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A sliced loaf of artisan sourdough bread, made from a beginner's sourdough bread recipe, sits on a wooden board, showing its golden crust and airy, open crumb structure with a blurred kitchen background.

A Beginner's Sourdough Recipe

Elien Lewis
This easy sourdough bread recipe is so straight forward. All you need is a little patience and time.
4.79 from 100 votes
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Proofing Time 1 day
Total Time 1 day 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Sourdough
Cuisine American
Servings 8 people
Calories 223 kcal

Ingredients
  

Levain (this will all be used in the dough)

  • 20 g sourdough starter
  • 40 g all-purpose flour
  • 40 g water

Dough

  • 400 g bread flour or all-purpose flour, at least 11% protein
  • 285 g water
  • All the levain
  • 8 g salt

Instructions
 

Levain

  • In a small bowl, mix the levain ingredients until well combined and smooth.
  • Transfer to a clean jar or glass and cover with a loose lid or damp towel.
  • Let it sit at room temperature (around 22-26 °C / 72-79 °F) until it has at least doubled and looks bubbly and domed. This usually takes 4 to 6 hours, depending on room temperature.

Dough

  • About an hour before the levain is ready, combine the flour and water in a large bowl. Use wet hands to mix until no dry bits remain. Cover with a plate or damp towel and rest for 30 to 60 minutes.
  • Add all the levain and salt. Mix with wet hands until the dough is sticky and roughly combined. Give it a few slap and fold kneads in the bowl to begin creating structure. This is when you lift the dough slightly and slap it back down into the bowl, folding it over itself. After this, cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
  • Over the next 3 hours, perform stretch and folds (or coil folds) every 30 minutes to build strength. Keep your hands damp to prevent sticking. It’s 5 to 6 sets total. After each fold, cover the dough and let it rest until the next one.
  • After the final fold, transfer the dough to a clean bowl and cover it to finish fermenting.
  • Let it rise in a warm spot until it looks puffy, jiggles slightly when you move the bowl, and has grown about 40-50% (not doubled). This might take between 1-3 hours, depending on your room temperature, so watch the dough, not the clock. 
  • Tip: Ideal bulk fermentation temperature is around 24 °C (75 °F). Cooler kitchens take longer, warmer ones the dough will rise faster.

Shaping

  • Line your banneton with a towel and flour it well with rice flour or a 50/50 rice and bread flour mix.
  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently shape it into a rectangle.
  • Fold the bottom third up, the top third down, then turn it 90 degrees. Roll the dough up, gently pressing down with each roll to keep tension as you go.
  • Pull it gently toward you to build surface tension and tuck in the sides.
  • Place seam-side up in the floured basket and lightly stitch the top to help it hold height.

Cold Proof

  • Cover the basket with a floured tea towel or slip it into a large plastic bag to prevent drying out and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.

Baking

  • Preheat your oven and Dutch oven to 230 °C (450 °F) for at least 30 minutes.
  • When hot, carefully remove the Dutch oven and flour the base.
  • Take the dough from the fridge, flip it gently out of the basket, and place it seam-side down into the pot.
  • If using a large pot, transfer it on parchment paper to lower it in easily.
  • Lightly dust the top with flour and score the surface with a razor or sharp knife.
  • Bake covered for 20-25 minutes, then uncover and bake another 15-20 minutes until deep brown.
  • Cool for at least 2 hours before slicing to let the crumb set.

Notes

If you’ve made this before, This recipe used to make a larger loaf (460 g flour, 330 g water), but I’ve now made it slightly smaller so it fits more neatly in a standard banneton or Dutch oven. It’s just a more manageable size for everyday baking. I’ve also simplified my shaping method. (The older, more technical version is still on my YouTube video here.)

Tip for cooler weather sourdough

Sourdough rises more slowly in cool rooms. To help it along, keep your dough somewhere slightly warm, like inside your oven that's off but with the light on or beside a cup of boiled water. You can also use slightly warm water (around 30 to 35 °C / 85 to 95 °F) when mixing your dough to give fermentation a gentle boost.

Dough proofing

Under-proofed dough

An under-proofed dough hasn’t fermented long enough. It will feel tight and dense, and won’t hold its shape when you try to stretch it. After baking, the crumb will be heavy with small, uneven holes and a chewy thick crust. The loaf might burst where the dough tried to expand too late in the oven.
If this happens, extend your bulk ferment next time. The dough should feel lighter and slightly puffy before shaping.

Over-proofed dough

An over-proofed dough has gone too far. It looks very soft and airy, but it feels weak and sticky when you try to shape it. In the oven, it can collapse or spread out rather than spring up. The crust may brown unevenly and the crumb can seem gummy or flat.
If this happens, reduce your ferment time or keep the dough somewhere cooler next time. Aim for a dough that’s risen about 40-50% and feels elastic but not fragile.

Levain

A levain is a small offshoot of your main starter, fed and grown just for this loaf. The whole thing goes into your dough.
When you feed your starter, split it into two portions:
  • One for the levain: feed it fresh flour and water in a clean jar and leave it to rise until bubbly and doubled.
  • One to keep: feed the remaining starter as usual and store it in the fridge for next time.
If you prefer to start the levain the night before, feed it at a higher ratio like 1:3:3 or 1:4:4 so it rises more slowly overnight.
If you’re troubleshooting your bread, see my Sourdough Bread Troubleshooting Guide.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 223kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 9gFat: 1gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 3885mgFiber: 2g
Keyword Bread, Sourdough
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