Potato Flake Sourdough Bread
Soft and fluffy potato flake sourdough bread with a mild tang and hint of sweetness. This easy sandwich loaf is made with a simple potato flake starter.
Soft, slightly sweet, and wonderfully fluffy, this potato flake sourdough bread makes an incredible sandwich loaf. It has a gentle tang from the starter and a tender crumb that slices beautifully for toast, sandwiches, or simply spreading with butter and jam.
If you’ve ever wanted to try sourdough but felt intimidated by maintaining a traditional flour starter, potato flake sourdough is a great alternative. This starter is made with instant mashed potato flakes, sugar, and a little yeast to help kickstart fermentation. The result is a starter that is easy to maintain and produces bread that is soft, lightly sweet, and incredibly easy to work with.
The flavor is different from traditional sourdough. Instead of a strong tang, potato flake sourdough has a mild flavor with just a hint of sweetness, which makes it especially perfect for sandwich bread. It’s the kind of loaf you’ll find yourself making again and again because it’s so reliable and versatile.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Soft, fluffy sandwich bread – This loaf bakes up tender and sliceable, making it perfect for toast, sandwiches, or spreading with butter and jam.
- A gentler sourdough flavor – Potato flake starter creates a milder, slightly sweet bread that’s less tangy than traditional sourdough, which many people love for everyday baking.
- Beginner-friendly sourdough – If traditional sourdough feels intimidating, potato flake sourdough is a simple and reliable way to start baking homemade bread.
I love a good potato flake sourdough because its easier than traditional sourdough, and it makes the best, most delicious bread! You can also use this potato starter to make soft sourdough dinner rolls or sourdough cinnamon rolls. Just substitute the fed and bubbly starter!
What makes potato flake sourdough different?
Potato flake sourdough uses a starter made from instant potato flakes, sugar, water, and yeast rather than flour and wild yeast alone. Because of this, it behaves a little differently than traditional sourdough.
The starter is thinner and more liquid, and the bread tends to be softer and slightly sweeter. Many bakers love it because it’s easier to maintain and produces a very consistent rise.
This type of starter is sometimes confused with Amish Friendship Bread or Herman starters, but it’s actually quite different. Those starters typically include flour, sugar, and sometimes milk, while potato flake sourdough uses potato flakes and water instead.
The result is a soft loaf that’s perfect for everyday baking.
How to make a potato flake sourdough starter
Making a potato flake starter is surprisingly simple and takes about five days to get going.
Making a potato flake starter
To start, combine potato flakes, sugar, yeast, and warm water in a glass jar. Stir everything together and loosely cover the jar. Let it sit at room temperature for five days.
On the fifth day, you feed the starter again and allow it to become active and bubbly. After about two hours, you can remove one cup of starter to bake your bread.
Once the starter is established, it becomes incredibly easy to maintain.
Maintaining a potato flake starter
Unlike traditional sourdough starters that need frequent feeding, a potato flake starter only needs weekly maintenance.
Store the starter in the refrigerator between uses. Once a week, remove it from the fridge and feed it with:
- 3 tablespoons potato flakes
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup warm water
Stir everything well and let the starter sit at room temperature for about two hours until it becomes bubbly and active. At that point you can remove some starter for baking and return the rest to the refrigerator.
The starter will look quite liquidy, and the potato flakes often settle to the bottom during the week. That’s completely normal, just give it a good stir before feeding.
How to make potato flake sourdough bread
Here is a brief overview of how to make this bread so you know what to expect. For the full set of directions, please scroll down to the recipe card below.
Step One: Feed the starter
About two hours before mixing your dough, feed your potato flake starter with potato flakes, sugar, and warm water. Let it sit until bubbly and active.
Step Two: Mix the dough
In a large bowl, combine the flour, active starter, water, oil, sugar, and salt. Mix until a soft dough forms.
Step Three: Knead the dough
Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic and the flour is fully incorporated.
Step Four: First rise
Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for 3–4 hours, or until it doubles in size. If you prefer, you can refrigerate the dough overnight for a slower rise.
Step Five: Shape the loaves
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into two equal portions. Shape each portion into a loaf and place seam-side down into greased loaf pans.
Step Six: Final rise
Cover the pans and allow the loaves to rise again for about 30–60 minutes, until the dough rises slightly above the rim of the pans.
Step Seven: Bake the bread
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Brush the tops of the loaves with egg wash and bake for 30–35 minutes until golden brown.
Let the loaves cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Waiting at least an hour helps the crumb set properly and prevents a gummy texture.
Storage Tips
Once the bread is completely cool, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or store it in a bread bag at room temperature. It will stay fresh for about three days.
For longer storage, slice the bread and freeze it in an airtight bag. You can toast slices directly from the freezer whenever you need them.
Sourdough is better when shared
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Potato Flake Sourdough Bread
Ingredients
Method
- Stir the potato flakes, yeast, sugar, and warm water together with a wooden spoon.
- Cover, and leave on the counter for 5 days.
- Stir in the potato flakes, sugar, and warm water into the starter.
- Allow the starter to rest for 2 hours until it becomes active and bubbly.
- Scoop out 1 cup of starter for your bread, cover the remainder of the starer, and place in your fridge until next week.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, active sourdough starter, lukewarm water, oil, white granulated sugar, and salt, mixing until well combined.
- Knead the dough until the flour is fully incorporated, and the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Cover the mixing bowl with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and allow it to rise in a warm place for 3-4 hours or in the fridge for an overnight rise until it doubles in size. This will be your first rise.
- After the dough has risen, gently punch it down to release any air bubbles.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into two equal portions using a bench scraper and shape each portion into a loaf.
- Place each of the loaves in a greased bread pan seam side down.
- For the 2nd rise, cover the loaf pans with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rise for another 30-60 minutes, or until the dough rises above the rim of the pans.
- Once the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 375°F and then remove the towel or plastic wrap.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg with 1 teaspoon of water to create an egg wash.
- Brush the egg wash over the loaves and place the loaf pans in the preheated oven.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Remove the bread from the oven and let the bread cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes.
- Then, transfer the loaves to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
