This easy same-day sourdough bread recipe will give you a soft and chewy loaf of bread you can enjoy by suppertime!

If you are craving a delicious loaf of bread and need it on your table by dinner, this recipe is for you!

This quick and easy sourdough boule perfect for busy days when you are scrambling to throw together a wholesome dinner.

Whip up the dough in the morning, give it a few stretch and folds, and let it bulk ferment until late afternoon.

After shaping the dough, you can put the bread in the oven and have a mouth-watering loaf on the table by dinnertime.

For more easy sourdough bread recipes try my jalapeno cheddar, double chocolate, or rosemary loaves. Learn how to make easy sourdough hamburger buns here.

Schedule + Timing

Sourdough starter is a live culture that feeds off of flour and water. The temperature of your home affects how quickly the starter matures, or hits it peak (this is also referred to as ripening).

When it is active you will see that the starter has doubled in size and there are bubbles on the surface.

For this same day recipe to work, you need an active starter. An active starter is one that has been fed within the last 8-12 hours and has doubled in size.

Timing: The speed at which your starter will reach its peak (when it is most active), is dependent on several factors. The temperature of your home, age of starter and how you feed it can affect how quickly it ripens.

I often feed my starter before bed (around 10:30 or 11 pm), then mix up the dough as soon as I wake up around 7 am.

If your home temperatures are very warm, you can feed your starter in early morning (around 7 am), then make your dough a few hours later when your starter has doubled. (Starter typically takes 4-8 hours to mature, depending on temperature.)

Ingredients

The wonderful thing about homemade sourdough is that it requires very few ingredients. No preservatives, sugar, or questionable ingredients are needed.

For this same-day recipe, you’ll need:

500 grams bread flour: I like to use high quality, organic bread flour when possible
350 grams water: Use a chemical-free water source, such as well water, filtered water, or spring water
10 grams, or 2 tsp, salt
100 grams active sourdough starter: An active sourdough starter has been fed recently and is bubbly (not flat). For this recipe, I feed my sourdough starter right before I go to bed; this is usually around 10:30–11 pm. I wake up and mix my dough around 7 am, and the starter is still bubbling and active.

Bulk Fermentation Time

For your bread to rise, you need a long enough bulk fermentation time.

The bulk fermentation time is the time period from when you first mix all your ingredients together until you put your dough into the oven.

If the loaf of bread does not have time to rise, it will be underproofed. Underproofed bread is dense, gummy, and has a very tight crumb. Here is a photo of an underproofed loaf:

When bulk proofing sourdough, you’ll want to hit that sweet spot where the dough is neither under proofed or over proofed.

Depending on the temperature of your home, this can take between 4-10 hours. The dough is ready when it is about double in size.

Proofing will be much faster in the summertime when temperatures are warmer.

Learn how to tell if your sourdough bread is fully proofed in this article.

Sample Schedule With Night Feeding

Here is the schedule I follow for this easy sourdough bread recipe. The timing is dependent on your preferences and the temperature of your home (adjust as needed).

10:30–11 pm: feed starter equal parts flour and water

6:30–7:30 am: Mix ingredients and let rest for 30 minutes

8:00 am: Stretch and fold dough three times, twenty minutes apart each time

Let the dough ferment until it has nearly doubled in size, between 4-8 hours (see notes above)

4:00 pm: Shape the dough, then let rise one more time before baking

5:00 pm: Bake the bread, then let it cool for 30-40 minutes

6:30: Enjoy!

How To Make Same Day Sourdough Bread

Here’s how to make this quick and easy sourdough loaf:

Step 1: The night before you want to make your bread, feed your sourdough starter enough flour and water to have 100 grams of active sourdough the following day.

I do this right before I go to bed (around 10 pm), so the starter is still active when I wake up.

Step 2: Combine 100 grams of sourdough starter with 350 grams of water, mixing well with a fork.

Step 3: Add 500 grams of flour to your starter and water mixture. Then sprinkle in two teaspoons of salt.

Step 4: Using a spatula or wet hands, mix all ingredients, working into a shaggy ball. Dough will be slightly sticky.

Step 5: Cover the dough with Saran wrap or a damp tea towel, let sit for 20 to 30 minutes

Step 6: Stretch and fold the dough three times, twenty minutes apart. To do this, take one corner of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it back over itself onto the main ball of dough.

Work your way around the dough ball several times for one series of stretches and folds. Set a timer for 20 minutes and repeat two more times. (Cover the dough with your wet tea towel in between each set).

Step 7: Now it’s time to allow your dough to continue to ferment. To do this, leave your dough on the counter and cover it with a wet tea towel or Saran wrap. Let the dough ferment on the counter until it has almost doubled.

(Timing depends on the temperature in your environment. The warmer your home, the faster the dough will ferment).

Step 8: Once the dough has nearly doubled, perform one last set of stretches and folds, and then shape your dough. I do this by setting the dough on a lightly floured surface, folding the sides into the center individually, and forming into a ball. Set the dough either into a banneton or a floured bowl.

Step 9: Cover with the tea towel and set in the fridge for one hour.

Step 10: Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Optional: Place the sourdough loaf in the freezer while the oven warms up for a better score.

In this recipe, I do not preheat my Dutch oven before putting the dough in!

Step 11: Score the bread dough and place it in the Dutch oven. Bake for 25 minutes, remove the dutch oven lid, and continue to bake for 20-25 minutes. (Get my best bread scoring tips here).

Step 12: Let bread cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Letting the bread rest allows it to fully cool (hint: it’s still cooking inside the loaf!).