You can make deliciously crusty, light, and flavorful sourdough French bread with your sourdough discard and a few simple ingredients. It’s an easy dough to make and rests overnight to get just the right rise without any yeast needed. Then just shape, score, and bake to perfection! This is a tried-and-true rustic sourdough bread recipe you will surely love.
We’ve been making and feeding sourdough starter for many years. Making artisan sourdough bread or soft sandwich bread with sourdough is easy! And, we love the slightly tangy taste and great texture you get with sourdough recipes.
Did you know that the discard can be used to create all sorts of sourdough recipes?
Our slew of sourdough recipes includes leftover starters, like this French bread with sourdough starter recipe! It easily makes a flavorful baguette that is crusty on the outside and terrifically tender and fluffy on the inside.
Content Covered Here
Baking with Sourdough
Anyone who has tried making bread with sourdough discard knows that you need these 2 key things for the perfect loaf: a starter (be sure to make this quick sourdough starter before you get, well, started. It’s homemade with flour and water, and is ready in a week thanks to my no-fail tips!) and patience.
And true to form, this fantastic sourdough French bread recipe also requires these. However, unlike many other sourdough discard recipes, this one doesn’t use any yeast.
Instead, it ferments overnight to get just the right rise. So you’ll certainly need that patience, but I promise this bread is so worth it,
Let’s get started with this easy french sourdough bread recipe!
Sourdough French Bread Recipe Ingredients
- Sourdough starter (see link above for the best foolproof starter recipe)
- Warm water
- Sugar
- Olive oil or other vegetable oil
- All-purpose flour (I use King Arthur flour)
- Salt
This is a sourdough discard recipe, but your discard should come from an active starter fed within the last day (if stored on the counter) or the last week (if stored in the refrigerator).
The sugar helps activate the sourdough sponge. The small amount of sugar won’t give this bread a sweet taste.
I prefer using King Arthur flour for my recipes. For me, KA flour is readily available locally, or on Amazon, so it’s easy to get. Find a quality brand that you like and stick with it. Using the same brand of flour will provide the most consistent results in your bread making.
Recipe Tips
We’re presuming that you already have sourdough starter on hand. Feed your starter 12-24 hours before starting the dough.
Although it does take some time to prepare, there are only 5 simple steps to make a perfect sourdough French bread with no yeast:
- Mix the dough either by hand or with a standing mixer.
Cover the dough and let it rise (ferment) overnight.
Shape the dough, cover it with plastic wrap on a baking sheet and let rise one more time.
Score the loaves with a sharp knife.
Bake for 25-30 minutes in a preheated oven to 400 degrees F.
Serve it with Herb Garlic Butter for a tasty loaf of garlic bread with dinner.
Keep reading for foolproof tips!
Because there is no yeast used, this sourdough bread recipe needs kneading to get that classic French bread texture. (For no knead sourdough recipes, see my easy overnight sourdough bread or soft crust sourdough sandwich bread recipes.)
My favorite way to knead any bread dough is with my stand mixer.
However, if you don’t have a stand mixer, you can knead the dough by hand. Use a timer to keep track of how long you knead the bread. If your arms get tired, take a break for a moment or two and resume.
This video shows how to knead bread:
Here are some signs your sourdough has finished proofing.
- The dough should be smooth and pliable.
- It should stretch easily for several inches without holes or tears when stretched.
If not, the dough needs further kneading to make it as soft and pliable as it should be.
After a minute of hand kneading, it should look like this:
The dough above is soft and stretchy. When stretched, it was thin enough to see through without holes.
Tips for Proper Proofing of French Bread Sourdough
Sourdough undergoes a fermentation process during the overnight proofing. Here are a few signs that your sourdough has finished proofing (and is fermented):
- It has doubled in size. In cooler temperatures (less than 75º) this may take longer.
- You can see bubbles in the dough. There are finger-tip-sized bubbles on the top and sides of the dough and smaller bubbles underneath.
Sourdough fermentation takes hours, and your dough will need at least 6 hours and possibly 12 hours until the sourdough has proofed. Keeping the dough between 75º and 85º will speed up the fermentation process.
Under proofed dough is stiff and the surface of the dough is smooth.
Properly proofed dough shows bubbles on or below the surface. It’s soft, and the impression stays when you press your finger into it.
Over-proofed sourdough may spill over the sides of the bowl during proofing. To avoid over-proofed sourdough, set a timer per the recipe card and keep the dough at 85º or lower.
The scoring for this sourdough bread recipe is simple but necessary to keep the bread from cracking. Use a very sharp knife or lamé for sourdough scoring. I prefer to use a lamé or a serrated knife.
🎯 TFN Pro Tip
For a clean score, use quick, even motions. Sourdough scoring is only about 1/4″ to 1/2″ in depth. Side slashes work best for scoring loaves of French bread.
Frequently Asked Questions
Since you can’t skip the overnight fermentation process in this sourdough bread recipe, I recommend you instead try this Easy Homemade French Bread recipe. It uses yeast and is not a sourdough discard recipe, so it’s quite faster but equally tasty.
When it’s ready to bake the dough should be doubled in size with visible bubbles in the dough. See above signs your sourdough has finished proofing where I explain this a bit more.
Yes! Bread flour has a bit more protein in it, which will add more gluten to the recipe.
Weighing your baking ingredients is more reliable for baking. For those of you without kitchen scales, I’ve listed the cup measurements in the full recipe card below.
When my sourdough bread is past its prime, I slice it into cubes and dry or toast it to make sourdough stuffing. I always have a bag of cubed sourdough in the pantry ready to use.
Your dough will dry out during the fermentation overnight, especially in areas with low humidity. The top layer of the dough will get a hard crust that prevents the dough from rising.
Sourdough starters create their own wild or natural yeast, so an active starter is all your need for this easy no yeast sourdough French bread recipe.
Our Favorite Tools To Make Sourdough French Bread
Sourdough French Bread Recipe
Equipment
- lamé - or sharp serrated knife
- French bread pans - or baking sheets
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240 grams) sourdough starter
- 1 ½ cups (283 grams) warm water
- 2 Tbsp (25 grams) sugar
- ⅓ cup (80 grams) olive oil or any plant-based cooking oil
- 4 cups (500 grams) all-purpose flour divided, or bread flour
- 2 tsp (15 grams) salt
Instructions
Mixing the sourdough bread sponge
- Combine starter, water, sugar, oil, and 3 c flour in a medium bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Stir using a dough whisk or flat beater until a thick, sticky dough forms. This is called a sponge. Cover and let rest for 30 mins.
- Add salt to the dough, and slowly add the last 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Kneading by hand
- Add 1 cup of flour on the countertop and knead in one cup of flour at a time until the dough is no longer sticky. Then knead for 10 minutes by hand until the dough is soft, smooth, and elastic. See video below for more tips. You should be able to stretch the dough for 4-5" without it tearing. Use a timer to time kneading and take short breaks if your arms get sore.
Stand mixer kneading
- Use the dough hook at low speed to mix the dough until it cleans the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl. Knead in mixer for 5-7 minutes, until a soft, smooth, and elastic dough forms. You should be able to stretch the dough for 4-5" without it tearing.
Overnight rise (fermentation)
- Place dough into a large greased bowl turning the dough over, and cover with a clean damp towel or plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place (75º to 85º is ideal) overnight or for 8 hours (or until dough is bubbly and has doubled in size).
Preparing the Sourdough French Bread loaves
- Cut the dough in half. Flatten each half to a 5" x 7" rectangle (i use my fingertips to gently deflate or degas the dough). Then tightly roll on the long side. Pinch the ends to seal them.
- Place dough on lightly greased french bread pans, or place length-wise on a large parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, until the loaves have increased in size and look puffy.
- Preheat oven to 400ºF (205º celcius). Using a very sharp knife or lamé quickly score loaves with 3 – 4 diagonal slashes. Make scores about 1/4" to 1/2" deep.
- Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. The loaves should be golden on the outside and sound hollow when tapped.
LT says
Can I put tray of ice water in oven for steam?
Danielle - TFN Team Member says
You could do this but it isn’t a necessary step for this recipe. Thanks for trying!
Sarah says
Can I omit the sugar in the sponge?
Gianne - TFN Team Member says
You can make the sourdough bread without sugar, but we use it because it feeds the starter, causing the dough to rise more quickly. If you leave the sugar out of the recipe, it will be fine, but may take longer to rise.
Leslie says
I love how easy this was. I seen in the other comments questions about the amount of flour and I actually used five cups total. Then I worried it wouldn’t turn out but it looked perfect and rose and baked perfectly. Delicious.
Lynn says
I just put this in a bowl to ferment overnight but a couple of observations – after combining the first set of ingredients to let sit for 30 minutes I did not have anything that resembled dough. it was soupy, almost cake batter-like. I triple-checked the ingredients and amounts like if I added too much water etc. but I did everything correctly. This meant that when I went to add the last cup of flour I had to use a lot more, at least 1/2 cup. We’ll see what the overnight brings and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that I wake up to risen dough. Thanks!
Gianne - TFN Team Member says
Our dough has never looked “soupy” after 30 minutes. Our sourdough recipes have been extensively tested before we publish them. Although we use weight and measured units, I recommend weighing ingredients because it’s easy to use too little or too much flour when measuring. That being said, sourdough is a live organism and different environments affect it. Many of us live in arid or humid climates and our dough will look differently because of that alone. Hopefully this is just your environment and your bread will turn out perfect. Let me know how your sourdough French bread turns out!
Grace says
I read in the ingredient list 4 cups of flour, plus 1 cup for kneading? My dough was soft before I kneaded it. I’m just wondering did I misunderstand the instructions ?
Gianne - TFN Team Member says
Hi Grace! You may add extra flour when kneading if the dough is sticky and can’t be handled. But if it is okay, you don’t need to add more flour.