Simple, No-Knead Sourdough Bread: Only 15 Active Minutes!

Your sourdough starter is finally growing. It has matured and now it’s time to use it to make the bread you’ve been waiting for, right? After all, isn’t that why you began the sourdough? Even if you’re not a baker and are hesitant about kneading dough, you can still make a great tasting sourdough bread. Since sourdough starter is meant to be easy only containing flour and water, I decided to create and make a bread that was just as easy. A truly no fuss recipe, my “Simple, No-Knead Sourdough Bread”.

Thoughts on Sourdough

I’ve been working with sourdough starters for a while now… rye, potato, and now regular flour. To be honest, I don’t keep them. I use them for a bit, make bread, and use them in discard recipes. When I’m tired of them, I use them up and don’t keep any to store. With so many different types of bread recipes I make and create, sourdough is just not one I make often. However, I do think it’s a great, simple bread to keep most people happy, particularly if you’re not a baker. The hardest part is getting the sourdough starter going and being patient with it until it matures. Once it matures, you’re pretty much set for life. In fact, (gossip corner here) I heard that Martha Stewart uses her grandmother’s (or mother’s) sourdough starter that is decades, if not a hundred years old. Now that’s crazy!!

My Take on Creating a Sourdough Bread Recipe

I’ve always enjoyed eating sourdough bread, but I don’t care to make it often. So, in thinking about creating my own sourdough bread recipe, I knew I wanted something relatively small. In truth, once your sourdough starter matures, there’s enough sourdough starter to make bread every couple of days. The bread should be consumed quickly, unless you freeze it, or it will dry out and become stale. I also wanted a really easy bread that didn’t require much work to make. The idea behind sourdough starter is to have it ready to go when you’re ready for bread. That was my aim for the bread. It’s simple enough that you can make it every few days and not stress over finding time to be in the kitchen to bake.

Sourdough Bread Recipe

Since this is a no-knead recipe, the dough needs significant time to develop and the natural yeast to grow. The time needed is inactive requiring nothing on your part. The ingredient list is quite simple and only uses the basics of good bread baking. The ingredients include water, honey, salt, bread flour, and active sourdough starter that was last fed 6-12 hours prior to making the recipe. This sourdough starter in this recipe is the mature, active starter NOT the discard.

Sourdough Bread Making Duration

This process of making this bread requires a night and following day to equal about 15 hours total. The only active part takes 15 minutes; the rest is inactive with the dough resting, rising, and baking. That’s it!

I have found it’s best to start the night before the day you want to bake the bread. You should have fed your sourdough 8-12 hours before you begin this recipe with your sourdough at its peak rise. That means it’s active, has doubled or more in size, and ready to work. The night before going to bed, all you do is mix the ingredients. Super simple!!

Night Before Baking Day: Make the Dough

Combine Wet Ingredients

In a very large bowl, whisk together 12 ounces (1½ cups) of room temperature, filtered water. My filtered water comes from a cold fridge, so I heat it up for 20 seconds in the microwave to warm it keeping it under 100˚F (38˚C). To that, whisk in 1 tablespoon of honey and 2 teaspoons of salt. Then vigorously whisk in in ¾ cup of active sourdough starter.

TIP: If you find your sourdough starter didn’t rise or bubble much, add 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast to the mixture. That should help give your sourdough the structure, rise, and lift it needs.

Add in Flour

Finally, whisk in 240 grams (2 cups) of bread flour until smooth. Use a spoon to stir in the remaining 240 grams (2 cups) of bread flour until dough is mixed well. The hardest, most time-consuming part of this entire process is done!

Cover & Allow Time for Rising

Grease the top of the dough by rubbing on cooking spray or oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and leave it on the counter or in a cold oven with light on overnight for at least 8-12 hours or until the dough has doubled in size. I’ve made multiple loaves where mine tripled in size… whew! If your environment is cool, it may take a little longer. I find leaving the dough in the oven with an incandescent light bulb on works wonderfully!

TIP: Oil rubbed on top of the dough prevents the dough from crusting over as it sits.

Baking Day: Rise & Bake the Dough

This next step is easier than the first. Ideally, this will be the next morning after the dough had time to rise overnight. Now, scoop out the dough onto a floured work surface. Shape the dough into a ball by pulling up the edges towards the center until you have a nice round ball. Roll the dough in flour on the work surface until it’s covered with flour all around. Return the dough with the folds facing up to the bowl. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise in a warm area for 2-3 hours or until doubled in size.

TIP: If you’re short on time, deflate the dough in the bowl and use a spoon to roll it into a ball, pulling up the edges with the spoon toward the center. Sprinkle flour over the dough and roll the dough ball in the flour until it is covered all around.

2-3 HOURS LATER: Prepare Pan & Dough to Bake

Preheat the Oven & Baking Dish

With 30 minutes left in the rise, place an 8- 9 ½ -inch cast iron skillet or small oven-safe Dutch Oven dish in the oven center. Preheat the oven to 450˚F (232˚C).

TIP: Preheating the cast-iron baking dish (like a skillet or Dutch Oven) will give the bread a crusty exterior.

Prepare the Parchment Paper

Tear off a sheet of parchment paper longer than the baking dish. Make sure it’s wide enough to use as handles to pick up the sourdough bread. Crumple up the sheet of paper tightly into a wad in your hands to loosen up the fibers. Doing this makes the paper easier to form around the dough and in the baking dish. Open it up being careful not to tear it. Place the opened, wrinkly parchment paper on the counter and sprinkle it well with flour.

TIP: I like to use a small sifter in sprinkling on flour as it disperses it well.

Remove Baking Dish: Shape, Score, & Bake Dough

When the oven has preheated, use oven mitts to remove the skillet or Dutch Oven from the oven.

Carefully slide the risen dough out of the bowl onto the floured parchment paper. Shape the dough quickly & roughly into a ball; a rubber spatula works well. For an artisan look, dust a little flour over the top of the dough. Then, use a floured knife or clean razor blade to cut a crisscross shape (or any preferred design) about ¼-inch deep into the top of the dough to allow steam to escape and the dough to rise. Pick up the parchment paper edges (or corners, whatever works) and place in the skillet or Dutch Oven.

Bake for 40-55 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 205˚F (96˚C).

Sourdough Bread Done!

Once bread is baked, remove it from the baking dish using the parchment paper as handles. Place it onto a cooling rack or wood block to cool completely (at least an hour) or the bread may be gummy. Wait until cools before cutting into it.

Sourdough Bread Close Ups

Since I intentionally created a small loaf of bread, I would describe this recipe as a sourdough loaf bread that resembles an Italian ciabatta in size. Check out the crusty exterior and crumb holes.

Store Mature Sourdough Starter for Future Bread Baking

You can store your sourdough starter in the fridge… forever. Feed it when you place it in the fridge. Then, on the same day every week, remember to discard all but about ½ cup and feed it as usual. With your sourdough starter stored in the fridge, you can have homemade bread pretty much anytime you’re ready; just plan a little ahead. When you’re a couple of days away from baking bread, allow the starter to sit out on the counter for a day or two and feed it twice a day to activate it before using it in a bread.

TIP: If you’re dying for sourdough bread and your sourdough starter isn’t quite as active as you’d like, just add a teaspoon of commercial (active dry) yeast and you’ll get a good rise and great tasting bread.

Don’t Throw Away that Sourdough Discard!

Be sure to use your sourdough discard to make some fantastic recipes. Check out my many sourdough discard recipes such as sourdough herb crackers, sourdough pizza dough with my zesty tomato pizza sauce recipe, granola bars, blueberries & cream sourdough muffins, sweet sourdough pancakes, cheese & chive sourdough biscuits, and even sourdough discard bread. Now that’s a sourdough menu!

Sourdough Bread Final Thoughts

This is a simple bread for really any type of baker. The recipe only has 5 ingredients, and the steps are pretty easy. If you like sourdough bread and want a recipe that’s hassle free, this one might be up your alley.

Baker’s Perspective

I like the limited time in the kitchen to make this bread. In addition, that limited time is broken up into several different stages. The best part is letting the dough chemistry do what it is meant to do without much assistance. Granted, this dough doesn’t rise a lot during the baking process, but it consists of all the sourdough elements that is traditional to a sourdough bread. Easy recipe, little work, and no kneading… win.

Taster’s Perspective

With this bread consisting of simple, basic ingredients, you can accurately guess what it tastes like. Scott’s response after tasting the bread was… “Well, it’s a sourdough bread.” That was exactly the reaction I was hoping for and expecting. The chewy exterior and wide-hole crumb make a great soup dunker. Keep in mind that sourdough bread will have some sour flavoring. Depending on your sourdough starter’s maturity level, you may have some loaves of bread with a bit more sourness than others. The more mature the sourdough the more sour the bread will taste. Because of the sourness, you may find you prefer it only with certain foods. Regardless, it’s a simple, chewy white bread.

For detailed visuals of this recipe, check out the YouTube video. “Simple No-Knead Sourdough Bread: Basic Ingredients & ONLY 15 Active Minutes!“.

Interested in some sourdough recipes? Check these out!

Simple Sourdough Starter for Beginners: Water & Flour Only

Sourdough Granola Bars

Cheese & Chive Sourdough Biscuits

Sourdough Herb Crackers

Sourdough Pizza Crust (dough)

Blueberries & Cream Sourdough Muffins

Sweet Sourdough Pancakes

New Zealand Potato Sourdough Starter & Bread

Russian Borodinsky Sourdough Rye Starter & Bread

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