Sourdough Bread Recipe
There are about a million ways to make sourdough bread, but this is the method that has become my tried + true.
No complicated percentages. No elaborate schedule. Just four simple ingredients, a little patience, and time.
Once you get comfortable with the rhythm of it, sourdough becomes less about following every minute perfectly and more about learning how your dough feels, moves, rises, and responds.
This is the loaf I come back to again and again.
Ingredients
100g active sourdough starter
375g room-temperature water
500g bread flour
10g salt
You’ll also need a dutch oven or bread oven, parchment paper, a floured banneton or bowl, and something sharp for scoring your loaf.
Step 1: Make the Dough
Combine the active sourdough starter, room-temperature water, bread flour, and salt.
Knead or mix everything together until you have a cohesive dough. It doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth yet.
Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes.
Step 2: Stretch + Fold
After the initial rest, begin your first round of stretch-and-folds.
Gently grab one side of the dough, stretch it upward without tearing it, and fold it over the center. Rotate the bowl about a quarter turn and repeat.
Continue working your way around the bowl until you’ve stretched and folded the dough from all four sides. This counts as one complete round of stretch-and-folds.
Cover the dough and let it rest for 30-45 minutes.
Repeat for a total of 3–5 complete rounds, allowing approximately 30-45 minutes of rest between each round.
As you continue, you should notice the dough becoming smoother, stronger, more elastic, and better able to hold its shape.
Step 3: The Long Rise
After your final stretch-and-fold, cover the dough and allow it to rise for approximately 12–17 hours.
This is where time does most of the work.
Rather than relying only on the clock, pay attention to your dough. Fermentation can move faster or slower depending on the temperature of your kitchen and the strength of your starter.
You’re looking for dough that has visibly expanded and feels airy, soft, and alive.
Step 4: Shape Your Loaf
Lightly flour your work surface and gently turn out the dough.
Carefully form it into a rectangle without pressing all of that beautiful air out of it.
Want to add mix-ins? This is the moment.
Cheddar + jalapeño, herbs, Parmesan, roasted garlic, cinnamon, dried fruit, seeds, or whatever combination you’re playing with can be layered onto the dough before shaping.
Fold each of the long sides inward toward the center.
Then roll the dough toward yourself, keeping the roll nice and snug as you go. This creates tension and helps your loaf hold its shape while baking.
Place the shaped dough seam-side up into a well-floured banneton or bowl.
Step 5: Cold Proof
Place the covered dough in the refrigerator for 2–4 hours.
This final cold rise helps the loaf hold its shape and makes scoring much easier.
Step 6: Preheat
Place your Dutch oven inside your oven and preheat to 500°F.
Allow the Dutch or Bread oven to heat for at least 30 minutes before baking.
That very hot Dutch or Bread oven traps the steam released by the dough, helping create a beautiful rise and crisp crust.
Step 7: Score + Bake
When you’re ready to bake, reduce the oven temperature to 475°F.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and carefully flip it out of the banneton onto a piece of parchment paper so the seam is now underneath.
Score the top of the loaf with a bread lame or very sharp blade.
Carefully lower the dough and parchment into the hot Dutch oven.
Cover and bake at 475°F for 30 minutes.
Remove the lid, reduce the oven temperature to 425°F, and continue baking uncovered for approximately 25 minutes, or until the crust is deeply golden and crisp.
Step 8: The Hardest Part: Wait
Immediately remove the finished loaf from the Dutch or Bread oven and transfer it to a cooling rack.
And now comes arguably the most difficult sourdough instruction of them all:
Do not cut it yet.
Let the loaf cool for at least one hour before slicing.
The bread is still finishing internally as it cools. Cutting into it too early can leave the center gummy, even when the loaf is completely baked.
A Few Notes From My Kitchen
Sourdough is alive, which means your loaf may behave a little differently from mine.
Your kitchen temperature, starter strength, flour, humidity, and fermentation time can all change how quickly your dough develops. Think of the times in this recipe as a framework rather than a stopwatch.
The more loaves you make, the easier it becomes to recognize what your dough needs.
And that might be my favorite part of sourdough.
It asks you to pay attention.
To touch the dough. Notice the temperature. Watch the rise. Feel when it becomes stronger. Learn when it needs more time and when it is ready to move forward.
Four ingredients somehow become an entire practice in patience, intuition, and trust.
And at the end of it?
You get bread. Magic.
