Dill Pickle Sourdough Bread

Experience the unexpected delight of this dill pickle sourdough bread. Savor the tangy dill pickles embedded in a warm, crispy sourdough loaf. Perfect for bread enthusiasts and pickle lovers!

I am obsessed with dill pickle flavor.

I guess in the way of obsessions it could be worse, but there’s just something so delicious about that tangy taste that makes me so happy. I’m out here adding dill pickles to everything because I need more pickles in my life.

If you’re here, I’m guessing you need more pickles too!

This dill pickle sourdough recipe is dedicated to obsessions.

Key Ingredients

Sourdough Starter: For this recipe, you want to use a fed and active sourdough starter. Your starter should have been before beginning and have at least doubled in size. This recipe is based on a sourdough starter with 100% hydration (equal amounts of flour and water by weight, not volume.)

Dill Pickles: This recipe works with both store-bought and homemade vinegar pickles. But my absolute favorite version of this bread is studded with my homemade half-sour dill pickles – I find that they retain texture better after baking.

How To Make Dill Pickle Sourdough Bread

Make The Dough:

1. In a large bowl, combine 180g warm water with 150g pickle juice and whisk in 100g of active sourdough starter until mostly combined. I prefer to mix my liquid ingredients with the sourdough starter before adding the flour because it’s much easier to ensure that the starter is more evenly distributed in the dough.
2. Add 400g bread flour and 100g dark rye flour and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Knead the dough with your hands until all the shaggy bits are incorporated. Sprinkle 5 g fine sea salt on top of the dough.
3. Cover the bowl and set aside for 45 – 60 minutes.

Stretch And Fold:

1. Uncover the bowl and using damp hands, grab the dough and gently pull it until the flap is long enough to fold over itself, then fold the flap, rotate the bowl 90 degrees, and repeat 4 times.
2. Recover the bowl, and set it aside for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, dice 150g of dill pickles and wrap them in paper towel to absorb some of the moisture.
3. Before the 2nd set of stretch and folds, add 150g of diced pickles and stretch and fold to incorporate the inclusions. Allow to rest for another 30 minutes and perform 2 more sets of stretch and folds, for a total of 4 sets. This helps to completely incorporate the pickles. If you find the pickles are too wet and pulling apart the dough after the final stretch and fold, generously flour the working surface and the dough and gently knead the dough until it comes together cohesively.

Bulk Ferment:

1. After the 4th and final stretch and fold, cover the bowl and set aside for 2 hours to finish the bulk ferment. It is important to keep the dough bowl somewhere warm to encourage the microbes to work quickly!

Shape:

1. Observe your dough, at this point, the dough should have risen in the bowl, and have a smooth surface with visible bubbles. If the dough is domed in the bowl it is ready to work with, if the dough is flat it may need more time in the bulk ferment.
2. Lightly flour the work surface and use a bowl scraper to turn the dill pickle sourdough out onto the floured surface. Try to get the smooth top part face down so that the sticky underside is on top facing you, this will make shaping the dough easier.
3. Fold the edges into the middle. Then starting from the bottom, tightly roll the dough into a batard. Stop there if making a batard, or tuck the long ends underneath to create a boule.
4. Allow the dough to rest covered for 20 minutes.
5. Place your hands underneath the dough and using your pinkies, apply pressure to the dough and drag it along the work surface to increase surface tension in the dough. Avoid overtightening the dough because it may tear with the inclusions.
6. Dust the top of your boule or batard with rice flour, then use a bench scraper to pick up the dough, flip the dough, and place it upside down, or seam side up, into a banneton to prove for 2 hours.

Cold Proof:

Cover the banneton with a reusable plastic bag and place it in the fridge. During the proving period, the dough will rise in the banneton, but due to the cool temperatures in the fridge, there won’t be a marked difference.

Bake:

1. Place your dutch oven, cloche, or desired baking dish in the oven and preheat to 450f.
2. Once the oven is preheated, remove the dough from the fridge and invert the banneton onto a sheet of parchment paper.
3. Use a lame, sharp knife, or clean razor blade to score the dough, I usually like to make one deep curved slash when adding inclusions, but you can get as fancy as you like!
4. Carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven, and using the parchment paper as a sling, transfer the sourdough loaf from the counter into the dutch oven.
5. Bake the dough at 450f covered for 30 minutes and uncovered at 450f for 10-15 minutes, or until the loaf is cooked through and the crust is a rich caramel brown. You can test the doneness of the loaf with an instant-read thermometer. Bread is cooked once it reaches 205 – 210 degrees Fahrenheit internal temperature.

Baker’s Schedule

• Day 1 –>
  • 8:00 am: Mix dough with active starter
  • 11:00 am: Stretch and fold process complete.
  • 1:00 pm : Bulk fermentation complete
  • 2:00 pm: Pre-shape and shape.
  • 4:00 pm: Wrap banneton and place in fridge for at least 12 hours.
• Day 2 –>
  • 8:30 am: Set a dutch oven into the cold oven and preheat both together at 450f.
  • 9:30 am: Flip the dill pickle loaf onto a parchment paper square, score the top of the loaf then bake.

Related Recipes

Batch + Storage

Batch:

This recipe bakes a nice-sized loaf of sourdough dill pickle bread. This is the perfect amount for our family of 4 to serve with at least 2 meals.

Storage:

If you’ve got leftover sourdough, you’ve got serious willpower! There are a couple of ways to store sourdough bread to help prolong its quality after cutting.

Your loaf can be kept cut side down on a cutting board for up to 12 hours before the crust becomes too crisp. This is our go-to. I recommend transferring it to a bread bag after 16-18 hours though.

Your sourdough loaf can also be frozen. To freeze sourdough, cool the loaf to room temperature, then tightly wrap it in plastic wrap, slide it into a bread bag, seal it up, and stick it in the freezer for 1-2 months. To use after freezing, remove the loaf from the freezer, unwrap, and allow it to come to room temperature (1 -2 hours) before slicing and enjoying.

Recommended equipment

Cast iron dutch oven: Much of the success of this bread depends on having a heavy-ass cast iron dutch oven, as it traps in steam and boosts the oven spring of your sourdough.

The blue one in these photos is a 6-quart oval dutch oven that I find perfect for baking batards. As an added bonus, due to the shape, I can fit this dutch oven and a round one in the oven to bake double the volume! If you don’t have a dutch oven, I have a guide on how to cook sourdough without a dutch oven.

Scale: It’s really hard to make sourdough without a scale. Sorry, but them’s the facts! bread baking and bread dough are a bit of a science. A good kitchen scale will treat you well over a huge range of recipes, not just sourdough. Think of  homemade bacon!

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📖 Printable Recipe

Dill Pickle Sourdough Bread

Allyson Letal

Indulge in the tangy delight of this Dill Pickle Sourdough Bread recipe! This unique fusion of flavors combines the hearty texture of sourdough, the robust taste of rye bread, and the zesty kick of pickles. It's more than just a bread; it's a flavor experience waiting to happen.

4.75 from 8 votes

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Prep Time 20 hours hrs

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

0 minutes mins

Total Time 20 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Course Sourdough

Cuisine American

Servings 10 slices

Calories 194 kcal

Ingredients

 

• 180 g water warm
• 150 g pickle juice
• 100 g sourdough starter active
• 400 g bread flour
• 100 g dark rye flour
• 5 g fine sea salt
• 150 g pickles finely diced
• flour for dusting work surfaces

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

 

make the dough:

• In a large bowl, combine 180g warm water with 150g pickle juice and whisk in 100g of active sourdough starter until mostly combined.
• Add 400g bread flour and 100g dark rye flour and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Knead the dough with your hands until all the shaggy bits are incorporated. Sprinkle 5 g fine sea salt on top of the dough.
• Cover the bowl and set aside for 45 – 60 minutes.

stretch and fold:

• Uncover the bowl and using damp hands, grab the dough and gently pull it until the flap is long enough to fold over itself, then fold the flap, rotate the bowl 90 degrees, and repeat 4 times.
• Recover the bowl, and set it aside for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, dice 150g of dill pickles and wrap them in paper towel to absorb some of the moisture.
• Before the 2nd set of stretch and folds, add 150g of diced pickles and stretch and fold to incorporate the inclusions. Allow to rest for another 30 minutes and perform 2 more sets of stretch and folds, for a total of 4 sets. This helps to completely incorporate the pickles. If you find the pickles are too wet and pulling apart the dough after the final stretch and fold, generously flour the working surface and the dough and gently knead the dough until it comes together cohesively.

bulk ferment:

• After the 4th and final stretch and fold, cover the bowl and set aside for 2 hours to bulk ferment. It is important to keep the dough bowl somewhere warm to encourage the microbes to work quickly!

shape:

• Lightly flour the work surface and turn the dill pickle dough out onto the floured surface. Try to get the smooth top part face down so that the sticky underside is on top facing you, this will make shaping the dough easier.
• Fold the sides into the middle. Then starting from the bottom, tightly roll the dough into a batard. Stop there if making a batard, or tuck the long ends underneath to create a boule.
• Allow the dough to rest covered for 20 minutes.
• Place your hands underneath the dough and using your pinkies, apply pressure to the dough and drag it along the work surface to increase surface tension in the dough. Avoid overtightening the dough because it may tear with the inclusions.
• Dust the top of your boule or batard with rice flour, then use a bench scraper to pick up the dough, flip it, and place it upside down, or seam side up, into a banneton to prove for 2 hours.

cold proof:

• Cover the banneton with a reusable plastic bag and place it in the fridge. During the proving period, the dough will rise in the banneton, but due to the cool temperatures in the fridge, it won't be a marked difference.

pre-heat oven:

• Place your dutch oven, cloche, or desired baking dish in the oven and preheat to 450f.

bake :

• Once the oven is preheated, remove the dough from the fridge and invert the banneton onto a sheet of parchment paper.
• Use a lame, sharp knife, or clean razor blade to score the dough, I usually like to make one deep curved slash when adding inclusions, but you can get as fancy as you like!
• Carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven, and using the parchment paper as a sling, transfer the sourdough loaf from the counter into the dutch oven.
• Bake the dough at 450f covered for 30 minutes and uncovered at 450f for 10-15 minutes, or until the loaf is cooked through and the crust is a rich caramel brown. You can test the doneness of the loaf with an instant-read thermometer. Bread is cooked once it reaches 205 – 210 degrees Fahrenheit internal temperature.

cool:

• Remove baked bread from the dutch oven and transfer it to a wire mesh cooling rack to cool completely before slicing. I like to leave it for at least 2 hours before slicing, as slicing too soon can affect the crumb and texture of your loaf.
• Check out my guide on STORING SOURDOUGH BREAD to ensure it stays fresh for days, or learn HOW TO FREEZE SOURDOUGH bread for a rainy day.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 194kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 6gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.1gSodium: 542mgPotassium: 94mgFiber: 2gSugar: 0.4gVitamin A: 28IUVitamin C: 0.3mgCalcium: 17mgIron: 1mg

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