Bread Machine Sourdough
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Bread machine sourdough is everything you love—light, airy, and packed with flavor, all wrapped up in a perfectly crisp crust. And the best part? It’s way easier to make in your bread maker than you’d ever expect!
Sourdough Bread In The Bread Machine
Kevy called me from work while I was reorganizing the fridge. Heavy sigh.
Usually, that’s a him job, because it doesn’t really bug me. But at this point, I’ve got various sourdough starters, discards, and somewhere-in-betweens happening in there and I have run out of room.
He was razzing me about my ferment-y buddies taking up all the fridge space and I thought to myself: I gotta deal with this and I really don’t need to eat more sourdough brownies!
This sourdough bread machine recipe is dedicated to using discard!
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Tips
- New to sourdough? Need a starter? Check out my super easy sourdough starter. It’s ready in 24 hours!
- As with ALL my recipes, make absolutely sure to measure your flour using the scoop and level method. This involves vigorously stirring the flour in your container or bag, then spooning it into your measuring cup before leveling it off using the back of a knife or spoon handle. This ensures a more consistent result from batch to batch.
- This is a “quick” sourdough bread maker recipe as we are using discard and also instant yeast. It doesn’t have the same amount of tang as an overnight fermented sourdough loaf, but it’s damn delicious either way!
- Not all sourdough discards are equal. A fresher, recent sourdough discard will have a much more mild sour flavor than an aged discard that’s been hiding in the back of your fridge for 3 weeks. I prefer to use a discard that’s been fed within the last 7 days.
Key Ingredients
Sourdough Discard
This recipe is pretty flexible when it comes to starter discard. Use the stuff you’ve been saving in the fridge for a week or use the leftover’s from this morning’s feeding. Just make sure your starter is 100% hydration, and you stir down any bubbles before measuring! Ensure your discard is near room temperature before using, and stir in any hooch that has accumulated on the top, this affects the flavor as well as the hydration level.
Yeast
Because sometimes you just want instant gratification when it comes to sourdough goodies, this includes instant yeast. You’ll be enjoying freshly baked sourdough bread machine bread in mere hours with this recipe!
If you don’t have instant yeast, or bread machine yeast, you can use active dry yeast. Increase the amount to 2 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast and add it along with the liquid ingredients instead of on top.
Read More: Bread machine yeast substitutes
How To Make Bread Machine Sourdough Bread
Add Ingredients To Bread Pan:
- Combine the liquid ingredients: 1 cup sourdough starter or discard, 3/4 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and 1 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt in the baking pan of your bread machine.
- Layer the dry ingredients as follows; 3 cups bread flour followed by 1 teaspoons rapid rise or bread machine yeast. Either sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour, where it’s not touching the water or create a well in the flour, then add the yeast there.
Bake:
- Place the baking pan into the bread machine. Select Crusty or French Bread and 2 lb Loaf options. If your machine does not have all these settings, simply select the Basic or White setting.
- Allow the bread machine to bake.
This is the hard part! Walk away! You’ll be tempted to check on your bread and then start panicking cause the texture looks weird, the dough looks too wet, or the corners still have dry flour. Don’t worry, I did all the peeking for you through the process – pics are below.
Cool:
- Remove the bread pan from the bread machine. Overturn the baked loaf onto a wire mesh cooling rack. It’s important to get to your machine as soon as possible once it beeps complete to avoid it kicking into keep warm mode, this will dry out your bread and make it less than pleasant.
- Allow the bread to cool completely (if possible, I know it’s hard!) before cutting.
Bake In The Oven
You can certainly bake this bread machine sourdough bread in the oven! Follow these steps:
- Follow steps 1-3 as you would if baking in the bread machine.
- Place the baking pan into the bread machine and choose the “Dough” cycle.
- Once the dough cycle is complete, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and shape it into a boule or a loaf, then transfer it to a greased baking dish.
- Cover baking dish with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for 45- 60 minutes, or until nearly doubled in size.
- Near the end of the rising, preheat the oven to 350f.
- Bake your loaf at 350f for approximately 40 minutes or until golden brown on top. You can check the doneness with an instant read thermometer – the internal temperature should be 195- 200f.
- Turn baked loaf out onto a wire rack, then using a pastry or basting brush, brush the top with softened butter.
Variations + Substitutions
Batch + Storage Information
Batch:
This recipe makes one 1 1/2 lb loaf of sourdough bread. Unfortunately, due to constraints in the bread machine it cannot be doubled.
Storage:
Store your bread machine sourdough cut side down on a cutting board for up to 12 hours before the crust becomes too crisp. After 12 hours, I recommend transferring it to a bread bag or sealed plastic bag and store it at room temperature. It’ll stay fresh for 2–3 days.
Freezing a Whole Loaf:
To freeze, wrap the loaf tightly in plastic wrap, then again in aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. Freeze for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy it, let the loaf thaw at room temperature for a few hours—no need to unwrap it until it’s fully defrosted.
Freezing Slices:
For easy, grab-and-go portions, slice the cooled loaf and lay the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze until solid, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container. This way, you can pull out just what you need. Toast or let thaw at room temperature and you’re good to go!
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📖 Printable Recipe
Bread Machine Sourdough Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cups sourdough discard stirred down
- ¾ cup warm water *See Note 1
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 3 cups bread flour *See Note 2
- 1 teaspoon instant or bread machine yeast
Instructions
Bake In Bread Machine:
- Combine the liquid ingredients: 1 cup sourdough discard, 3/4 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and 1 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt in the baking pan of your bread machine.
- Layer the dry ingredients as follows; 3 cups bread flour followed by 1 teaspoons rapid rise or bread machine yeast. Either sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour, where it’s not touching the water or create a well in the flour, then add the yeast there.
- Place the baking pan into the bread machine. Select Crusty or French Bread and 2 lb Loaf options. If your machine does not have all these settings, simply select the Basic or White setting.
- Once the bread machine has completed its cycle, remove the bread pan from the bread machine. Overturn the baked loaf onto a wire mesh cooling rack then using a pastry or basting brush, brush the top with softened butter. It’s important to get to your machine as soon as possible once it beeps complete to avoid it kicking into keep warm mode, this will dry out your bread and make it less than pleasant.
- Allow the bread to cool completely (if possible, I know it’s hard!) before cutting.
Bake In Oven:
- Combine the liquid ingredients: 1 cup sourdough discard, 3/4 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and 1 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt in the baking pan of your bread machine.
- Layer the dry ingredients as follows; 3 cups bread flour followed by 1 teaspoons rapid rise or bread machine yeast. Either sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour, where it’s not touching the water or create a well in the flour, then add the yeast there.
- Place the baking pan into the bread machine and select the dough setting.
- Once the dough cycle is complete, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and shape it into a boule or a loaf, then transfer it to a greased baking dish.
- Cover baking dish with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for 45- 60 minutes, or until nearly doubled in size. Near the end of the rising, preheat the oven to 350f.
- Bake your loaf at 350f for approximately 40 minutes or until golden brown on top. You can check the doneness with an instant read thermometer – the internal temperature should be 195- 200f.
- Turn baked loaf out onto a wire rack, then using a pastry or basting brush, brush the top with softened butter.
Notes
Batch:
This recipe makes one 1 1/2 lb loaf of sourdough bread. Unfortunately, due to constraints in the bread machine, it cannot be doubled.Storage:
Store your bread machine sourdough cut side down on a cutting board for up to 12 hours before the crust becomes too crisp. After 12 hours, I recommend transferring it to a bread bag or sealed plastic bag and store it at room temperature. It’ll stay fresh for 2–3 days. Freezing a Whole Loaf:To freeze, wrap the loaf tightly in plastic wrap, then again in aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. Freeze for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy it, let the loaf thaw at room temperature for a few hours—no need to unwrap it until it’s fully defrosted. Freezing Slices:
For easy, grab-and-go portions, slice the cooled loaf and lay the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze until solid, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container. This way, you can pull out just what you need. Toast or let thaw at room temperature and you’re good to go!
Recommended Equipment + Ingredients
Nutrition
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Hi! Can you use all purpose white flour instead of bread flour for this recipe?
Hey Jennifer, you can use all purpose, but you may need to add more flour. All purpose has a lower protein content than bread flour which affects its ability to absorb water. If you want to use AP flour, I would keep a close eye on it during the mixing cycles!
@Jennifer, I used all purpose flour and thought it was great!
@Jennifer, i have used nothing but AP but being in North GA I added another tsp of instant yeast.. it has served me well
I tried this recipe and now it is the only one I use! I use an older bread machine and set it at basic bread, dark crust, and then I use both extra rise beeps, so it probably gets an extra 20min. rise. I am going to try using a little whole wheat flour in the recipe and see how it goes. I will start with 1/4 cup. I think it would work well as a raisin bread too. Thanks so much for this recipe! So Good, and saves a lot of time and mess!
So glad you like it! I do have a cranberry cardamom bread recipe that is perfect in the bread maker, just sub cardamom and craisins for cinnamon and raisins!
Mine came out pretty dense. Any thoughts on where I went wrong? Tips?
Is your yeast fresh and active?
This is the first recipe I have used where my loaf came out fluffy. I did put my starter in the fridge for several months and when i fed it, it was amazing this time! I just started trying to make bread a year ago and I am very happy with this recipe, I even shared a cup of starter and this recipe with a friend. I put some rosemary in the last one, but i will put 2 tbsp next time for a 2 lb. loaf.. THANK YOU!
So glad to hear this!
Me too! Adding the active yeast instead of relying solely on the starter was a game changer for me. I use the bread machine exactly as the recipes described, then bake in my oven on 450 in a dutch oven lined in parchment with lid/covered for 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake uncovered for another 15. I like a thick crust but the butch oven sometimes results in too dense of bread. The combination of this recipe has resulted in a perfect loaf!
I ran out of flour but have a bag of 100% organic hard red spring wheat berries to grind. I also have a bag of rye Berries. What are your thoughts about that?
I would probably stick with the red spring wheat – rye flour behaves a bit differently! I do have a bread machine rye bread recipe too!
This a wonderful loaf of bread. I found this recipe to be easy to do. Also I am a fan of this sourdough ingredients. I am just saying you should try this, and I am sure you will agree with me. This is great. Thanks. SB.
Really glad to hear that you liked this recipe Susan!
Tried this recipe and it was a success. Instead of using the dough cycle I completed the bread in the bread machine and removing the paddle when prompted on the machine.
Ah so glad you enjoyed it! I love to make my bread machine do the work and then bake it in the oven. You might like my Everything Bagel Bread that uses the same process!
1. Can I use this recipe for rolls
2. Honey instead of sugar
3. Butter instead of oil
4. egg?
I have not tested this recipe with those modifications. I can’t see why it wouldn’t make good rolls, or why you can’t sub honey for sugar, and butter for oil, I can’t speak to the egg. Sorry!
Hi Ally, thank you for sharing this recipe just one question I am planning to bake this using my oven , do i need to do a second rise or just one rise is sufficient ? Thanks
I would do a second rise!
Hi can you make this without the yeast? I’d like to buy the breville machine but is the crusty loaf setting the same as a ‘sourdough’ setting? Or are we meant to adjust the dough and bake times accordingly? Thank you
My sister actually makes sourdough in her bread machine without yeast. Check out her recipe. Hopefully that helps!
This came out perfect and so delicious! Thank you!
Awesome! Love to hear this!
I’ve made this a number of times now and it’s delicious. I need a bit more water that the recipe, but otherwise follow to a tee. Thank-you for the great recipe!
I need help on why my dough got holes/divots in it during the last rise. When it baked it got even more holes/divots and cracks.. please help.
I don’t! How was the texture of the dough during the kneading cycles? Did you happen to check?
Amazing, delicious bread! Instead of spending 10+ hours on traditional sourdough, I can make this recipe in 3 hours with half the work and still get the sourdough flavor. I cannot recommend this recipe enough!
I did the basic recipe and turned out great. Right after I added the cardamom, cinnamon and crasins. It did not rise. Everything is exactly the same (yeast from the same jar and sourdough discard from the same jar as first batch). Do I also need more yeast?
That’s really strange! It should have risen even with the inclusions. The only thing I can offer is maybe a mis-measurement?
Hi Janelle, cinnamon has antifungal properties so I assume it stopped yeast from multiplying right in the beginning.
It can cause problems but the small amount of cinnamon added to a loaf shouldn’t much matter – I have a regular bread machine cardamom cranberry bread that uses all of those ingredients and doesn’t cause an issue
Ally,
I have just recently gotten in to sourdough. I’ve made brownies and other foods from discard that turned out great.
This was my 3rd (& probably final) attempt at bread. First 2 tries were a disappointment. Not soft, too crumbly, not at all good for sandwiches.
Your recipe is fantastic. I am now super glad I’m doing sourdough.
Thank you so very, very much.
Kerry
Kerry, this absolutely made my day! I am so glad to hear you loved the recipe <3
Ally,
Hi! Your sourdough recipe looks great! But I have a 1 lb bread machine. Would you tell me how to adjust the recipe?
Thx!
Cecilia
Hi Cecilia,
I haven’t tried it, but I’m guessing if you multiplied the ingredients by .66 (2/3rds) you’d end up with a recipe pretty close to 1 lb!
@Ally,
Genius! I will try it! Thx!
Let me know how it goes!
Tried this recipe for a second time and it turned out wonderfully. My starter is made of whole wheat and is always pasty so the amount of water I’ve added each time is the 3/4 cup plus 2 T. I like how it rises and its lighter taste. Holds its shape while slicing the entire loaf by hand.
The bread came out great except the top was not smooth, it was very rough. What could cause that? I even added a few more tablespoons of water because it looked hard.
That’s a good question. I’m guessing maybe a bit too much flour got scooped in the cups when you measured?
Hi, I have a packet of Red Star sour dough yeast. It doesn’t give the bread that really sour dough taste but it is suppose to do a pretty good job. I have not used it yet. I was wondering if I could use this instead of the starter. It is used exactly as if you were using a packet of instant yeast. I just have NO luck with starters.
thanks so much. Merry Christmas!!
Merry Christmas Lynda! If you’re struggling with a starter you might be interested in giving my quick sourdough starter a try – it’s made with regular yeast. Mine is now over 3 years old and absolutely bulletproof!
This is the absolute best bread I’ve ever had! I used her recipe for the Easy Sourdough Starter to start. The taste, the crumb, everything about it is perfect! We are a family of 3 adults that very rarely ever bought bread, but I wanted to try making a loaf because my husband gets heartburn from store bought. I was kind of concerned about how to store it and keep it fresh since we don’t typically eat much bread…well we finished the entire loaf in less than 24 hours! Thank you so much for such an easy and delicious recipe!
Absolutely delicious! I used olive oil in place of vegetable oil. Next time, I may try my homemade seasoned olive oil for subtle flavor. It was very easy & I needed that today because I was doing taxes 🙄
So thank you, my husband was astounded 😊
Tax season might be the worst season! I’m so glad you both liked the recipe!
Thank you for this!! I’m new to sourdough and my bread has tasted fantastic but is turning out too dense. Adding yeast to supplement the starter has made this process much easier! I bake mine in Dutch oven with parchment, but I love using my bread machine for kneading and timing the dough. Really helpful article 🙂
This is the best! Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe – Love the idea of baking in a dutch oven – I do that when I’m making my everything bagel bread machine bread!
Turned out perfect! My bread machine doesn’t have a French setting so I did the dark crust setting. (Old machine). Followed recipe to a tee. Thank you so much!!!!
Thanks for sharing the setting you used, this is really helpful to other bakers! Really glad you enjoyed this recipe, Abby!
Do I HAVE to use DISCARD for this recipe ?
You could use active starter, the recipe time is so short that the starter won’t make much of an impact in leavening, but if you want to make it and only have fed starter, it will work. I wrote it as a way to use up some discard but discard is basically unfed starter, so no harm in swapping them out because the yeast is doing the heavy lifting!
Made this bread completely in my Zoji bread maker. I made it with King Arthur Bread Flour. I followed the recipe as printed. I chose Basic bread setting & Dark crust since my machine does not have a French Bread setting. The crust was not dark, but the bread had a wonderful crumb & flavor. Will definitely do again. Thank you for the recipe. Instructions were easy to follow.
Thanks for sharing! Love this recipe, I’m glad you do too!
Simple, tender crumb; lovely crust! I’ve made this half a dozen times now with perfect results each time. I either remove the paddle just before baking, or place in parchment-lined loaf pan after shaping and just prior to final rise.
So happy to hear you love this recipe, Anne!
What size loaf pan do you use? Also, what oven temperature and for how long? Thank you!!
I made your easy starter with 50 g flour, 50 g water and 1/2 t yeast. I discarded all but 50 g and fed that with 50 g flour and 50 g water. The recipe says to let that sit for 6 – 12 hours and then to stir it down, and use 1 cup of the stirred down starter for the bread. Do you know the amount in grams? (Incidentally, I’m not sure I will have 1 cup once I’ve stirred it down). Thanks, I bake all of our bread and I’ve always wanted to try sourdough!
Hey Sharon, good question, you likely won’t have enough starter, but you can feed it again before using it, just feed say 100g starter, 100g water and 100g flour, then you’ll have plenty of starter for this recipe. In general, 1 cup of starter weighs about 230g.
When making it into a loaf, what size loaf pan are you using??
Hey Donna, a standard 9×5 loaf pan works with this recipe!
Thank you!!
I made this for 1 st time yesterday and turned out great ,but I found the crust to hard ! How do you make crust softer I have a sunbeam bread machine.
Hey Jodi, there are a few things you can do. Here’s what I would do! Up the fat a bit, you can use more oil, like double to 2 tablespoons? Brush the loaf when it comes out of the bread maker with softened butter or margarine, which will absorb into the crust and help keep it softer. You can also cover with a kitchen towel while it’s cooling to trap in some steam and that should also help soften the crust!
I’ve tried several sourdough recipes for the bread machine, and this was the best one by far. Because of the full cup of sourdough, the bread had a wonderful tang. The crumb was just right, and the crust nicely crisp without being overly hard, making it easy to slice. My only challenge was that the dough was a bit wet, but I’ll adjust then on my next loaf, using a bit less water. Thanks for a great recipe!
So happy to hear you enjoy the recipe, Diane!
Just tried it and it is a very good recipe.
I have lots of bread recipes, never buy a loaf of bread, always through the good stuff in my bread. I use flax seed meal, fax seed pumpkin seeds, everything bagel seasoning.
I always let my Zojirushi bread machines do the kneading.
This is going to be a go to for me. Thank you
Carolyn Sue Hall
What is sourdough discard?
Hey Jeanie, sourdough discard is the portion of your sourdough starter that is unfed. You can read more about it on what to do with sourdough discard, how to store sourdough discard, and in my sourdough starter guide!
The top of mine turned out weird-used french loaf setting and medium crust
Hey Shell… What do you mean by weird? I’ll try to help you diagnose!
I’m making this for the first time and want to be sure I understand the directions. You combine/mix ingredients up until the flour, not layer like you often do with bread machines??
Hey Patti, yeah I like to mix the liquid things to before I add to the bread maker. In my recipe testing I found that worked a bit better!
Hi!
I tried the recipe in my Cuisinart bread machine …not a fan. The crumb was dense and the crust really tough..not crispy.
I followed recipe …wonder what I did wrong?
Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy it – this recipe consistently gets good reviews for me. Can you tell me a bit about your process? Was your flour high protein? Did you use the scoop and level method to measure the flour? How was the discard, stiff or liquidy?
I make this bread at least once a week. We all love it!
So happy to hear this, Jessica!
Does anyone have the ingredients in grams?? I always weigh my ingredients!
Hey Donna, sometimes I do my discard recipes in cups and sometimes in grams. I should try to do them in both…. Next time I make this, I’ll try to update the recipe with grams!