Learn how to make the most perfect, soft and fluffy sourdough sandwich bread! An active sourdough starter gives this bread a beautiful rise without any need for added yeast.
Sourdough breads, like this amazing no-knead sourdough bread, these crusty sourdough rolls, this bread machine sourdough bread and this sourdough olive and sage loaf, are some of my favorite breads to bake. This reader-favorite sourdough sandwich bread, with more than 320 five-star reviews, is on a par with these excellent breads and one I make most often in my kitchen.
The bread turns out just right each time and the recipe makes two sandwich loaves, which last us all week long. And yes, it's mostly white flour, but I don't feel like the devil about it. Research shows that the healthfulness of white sourdough bread exceeds that of wholegrain and multigrain breads.
That's because sourdough has a powerful effect on blood sugar: when left to work its fermenting magic, it breaks down the starches in the foods it's added to, making them easier to digest. Sourdough is also probiotic, which means it is packed with healthy gut bacteria, so you can feel truly holier-than-thou when you smear this bread with some peanut butter or use it to cradle a delicious vegan burger.
Many sourdough breads need to be started a day before, but this sourdough sandwich loaf can easily be made in about eight hours from start to finish, including three rise times. So if you start your bread late in the morning, you can easily have some in time for dinner.
Table of Contents
Why you will love this sourdough sandwich bread
- Buttery and delicious. The sourdough gives the bread a wonderful, buttery flavor in addition to the soft, fluffy texture.
- Healthy bread. Because sourdough starter is fermented, it is full of healthy bacteria that are probiotic and extremely beneficial to the gut microbiome.
- Quick recipe. This bread needs about eight hours of proofing time, total, which is pretty quick for a bread leavened entirely with sourdough and with no added yeast.
- Perfect, fluffy texture. The crust is just lightly chewy and the crumb is soft and fluffy (without any eggs) and just perfect for cradling your favorite sandwich fillings. Stale bread makes great toast.
- Vegan, soy-free, nut-free recipe.
Ingredients
- Sourdough starter: Make sure you use an active, bubbling, recently fed sourdough starter for the best results.
- Unbleached all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour
- Extra virgin olive oil. Or any neutral oil of your choice.
How to make sourdough sandwich bread
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 fluffy and bubbly.
Add 2 cups of all-purpose flour, olive oil and salt to the bowl and mix.
Add more flour as needed and knead until the dough becomes quite firm but still feels a little sticky to your fingers. You can do this by hand or in a stand mixer on medium-low speed.
Turn out the dough on a flat surface and knead by hand for 4-5 minutes or until the dough feels smooth and springy. 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 with a lid or plastic wrap and let the dough rise for two hours in a warm spot. After two hours it should have doubled.
Punch down the dough and divide into two.
Roll out each half into a rectangle, then roll it like a jelly roll and tuck in the ends to form a loaf. The dough should be very pliable.
Prep two standard loaf pans by spraying lightly with oil and then sprinkling on some cornmeal or semolina. Place the formed loaves in the prepared pans. Cover with a kitchen towel and let them stand in a warm place for at least two more hours or until the dough rises above the top of the loaf pans.
About half an hour before baking, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 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.
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.
Recipe FAQs and troubleshooting
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.
For a softer crust, replace half the water with soy milk.
Bread flour will give you a crustier loaf and the crumb won't be as soft. But it will still be a pretty good loaf of bread.
Storage instructions
- 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.
- Thaw fully before reheating.
More sourdough bread recipes
Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl or stand mixer
- 2 loaf pans
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- About half an hour before baking, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 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.
Recipe notes
- You can increase salt by another teaspoon if you want to.
- If your sourdough starter is made using someone else's recipe, you may need more or less water to form the dough. In that case add 1 cup water in step 1 and trickle in more as needed when kneading the dough in step 2.
Jess
Does it have to bake for the full 40 min?
Vaishali
Yes.
Kim
It depends on your oven and your bread pans. I cook mine to an internal temperature of 195-200. My bread reaches this temperature in 35 minutes.
Sourdough starter
I messed up and combined all ingredients in step 1. Thoughts on whether I’ll be able to salvage it?
Vaishali
Just proceed!
Rachel
This used all of my starter. I followed the starter recipe linked on this page. Everything worked out great from start to finish, but I'm wondering if I did something wrong with the starter.
Catharine Harrell
I had the same problem. I have to start over the with starter because this recipe used it all. Is there a way to have more starter on hand?
Emily
I just fed my starter (it’s a whole wheat starter) two hours ago. The problem is that I used the rest of my whole wheat flour to feed my starter! Can I use more starter and skip step 1? I’m a sourdough newbie, so I have no idea. Thanks!
Vaishali
Just use white or bread flour instead of whole wheat!
Monica
Could I bake the entire recipe in a 16 x 4.5 x 3.5 pan?
Vaishali
That sounds like a loaf pan that's twice the length of a regular so I suppose so. 🙂
Jennifer
It's 4:00 P.M. I've an hour and a half left on step 5 (raising-covered tightly for two hours). Is there a point after this step I could put the dough in the fridge and take it out in the A.M. to make fresh baked bread for breakfast?
Vaishali
I think it would be okay to put it in the refrigerator after the second rise and bake in the a.m.
Anonymous
I'm going to try it! I'll let you know--nothing like fresh-baked bread for breakfast!! 🙂
Caryn
I would love to know whether this worked well!
Nicole
Hi, I was wondering is the starter supposed to be fed? Or is it the discard? I'm increasing my feedings and not discarding so I have a cup and a half to use for the recipe. Thanks
Vaishali
You do have to discard part of the starter and then feed the remaining starter. If you want more starter for a recipe, just feed it with more flour and water.
Nicole
Thsnks, I hope I did not ruin it. In the recipe is the starter used for the bread fed starter or the discard from the morning?I want to make the dough tomorrow morning so in the first step am I using the discard from the morning or feed it and start dough in the afternoon after its had a while to eat lol?
William
What I’ve been doing is to feed my starter and take the discard ( when I have it ) and feed that as well ( effectively splitting it ) and then using that for my new starter
( as it is essentially the same as the starter I put back in the refrigerator ) and the starter I have is in a quart mason jar so I have plenty to work with and can easily make 1-2 cups starter the next day after my feeding it .. so far it’s been working
Have dough sitting in bowl now on rise before splitting and will bake tonight and is first time trying this recipe
Thank You
Anonymous
can i do entire kneading in a standmixer (kitchenaid) ?
Vaishali
Yes!
Nave
is it possible to half this recipe? I don't a) have two pans to make two loafs at the same time and b) need for two loaves at the same time OR is there a way to keep the rest of the dough from overproofing while one loaf bakes? Thank you!
Vaishali
Yes, you can definitely just halve it for one loaf.
ERIN M.
Hello,
I made my first bread ever using your recipe and I was overall pleased. I did find the crust too hard for my liking especially for sandwiches. Is there a trick to help with that?
I'm learning so please bare with me.
Thank you
Vaishali
You can use milk as the liquid instead of water and butter instead of oil for a softer crust.
❤️ Baking
We don’t usually like too hard crust in our family either. I found that wrapping loafs in 2 cotton towels, and letting them cool like that makes crust much softer, while still delicious.
Karen
Looking forward to trying this recipe! What size loaf pans did you use?
Vaishali
Standard size, approx 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches. Slightly bigger or smaller is fine but it will impact how much your bread domes.
Anonymous
Thank you! Just in time:) getting ready to shape the loaves!
Cami
I don’t have whole wheat flour. Can I use, either all white flour or rye flour in place of the wheat flour?
Vaishali
You can do all white. Or you can do a mix--sub the whole wheat for rye and use white for the rest.
Pammer
I was wondering if you have to use the oil for this recipe?
Vaishali
Step 2!
Christine Helmus
Great recipe. Thank you. It is very versatile too. I have made it plain, as garlic cheese loaf and also an onion loaf. Always turns out perfect.
Anonymous
Is this recipe suitable for a bread machine?
Tanya
Hi. I made this today and loved the result!! Thank you. I’m curious about the first step...this was the first time I saw this “premixing” of starter, water, and flour. Is this just a way to expand and “liven” the starter? Is this something done specifically for the more dense sandwich type bread or do you do this at the beginning of a boule recipe, too? Just curious
Thanks
Vaishali
Hi Tanya, yes, it's a way to give the bread a strong start, especially if you happen to be using sourdough that hasn't been fed very recently.
Tanya
That’s what I thought. My second batch of loaves are in the oven now!! ❤️ And just got your recipe for the English Muffins. They are def next once I let my starter recover ?
Vaishali
Awesome! I made some small modifications to the muffins after testing again -- i am recommending rolling them thinner so if you already printed take a look again!
Emily
Following up on this - I'm trying to figure out the "rhythm" of a weekly baking and how that fits with feeding my starter. Let's say I want to bake every Saturday. Could I take out the 1.5 c starter and begin this recipe as written, then feed the remaining starter and put it back in the fridge? Or do I need to feed the starter first to "revive" it, then take out the 1.5 c for the recipe and follow along as written?
Vaishali
Yes, you can use the discard for the bread, then feed your starter, let it stand for a few hours on the countertop, then refrigerate the starter.