The BEST Sourdough Bread Bowls Recipe

I love a good soup, and I love it even more when it’s in a bread bowl. These homemade sourdough bread bowls are super fun and absolution delicious.

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If you have an active sourdough starter, you’re probably like me and always looking for something to make with it. (Hint: sourdough pancakes and sourdough chocolate chip cookies are amazing! Tons more sourdough recipe ideas here, too.)

I do make sourdough bread regularly, and it’s my favorite thing to accompany soup. Well, second favorite, as putting the soup into a sourdough bread bowl is actually number one.

And if you don’t want to take the extra time to make sourdough bread bowls or don’t have a sourdough starter, feel free to make “regular” bread bowls instead. Your family will still be happy!

What soups work best in a bread bowl?

So I will put just about any soup in a bread bowl. They just taste so good!

However, a thicker soup works better than a purely broth based soup. That means any cream of soup is great, as are chowders, chilis, and other thicker soups.

Can I recommend my creamy chicken tortellini soup?

However, I have put chicken noodle soup in a bread bowl successfully. It does soak through a little by the time I finish, but that’s ok.

Do I really have to let me sponge sit overnight in the fridge?

To get a truly sour sourdough, you need fermentation. That’s where the overnight in the fridge comes in.

The difference between making your sourdough bread bowls immediately and letting the sponge rest in the fridge overnight is significant. However, if you’re in a rush, go for it.

The recipe still works if you don’t let the sourdough starter rest in the fridge overnight. You just don’t get quite as pronounced a sour flavor in your sourdough bread bowls.

Should I add yeast to my sourdough dough?

While it feels like a little bit of a cheat, I do sometimes add a half teaspoon of yeast to my dough when I make it just to give it a little extra push in the rise.

It’s completely optional, however. I find that it makes the sourdough boules just a little less dense, but I also often leave it out.

If you do use yeast, you can use either instant yeast or active dry yeast. Both will work, but I always prefer active dry yeast, especially since this is a two rise recipe.

Can I double this recipe?

You absolutely can double this recipe. It makes four sourdough boules for your soup, and that’s plenty for my family.

No surprise, these are best the first day you make them, and I don’t want to waste this yummy bread.

However, when I make this for friends, I double the recipe regularly to get 8 bread bowls, and that works well.

If you do have leftovers, make sure they come completely to room temperature, then wrap them tightly in plastic wrap. I like to pop mine in a toaster oven or air fryer or regular oven for just a couple minutes to warm them up, but that’s optional.

What if I don’t have a Dutch oven?

I prefer to bake all my sourdough boules in a Dutch oven, as it helps create the perfect crust. It helps to trap steam inside, and that is key for perfect sourdough.

It also retains heat well and evenly, which makes for great bread.

However, many people don’t have a Dutch oven. If you don’t, you can still make these. Simply make sure you spray the outside of your boules with a mist of water and place them in your oven on a cookie sheet lined with cornmeal.

The cornmeal helps to protect the bottom crust from getting cooked too quickly. Let the boules rise on parchment paper pieces on your pizza peel, then carefully slide them into the oven.

How to Make Homemade Sourdough Bread Bowls

To make the sponge

The day before you want to enjoy your soup bowls, start your sourdough sponge. You want to use a well fed starter.

Add the starter to a glass bowl (avoid metal that can interfere with sourdough), along with warm water and a cup and a half of flour.

Mix this well, and note that it will be far thicker than your usual sourdough starter. It won’t rise a ton yet, so you don’t need a huge bowl.

Cover this loosely with a lid, and let it sit on your counter for a few hours to get active. After this, place it in your fridge overnight.

As noted above, if you need to skip the overnight step, you can but it impacts the flavor.

To make the dough

The next day, go ahead and pull the sponge from your fridge to let it warm up. You don’t need to do this first thing, but you want to make sure to remove it about six hours before you want to enjoy your fresh bread.

Let it rest on the counter to warm up for an hour or so.

From there, use a spatula to scrape the sponge into a large mixing bowl. You can choose to either use a stand mixer with a dough hook or mix this up by hand.

Add the sugar, salt, and yeast (if you choose to use it) along with the remaining cup and a quarter of flour. Mix this together either with a large spatula and then your clean hands to knead it.

You want an elastic and smooth dough, though it should remain slightly sticky. Knead once the dough comes together for 5-7 minutes.

Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel, and let the bread dough do its first rise. It should double in size in two to three hours.

To form the boules

Once you finish the first rise, place a sheet of parchment paper on your counter. This will hold the boules, and you do not need to grease it.

Line your Dutch oven with a thin layer of cornmeal, which you will use for the second rise.

Remove the still somewhat sticky dough, and separate it into four equal pieces. I like to use my kitchen scale to get them as even as possible, but you don’t need to.

I work with one dough section at a time, leaving the rest in the bowl. Quickly shape it into a circle, and tuck the seams underneath.

Set the round onto one corner of the parchment paper. Be sure to leave space around it to maneuver it.

Repeat with the remaining bread dough until you have all four dough balls on the parchment paper, not touching. Use a pair of scissors to cut the parchment paper into four pieces, and carefully lift them into the Dutch oven.

The rounds of dough should not touch, but they will come close. Lift the sides of the parchment paper to help form some support for the boules to rise in a circle rather than simply expanding in all directions.

Let them rise for 45 minutes in a warm spot with no drafts. After a half hour of rising, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Prep the egg wash. Whisk the egg white and water together with a fork.

Once the dough finishes rising, brush the top and sides with your egg wash with a pastry brush.

Use a bread lame tool or serrated knife to cut a cross into the top of the boules to let them expand.

Place the Dutch oven into your preheated oven with the lid on. Bake them for 22-25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.

If you do not have a Dutch oven, gently mist the boules with water, and slide them onto a baking sheet lined with cornmeal. They may take a little less time to bake when exposed directly to the oven’s heat.

Once you remove them from the oven, carefully remove the bread from the Dutch oven and peel off the parchment paper. Let them cool most of the way before you serve them.

If you cut into bread while still hot, steam escapes and makes for dry bread. Even though you will add soup to these, you still don’t want dry bread!

Save this recipe for homemade sourdough bread bowls to make again!

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