Every home baker needs a foolproof recipe for soft, fluffy sourdough sandwich bread in their recipe box and here's one that will reward you with amazing bread each time. My easy sourdough sandwich loaf recipe doesn't need any added yeast; it uses an active, bubbling sourdough starter to create buttery, tangy flavor and a light, airy crumb. It slices beautifully too!
A fantastic same-day sourdough sandwich bread
Many sourdough breads need to be started the night before, but this sourdough sandwich loaf can easily be made in about eight hours from start to finish. So if you start the bread in the morning, you can have it baked and ready in time for dinner.
The recipe makes two sandwich loaves, which last us all week long. I use it to make all of my sandwiches even more delicious, and it's wonderful with peanut butter and jelly. You can even dunk it into soups and stews! But my hands-down favorite way to eat it is to toast it lightly - especially when it's a couple of days old - and slather it with vegan butter.
This recipe uses mostly white flour but I don't feel too bad about that because research shows that sourdough-based baked goods - even white sourdough bread - are healthier. Sourdough starter is full of healthy bacteria that are probiotic and extremely beneficial to the gut microbiome. These bacteria help partially break down gluten in the dough and make the bread easier to digest (they also improve the texture of the crumb, rewarding you with that soft sourdough bread you love).
Sourdough bread also has a lower glycemic index, which means it releases glucose into the blood more slowly. This recipe is vegan so it uses no eggs or milk, and consequently has no cholesterol and no natural sugars.
Even if all of that doesn't sway you, don't you know at least that one person who refuses to eat wholegrain bread? This bread would be perfect for them! If you still prefer a wholegrain version, I have a fantastic whole wheat sourdough sandwich bread recipe on the blog.
I made this bread a few weeks ago and it's AMAZING. Super easy and just perfect. I have made SD sandwich bread a few times and this is by far the best! Thank you!!! - Ryan
Sample schedule for baking sourdough sandwich bread
This is the timetable I follow when I make this sandwich bread for dinner:
- 8 a.m.: Make the first starter and set it aside to rise four hours.
- 12 noon: Make the dough and let it rise two hours.
- 2:30 p.m.: Shape the loaves and set aside to rise two more hours.
- 4: 45 p.m.: Bake bread for 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack before serving.
Recipe card
Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1½ cups sourdough starter (bubbling and active)
- 1½ cups lukewarm water
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 4-5 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (or any neutral oil of your choice)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (or any salt of your choice)
Instructions
First starter and rise
- Place the sourdough starter in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add to it the wholewheat flour, 1 cup of all-purpose flour, and water. Mix well and set it aside, covered, in a warm place for four hours.
- After four hours the starter should be quite fluffy and bubbly.
Make sourdough sandwich bread dough
- Add 2 cups of all-purpose flour, olive oil and salt and mix. Add more flour as you knead until the dough becomes quite firm but still feels a little sticky to your fingers. You can do this by hand or in the stand mixer, using the dough hook attachment, on medium-low speed.
- Turn out the dough on the kitchen platform or any flat surface and knead by hand for 4-5 minutes or until the dough feels smooth and springy to your fingers and barely sticks to the platform.
Second rise
- Shape into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, turning the ball of dough around once to coat the top with oil. Cover tightly and place in a warm spot (like an oven with the light turned on) for at least two hours or until the dough has doubled.
Shape loaves
- Punch down the dough and divide into two. Roll out each half into a rectangle, about seven by 10 inches, and roll it up like a jelly roll. With the seam side down, tuck in the ends to form a loaf.
Third rise
- Prepare two loaf pans by spraying or brushing lightly with oil and then sprinkling on some cornmeal or semolina on the bottom and sides. Place the loaves into the prepared loaf pans.
- Cover the loaves with a kitchen towel and let them stand in a warm place for at least two more hours or until the dough domes above the top of the loaf pans.
Bake bread
- About half an hour before baking, preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit/220 degrees Celsius. Place the loaves in the oven and bake 40 minutes. Remove the loaves from the oven, turn them out on a rack, and let them cool thoroughly before slicing.
Notes
- Increase salt by up to one teaspoon if you like a saltier loaf.
- For a gluten-free version, try my gluten-free sourdough sandwich bread.
- Refrigerate: The bread can be stored at room temperature for four days and in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
- Freeze: Freeze the bread for up to three months in a freezer-safe bag, whole or sliced.
Nutrition Information
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Top tip
How much water you need for the bread could vary depending on the hydration of your sourdough starter and the weather where you live. If you find that adding two cups of water results in a very sticky dough, reduce the amount of water next time to 1 cup and trickle in the remaining water while kneading the dough, if needed.
Sourdough sandwich bread FAQs
Yes, just halve the amount of ingredients and you are all set!
The culprit here is your sourdough starter. If it is not active and fed recently (as in eight hours to 24 hours before use) you simply won't have enough natural yeast in the starter for the dough to rise.
To create a softer crust for the sourdough sandwich bread, replace half the water with soy milk.
Bread flour will give you a slightly crustier loaf. Use it if you like a crustier bread, it will be fantastic.
If you have some experience baking bread, but are new to sourdough baking, you should have no trouble making this easy sourdough sandwich bread. If you are new to both bread making and sourdough bread making, you might have a learning curve.
You can use sourdough discard but make sure it's no more than two to three days old and comes from a very active, bubbly sourdough starter. I did use sourdough discard in the past for this recipe, but I find an active starter gives a better rise and therefore a fluffier loaf.
This happens to me too, especially when I get busy and don't knead the dough long enough or let the loaves proof too long after shaping. Next time knead the dough longer until it is very supple and smooth, and make sure you don't overproof the loaves, i.e. don't let them rise for longer than the recommended time.
Kara says
I tried your recipe after attempting another recipe 3 times with no luck, and it turned out amazing! Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Vaishali Honawar says
So happy to hear! Thanks for letting me know.
Arthur says
Good morning, Vaishali, I'm about to try your sourdough sandwich recipe. I love the detailed explanation and sequence of mixing ingredients. I have a fan oven (my wife does, that is.) I am a bit concerned about the temperature and cooking time.
I'm in England and unfortunately all our recipes are in centigrade but if I convert to centigrade it seems to be in the region of Dutch Oven rather than bread pan. It's probably me I'm an octogenarian so bear with me,
Arthur.
Ps I hope my spelling is up to scratch, just before I clicked send I noticed that predictive text had changed your name to Vauxhall.
Vaishali Honawar says
Hi Arthur, So happy to hear you are going to try the sandwich bread. The oven temperature in centigrade would be 220 degrees. Hope that helps and I will also add that clarification to the recipe. Your spelling is perfect. 🙂
Anonymous says
Thank you much for you quick response. I shall give it a try.
Ani says
I make this bread at least once and sometimes twice a week. It's not too tangy so it's perfect. We all love it, even my husband who is so particular about not eating whole wheat lol and my kids. My fave is to eat it toasted with butter, just like you said.
Vaishali says
You need 1 cup in step 1, and after adding the two cups in step 2 you will very likely need more, especially if your starter is high hydration.
Mamaw says
Can I make this without the wheat flour?
Vaishali says
Do you mean with gluten-free flour? I have a fantastic gf sandwich bread recipe you can search for in the search bar or google "holy cow vegan gluten free sandwich bread."
diana says
My starter that I started with you is probably only one cup ( as per instructions). How do I increase my starter amount to be at least one and a half cups?
Vaishali says
Just add more flour and water (0.75 cups water to every cup of flour) to feed the starter.
Vaishali says
It's 475 grams. Sorry, corrected now.
Carol says
Hello! This recipe looks good, but before I waste my ingredients, can I just ask: are you sure it’s perfectly ok to use sourdough discard out of the refrigerator? Because I notice that the recipe calls for active bubbly starter. I just want to make sure!
Thanks-Carol clemans
Vaishali says
Hi Carol, if you use discard, make sure it has been fed no more than 3-4 days ago and is quite robust.
DeAnne says
Is this adaptable for using a bread machine?
Vaishali says
I have a sourdough sandwich bread machine recipe--please follow that!
Lisa says
Love your bread! Can you tell me do you use freshly fed starter or day after?
Thanks!
Vaishali says
Freshly fed starter would give you the best results!
Linda says
Somehow I had it in my head this was a discard recipe! I'm going to stick it in the fridge overnight to ferment, and pick back up on it in the morning! Wish me luck!!!
Vaishali says
Good luck! 🙂
Angelina McCarville says
Hi! What size loaf pans do you use for this recipe? Thanks!
Vaishali says
Just the standard - approx 8 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches.
Erin H says
Can you please update the overall prep time to include the 4 hours of initial rising, the 2 hours to double in the bowl and then the 2 hours in the load pans?
Vaishali Honawar says
Done.
Erin says
Hi i make this weekly! Thanks for the recipe! I was wondering how you get the smooth top on the bread? Mine is never beautiful and smooth on top.
Vaishali Honawar says
Hi Erin, just knead the dough longer until it's very supple and smooth.
Amanda says
I made this recipe last night. It is amazing! I added in some everything bagel seasoning while adding in the flour. It is a great recipe. I love the texture of the bread and tender crust. I have made your 100% sourdough wheat loaves several times this month. It is my go to sandwich bread recipe for lunches (peanut butter and jelly). It holds up well for about 5 days in the pantry. I appreciate your recipes.
Vaishali Honawar says
Yay!! So happy you've enjoyed making the bread, Amanda.
Natalie says
I alternate between making this recipe and the no knead sourdough bread recipe. However, I make this the most. Of course, I started out by using your recipe for a starter 😉 I have never had any problems with your starter or your bread recipe. It always turns out delicious! I do cut this recipe in half to only make one loaf and then I make a fresh loaf every week. One thing that I noticed is when you do change it to 12 instead of 24 slices to cut the recipe in half, it does not change the ratio in the instructions. I wonder if this was some of the trouble people were having when they were trying to make it. Luckily, I noticed this and adjusted accordingly, so I've never had an issue. I love your sourdough recipes so thank you for helping me on my journey with "Breadface" (my 6 year old son named our starter)!
Vaishali Honawar says
Hi Natalie, so happy you've loved making the bread. I love the name! 🙂 I wonder why that was happening with the adjuster, but it's fixed now. Thanks for letting me know.
Sara says
I am always looking for new things to make with my sourdough starter, this bread is particularly useful since it can be used to replace something I would already buy from the store! I was looking for a no yeast recipe and this one was pretty good. It is definitely a slow rise so follow the times listed and be patient. Remember it could take longer if your house is chilly. Also, I had to add significantly more flour than stated and the dough was still much more soft and sticky than your typical bread. But it turned out so I guess it was alright.
Vaishali Honawar says
So happy to hear you've loved the recipe, Sara. Thanks for letting me know and for the helpful tips!
Jo says
Can the discard starter loaf be made using a lid on bread tin to get square sandwich bread?
Vaishali says
Hi Jo, I suppose so, although I haven't tried this.
Heather says
I use discard in this recipe, works well. I needed a quite a bit more flour then the recipe called for. Rest and rise time was about the same but it was also very warm in my kitchen
LDFT says
Tried this recipe for the first time yesterday. House is kinda chilly right now and my first rise (after all ingredients added) was taking forever. I had to call it a night, so I put dough in my sealed proofing container into refrigerator. This morning I pulled it out to find the fridge worked its magic and dough was doubled. Now loaves are in pans doing final bench rise before baking off. My starter, Ned, is 2 years old and hasn't failed no matter what I do to it. Cannot wait to see final results, but recipe was very simple...which I prefer.
Vaishali says
So happy to hear! Hope you love the bread.
Barbara says
Can I use my unbleached bread flour instead of the unbleached white flour? I named my sourdough starter “Millie”.
Vaishali says
Unbleached bread flour would work just fine! Millie sounds like the perfect name for a starter 😀
Andrea Lowe says
I made my starter following your recipe and made the no knead bread successfully. I love making crackers out of the discard adding thyme and black pepper....YUM. I am making the sourdough sandwhich bread right now and can't wait to see how it turns out. I named my starter Spark.
Kristina Johnson says
Does this sourdough starter need to be fed and active or can you use the “discard” for this recipe?
Vaishali Honawar says
Use an active starter please!
Paul Lane says
This also makes a fantastic boule.
Vaishali says
Thanks for the tip, Paul!
Heather Honto says
I named my starter Magnolia ?
Vaishali says
What a beautiful name for a starter! ❤️
Cassandra says
My daughter named our starter "Souron" (like Sauron from Lord of the Rings) ?
Love this recipe! I use it all the time. Thanks for sharing ?
Cassidy says
Mine never rose correctly. What are some common troubleshooting?
Meredith DeVoe says
Mine took much longer to rise than the stated time. It also rises considerably in the oven. I also used this recipe for pizza dough, it was fantastic!
Vaishali says
That's the oven spring. 🙂 It's one of the best things about making sourdough bread--always a nice surprise. As for the rising time, it can take longer if your home is cool.
Rachel B says
After mixing the starter, water, and flour for the first rise should the dough be really watery? Will it work out once I add the flour for the second rise? Hoping it turns out because the bread looks delicious and I dont eat anything with added yeast!
Vaishali says
Not watery but loose. It will get firmer after adding the other two cups of flour but will be a bit sticky still.
Tamara Lesh says
Is the first rise an autolyse?
James Wilson says
Can I put this in a bread maker? All the ingredients at same time or? It sounds amazing, but I don’t have a mixer and use a bread maker. Thank you!
Thabit says
How do i get a bread that has no sour after taste?
Vaishali says
Hi, the charm of sourdough for many is the wonderful flavor. But if you want minimal sourdough flavor, use a freshly fed starter. Or you can just try making a regular sandwich bread, instead of sourdough.
S. K. Mitra says
I made this sandwich bread in a Pullman tin and came out pretty good excepting there was hardly any browning on any side. What do I have to do to bring that nice uniform browning all over?
Tom says
The key to browning is to provide humidity in the first 10-15 minutes of baking at a high temperature, then finishing off at medium temperature for the rest.
This is done by either adding a tray of boiling water along with the bread, or covering the bread with a lid (such as the one your tin has) which entraps any humidity already in the bread. If your oven has a humidity function, all the better for you - you can use that instead.
During the first 10-15 minutes, bake at ~240C, and keep humid. Afterwards, remove the lid/tray and lower temperature to ~180C.
Keep baking for about 30 minutes, or until the temperature inside the bread is ~90C.
Barb Mueller says
Can I use my mixer with dough hook to knead the dough?
Vaishali says
Yes, absolutely!
Vaishali Honawar says
May be an anomaly in your oven. That seems the only likely explanation.
Veronica says
Great recipe! But just so you know: hydration of starter would be calculated by weight of its components not by volume. So if you use 100g flour and 75g of water then that’s a 75% hydration. But using 1cup of flour and 3/4cup water is NOT 75% hydration because the weight of the two are entirely different and weight of flour measured within volume varies greatly baker to baker depending on how you scoop your flour in
Lili says
Hei. What is the hydration of the starter in this recipe? 75%??.
Thanks.
Kathryn Clark says
The ingredients for this recipe are also given in grams.
Margaret says
Where? I can't find it in grams.
Vaishali says
Click on "metric" in recipe box.
Donna says
I would love to try your SOURDOUGH SANDWICH BREAD recipe but I am not sure what is all purpose flour called in Australia? We have plain, bread and self rising flour here . What is the all purpose flour's protein content in US please? Thank you.
Thu Hong Peck says
If the 3 flours you mentioned APF is equivalent to your plain flour.
Vaishali says
13 grams of protein in 1 cup (or 125 grams) of APF.
Susanna says
Can you use all white?
Vaishali says
Yes, absolutely.
Sue says
All purpose is just plain flour
Pat Watt says
At what stage is your starter? Full and fed at the top of its rise? or flat and hungry? That makes a difference - either that or please give the weight of starter. Thank you.
Vaishali says
About five days after the last feeding! It isn't puffy at that stage.
kur says
hello ma'am! I'm new at this sourdough and so far have only made the artisan bread and pretzels but wanna make this loaf bread! when you said it hasn't been fed 5 days, is it basically a discard then? :O
Gwyn says
Five days in the fridge or on the counter? So you are really using that first step as a feeding then? I’m interested for a few reasons, I have made bread with out of the fridge week or so old starter and I have seen recipes that start with feeding the starter to make a certain amount for the bread making and state that you need to use it at the height of activity before it deflates. I’m curious about the reasons for one or the other and why you do it the way you do with this recipe.
Vaishali says
Always refrigerate your starter (except during the first seven days of making a new starter). And yes, that first step is like a feeding. You want to get the starter back to a stage where it is active and will help the bread rise.
Karen says
Can you use all white bread flour for this recipe or must you use the whole wheat flour for it to be successful?
Vaishali says
White flour would be fine!
Sara says
I received a great starter from my daughter-in-law a few months ago and she uses this recipe. I made it with her the first time and it worked well. Now that I am home I cannot get it to work as well. The starter is active and I am in good shape with that. The first two risings are great! The 4 hour one and the first 2 hour one. The third and last does not rise very much at all. Is it OK to let rise for the 4 hours, then punch down and shape loaves and put in baking bowl or loaf then, let rise 2 hours only and then bake? My loaves are dense and pretty flat at the end of the third rise.
Jenny says
I had this same trouble!! The bread taste good but I know is much denser than the recipe intends. Hoping to get some guidance!
Aletha says
In my limited sourdough experience, this has happened to me a few times. I think its caused by over proofing where the yeast gets exhausted and also maybe not enough air bubbles in the dough to make a lofty crumb. Could also be hydration. Just my thoughts. I think it's hard to follow a recipe for sourdough when so much depends on environment and condition of the starter.
Gwyn says
I’m not sure the first step is considered a rising, I think it’s more of a feeding or a feeding/ autolysis combo since you add the bulk of the flour along with salt and oil after it but your question confuses me a little because you need to add the rest of the ingredients after that first four hour ferment. The second 2 hour rise is actually the bulk rise I think as it is the first one with all the four and ingredients so probably necessary and the one where it rises most, doubles in size, mine wasn’t really punchable until after that rise anyway. Maybe the temperature was higher so 4 hours was too long or maybe it was over proofed during the first or second rise? Mine didn’t rise quite as high as I was thinking it would in the bread pan but it had great rise in the oven and came out looking perfect if that helps at all.