Sourdough Quinoa Bread

This sourdough quinoa bread, with its long fermentation time and added whole wheat flour and quinoa has a wonderfully distinct sourdough flavor. 

 

This quinoa bread makes great deli-style sandwiches, burger melts, and toast for breakfast. It's also delicious freshly sliced and slathered in butter. 

If you maintain a sourdough starter and you love the flavor of sourdough bread, plus, if you'd like to add some more protein to your bread, be sure to give this loaf a try. 

If you don't have a sourdough starter, don't despair. You can make a wholewheat quinoa sandwich bread or a no knead quinoa loaf. They're both very tasty and you don't need a sourdough starter. 

Ingredients in Sourdough Quinoa Bread:

Sourdough Starter: Feed your starter within a week prior to making this bread. Ideally, your starter is 100 percent hydration (equal parts water and flour by weight). But don't despair. Because you are using such a small amount of starter, it shouldn't affect the hydration of the dough. 

The early morning before you begin making this bread, feed a small amount of your starter (30 grams) with 30 grams of water and 30 grams of flour and let it get active and bubbly before beginning to make this loaf. 

Water: I used room temperature bottled drinking water (not distilled). 

Bread Flour: I use unbleached bread flour. I am partial to the flour from King Arthur Baking. 

Whole Wheat Flour: You can use either red or white whole wheat. For this loaf, I used white whole wheat flour. 

Salt: If you use kosher or sea salt, be sure to weigh it because the volume varies. I love my tiny scale for measuring small amounts. 

If you don't have a digital scale at all, you might want to try the Kitchenaid dual scale that measures both standard amounts and mini amounts. It looks pretty cool and you won't need two scales. 

Vital Wheat Gluten (optional): While not necessary, I sometimes use vital wheat gluten in free form loaves that also include whole grains and ingredients like quinoa to strenthen the dough. I substituted two tablespoons (20 grams) for 20 grams of the bread flour. 

Cooked Quinoa: You can follow the package direction for cooking the quinoa. It should not be mushy and have a texture similar to cooked rice. Use any color of quinoa you have on hand. White quinoa will be less visually noticeable if you are trying to sneak it into your bread. 

I happened to have some pre-cooked quinoa from Melissa's Produce, so I used some of that and froze the rest for later. It's a combination of white and red quinoa. Note: Using the pre-cooked quinoa is not necessary. You can definitely cook your own. I just happened to have some on hand. 

To Make This Sourdough Quinoa Bread:

This bread requires two days to make, mostly hands off. 

First, in the early evening before baking day, mix all of the ingredients by hand and let them sit at room temperature for about an hour. After that, stretch and fold the dough four times over a period of a few hours. You can stretch and fold the dough every 30 to 60 minutes, depending on your schedule. Once you've completed the stretch and folds, cover your bowl and let the dough sit at room temperature overnight. 

The next morning, stretch and fold the dough one more time and then shape the dough into a ball. Place it into a banneton or towel-lined bowl, cover it, and place it in the refrigerator. Chill it for three to ten hours. 

When you are ready to bake the loaf, place the dough (using parchment for transferring the dough) into a heated cast iron Dutch oven, score it, cover it, and bake it for about 50 minutes, uncovering it at the thirty minute mark. 

Be sure to let it cool completely before slicing. 

Tips for Working with this Dough:

Working with whole grains and seeds mixed into your dough can be challenging for developing gluten, especially when there are long rise times. I've had dough that seems like it's cooperating, and then suddenly it goes flat as a pancake after shaping. It could be from over proofing during the first rise, and sometimes, it's just a mystery and very frustrating. 

When shaping the dough for the refrigerator, check to make sure that you are able to develop tension when you are pulling the dough and folding it. If for some reason the dough has grown too sticky or loose, continue to stretch and fold it until the dough feels stronger. If the dough is super sticky, be sure to flour the work surface and your hands. 

As an alternative (Plan B), you can also shape this dough like a sandwich loaf and place it into a loaf pan before refrigeration. This is especially helpful if you are not confident that your dough will hold its shape in the oven. 

Sample Baking Schedule:

Day One:

7:00 a.m. - feed your starter... 30 grams starter plus 30 grams water and 30 grams starter. 

4:00 p.m. - Mix all of the dough ingredients. 

5:00 p.m. - Stretch and fold the dough for the first time. 

5:45 pm. to 8:00 p.m. - Fit in three more strech and folds. Cover the dough and leave out overnight.

Day Two:

7:00 am. - Stretch and fold and then shape the dough. Place it in prepared banneton, cover, and refrigerate immediately. 

Between 10:30 am. and 5:00 p.m. - Score and bake the bread. 

"Q" is for Quinoa, Quail, Quiche, Quick, Quesadilla, and More!

To continue the 2025 Alphabet Challenge, we are sharing recipes that begin with "Q" or include ingredients that that begin with "Q." 

• Food Lust People Love: Shrimp and Quail Egg Garden Salad 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Quinoa Idli 
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Blueberry Banana Quick Bread 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Sourdough Quinoa Bread 
• A Messy Kitchen: Roasted Cauliflower Quiche 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Nectarine Quinoa Salad 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Shrimp Fajita Quesadillas 
• Magical Ingredients: Queso Dip 
• Culinary Cam: Quince Sharlotka 
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Parmesan Potato & Zucchini Crustless Quiche 
• Blogghetti: Ham and Broccoli Quiche

For the 2024 Alphabet Challenge (last year), I made whole wheat quinoa sandwich bread. If you want to try your hand at baking with quinoa, give it a try! 

Sourdough Quinoa Bread

Yield: 20 slices

Author: Karen Kerr

Prep time: 45 MinCook time: 50 MinInactive time: 10 HourTotal time: 11 H & 35 M

This sourdough quinoa bread, with its long fermentation and added whole wheat flour has a wonderfully distinct sourdough flavor. 

Ingredients

• 50 grams (1/4 cup) active sourdough starter (fed early in the morning on the day you make the dough - see notes in post in "ingredients")
• 350 grams (~1 1/2 cups) water
• 400 grams (3 1/4 cups) unbleached bread flour. If using the optional vital wheat gluten, use 380 grams bread flour. See ingredient notes in post.
• 100 grams (3/4 cup) whole wheat flour
• 20 grams vital wheat gluten (optional)
• 150 grams (1 cup) cooked quinoa
• 7 to 10 grams (1 teaspoon +) salt

Instructions

1. In the early evening, combine all of the ingredients, including the starter, in a large bowl. Cover and let rest for one hour.
2. Stretch and fold the dough and cover and let rest. Stretch and fold the dough three more times over the next few hours, about every 30 to 60 minutes. Leave the dough out overnight at room temperature.
3. Prepare a banneton or tea-towel lined 8 to 9 inch bowl, with a mixture of rice flour and wheat flour.
4. In the morning, stretch an fold the dough and then shape it into a ball. Place the ball, seam side up, into the prepared banneton. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 to 10 hours.
5. When ready to bake, heat the oven to 450 degrees F with a lidded cast iron Dutch oven placed on the middle rack.
6. Remove the loaf from the refrigerator, turn it out onto a sheet of parchment paper, seam side down. Remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Score the dough and lift it, using the parchment paper, lift the dough into the Dutch oven and cover. Place the Dutch oven into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, removing the lid after 30 minutes. The loaf should reach 195 to 205 degrees F.
7. Remove the loaf from the pan and place it on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

106

Fat (grams)

1 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

0 g

Carbs (grams)

9 g

Fiber (grams)

1 g

Net carbs

8 g

Sugar (grams)

0 g

Protein (grams)

17 g

Cholesterol (grams)

0 mg

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2025/08/sourdough-quinoa-bread.html

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Recipe adapted from Whole Grain Sourdough at Home by Elaine Boddy. I have all four of her books! This book is great for learning how to work with ancient grains, including spelt and einkorn. 

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