How to Make Sourdough Starter (Step-by-Step Recipe!)

This post may include affiliate links; see our disclosure policy.

Learn how to make sourdough starter with this simple day-by-day method. Get tips for bubbling, rising, feeding, and knowing when it’s ready to bake!

The first time I learned about making a sourdough starter, it sounded complicated and intimidating. But here’s what I discovered after years of maintaining my own starter: it’s actually pretty simple. Yes, it takes about a week. Yes, you need to feed it daily. But the actual work? Just five minutes a day of stirring flour and water together.

I’ve now walked countless friends, family and readers through the process of making a sourdough starter, which is essential for making sourdough bread. You can order one online or find one from a friend, but why not make it at home? Wait for 5 days, and you’ll have grown your own starter: out of thin air!

To buy it instead: To shortcut the process, you can buy a sourdough starter instead. We’ve tested the linked starter and it works well.

What is Sourdough Starter?

A sourdough starter, also called levain, is a fermented dough filled with natural, wild yeast and a bacteria called lactobacilli. The starter is what makes sourdough bread rise. Instead of using active dry yeast like in other bread recipes, sourdough bread uses a starter. Along with leavening the bread, the starter also brings that classic sour flavor.

A starter is literally full of life! There are 50 million yeasts and 5 billion lactobacilli bacteria in every teaspoon of starter dough. Sound weird? This process has been around for centuries: for over 5,000 years, humans have mixed flour and water, waited for it to ferment, and then used it as leavening for bread.

What You’ll Need

Luckily, you don’t need too many special tools for making this starter recipe. Here’s what you need for making sourdough starter at home:

Flour: You’ll need both whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. I prefer unbleached flour because the bleaching process can affect yeast activity. More on flour choices below!
Water: Filtered water works best because chlorine can inhibit yeast growth. The water should be at room temperature, not cold or hot. (I use this pitcher to filter my tap water)
A jar with a lid: Any clean glass jar works perfectly. I use a food storage container. You want something with a lid, but you won’t seal it tightly: the gases produced during fermentation need to escape.
Kitchen scale: This is the one “essential” tool I really recommend: here’s the kitchen scale I use. Measuring flour by weight (in grams) dramatically improves your success rate. Different flours have different densities, so 1 cup of whole wheat flour weighs more than 1 cup all-purpose flour.
Spatula or spoon: For stirring your mixture each day.

Best Flour Options

The flour you choose affects how quickly your starter develops and what flavor profile it will have. Here’s what you need to know:

Whole wheat flour: This helps to get the starter going quickly. Whole wheat flour contains more naturally occurring wild yeast than white flour, which jumpstarts the fermentation process. I use it for the first two days, then switch to all-purpose flour.
All-purpose flour: This is what I use for maintaining my starter long-term and for most of my baking. It creates a versatile starter with a mild flavor that works in everything from classic sourdough bread to pizza dough.
Bread flour: Some bakers prefer bread flour because it has a higher protein content (usually 12-14% compared to all-purpose flour’s 10-12%). When I tried it, I didn’t find a difference: I prefer using all purpose.
Rye flour: Rye flour is another excellent option for getting a starter established quickly because it’s packed with nutrients and enzymes that yeast love. Some bakers swear by it, but again: my favorite combination is whole wheat and all-purpose.

Does my flour need to be unbleached for sourdough? Yes, I strongly recommend using unbleached flour. The bleaching process uses chemicals that can slow down yeast activity.

How to Make Sourdough Starter: Day-by-Day Guide

Making this sourdough starter recipe is a simple process. You simply mix together flour and water, and then wait, wait, and wait some more for the yeast and bacteria to do their thing! It’s a 5 to 6 day process that mostly consists of waiting.

You may want to give your starter a name too! (Mine is named Starty. Original, right?) Here is an overview of the process, or go to the recipe for the detailed instructions:

Day 1

Mix the flours and water (see the full recipe for quantities). Then cover the jar loosely with the lid and place it somewhere warm in your kitchen, ideally between 68-72°F.
The starter should look like a thick paste; don’t expect many bubbles yet.

Day 2

First day of feeding! Discard about half of your starter, in order to maintain the right balance of microorganisms and food. Then stir in whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, and water to the remaining starter and return to the warm place. See my post on How to Feed a Sourdough Starter for details.
Bubbles may appear and the starter may rise slightly, but it also may not (and it’s not an indication that it’s active yet). Minimal change on this day is normal.

Day 3

Feed with 100% all purpose flour! Discard half the starter and switch to feeding it with 100% all purpose flour. It should become more and more bubbly each day.
Some starters experience a “false rise” around day 3 or 4. Your starter might suddenly become very bubbly, rise dramatically in volume, and smell sour or off (like stinky cheese). This can make you think your starter is ready to use, but it’s actually not. So if the starter goes crazy on day 3 and then seems to deflate and go quiet on day 4, that’s the false rise. Don’t worry: this is actually normal!

Day 4

Continue feeding. Discard half the starter and continue feeding it with 100% all purpose flour.
No rise on this day is normal, even if you experienced false rise the previous day.

Day 5 to 7

Keep feeding and look for readiness!
When it’s ready, the starter should be very bubbly, have doubled in size, and should have a funky sour smell. This means it’s ready to use!

By day 7, most starters are ready to use for baking. However, some starters take 10 to 14 days to fully develop, especially if you keep a cooler kitchen (below 68°F).

If you’re ready to go, jump right to our full recipe for how to make sourdough starter.

How to Know It’s Ready to Bake

Here are all the readiness cues I look for:

Doubles in volume within 4-8 hours of feeding
Has a bubbly texture throughout (not just on top)
Smells pleasant and yeasty, like rising bread dough or beer
Shows a pattern: rises to peak height at 4-6 hours, then gradually deflates
Passes the float test (optional!): To perform the float test, drop a small spoonful of your active starter into a glass of room temperature water. If it floats, it indicates the starter is full of gas bubbles and therefore active. If it sinks, it needs more time.

When my starter shows these signs for 2-3 feedings in a row, I know it’s strong enough to leaven bread.

Troubleshooting Tips

My starter isn’t bubbling at all after several days. Check your environment. Is the temperature for the starter below 68°F? Cold temperatures can slow fermentation. Try moving your starter to a warmer spot: for example, try the oven (turned off!) with just the light on for gentle warmth. Just don’t accidentally preheat it!

You can also try discarding more: Instead of discarding half, keep only about 25 grams of starter and feed it with 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water. Also, make sure you’re using unbleached flour and filtered water.

My starter smells really bad: like nail polish remover or rotten eggs. A nail polish remover smell can happen if your starter is stressed or hungry. Try feeding it twice a day instead of once. If the smell doesn’t improve after 2-3 feedings, I’d say to start over.

There’s liquid on top of my starter. This liquid is called “hooch”: it’s basically alcohol produced by the yeast. It means your starter is hungry and needs to be fed. I recommend pouring it off and then feed immediately. If you’re seeing it frequently, feed your starter more often.

My starter rose for a few days and now it’s completely dead. This was probably the false rise! This is normal. Keep feeding daily and you should see true activity soon.

How often should I feed my sourdough starter? During the creation phase (days 1-7), feed once daily. Once your starter is mature and active, feed it once daily if stored at room temperature, or once weekly if stored in the refrigerator. Keep reading…

Maintaining Your Starter (Once It’s Active)

Congratulations: you’ve successfully created a sourdough starter! Now you need to keep it alive and healthy. See my post, How to Feed a Sourdough Starter for all the details, but here are some highlights:

The 1:1:1 feeding ratio: This is the gold standard for maintaining a healthy starter. It means equal parts by weight of starter, flour, and water. For example: 50 grams starter + 50 grams flour + 50 grams water. This ratio keeps your starter in good balance.
Room temperature feeding schedule: If you’re baking frequently (a few times a week), keep your starter at room temperature and feed it once daily. I feed mine in the morning, and by evening it’s peaked and ready for baking the next day.
Refrigerator feeding schedule: If you’re a weekend baker or more casual about your sourdough schedule, store your starter in the refrigerator where it only needs feeding once a week. The cold slows down fermentation dramatically. Once a week, pull out the starter, discard all but 50 grams, feed it with 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water, then let it sit at room temperature for 2-4 hours until I see some bubbles forming. Then it goes right back in the fridge.
Discard: Since you’ll be discarding starter regularly, you don’t have to throw it away! Once your starter is mature (at least 2 weeks old), the discard is safe to use in recipes. I keep a jar of discard in the fridge and add to it throughout the week: you can use it for pancakes, crackers, or muffins. You can find tons of sourdough discard recipes online.

What’s the biggest mistake you can make with a sourdough starter? Honestly? Being inconsistent with feedings. The second biggest mistake is giving up too early: right in that quiet phase around day 4 or 5 when it seems like nothing is happening. Your starter needs consistent attention and patience, especially in the beginning.

What You Can Make With It

What can you make with the starter? Homemade sourdough bread, obviously! Your first project should be my sourdough bread recipe, complete with a printable to make the process pretty simple.

Outside of bread, there are all sorts of things you can make with sourdough starter discard: pancakes, waffles, cookies, pizza crust, and muffins. Check out some uses here: Beyond the Loaf: The Many Uses of Sourdough.

Dietary notes

This sourdough starter recipe is vegan, vegetarian, plant-based, and dairy-free.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to make a sourdough starter?

It usually takes about 5-7 days for a sourdough starter to become active and ready to use. However, the time can vary depending on the temperature and humidity of your environment.

How do I know when my sourdough starter is ready to use?

A mature starter will double in size within 4-6 hours after feeding, have a bubbly and slightly sour aroma, and float in water when you drop a small spoonful in.

How do I store my sourdough starter?

Once your starter is active, you can store it in the refrigerator. You’ll need to feed it once a week to keep it alive and healthy.

What if my sourdough starter doesn’t seem to be active?

Go to our post on How to Feed a Sourdough Starter, which has tips for troubleshooting.