This easy sourdough artisan bread recipe is mixed together, kneaded in a stand mixer and left to rise with minimal hands-on time. The magic happens when it’s cooked in an enamel cast-iron pan, which gives it a perfect crispy crust and delicious soft interior. More of our top bread recipes are found on the Best Bread Recipes page!
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Ever since I grew my first sourdough starter and explored how to make sourdough bread, I’ve wanted to be able to make a really good loaf of artisan sourdough bread like my favorite regular yeast easy artisan bread.
Although I thought this sourdough bread loaf I made shortly after beginning to bake with sourdough was good, I realize now that the reason I thought it was so great was just because it didn’t look like the disaster from the previous week!
What I really wanted was a sourdough bread recipe that had a crispy crust with big holes inside, but that was still easy to make. One similar to my super easy artisan bread which bakes in an enameled cast iron pot.
NOTE: What I mean by ‘easy’ is a simple, everyday kind of sourdough bread recipe that uses cups to measure, few steps, and very little science involved. If you’d like to get really into sourdough – which can quickly become complicated (and frankly, overwhelming to me), I’ve found Northwest Sourdough to be very thorough and not too hard to follow for those wanting to dig a little deeper.
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Easy Sourdough Artisan Bread Recipe
I searched for a couple years to find a technique that would produce a loaf of artisan sourdough bread that was all the things I wanted. When I found a great recipe from Gina at Homejoys I knew right away that it could be adapted to be even easier, use my favorite enameled cast iron pot, and consistently turn out good loaves.
And it did! This is truly the easiest sourdough bread recipe that anyone can make.
I want to note, too, that for me an easy bread is always made with a stand mixer, but this recipe can be made by hand – you will just have to work a bit harder.
Look at that crust! That’s bread-beauty right there, isn’t it? Blistered and cracked and bubbly. This may be the best sourdough bread recipe!
Yeah, I can get all giddy about bread crust – kind of like when I dance in the kitchen when the eggs don’t stick in a cast iron pan. I really am about the simple things around here!
The sliced loaf pictured above was made with whole wheat bread flour (verses the previous loaf, which was made with whole wheat white flour), so the crust isn’t quite the same, but still passes the test. And the interior is full of holes, chewy, and with just a touch of sourness. Perfection.
Since sourdough starter is best when it’s used weekly (or every two weeks), I now make this sourdough bread recipe more than my favorite easy artisan bread. But either is a winner recipe, in my book.
Shop this sourdough bread recipe:
- This is a great quality, decently priced enameled cast iron dutch oven, similar to the one I use.
- Here’s a rising bucket that holds a lot and is easy to see when your starter is doubling.
- This is my favorite brand of white whole wheat flour (made from hard white wheat).
- And I use this brand for hard red wheat flour (‘regular’ whole wheat). My starter is fed with this.
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Timing Tip for How to Make Sourdough Bread
The timing of sourdough bread was hard for me to figure out in the beginning, since it takes longer to rise than regular yeast breads, so I thought I’d give you a typical timeline to have a loaf for dinner.
To have this sourdough artisan bread ready for an evening dinner:
- Feed your sourdough starter the night before you want to bake.
- Start the sourdough artisan bread recipe the next morning.
- Let the dough rise until early afternoon before baking and cooling in time for dinner.
That said, I have been known to rush it when I’ve forgotten to feed the starter the night before (what- you’re shocked?). If you find yourself in that situation, you can feed the starter right when you get up in the morning and let it sit until it’s bubbly, about a couple of hours, and then proceed with the recipe.
Made this way, the bread doesn’t have quite the optimum time to cool, so you’ll have a warmer loaf with a bit more squished crumb – but we’ve sure never minded.
Click the arrow for the full printable sourdough artisan bread recipe!
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Do you have a video for this bread recipe?
★★★★★
No, not yet Teri – we’ll put that on our list!
This is a really great easy recipe. I made sourdough for the first time with starter my son gave me. Bread turned out super great, if not a little dense. My starter was probably too wet, but resulted in a nice, soft middle with a great crust. I think it could’ve had an even longer rise as it was a cooler morning. I will do that with the next loaf. Thanks for the eas recipe!
★★★★★
Hi Jami
Thanks for this wonderful recipe and technique. I am making this easy SD for the 2nd time today.
Today I have a question about when in the active sourdough cycle is it best to use the starter for a recipe? I feed mine every 12 hours at 8am and 8pm. It is 100g AP flour, 100g active starter and 100g room temp water. Can the discard from the 8am feeding be used at 8am?
Thanks for your advice!
John
★★★★★
As long as the starter doubled in the proceeding 12 hours (you’ll be able to tell from the line on the container, even if it’s fallen) it’s good to use and considered an “active starter.”
By far the best same day Sourdough Bread recipe I have tried. My starter doubles in 4 hours, so it is strong. The bread comes out perfect, great golden brown crispy, not tough, crust, and wonderful airy, slightly sour inside. I am thrilled, thank you. This is now my go to recipe for Sourdough Bread forever, and the bonus is it is ready in just over 6 hours.
This is wonderful – thank you for leaving this great review. I’m so glad this is now a go-to recipe for you.
★★★★★
If I don’t ave a Dutch oven and have to use a stone or cooking sheet, do I cover the dough with foil before baking? Or will I just have to deal with the bread however it bakes uncovered?
You can try using a roasting pan cover if you have one, or spritz the crust with water before baking, or add a pan of water to the floor of your oven before heating. None of them work as well as the oven, but the bread will still be delicious. 🙂
Excellent excellent excellent. I was out of bread for the kids and we had an ice storm, so I was looking for a same day recipe for my sourdough starter. Stumbled upon this one. Used maple syrup in place of the honey, (we live in Vermont), and was astonished at how good this turned out. Its a big loaf. Tons of oven spring, soft, slightly open crumb, not an overly crunchy crust, great for little kids. Same day sourdough perfection. This one is going in my collection. Thank you!
So glad! It’s nice you still had power to make it (we’re in the aftermath of a snow storm and do not have power – warm bread’s sounding really good about now. 🙂
★★★★★
I made this yesterday, and it is incredibly good! I used 2 cups of King Arthur Whole Wheat and 1 c of King Arthur unbleached, added a tsp of yeast, 3 T of vital gluten, and 1/4 t of citric acid, Raised it in the microwave (cold, of course!), heated the oven after the 2nd rising, put a glass corningware Visionware Dutch Oven in, and plopped it in. It turned out incredibly nice, and we went to bed last night with the house STILL smelling like homemade bread!
★★★★★
So glad you liked it!
So my dough was really wet I guess I should have addd more flour. Do you actually bake the bread at 450 degrees.? That seems way too hot.
I bake it as written – the hot temp causes the fast cooking that creates the great crust. After removing lid you can lower to 425 if you’d like, but I’d take an instant read temp of the loaf before removing to make sure you’ve reached 200 degrees – you may have to cook longer.
Hello. Can this be made in a glass Corningware pot, as I don’t have a Dutch Oven. Would I adjust the oven temperature?
I’ve never done that, but you can sure try! I’d probably add foil around the lid to try and keep as much moisture in there the first 15 minutes (that’s what gives it the good crust). You’ll have to check the manufacturer’s recommendations for temperature to see how hot you can cook the pot and adjust from there.
It’s a Corningware Visionware pot.I googled it, and Corningware says it can go in the oven up to 450*.
Great!
I have been making sourdough bread for about 6 months. This is undoubtedly the BEST I’ve tried. After a series of tasty but disappointing ‘pancake’ flat loaves;this one was a dream. It rose higher than I had ever hoped for and it is the tastiest bread I have ever had; chewy crust, lovely crumb and an amazing light sour taste. I found the dough required quite a lot of extra flour for kneading. I left it in the bowl and kept adding fistfuls (about 4) and gently kneading it into the dough to get a satiny feel that wasn’t overly sticky. I let it rise in two sessions, turned into a Dutch oven and let it rise up again before baking. Heaven.
I’m so glad Judy! And I will have to try your 3-rise technique, sometimes it’s good to get out of our normal routine. 🙂
★★★★★
Hi Jami, I am in middle of trying your ‘Easy sourdough bread recipe’, so far so good and given there is not much about sourdough that’s easy, I am stilling hanging in there. I managed to make a great starter though it did take me awhile.. I will be back to let you know how the recipe turned out for me.. Thanks so much for posting it, it looks really good.. Anna
★★★★★
Do you place the bread dough into the cast iron skillet for 40 minutes or is the 40 min for warming up?
40 minutes is for warming up the pot – the bread is waiting and then gets put in the hot pot. That’s how you get that good crust – the steam escapes from the dough hitting the hot pot and then bathes the loaf. Or at least that’s how I understand it, lol. It does what spritzing loaves with water while baking does.
Followed the recipe as written but my dough rose hardly at all. The taste was good and the crust was nice but the bread was too dense. Has this happened to anyone else? Should I try adding dry yeast?
Without knowing everything about your kitchen, I’d guess your starter isn’t strong enough yet. Was it doubling in 6 hours or less when you used it?
Hi Jami! I’m a Jamie too…but with an “e.” 🙂
I made this loaf for the first time last week and WOAH! It didn’t even last until evening we devoured it so quickly. This time around, I steeped a sprig of rosemary in warm water overnight and am using that water as the called for amount in the recipe. Hoping it adds some extra flavor to an already delicious recipe.
One question – the 40 min rise while the cast iron pot heats up. Is that primarily for the pot to reach adequate temperature, or is it crucial for the dough as well? I’m doing some batch cooking today and could sneak the bread in right after the 2 hour rise since the pot will be well and heated from all the other baking today. Thoughts?
Glad your family likes the bread, Jamie! As for your question- It’s for the pot to be well-heated so the dough releases the steam right away to bathe the dough with moisture and get that good crust. Any way you can get that to happen is good.