Super Simple Sourdough Bread Recipe
Disclaimer: I had never baked anything from scratch on my own. I have always wanted to be able to just throw cookies in the oven, or serve a warm and delicious fresh loaf of bread. But I had never applied myself to learning the skill to ditch the box mixes… or simply looking to see how simple it can be! (If that’s you, keep reading! Trust me!)
So after years of watching from a distance as my Instagram feed boasted beautifully crafted loaves of sourdough bread, I began looking at what it takes. I could tell it was an art, and that it was different from other kinds of bread. This was super intimidating to me. But after scouring dozens of recipes, I finally found one that was simple enough I thought even I could attempt—even without a Dutch oven! (See notes below recipe for adjustments.) A friend shared a little bit of her starter with me (Thank you, Courtney!), and I was off to the races.
Over several months, I tweaked my recipe to further simplify the process, and I have now made nearly a hundred delicious loaves for my family and friends! “Is that sourdough I smell??” and “Mom, can I score the bread this time?” are a new normal in our home, and I am so thankful to now have the simple skill of baking bread from scratch. Think you can handle a 4 ingredient bread recipe that is delicious every single time? You totally can!!!
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Details5 minutes to prep the dough, wait 8-12 hours (or longer, if preferred), then bake 35-40 minutes
4 ingredients
A kitchen scale and Dutch oven are helpful, but not required.
Store bread airtight at room-temp for 4 days, or freeze for several months.
Gather350 g (or 1 1/3 cups + 2 tablespoons) water
50 g (or 1/4 cup) active sourdough starter
10 g (or 2 teaspoons) fine sea salt
500 g (or 4 cups + 2 tablespoons) flour (*I use all-purpose; you can also use bread flour. If measuring, as opposed to weighing, first shake or sift flour loosely, then measure gently for accurate quantities.)
PrepareAbout 9-12 hours before you want your bread ready, prepare the dough. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients: water, salt, starter, and flour. Mix with your hands until well combined. Continue to work it together (stretch one side, fold it over, then repeat) for about 2 minutes.
Leave the dough in the mixing bowl, and cover with a towel (keeps bugs & dust out, but can breathe). In warm weather, or for a longer proofing time (10 to 12+ hours), leave in the refrigerator. In cold weather, or for a shorter proofing time, leave out on the counter.
1-2 hours before you want to bake the bread, place a piece of parchment paper in a clean bowl (large soup bowl or small mixing bowl is fine). *Note: If you do not have a Dutch oven, scroll to the notes at the very bottom of this page now, so you can make a few adjustments accordingly.
Now take the dough and a few sprinkles of flour in your hand, and make the dough nice and round in your hands. Place the dough pretty-side up on the parchment paper, then place the bowl in the fridge for the final hour or two before baking.
About an hour before you want your bread ready, pre-heat your oven to 450°. If using a Dutch oven, put the Dutch oven (without the lid) inside the oven while it pre-heats.
While the oven pre-heats, pull your dough out of the fridge, put a very light dusting (just 1-2 teaspoons) of flour on the dough, and spread it across the top gently with your hand.
Now score the dough. This simply means putting cuts in the top of the dough, so that when it rises, it splits at the top and not the bottom. This can be a simple long “X” across the top, or you can have fun with fancier designs (Have fun with it!). There are scoring knives, made especially for bread baking, but you can simply use the tip of a sharp knife. Push into the dough a bit as you score, thus making the scoring the weakest point of the dough, where the split will occur as it rises.
Once the oven is pre-heated and the dough is scored, take the dough and parchment paper from the bowl, and place it in the Dutch oven. Cover with the lid, and set timer for 25 minutes.
After 25 minutes, carefully remove the lid from the Dutch oven, and set timer for additional 10 minutes. Check the bread and add time until the desired brownness is achieved on the top of the bread (mine is usually perfect about 15 minutes after lid is removed, but baking times vary slightly).
Carefully remove Dutch oven from the oven (Don’t forget to turn it off!) and place bread on a cooling rack. Ideally, let it cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting… I know it’s hard to wait, but it is actually completing its cooking process internally as it cools. (As it cools, take a picture and tag me @PlantBasedInGrace so I can celebrate your delicious creation!)
Cut with a serrated knife and enjoy plain, as a sandwich, or with your favorite toppings!
Enjoy!
Notes: If you do not have a Dutch oven, you can follow the same instructions. The differences will be as follows:
In step 3, add a layer of flour on the parchment paper before placing the dough on top. This will help protect the bread from burning against the baking sheet.
In step 4, place an oven-safe dish full of hot water on the lowest rack in the oven (under where the bread will bake). This will create steam in the oven, which mimics some of the effect of the enclosed Dutch oven. The steam plays an important role in the baking process for this bread.
In step 8, obviously you won’t have a lit to remove. Go ahead and add time accordingly to finish the baking, but check the bread regularly, as it will be quicker to burn than in a Dutch oven.
Side note: Before I had a Dutch oven, I actually reversed the covering order and put a stainless steel (no paint or embellishment) mixing bowl upside down over top of the bread for the final baking time to help prevent burning. But I was not able to to find bowls that actually claim to be oven safe. So I’m sharing honestly what I did, but you could end up damaging your bowl over time. (You’ve been warned.) Let me know how it goes!
And when you’re ready to invest in a Dutch oven, my favorite is this non-toxic and non-stick cast iron Dutch oven, or its cousin, the "Perfect Pot." (Those 2 links each get you $20 off!) For a more budget-friendly option, I would check out this brand on Amazon.