89 sourdough starter recipes

Two-ingredient sourdough starter made with just flour and water, left to ferment for 4-5 days. The simplest way to capture wild yeast for homemade sourdough bread.

Stir flour, yeast, and water together to create a simple sourdough starter that bubbles to life in days, ready to bake tangy bread without fussing over wild yeasts.

Wild yeast sourdough starter made from just potato water and unbleached flour. No commercial yeast needed. A campfire-friendly method that captures natural yeast from the air.

Dak's sourdough starter cultured from yogurt and milk before adding flour. A beginner-friendly starter that bypasses weeks of wild-yeast capture. Ready in 5 days.

Old-fashioned milk-and-flour sourdough starter with no commercial yeast. Two ingredients capture wild bacteria for tangy bread. Patience required.

Wild yeast sourdough starter made from leftover potato water and unbleached flour. The old farmhouse and camping method, no commercial yeast required.

Milk-based sourdough starter using just flour and warm milk. A two-ingredient pioneer-style starter that ferments into a tangy base for biscuits, pancakes, and rustic loaves.

Simple sourdough starter made with unbleached all-purpose flour and warm milk instead of water. A two-ingredient base for homemade sourdough bread.

Wild yeast sourdough starter made with just milk and unbleached flour. A 2-ingredient no-yeast method that captures natural bacteria over several days for homemade sourdough bread.

Plain sourdough starter made from just flour and water. No commercial yeast needed. Mix, wait four to five days, and you have a wild-fermented base for bread.

Simple sourdough starter made with unbleached flour and active dry yeast mixed into a thick batter and fermented for 24 hours. The foundation for sourdough breads and pancakes.

Sourdough starter from scratch in two days using water, active dry yeast, sugar, and flour. The fast-start version that skips the wild-yeast wait, refresh with flour and water as you use it.

Potato flake sourdough starter: a simple three-ingredient base of water, sugar, and instant potato flakes left to ferment for 3 to 4 days. The sweet, old-fashioned starter used in friendship bread and soft white loaves.

This basic recipe requires a carefully scalded container.

Sourdough starter with potato uses starchy potato water to feed wild yeasts faster and more reliably. Builds in 2 days at 85F with active dry yeast as a jumpstart.

-Bread Machine CB: A true sourdough starter is nothing more than the flour and milk or water which sits at room temperature for several days and catches live yeast bacteria from the air. Most starter recipes today include yeast as an original ingredient as it is much easier and less time consuming. In addition, many sourdough bread recipes also indicate usage of yeast itself as it does provide a higher rising, lighter loaf. A sourdough starter should be kept in a glass or plastic bowl which has a tight fitting lid. I recommend a bowl instead of a jar as you can "feed" your starter right in the bowl easily.