Simple Sourdough Focaccia (No Knead, Starter from the Fridge)
This simple sourdough focaccia starts with unfed starter straight from the fridge and can be baked the same day. Enjoy!
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Why You’ll Love This Sourdough Focaccia
If you’ve read about my low maintenance sourdough starter, you may be wondering what easy recipes to start with so that baking day feels just as easy as keeping your starter alive!
This sourdough focaccia bread is one of my favorites. It is so easy and versatile. When I want something fast and simple, this is where I turn. It’s forgiving, so you don’t have to weigh out your ingredients, you can literally just dump, mix, rise, and bake.
I started with a traditional sourdough focaccia recipe, but I wondered what would happen if I worked with it the lazy way – i.e. no needing, no stretch-and-folds, no second rise, and it worked great! So if you’re wondering if you can skip those things, you can!
You can even doctor it up with sweet or savory toppings to compliment any meal perfectly.
It’s excellent fresh but I think it’s also great used as sandwich bread the next day. It also toasts up really nicely.
Using Sourdough Starter Straight from the Fridge
When you’re ready to make your dough, just take your jar of starter out of the fridge and pour out the amount you need (I usually just use all of it).
Refresh your jar of starter to fill it up about halfway, leaving room for expansion. Leave this on your countertop until baking time, then put it back in the fridge until the next time you need it.
Follow the recipe instructions to mix up the rest of your dough.
Take note that this is not necessarily a discard recipe. It is just a cold starter recipe. Learn how to keep your starter in the fridge here.
Ingredients
- Sourdough starter – cold, straight out of the fridge is fine!
- Warm water – to help the dough warm up a bit
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Honey – simple sugars in honey give the yeast an immediately available food source, which can be helpful when you’re using cold starter and trying to get a same-day rise
- Sea salt
- All-purpose or whole wheat flour – I like to use roughly half and half.
How to Make Sourdough Focaccia
Mix the Dough
Mix all the ingredients together and put the dough in the pan it’ll bake in. The larger your pan, the thinner your focaccia will be. You can make thick lofty focacca by putting it in a smaller pan (9×13 for thick bread, 10×15 sheet pan for thin). Let it rest for half an hour if it’s not stretching to fill the pan just yet. Once it’s relaxed, you’ll be able to push it to the edges.
Let the Dough Rise
Do this in a warm oven (with a bowl of steaming hot water) to rise quickly for a same day bake. Or, just leave it out on the counter overnight for a slower rise, if you have the time.
Oil and Dimple the Focaccia
Since I start with the dough in the pan I’m going to bake it in, I don’t have to transfer it after rising, which eliminates the need for a second rise. Sometimes I don’t dimple it, if I’m not adding any toppings or want to use it for sandwiches. Can I still even call this focaccia?! I don’t know. I don’t care. It’s easy and tasty.
Bake
Bake at 425° for 20-25 minutes. I told you it was fast!
Tips for the Easiest Sourdough Focaccia
You can absolutely use a cold starter straight out of the fridge for this recipe. Use warm water in the recipe to bring it up to room temperature.
You have two options when it comes to rising:
If you give it a nice long rise, like overnight, just leave it on your counter.
Or, if you’re wanting to bake it the same day, place the pan of dough on one rack of the oven with a metal bowl of boiling water on the other rack. This creates a moist, warm environment for your focaccia to expand appropriately in a more limited amount of time while still achieving great results.
When it’s done rising, and you’re ready to bake, you do not have to dimple it. You can keep it puffy and lofty. If you do want to dimple it and add that interesting appearance and extra texture to hold extra toppings on, go for it. Just do what works for you!
Give the dough at least 7 hours to rise, even in the warm steamy oven. One main reason to make sourdough is its increased digestibility, so you want to give it that much time to break down the phytic acid in the grain, which may also make certain minerals more available for absorption.
Common Questions
More Simple Sourdough Recipes
I hope this easy sourdough focaccia gives you a good launching pad to get you started on your simple sourdough journey! Check out these posts if you haven’t already, and thanks for following along for more!
Simple Sourdough Focaccia (No Knead, Starter from the Fridge) Recipe
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you could come back and give it 5 stars!
Simple Sourdough Focaccia (No Knead, Starter from the Fridge)
Ingredients
- 1 cup active sourdough starter
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil divided
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Combine the sourdough starter, water, 1/4 cup olive oil, honey, and salt in a bowl.
- Add the flour and mix thoroughly. (Add an extra 1/4 cup at a time, if needed, until a soft dough forms.)
- Add dough to a baking pan oiled with half of the remaining oil. Spread dough out to edges (let dough rest briefly to relax, if needed)
- Ferment at room temperature or in warm oven until it is bubbly/puffy and has increased by about half the volume (least 7 hours).
- Drizzle dough with the rest of the remaining olive oil, dimple with fingers and sprinkle with toppings, if desired.
- Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until it is golden brown.
Notes
- To rise quickly in a warm oven, place the pan of dough on one rack of the oven with a metal bowl of boiling water on the other rack. This creates a warm, moist environment for your focaccia to expand appropriately in a more limited amount of time while still achieving great results.
Be sure to follow along for more simple sourdough recipes, and as always, please let me know if you have any questions.