Sourdough Bread Bowl – Girl Versus Dough

This sourdough bread bowl recipe makes chewy, sturdy, and deeply flavorful bread, perfect for hearty soups and stews! An easy, yeast-free recipe that uses a biga and just 30 minutes of hands-on time.

While developing these homemade sourdough bread bowls from scratch, I learned they must be structurally different from standard artisan bread. Instead of a wide, open crumb or flat spread, we need height to hold your favorite soup.

This method is adapted from my same day sourdough bread, with adjusted hydration and shaping for vertical strength. For a non-sourdough version, try my easy homemade bread bowls; for a softer option, see my sourdough discard rolls.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Bread Flour is essential here. All-purpose flour will likely spread too much, leaving you with flat ciabatta rolls instead of bowls. We rely on bread flour for higher protein content, which supports vertical rise and bowl structure. For whole grain loaves, see my whole wheat sourdough bread or sourdough bread recipes.
• Biga (Preferment): The biga is similar to the one used in our same-day sourdough bread recipe but mixed at slightly higher hydration to help distribute the flour proteins early. This gives the dough a head start on gluten development and flavor.
• Active Sourdough Starter: You will need a fed and active starter to inoculate the biga.
• Warm Water: Since the biga sits all night at room temperature, the warm water helps wake up the yeast and encourages active fermentation.
• Kosher Salt: Essential for strengthening the gluten bonds and seasoning the crumb. Without it, the dough becomes sticky, slack, and difficult to shape without adding extra flour.

Variations

• Sourdough discard bread bowls: If you have sourdough discard sitting in your refrigerator, you can use it here! Because the biga rests for 12 hours, even cold discard from the fridge has time to become active. Do not substitute discard for the biga itself; save your unfed starter for specific sourdough discard recipes like sourdough waffles or sourdough blueberry muffins.

Professional Tips

• Cut your parchment early: This was my biggest struggle. Cut your parchment paper squares slightly larger than your bowls before the final proof. Trying to wrestle a delicate, fully proofed dough ball onto a piece of parchment paper and then into a hot Dutch oven is a recipe for burns and deflated bread.
• Score deeper: Since we proof these at room temperature, the dough is soft and sticky. Use a fresh razor blade and score a straight down “X” at least ½-inch deep. Shallow scores will fuse back together, preventing the bread from opening up properly.
• Straight cuts: Cut straight down (90°) for bread bowls. We want them to open symmetrically.
• Stand mixer recommended: To get the height we need, the gluten must be very well developed. Doing this by hand is possible (see the notes), but a stand mixer ensures the structure is strong enough to hold heavy soups.

How to Make a Sourdough Bread Bowl

Before you start, be sure to feed your sourdough starter separately. The entire preferment (biga) will go into the dough, which means there will be nothing left to feed without compromising the flavor, integrity or proofing speed of the dough! You can transform this recipe into a discard recipe by using sourdough discard to mix the biga. You can proceed as written without commercial yeast unless you would like to use a very old discard. You cannot substitute sourdough discard for the whole biga. That would throw off the hydration.

Step 1: Prepare the biga. Approximately 10–12 hours before mixing, place a clean medium bowl on a kitchen scale and press “tare” so it reads “0.” Add the water, active starter, and bread flour. Stir well until no dry spots remain. The mixture is thick, so mixing by hand is easiest. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 10–12 hours; the biga should more than double in volume (photos 1 & 2).

Flip the dough in the bowl to release any water pockets at the bottom. The mixture will be thick, so using your hand to mix is often easier than a spoon.

Step 2: Mix the dough. In a stand mixer bowl, add all of the biga, warm water (100–105°F), bread flour, and kosher salt. Mix on low speed with the dough hook attachment until all the flour and biga have been incorporated. Then, increase to medium speed and continue mixing to develop gluten for 5–6 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic (photos 3 & 4).

Mixing by hand: Mix starter and water, then add bread flour and salt. Stir until a sticky dough forms; transfer to an oiled bowl and rest 1 hour. Fold once, then repeat for double folds. Rest 1 hour, repeat folds, then proof 2 hours before dividing.

Step 3: Bulk fermentation. Lightly oil a medium bowl, scrape the dough into it, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set in a warm spot to proof (photos 5 & 6).

Step 4: Divide the dough into equal portions. Approximately 4 hours later, remove the plastic wrap. Toss some flour on top of the dough because this is the stickiest part. Lightly dust the countertop with flour, scrape the dough from the bowl using your bowl scraper, and dump out onto the floured surface. Using floured hands and a bench scraper, divide the dough into 6 equal pieces; each will be approximately 280g (photo 7).

Step 5: Pre-shape. Working with one piece of dough at a time, fold each of the four corners into the center and flip seam-side down onto the surface. Using both hands dipped in flour, pull the dough round towards you, rotate 90°, and repeat until the top of the dough is pulled tight and the round boule sits tall on the counter. Towards the end of this process, the dough might start sticking to your hands; simply dip in flour and continue. This is the pre-shape. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the bench rest for 15 minutes (photos 8–10).

Step 6:  Final shape. Flip the dough back over and repeat the folding and tightening process to create a taut boule. Place each piece on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover lightly, and proof in a warm spot (photos 11–14).

I complete a pre and final shape for bread bowls because I want them to spread up rather than just out. This requires a solid dough structure and proper shaping and scoring!

Step 7: Preheat the oven. Approximately 2-2 ½ hours later, preheat the oven to 450°F conventional or 425°F convection (with fan) with a Dutch oven or Challenger pan inside, including the lid.

Step 8: Score and bake. Cut the parchment slightly larger than the bottom of each bread bowl.  Score each piece of dough with a razor blade in a straight “X,” at least ¼–½ inch deep. Carefully transfer the dough with the parchment to the hot pan. Cover and bake for 15 minutes, then remove the lid and reduce the oven temperature to 425°F conventional or 400°F convection (with fan). Continue baking for an additional 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden brown (photo 15).

Depending on the size of your Dutch oven and actual oven, you might be able to fit 2 bread bowls in each baking dish or multiple Dutch ovens in your oven at once! I can fit 3!

Baking a second round: To bake a second batch, return the empty, covered Dutch oven to the oven and increase the temperature back to 450°F conventional or 425°F convection (with fan). Preheat the oven and pan for 10 minutes before baking the next round.

Step 9: Cool and hollow. Remove the bread from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour. Using a paring or serrated knife, cut a circle from the top and remove some of the interior, leaving a ½-inch wall for soup. Save the removed bread for croutons, panzanella, or breadcrumbs (photo 16).

Fill your hollowed bowls with a comforting vegan chili or a classic homemade tomato soup. If you love a bit of spice, they are also fantastic with chipotle chili.

Recipe FAQs

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