If you’ve ever fallen down the sourdough rabbit hole online, you might think making bread requires spreadsheets, timers, and a personality change.

Stretch and folds. Hydration percentages. Fermentation schedules.

Honestly, it can feel like applying for a mortgage.

But sourdough bread doesn’t have to be complicated.

This easy overnight sourdough bread recipe is perfect for beginners or anyone who loves homemade bread but also enjoys things like sleep and a relatively normal life.

You mix the dough, leave it overnight, shape it the next day, and bake a beautifully crusty loaf that smells like a tiny bakery has magically appeared in your kitchen.

And if you’re new to baking with sourdough, you might also want to read my how to make a sourdough starter guide and try my [easy sourdough sandwich bread] recipe.

Both are great places to start if you’re just getting comfortable with natural fermentation.

Let’s make bread.

How Did My Overnight Sourdough Bread Journey Begin:

Even after the whole world was baking bread last spring (and I thought most of you had gotten it out of your system), I still get people asking about baking sourdough bread.

Who knew this would still be ‘a thing”?

Well, last year, I did an online bread baking class for the gals over at How to Cake It to see if I could ‘ease’ people into baking bread.

You see, when we were knee deep into the first stages of the pandemic last April, everyone was looking for something comforting to do while they stayed at home. All bread bakers around the world said “bake bread…it’s easy”…

Well, if you’re:

1. not comfortable in the kitchen
2. not comfortable baking
3. not comfortable working with yeast
4. not comfortable with directions like “add flour until it feels right”…

…then, baking a loaf of sourdough bread and getting it right on the first go won’t be a walk in the park.

First Step in Learning About Sourdough and Bread:

When I taught the class, we started easy (with my soda bread recipe which you can find here)…bread you can have in an hour without fussing with yeast.

Second Step in Learning About Sourdough and Bread:

Then we moved onto regular bread that you can make in a day using store bought instant yeast (you can find a great recipe for baguettes in my book)…which, for those of you who haven’t ever baked with yeast, there are some hard rules you need to know so, again, practice makes perfect.

Then we ventured into sourdough.

Third Step in Learning About Sourdough and Bread:

But first we had to learn about ‘all things starter’ (you can learn too if you just go to this post I wrote answering all your questions about sourdough starter)…then we all made a starter together and we checked in for the next week to see how everyone’s baby was growing.

Then we (finally) made a loaf of sourdough.

See what I mean? If you are not patient, things may not go as planned.

Fourth Step in Learning about Sourdough and Bread:

If you’ve gotten this far and never made a loaf of sourdough, I have this recipe for Toasted Walnut and Chocolate Chip Sourdough Loaf (and it’s a good one to start with because it uses a bit or store-bought yeast, just for ‘rising’ insurance, and can use unfed starter (that is, starter that isn’t necessarily active).

But, now I think we’re ready for a plain ol’ loaf of sourdough, amiright?

Now You’re Ready to Make Sourdough!

So, today we are going to make a pretty easy loaf (in terms of sourdough bread standards). There is a ton to learn and if you want to delve a bit deeper into how you can achieve a more open ‘crumb’ and everything-you’ve-always-wanted-to-know-about-autolyse, then you can head over to my friend Emilie’s post here…she also has a fabulous book that was my first book on sourdough baking!!. If you like YouTube videos, I also like this one... Kristen is the queen of the open crumb (aka…big, ‘holey’ bread!!)

One more thing about sourdough – for those of you who are scared of carbs…

It is considered a more digestible bread than regular yeasted breads because of the fermented starter…some people who are gluten intolerant even claim it doesn’t affect their guts like regular bread (you can read all about the healthy stuff here).

Why You’ll Love This Overnight Sourdough Bread

There are a lot of sourdough recipes out there. Some of them are… ambitious.

This one is designed to be simple and forgiving.

You’ll love this loaf because:

• It requires only 5 ingredients
• Most of the work happens while you sleep
• It creates a crispy crust and soft interior
• It’s perfect for beginners learning sourdough

And once you’ve made one loaf, it becomes dangerously easy to keep making more.

Ingredients for Overnight Sourdough Bread

bread flour (all purpose flour works here as well)
warm water

honey
active sourdough starter (see below for what that means)
salt

Optional:

Rice flour or all-purpose flour for dusting

How to Make Overnight Sourdough Bread

Step 1: Mix the dough

The evening before you are going to bake your bread, combine the bread flour, water, honey and sourdough starter in a large bowl.

Stir until a shaggy dough forms. It will look a little rough and messy, which is exactly what we want.

Cover the bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes.

This short rest allows the flour to hydrate and improves the dough texture.

Step 2: Add the salt

Sprinkle the salt over the dough and mix it in thoroughly…give it a good knead.

At this stage, the dough will still look slightly uneven. Don’t worry — sourdough fixes a lot of things on its own during fermentation. You can use the Ken Forkish’s method here) to create a soft and supple dough.

Step 3: Let the dough rise overnight

Cover the bowl and leave it at room temperature for 10–12 hours.

This slow fermentation develops flavor and structure.

In the morning the dough should look:

• slightly puffed
• bubbly
• airy and stretchy

And it should smell pleasantly tangy.

Step 4: Shape the sourdough loaf

Lightly flour your counter and turn the dough out.

Fold the edges toward the center to form a loose ball.

Flip it over and gently pull the dough toward you across the counter to tighten the surface.

Place the dough seam-side up in a floured bowl or banneton.

Let it rest 30–60 minutes while the oven preheats.

Step 5: Preheat the oven

Place a Dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 450°F (230°C) for at least 30 minutes.

A hot Dutch oven creates steam which helps the sourdough develop a beautiful crust.

Step 6: Bake the bread

Turn the dough onto parchment paper and score the top with a sharp knife or a lame (tool for sourdough/bread baking).

Carefully place it into the hot Dutch oven.

Bake:

20 minutes covered
20–25 minutes uncovered

The crust should be deep golden brown.

Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

Yes, it’s hard to wait. I know.

Substitutions and Variations

One of the best things about homemade sourdough bread is how adaptable it is.

Flour substitutions

You can replace up to 1 cup of the bread flour with:

• whole wheat flour
• rye flour
• spelt flour

Whole grain flours add flavor and create a slightly denser loaf.

Can you use all-purpose flour? Yup! But a higher protein bread like bread flour will create better gluten strands and bake a better loaf with a better/open crumb.

No Dutch oven?

You can bake the loaf on a baking stone or baking sheet.

Place a small pan of hot water in the oven to create steam during the first 15 minutes of baking (or give the oven a good spray with a water bottle/mister).

This helps develop that crispy artisan crust.

Add flavor variations

Once you’re comfortable with the basic loaf, try adding:

• roasted garlic
• chopped olives
• shredded cheese
• fresh rosemary or thyme

Fold these into the dough during shaping.

You can even replace some of the flour with cocoa powder, add in some chopped chocolate and walnuts to make a truly decadent loaf (all the details for this are in this post!!)

How to Store Homemade Sourdough Bread

Sourdough naturally stays fresh longer than regular bread.

Room temperature

Store the loaf cut side down on a cutting board or wrapped in a clean towel.

It will stay fresh for 2–3 days.

Avoid plastic bags unless you want a softer crust.

You can also purchase beeswax bag made specifically for sourdough…it keeps the bread fresh without making the crust soft.

Freezing sourdough (plus a nutriton tip you never knew!!)

Sourdough freezes beautifully.

Slice the loaf and freeze the slices in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.

You can toast slices directly from frozen.

Future you will be very impressed with past you.

Did you know if you freeze baked bread and then defrost it before eating it, it slightly increases its resistant starch, which may offer minor digestive and blood sugar benefits – a freeze-then-toast combo may reduce blood sugar spikes more than eating fresh bread.

Easy Overnight Sourdough Bread FAQ

Why didn’t my sourdough rise overnight?

Your starter may not have been active enough, or your kitchen may be too cool.

Try letting the dough ferment longer or placing it in a slightly warmer spot.

Why is my sourdough bread dense?

Dense sourdough usually happens when:

• the dough didn’t ferment long enough
• the starter wasn’t strong
• too much flour was added while shaping

The good news is dense sourdough still makes excellent toast.

Can I refrigerate the dough overnight?

Yes.

You can place the dough in the refrigerator for 12–24 hours instead of leaving it at room temperature.

Cold fermentation actually develops deeper flavor.

Do I have to score sourdough bread?

Scoring helps control how the bread expands while baking.

Without scoring, the loaf may crack randomly.

Still delicious. Just slightly less photogenic.

More Bread Recipes You Might Like

If you love homemade bread, you might also enjoy:

• No Knead Fuss-Free Kalamata Olive and Sun Dried Tomato Overnight Bread
• High Protein Bagel Bites (Snack-Sized, Mighty-Powered!)
• Easy 3 Ingredient High Protein Bagel

Because once you start baking bread…

it tends to become a habit.

A very delicious habit.

Simple Sourdough Bread

It may not seem so simple to you but some sourdough recipes take literally hours and days. This one is pretty straight-forward!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 34 minutes mins

Proofing time 12 hours hrs

Course bread

Cuisine American

Servings 10

Ingredients

  

• 80 grams sourdough starter see above for link on how to make your own
• 1/2 tsp dry yeast optional..see notes
• 370 grams warm water roughly 100 degrees
• 1 tbsp honey
• 470 grams bread flour can also use all-purpose flour
• 5 grams salt around 1 tsp

Instructions

 

• {timing: first night at 4pm} Take your sourdough starter out of the fridge (assuming you fed it before you put it in), and let it come to room temperature on your counter (it should rise to double where your 'marker' is - see photo above with elastic band) 
• {timing: first night between 6pm-8pm} The starter should have risen; take out 80 grams and place it in a large bowl, feed remaining starter and place it back in the fridge. Stir together the starter, yeast (if using), honey and water in a bowl, distributing the mixture while mixing together. Add flour into the bowl (sift it in if possible), mixing well, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes to one hour.
• {timing: first night at least 30 minutes after last step} Add the salt to the dough mixture in the bowl. Combine the dough using a wet hand and folding the dough over from the bottom to top and "pinching" the dough (the Ken Forkish method I talked about above)
• {timing: first night 9pm} Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, your dough should have doubled in size (warmer kitchen would take less time and a cooler one, more time); give the dough one more turn and pinch, cover and leave on the counter overnight (if you aren't going to bake it right away in the morning, place it in the fridge before going to bed and you can leave it there for up to 24 hours).
• [timing: next morning 6-7am} Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface (the dough will relax when you take it out of the bowl). Taking one section of dough at at time, fold the sections over the rest of the dough until you have a tight ball shape. Then tighten the dough by pulling it towards you by cupping the dough with both your hands. Place a piece of parchment onto your work surface and gently transfer the dough to the paper and gently place into another similar sized bowl to your baking pot. Set aside for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
• {timing: next day- bake 7-9am} This recipe uses a dutch oven for baking. Preheat your oven to 450ºF with a rack in the center of the oven. Put the dutch oven with the lid on the rack while the oven preheats. Once the oven has reached the right temperature, quickly pull out the oven rack with the pot and remove the lid to a heat-proof area and then take the dough and carefully lift it, transferring it to the dutch oven. Cover the dutch oven and place it back in the oven and bake, covered for 30 minutes then uncover and bake for another 20 minutes (check the bottom for too much browning in case your oven runs hot). When done, tilt the bread out of the dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

Notes

1. If you a re new to sourdough bread baking and you're not sure if your starter is ready, you can add a "cheat" with a sprinkle of dry yeast. Not a lot...more is not always better! Just about 1/4-1/2 tsp for added "rise security"
2. You can use all purpose flour and it will be fine but using a higher protein bread like bread flour will develop better gluten strands and hopefully creat a better crumb!
3. If you oven runs hot at the bottom, throw a few grains of rice under your loaf when it's in the cast iron pot (under the parchment)...the rice absorbs heat and will keep it from burning.