Rosemary sourdough bread recipe: Elevate your baking game with this heavenly infusion of roasted garlic and aromatic rosemary.
A regular loaf of artisan sourdough bread doesn’t need any improvement, but hello slice of heaven. This roasted garlic and rosemary infused sourdough bread is what will be served on the buffet tables in heaven. I mean, there will be other options for those that don’t like garlic, but just saying, this will make the menu.

This post contains affiliate links, which means we may make a
small commission at no extra cost to you. See full disclosure here.
Garlic lovers will delight in this. I add the roasted garlic and fresh rosemary way at the beginning of the process already vs when shaping the loaves, so it has a long time to infuse the dough and make it extra flavorful. You can use dried herbs, but using fresh herbs will definitely yield the best deliciously savory flavor.
Why you will love this rosemary sourdough bread recipe:
- No-Knead Recipe: No special equipment needed. Stretching and folding is used rather than kneading.
- It’s obviously healthier than regular bread. The fermentation process that gives sourdough its tangy flavor lowers its glycemic index, making it better for your blood sugar levels than white bread.
- It is much easier to digest than unfermented bread. I get heartburn and an upset stomach when I eat non-sourdough bread, sourdough bread is much gentler on the stomach.
- The flavors. They are obviously meant to be together. The rosemary has such a fresh woodsy flavor, and roasting the garlic mellows its’ strong sting and turns it slightly sweet and nutty.
- Makes a quick easy meal. Once its ready of course, lol. There’s nothing quick about the sourdough baking process. But once ready, it’s such a perfect option for lunch sandwiches, grilled cheese, mmmm, chicken salad, etc.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup active starter
- 350 grams of water
- 500 grams unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tbls sea salt
- 2 bulbs of garlic
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (you can use dried rosemary too)
- olive oil
How to Roast the garlic in the oven:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Peel off the papery layer of the garlic head while keeping the cloves intact.
- Cut a piece of aluminum foil big enough to wrap around the garlic.
- Chop off 1/4 of an inch of the top of the garlic head.
- Place the garlic in the center of the foil and pour extra virgin olive oil on top, about 1 Tablespoon. Cover the head of garlic with the foil and place it into the preheated oven.
- Roast for about 20-30 minutes or until the garlic is golden brown and fragrant.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 5 – 10 minutes before adding to the bread dough.
Prepare fresh rosemary:
Gently remove the leaves from the stem by holding the top with one hand and dragging the fingers of your other hand down the stem. This will remove the rosemary leaves easily. Once removed, chop the rosemary leaves finely with a sharp knife

Instructions:
- Feed a sourdough starter 4-12 hours before starting the bread, making sure it is active and bubbly. The active starter should be able to pass the float test. Take a small dollop of starter and place it in room temperature water. If it floats it is ready to make bread.
- In a large bowl, add water, flour, sourdough starter, and salt. Mix it with a wooden spoon until you can’t anymore, then go at it with your hands. You will have a scraggly rough dough at this point.
- Cover with a wet towel and allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes for the water to hydrate the flour. This process is called autolyse, which allows all the flours to become hydrated.
- Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their shell onto a plate, and mash them with a fork. Add them and the chopped rosemary to your bowl.
- Now you start your stretch and folds. Stretch and folds are accomplished by grabbing the edge of the dough and pulling it up, gently shaking it as it stretches upwards. Next, push the stretched dough back into the center. Turn the bowl about a quarter turn and do this process again, turn the bowl and repeat until you are all the way around and the dough starts to resist your pull. Repeat this process every 30 minutes, 4 times.
- Cover with wet towel and let the dough rise until doubled in a warm place. This is called bulk fermentation.
- When it has doubled, it is ready to be shaped. Use your hands to pull the dough out onto a floured surface. Stretch the dough out gently and then fold the dough into itself several times until a ball is formed. Roll it in circular motion trying to create a tight round shape. If you are unhappy with your shape, let the dough rest for 10 minutes, and try to work it some more. Seam side up, lift and place it into a floured banneton or proofing basket for the second rise.
- Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or as long as 24 hours. You can even leave it for as long as 48 hours at this point, as long as it’s in the fridge.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Remove dough from the fridge. Dump it on a piece of parchment paper. Dust with flour on top to make the scoring pattern stand out more.
- Score the top of the dough with a razor blade or scoring knife.
- Pick it up by the parchment paper corners and set it into a Dutch oven, put the lid on and bake it covered for 25 minutes.
- Remove the lid and bake for 20 more minutes. Usually it’s ready at this point but it doesn’t hurt to take the internal temperature and make sure it’s 205 degrees.
- Remove from oven and let it cool before slicing, if possible.

Bakers Schedule Example:
9:00 pm day before you want to bake: Feed sourdough starter with flour and water. Depending on how active your sourdough starter is, it could take between 4-12 hours for it to be active enough to bake a loaf of bread.
7:00 am: If the sourdough starter is nice and bubbly, then you can mix your dough. Roast your garlic and prep the rosemary. You can add before starting your stretch and folds.
7:30 am: Start the stretch and folds, every half hour. Cover with a wet towel. Let rise until doubled.
8:00 pm (may be sooner or later): Shape dough.
8:30pm: Transfer to flour banneton or bowl with tea towel and cover with plastic. Place in the refrigerator for anywhere between 1 hour to 48 hours.
9:00am next day: Preheat oven at 450 degrees. Take dough out of the fridge, dust with flour, and score.
9:30am: Bake the sourdough bread and let it cool.

Tips:
- Make sure you have a nice and active sourdough starter.
- Use unbleached flour, and filtered water. Doing those two things changed the game for me. I was stubborn for so long, thinking surely they don’t matter that much. They do. The bleach in bleached flour against the naturally occurring yeast in sourdough. The same with using unfiltered tap water, the chlorine in the water will kill your starter.
- To avoid a crust from forming on the dough as its rising, cover the dough with a damp towel, beeswax wrap, a lid or plastic wrap.
- The amount of time it takes for your dough to double can be determined by many factors, such as the temperature in your home, the maturity of your starter, and the hydration status of the loaf. The dough may double in 8 hours while some may take a lot of time longer.
- The most accurate way to get the best loaves of bread each time is to measure your ingredients with a kitchen scale.
Sourdough benefits:
- Nutrient-Rich: Sourdough bread is rich in vitamins and minerals. It contains calcium, potassium, magnesium, and folate.
- Gut Health: The fermentation process in sourdough bread can lead to increased prebiotic and probiotic-like properties.
- Low Gluten Content: Sourdough bread has lower gluten levels compared to other bread types.
- Stable blood sugar: Sourdough bread is less likely to cause rapid spikes in blood sugar levels due to its unique fermentation process.

FAQ’s:
How to store this bread:
Keep it in a large Ziplock bag, or bread container at room temperature up to 4 days. In the fridge it should be good up to 10 days, and it also freezes beautifully.
Serving ideas:
Although this is so good to just eat plain, it is such a yummy side to meals like:
- chicken and roasted veggies
- hamburger stew
- chicken wild rice soup
If you want to add flavor, make some garlic herb butter to slather it with.
Making grilled cheese sandwiches with this bread to go with tomato soup would also be phenomenal 🤤.

Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Bread
Equipment
- Dutch oven
- proofing basket
- large bowl
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup active starter
- 350 grams of water
- 500 grams unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tbls sea salt
- 2 bulbs of garlic
- 2 tbsp fresh rosemary you can use dried rosemary too
- olive oil to roast garlic
Instructions
How to Roast the garlic in the oven:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Peel off the papery layer of the garlic head while keeping the cloves intact.
- Cut a piece of aluminum foil big enough to wrap around the garlic.
- Chop off 1/4 of an inch of the top of the garlic head.
- Place the garlic in the center of the foil and pour extra virgin olive oil on top, about 1 Tablespoon. Cover the head of garlic with the foil and place it into the preheated oven.
- Roast for about 20-30 minutes or until the garlic is golden brown and fragrant.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 5 – 10 minutes before adding to the bread dough.
Prepare fresh rosemary:
- Gently remove the leaves from the stem by holding the top with one hand and dragging the fingers of your other hand down the stem. This will remove the rosemary leaves easily. Once removed, chop the rosemary leaves finely with a sharp knife
Instructions:
- Feed a sourdough starter 4-12 hours before starting the bread, making sure it is active and bubbly. The active starter should be able to pass the float test. Take a small dollop of starter and place it in room temperature water. If it floats it is ready to make bread.
- In a large bowl, add water, flour, sourdough starter, and salt. Mix it with a wooden spoon until you can’t anymore, then go at it with your hands. You will have a scraggly rough dough at this point.
- Cover with a wet towel and allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes for the water to hydrate the flour. This process is called autolyse, which allows all the flours to become hydrated.
- Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their shell onto a plate, and mash them with a fork. Add them and the chopped rosemary to your bowl.
- Now you start your stretch and folds. Stretch and folds are accomplished by grabbing the edge of the dough and pulling it up, gently shaking it as it stretches upwards. Next, push the stretched dough back into the center. Turn the bowl about a quarter turn and do this process again, turn the bowl and repeat until you are all the way around and the dough starts to resist your pull. Repeat this process every 30 minutes, 4 times.
- Cover with wet towel and let the dough rise until doubled in a warm place. This is called bulk fermentation.
- When it has doubled, it is ready to be shaped. Use your hands to pull the dough out onto a floured surface. Stretch the dough out gently and then fold the dough into itself several times until a ball is formed. Roll it in circular motion trying to create a tight round shape. If you are unhappy with your shape, let the dough rest for 10 minutes, and try to work it some more. Seam side up, lift and place it into a floured banneton or proofing basket for the second rise.
- Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or as long as 24 hours. You can even leave it for as long as 48 hours at this point, as long as it’s in the fridge.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Remove dough from the fridge. Dump it on a piece of parchment paper. Dust with flour on top to make the scoring pattern stand out more.
- Score the top of the dough with a razor blade or scoring knife.
- Pick it up by the parchment paper corners and set it into a Dutch oven, put the lid on and bake it covered for 25 minutes.
- Remove the lid and bake for 20 more minutes. Usually it's ready at this point but it doesn't hurt to take the internal temperature and make sure it's 205 degrees.
- Remove from oven and let it cool before slicing, if possible.
Please explain step 12 and 13? What do I bake it in on step 12
I am so sorry, I had a typo and corrected it now! Thanks for pointing it out!