Leftover Sourdough Starter Recipes: The Ultimate List (2024)

If you have a sourdough starter, you understand the need (and desire!) to use it in creative ways.

When we first started making sourdough bread, we tried putting sourdough in all sorts of things without a recipe to use up the excess starter. While it was frugal, it didn’t necessarily always taste good!

Leftover Sourdough Starter Recipes: The Ultimate List (1)

Since then, we’ve gotten a little better at it. It takes some practice, and trying out different recipes that were made for sourdough is a great way to learn how to incorporate it into your own creations.

While cooking is an art, baking tends to be more science based. By this, I mean that ingredients have to be added in specific proportions, otherwise the recipe doesn’t turn out correctly. Trying your hand at several of these excess sourdough recipes will begin to help you understand the formula for adding sourdough to your eats so you can try it out on your own sometime if you like.

I have put together the ultimate list of leftover sourdough starter recipes, which is full of amazing recipes to use up that starter! It includes everything from sweet to savory, so try out some of your favorite treats with a sourdough twist!

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First and foremost, check out my favorite sourdough bread recipe!

It is the BEST bread – all of our friends beg us to make it for them!The recipe also has a link to how to make a sourdough bread starter!

This recipe tends to make a super crunchy, hard crust.

Leftover Sourdough Starter Recipes: The Ultimate List (2)

It is cooked in a dutch oven, with the lid on, at a very high temperature. While it tastes amazing, it can tend to be too hard for some to bite through. Plus, we often use an electric knife to cut through it!

But don’t let that stop you. If you try it out and it is too hard, try baking the loaf at a lower temp (such as 375) and in a regular bread pan for a softer crust.

Here is how we make it!

(If you don’t have a sourdough starter, click here for an easy, no yeast, recipe.)

This dutch oven is essential for making an amazing sourdough loaf with this recipe. The crust gets hard – just like a bakery loaf. If you don’t have one, pick one up!

And… how great is this set of bread making accessories?!? It comes with a proofing basket, a bowl scraper, a linen liner, and 10 adorable bread stencils. LOVE it!

If you’re totally set in the bread department, here is my ultimate list of leftover sourdough starter recipes!

There are so many amazing ways to use up that excess sourdough starter!

Adding sourdough starter gives your favorite recipes a rich complexity that you may not find in normal, white flour based recipes.

Morning Recipes

Blueberry Sourdough Muffins– Turnips 2 Tangerines

Morning Glory Sourdough Muffins – A Better Way To Thrive

Sweet Bread Recipes

Stollen (German Sweet Bread) – Pizza Rossa

Sourdough Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread – What’s Cooking America

Dessert Recipes

Sourdough Brownies – Common Sense Home

Sourdough Sugar Cookies – What’s Cooking America

Sourdough Cookies (can add chocolate chips!) – Common Sense Home

Sourdough Snickerdoodle Cookies – Cultured Food Life

Chocolate Sourdough Cake – The Nourishing Gourmet

Sourdough Crepes – Homesteading on Grace

Sourdough Carrot Cake – Nourishing Joy

Pick up this huge glass flour canister to store your flour in!

Savory and Bread Recipes

Sourdough Crackers– Sourdough and Olives

Spelty Sourdough Crackers – The Bojon Gourmet

Sourdough Focaccia – Flour On My Face

Oatmeal Honey Sourdough Bread – Home Joys

Sourdough Tortillas – Reformation Homestead

Sourdough Cornbread – Tasty Kitchen

Sourdough Pasta – Korena in the Kitchen

Sourdough Pie Crust – Cultures for Health

Sourdough Pizza Crust – Butter For All

Sourdough Irish Soda Bread – Turnips 2 Tangerines

Sourdough Ciabatta Bread – What’s Cooking America

Sourdough Naan Bread – Grow Forage Cook Ferment

Russian Rye Bread – Mother Earth News

Buttery Sourdough Biscuits – Joy To My Heart

Einkorn Sourdough Sandwich Bread – Beets and Bones

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread – Joybilee Farm

Final Thoughts on Excess Sourdough Recipes

One of the reasons that sourdough bread is so great is that it is more nutritious than normal white bread. This nutritional benefit can extend to these recipes too.

For example, while chocolate chip muffins taste great, adding oatmeal and sourdough starter to the recipe gives it a little nutritional boost (and that makes me feel better about eating them for breakfast!).

Some of sourdough’s amazing health benefits are:

Sourdough is full of vitamins and minerals that regular bread doesn’t have (unless it is enriched). Sourdough contains iron, selenium, zinc, magnesium, folic acid and B vitamins!
Sourdough has prebiotics and probiotics – meaning it increases your gut health. There is a big push in dietetics for foods that are good for your gut, such as yogurts, keifer and sauerkraut. This is because they increase the good bacteria in your digestive system. Check out how to make your own yogurt, how to make greek yogurt, and how to make sauerkraut for more gut healthy recipes!
Sourdough has protein in it.

So, if you haven’t started making sourdough yet, get started! And if you are well versed in making sourdough bread, give some of these recipes a try!

What recipes did I miss in my ultimate list of leftover sourdough starter recipes? Share your favorites in the comments below!

Remember to pin this post for later!

Leftover Sourdough Starter Recipes: The Ultimate List

FAQs

What can I do with my extra sourdough starter? ›

Use your sourdough starter discard in sourdough pancakes, waffles, and banana bread.

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When can I use sourdough starter discard in recipes? ›

Remember, you can't use the discard from your homemade sourdough starter for the first 7 days. You can use sourdough discard in all kinds of sourdough discard recipes, including these no wait sourdough recipes, overnight sourdough discard recipes and sourdough discard recipes that use up a lot of discard.

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What is extra sourdough starter called? ›

Sourdough discard can be defined as the portion of unfed sourdough starter that you remove from the jar before adding fresh flour and water. This "leftover sourdough starter" is called discard because it can be discarded or thrown away.

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What to do with sourdough starter after it doubles? ›

When the starter has close to doubled, refrigerate it and relax until the next time you want to bake. Try not to let the starter double and sit unfed for more than a few hours at room temp. Either feed it or hibernate it in the refrigerator.

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Why do you discard half the sourdough starter? ›

If you don't get rid of the excess, eventually you'll have more starter than your feedings can sustain. After a few days, your daily 1/4 cup flour and water won't be enough to sustain your entire jar of starter, and your starter will be slow and sluggish, not much better than discard itself.

Can you use sourdough starter to ferment other things? ›

Sourdough Starter

This is obviously well-suited to grain dishes and baked goods, but can also be used to culture beans, fruits, and even vegetables. You can also use sourdough bread to make kvass, which has a bread-yeast beer flavor.

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What is sourdough discard good for? ›

It adds a delicious flavor and imparts moisture to recipes which keeps bakes tasting fresher for much longer. You can also use sourdough discard to ferment recipes which makes them healthier and easier to digest.

How do you use old sourdough discard? ›

The discard is not active enough to make sourdough bread rise but it does have many other uses and baking powder can be added if required. Savoury options include English breakfast muffins, pretzels, caramelised onion biscuits, and sourdough pizza dough.

Can I use more starter in my sourdough? ›

But there are some instances where you might want to increase the amount of starter you use. Some instances could be: If it's particularly cold, you could increase your sourdough starter to make your bread ferment more quickly. When it's cold, you could easily ferment 100g of starter overnight.

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Do you have to discard sourdough starter every time you feed it? ›

Do I have to discard my sourdough starter? It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.

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Can you freeze sourdough starter? ›

Fortunately, you can chill or even freeze your sourdough starter to slow down the yeast's activity and preserve it until you're ready to bake. Sourdough starter stored in the fridge will stay in good shape for the occasional baker who might be making a loaf or two every couple of weeks.

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Can I start another sourdough starter with my discard? ›

Technically, yes you can start another sourdough starter with your sourdough discard - however you don't need two sourdough starters! So as long as your starter is at least 7 days old, why not bake something yummy with the discard?