpose flour (2 ½ cups)
4 oz milk (½ cup, scalded and cooled to room temperature)
7 ½ oz unbleached bread flour (1 ½ cups)
2 teaspoons table salt

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 8 oz Active Sourdough Starter, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and 8 oz warm water. Add 2 cups (10 oz, 280g) of the all purpose flour. Mix with the paddle on low speed until it forms a thick batter. Cover the bowl and set aside for 30 minutes.
Add 4 oz milk, 7 ½ oz unbleached bread flour and 2 teaspoons table salt then mix to combine. If using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook. With the mixer running, add the remaining 1/2 cup (2 1/2 oz, 75g) of all purpose flour. Knead the dough for 5 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. If mixing by hand add the flour using a wooden spoon and/or a plastic bowl scraper and knead by hand. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a smooth ball.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat the dough. Cover the bowl and set it aside at room temperature for 3 hours. Every hour or so check on the progress of the dough by folding it over itself in the bowl. This will help redistribute the yeast too. After about 3 hours the dough should be lively, elastic and airy. If the dough is still sluggish give it another hour or two at room temperature.
Cover the bowl tightly, refrigerate overnight. At this point the dough can be held in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
In the morning, take the dough out of the refrigerator. Generously sprinkle 2 half sheet pans with corn meal.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Without kneading, form the dough into a 12" log. Fold the two ends into the middle then roll back and forth to form a 12” log again. If at any point the dough springs back too much you can give it a 10 minutes rest then continue. Cut the log into 6 equal portions.
On a lightly floured surface, pat a piece of dough into a 6” oval. Tightly roll the dough from the long side to form a 6" cylinder. Pinch the seam tightly. Using flat hands roll from the center out to form a 10” long roll. Let your hands go over each side to taper the ends of the roll. Set the roll onto one of the prepared pans. Continue forming the other rolls and place 3 on each pan.
Cover the pans with a damp kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume (about 2-2 1/2 hours). The rising time will vary based on the temperature of the dough and the ambient temperature. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 °F.
To create steam in the oven, place a small pan onto the floor of the oven to preheat. If you have them, you can put lava rocks or whiskey rocks into the pan to preheat as well.
When the rolls are ready to bake brush them lightly with milk. Place the trays in the oven. Pour a 1/4 cup of warm water into the preheated pan on the floor of the oven and immediately close the oven door.
Bake until the rolls are golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Turn the trays after 10 minutes to promote even browning. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Equipment

My Book

KA Stand Mixer

Half Sheet Pans

Parchment Sheets

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Video

Notes

You can skip the refrigeration step and go ahead and finish the rolls on the same day. I find the flavor, texture and crust is better with an overnight rest.

Nutrition

Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!

TheBBs

Sunday 2nd of July 2023

This turned out amazing! (And your responses to the comments are also amazing)

Andrea

Monday 17th of April 2023

I've made these twice thus far and couldn't be happier. This recipe is definitely a keeper. The first time I made them into round rolls for Jackfruit Barbecue sandwiches. The bread absorbed the sauce and held its structure beautifully.

The second time we made long rolls for subs. We sliced the rolls and spread hummus as the base, added red pepper relish as well as oil and vinegar to our sandwiches which also had lettuce, onion, tomatoes, avocado, roasted peppers, kalamata olives and cucumbers.

The sandwiches were made the night before so when lunch break came I fully expected a soggy (but tasty) mess and had knives and forks on hand to use. To my surprise, we were able to pick up our sandwiches and eat them without any problems. It didn't crumble or dissentigrate, the outside was crisp but not hard and the inside was moist and flavorful. The bread was sturdy enough to handle the ingredients, but the crumb was easy to bite and chew.

Even with all of the moist ingredients no one needed extra napkins. 10 outta 10 I will definitely make these again!

Eileen Gray

Thanks! I make these all the time. We use them for meatball sandwiches.

Shay

Tuesday 28th of February 2023

Something seems off. This comes out to a 44% hydration which is really really low hydration. 1 1/2 cups liquid (1 cup water, 1/2 cup milk) and 4 cups of flour (2 1/2 cups AP flour, 1 1/2 cups bread flour). The starter is 100% hydration, bringing it to 2 cups liquid and 4 1/2 cups flour with the starter.

I couldn't even get all the last 1/2 cup of AP flour to incorporate it was so dry. I wet my hands to knead the dough to try and get what was already in there incorporated.

It rose very slowly and is in the fridge now. It is a very tight dough. I will see if I can make them into rolls tomorrow, but what am I missing here?

You can not figure out the hydration based on volume measure since a cup of flour does not weigh the same as a cup of liquid. You need to do the percentage by weight. 1 cup water (8oz) plus 1/2 cup milk (4oz) plus 4oz water in the starter = 16oz liquid total. 2.5 cups ap flour (12.5 oz) plus 1.5 cups bread flour (7.5 oz) plus 4 oz flour in the starter adds up to 24 oz of flour total. 16/24 = 66% hydration. 66% is well within normal hydration for bread dough.

Alisa

What can I substitute the milk with? Would like to make this non-dairy. Can I use water and add a fat?

That little bit of milk softens the crumb and crust. You can try using a nut milk but not sure you'd get the same results.

Peggy

Friday 10th of February 2023

I don’t have bread flour and wanted to start these today. Will it completely change the rolls if I use all white flour?

Saturday 11th of February 2023

The strong gluten from bread flour helps the rolls get a chewy texture. The rolls will work with all AP Flour, they just might have a softer texture. You may also need to sprinkle in a little more flour since higher protein bread flour absorbs more moisture than ap flour.