Think sourdough bread is too complicated to bake at home? Think twice! This sourdough bread recipe is so easy & simple that I promise you will want to bake it again and again! It’s delicious, frugal & healthy, plus there’s no kneading required!

I love to make sourdough bread, AKA the “lazy man’s bread.” Yep. Because it’s that simple to make! Plus, the amazing benefits of sourdough are well worth giving it a try!
I also love it because:
- Making bread from scratch is one of the healthiest and most frugal ways to save money on food.
- All you need for sourdough is a starter, whole wheat flour, a pinch of salt, and some water!
- You can even make a gluten-free starter and adapt this recipe for gluten-free sourdough bread!
Notes on Ingredients

Sourdough Starter. Sourdough bread needs an active starter culture (which is made of beneficial bacteria and yeast) to create the sour flavor of the bread. You can make your own sourdough starter from scratch (or get a sourdough kit to help speed along the process).
This sourdough bread recipe needs to have an active starter culture, but if you don’t have any currently, here is my post for tips on the sourdough starter.
Whole Wheat Flour. You can use white flour if you don’t have whole wheat or are not comfortable using whole wheat in baking yet. It may be easier to experiment with the lesser expensive flour and once you’ve found your sourdough groove, upgrade to whole wheat. Here are some tips on the dough:
- You want to bake with a starter that is at its peak – when nearly all of the yeast has eaten but hasn’t begun to go dormant because of the lack of food. You can see when a starter has peaked because it will have a dome-shape on top.
- Starters peak in the 2-3 hour range after each feeding.
- Don’t skimp on the water that recipes call for. Sourdough recipes are wetter than traditional bread recipes made with baker’s yeast.
- The press-your-thumb-to-test-for-springiness test works. Do it.
- The see-through-your-dough test works too. Try it.
- Two rises will produce a more sour bread than a single rise.
- I use a bread proofing basket called a “banneton” to let my sourdough bread rise. I use this kind here.
A complete list of ingredients with the amounts you need is located in the recipe card below.
Step-By-Step Instructions

Here’s how to make this sourdough bread recipe from scratch.
Step 1. In a very large bowl, mix the sourdough starter, water, and 3 cups of whole wheat flour with a wooden spoon and combine well.
Step 2. Add salt and remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, attempting to completely stir in the flour with each addition. When you can no longer mix with a spoon, use your hands to mix in the flour. Continue adding flour until your dough begins to resemble dough, but is still sticky and “pourable.”
Step 3. Pour the dough into a banneton (I like this one) and fill 1/3 way up. Cover with a towel and allow it to sit in a warm place for 4-12 hours, until the dough is at least doubled in size and looks to be “domed” on top.

Step 4. When the dough is at least doubled in size, flip the banneton over so that the dough dumps directly into a Dutch oven, lined with parchment paper, (or loaf pans). If the dough doesn’t come out centered into the Dutch oven pot / loaf pans, wait 20 seconds, then grab the handles and shake the dough so it’s centered.
Step 5. Place the Dutch oven or loaves in a cold oven and turn the oven on to 350 degrees. Bake bread for 50-60 minutes, until the edges are golden and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

Step 6. Remove to cool on wire racks for at least 30 minutes.
Additional Recipe Tips

- Halving the recipe while striving for your “perfect loaf” will cut down the cost on ingredients and reduce food waste.
- Putting the dough into a cold oven and then turning it on gives the yeast a final boost to help the bread rise. Do not do this if your bread has already domed AND is starting to recede in the rise.
- If your bread fails, have no fear! Determine what exactly went wrong and try again, aiming to fix that problem. You wouldn’t be the first person who didn’t succeed on their first attempt!
- If bread fails despite repeated attempts, use the starter for other baked goods for a few weeks to a month. Meanwhile, feed the starter consistently to build up the concentration of the yeast.
During the Rise
- The vessel in which dough rises can limit the extent of the rise. Be sure to leave plenty of room for expansion.
- The quicker the dough rises, the less sour the bread will be.
- The longer the dough rises, the sourer the bread will be.
- The warmer the temperature, the quicker the dough will rise.
Temperature for Rising
Controlling the temperature allows you to be in greater control of when the dough will be ready, and in turn when the bread will be ready.
The following methods will provide a consistent temperature for the bread to rise: Heating pad on low, in an oven with the light on or in a dehydrator. Consider adjusting the temperature higher and lower to find the “sweet spot.” Using my heating pad on low gives me a rise time of 5-6 hours.
Rising Times
When experimenting with rising times, bake this bread on a day you plan to be at home. Numerous factors can affect the rise time overall and when the yeast peaks, so you want to have a vague idea of how long the bread will take in your home before you leave.
For a point of reference, I turned my oven on the lowest setting, placed it on top of my stove and it was ready in 4 1/2 hours.
FAQs
Sourdough bread is NOTHING like traditional bread. When you’re done kneading traditional bread, you likely have a firm, round piece of dough. When you’re done kneading sourdough, you will have a very loose and likely pourable dough on your hands. Literally.
In less than two hours, traditional bread will have doubled in size. In two hours, sourdough looks like it hasn’t even budged.
Traditional bread can be whipped up in half a day’s notice. Sourdough definitely requires advanced planning. Like, up to 24 hours in advance.
You will use 2 cups of sourdough starter for this sourdough bread recipe.
You can use white flour or whole wheat flour. It may be easier to experiment with the lesser expensive flour and once you’ve found your sourdough groove, upgrade to whole wheat.
Sourdough Recipes and Tutorials
- Sourdough 101: The Benefits of Sourdough
- How to Make a Sourdough Starter
- Toasted Coconut and Banana Sourdough Pancakes
- How to Make a Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
- Sourdough vs Soaking vs Sprouting: Which is best?
- Sourdough A to Z eCourse (Plus recipe book!)

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Sign up for my FREE Fight Inflation Workshop and learn simple strategies to save money, even with rising food costs!Simple Sourdough Bread Recipe
Try my favorite Sourdough Bread Recipe. Super easy for beginner sourdough bakers, with simple instructions and just one rise. It’s healthy, frugal, and can be made gluten-free!
- Prep Time: 12 hours, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 13 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves 1x
- Category: Sides
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups sourdough starter
- 5–6 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 heaping Tbsp salt
- 1 cup filtered water, cold or room temperature
Instructions
- In a very large bowl, mix starter, water and 3 cups of whole wheat flour with a wooden spoon and combine well.
- Add salt and remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, attempting to completely stir in the flour with each addition. When you can no longer mix with a spoon, use your hands to mix in the flour. Continue adding flour until your dough begins to resemble dough, but is still sticky and “pourable.”
- Pour dough into large loaf pans or a banneton (I like this one) and fill 1/3 way up. Cover with a towel and allow to sit in a warm place for 4-12 hours, until the dough is at least doubled in size and looks to be “domed” on top.
- When the dough is at least doubled in size, flip the banneton over so that the dough dumps directly into a Dutch oven, lined with parchment, (or loaf pans). If the dough doesn’t come out centered into the pot / pans, wait 20 seconds or so, then grab the handles and shake the dough so it’s centered.
- Place loaves in a cold oven and turn the oven on to 350 degrees. Bake bread for 50-60 minutes, until the edges are golden and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.
- Remove to cool on wire racks for at least 30 minutes.
Notes
If you’re using loaf pans, this recipe makes 2-3 loaves, depending on the amount of flour used and size of loaf pans.
Nutrition
- Calories: 456
Hi,
I think I found out why so many people here report the dough becoming too “thick” to put in all the flour and and their breads coming out “like rocks”, “dry and crumbly”. Converting the amounts in your recipe, I arrive at the following:
2 cups starter = 400 g
5 1/2 cups of flour = 660g
1 tbsp salt = 17g
1 cup water = 237g
That makes for a 51% hydration which is far too low – particularly if using whole wheat.
Moreover, an oven temperaturen of 350°F is much too low; at least 425°F are necessary to bake a bread, if not 440°F.
I appreciate you sharing this Solomon. Hopefully it helps other readers!
i Solomon. Thanks for the upgrade esp that they are in metric. That’s professional!
Our nutrition doctor put my husband on an anti-fungal diet; among the restrictions are no yeast and no sugar and only whole grains. This recipe fit the bill perfectly and it’s so simple. I used a ceramic bean pot to raise and bake the dough. I have a lot of sourdough experience, but I have never found a recipe this simple, easy, and delicious! I used fine-ground whole wheat flour and added more water. 🙂
Thanks Solomon! Curious if you adapted to a 100% hydration at all? I might experiment and report back as your breakdown is helpful to see that most bread recipes are that way… I have done different breads at different temps, I think a sandwich loaf does fine at 350 but a rustic loaf may need that hotter temp, just thinking out loud! Grateful for Tiffany and her team as I know they try out recipes several times before posting. Of course type of flour and climate totally play a role (I’m high altitude so things always turn out different) so I am grateful for her comment of halving the recipe and practicing until you get it just the way you want it!
Just made my first successful loaf of sourdough using this recipe! I halved it. My starter doesn’t seem to rise that much, so I let it rise overnight for about 10 hrs. I cooked it in a clay pot for 50 mins, then took off the lid for the last 10. It was soft rather than crispy, but that might be because our oven seems to run a little cooler (should get a thermometer). The loaf is really fluffy and a great texture. Excited to keep experimenting! Thanks for recipe and the great tips!
You’re very welcome Melissa!
Hi, thanks for the recipe. My first attempt turned out soft and tasted good so I’m happy. I think if I’d followed the recipe a little closer and not been in yeast bread mode it would have been easier. 3 cups of flour (as you say to start) or just a little more would probably have been perfect and I wouldn’t have had to add extra water after 4 cups of flour. It wasn’t “pourable” yet but a lot softer than my go to whole wheat yeast bread recipe. Will definitely make again.
Hi,
Can we do the rise in the fridge for a longer time such as leaving it to rise for 24 hrs?
Just no time at nights after work to let it rise and bake at the same night.
Thanks
Fatih
I let mine rise for 48 hours, and the dough is perfect mind you, I do use sourdough that is acclimatised to the cold, yep, it rises in the fridge…so much simpler. Also, for Einkorn flour I only use 1.5 cups of water.
Whoops, 48 hours in the fridge!!
Thank you! Your suggestion of using regular loaf pans and allowing a single rise in a room-temperature oven was just what I needed after being intimidated by scores of YouTube videos featuring proofing baskets, incubators, digital scales, and dutch ovens. My first loaf came out spectacularly!
I know all the accoutrements may come with time, but I’m far more interested in making bread for eating than admiring.
Is there a typo with the baking instructions? I have never see bread recipes that bake at 350 degF . Is it supposed to be 450DegF ? And in a non preheated oven is completely unheard of. Also does it need to be steamed with water bath? Which rack should it go on? Top middle or bottom?
Also I only used a total of 3.5 cups of flour and even that is on the dry side . There is no way a pourable dough can be achieved with these proportions. Would be lovely if you can make a video so we can all see what the dough should look like.
I just started using this recipe and while i love the simplicity, i feel i need to use waaaaay more water or less flour to tweak this recipe. Like double the water and half the flour. My dough has never been “pourable” with this recipe. Am i doing something wrong???
Not at all Becki! Every kitchen environment is different. If you need less flour or more water, then do it! Sourdough is tricky, it it goes more by feel than actual measurements.
I’ve been baking our own sourdough bread for several months now, trying to find my way. Reading this was exciting because it confirmed a lot of what I’ve discovered! 🙂 (without all the annoying “traditions” of heating your oven to 400° for an hour ahead of time, etc 😩)
I’m going to try your idea of a slighter shorter rise time then heat it in the oven, because my loaves tend to fall a bit– very edible, just not very ‘pretty’!
This sounds like a really interesting recipe – thank you. I have baked sourdough before, using levains etc as well and I have a few different starters. Am i correct in understanding that there is only one rise time in this recipe?
You are correct!
Wow! That sounds interesting. Will give it a go..Thanks!!
If I’m going to use white flour instead of wheat flour do I need to make any adjustments to the water amount? I’m a young college student and can’t afford to buy whole wheat flour haha Also, if I feed my starter with white flour do I always have to use white flour when baking or can I feed with white flour and bake with wheat? if that makes sense.
You don’t have to feed and bake with the same flour, so it’s fine to feed white and bake with wheat. You also shouldn’t have to make any adjustments to the water. I hope you enjoy this!
I haven’t tried your recipe yet, but I want to thank you for posting it. All the other recipes I have looked at so far, that say they are simple or easy, actually involve literal days worth of rising, kneading, baking, adding ingredients, for pete’s sake. I plan on trying your recipe this weekend. My starter is almost ready!
I hope you like it Erin!
Hi! Alright so I’ve done three loaves so far they have all turned out but it seems like white flour is not what the “classic loaf” is made of nor is it made of whole wheat in both cases it’s either really white or really brown. So I suppose my question is what exact type of flour do you use ?
This recipe has no salt and tasted very bland. I feel loved or it would have been better with some salt.
Meant to leave stars but it didn’t work.. so here they are! 🙂
Thanks Amy!
My starter is a lot thicker than what your recipe calls for. I only used three cups of flour to the one cup of water and two cups of starter. I also used the entire tablespoon of salt. I kneaded it for about 5 minutes and put it in a loaf pan I brushed with butter and cornmeal then I let it sit over night on my counter. Baked it to your instructions (cold oven set at 350 for about an hour)
My bread turned out SO good! It rose beautifully and is so SO tasty! I’ll be using your recipe every time I want to make sourdough.
I appreciate your feedback Amy! Glad it turned out delicious!
This is the perfect recipe for sourdough bread! Your instructions and measurements were on the mark. I was expecting to fail the first time, but instead it came out perfect! I used the whole wheat flour but I think I am going to use white flour next time. I am not a big wheat flour fan. Thank you so much. Now, off to buy a lottery ticket! Ha!
Hello!
I made my starter prior to finding your recipe and needless to say my first attempt was not all that wonderful. I wish I had thought of croutons! With all your wonderful tips in hand and the thought of delicious sourdough bread in my heart, I am attempting batch number two. Thank you for all the great information!
Hi, thanks for the information you provide on making sourdough bread! I’ve got my first batch of starter on the counter.
Am I right that I shouldn’t use the starter until a couple hours after it has been fed? Also, I have not had an excess of water needing to be poured off…should there have been, as indicated in your information?
I only want to do one loaf for this first time, would one cup of starter be enough?
The feeding time of my starter is around 5:30 pm.
Thanks for your help.
I have a coconut starter I am doing low carb and can’t use grain flours.How can I make a loaf using coconut flour?
I’m not sure Brenda, I’ve never used coconut flour to make sourdough before.
Woah mine actually worked on my first try! Yayyyy!thank you for the recipe!!!