Easy Patriotic Sourdough Bread Recipe (Beginner-Friendly)
I’m not good at fancy scoring or colored bread, so if I can make this patriotic sourdough loaf, you can, too.
It took 5 attempts, but I finally nailed down a process and the right food dyes for a beautiful red, white, and blue loaf of artisan sourdough bread.
Baker’s Timeline
| Day 1 | |
| 9 PM | Feed starter (I like a 1:5:5 feeding ratio) |
| Day 2 | |
| 8:45 AM | Mix dough (bulk fermentation begins) |
| 9:30 AM | Stretch and fold #1 |
| 10 AM | Stretch and fold #2 |
| 10: 30 AM | Stretch and fold #3 |
| 11 AM | Coil fold |
| 2:30 PM | Pre-shape (your timing could vary) | (bulk fermentation ends) |
| 2:50 PM | Final shaping, put banneton in fridge |
| Day 3 | |
| Any time the following day | Score and bake |
The Best Red and Blue Food Dyes for Sourdough
I tried several food dye options and found that red yeast rice powder worked best for the red, and blue spirulina was perfect for blue.
Here’s a quick recap of the other dyes I tried:
- Natural food coloring drops (Watkins brand): It took a lot of drops to get any color, and what I did get wasn’t that vibrant. I added some freeze-dried strawberries and blueberries to enhance the colors, which helped. But my family didn’t love the fruit in the bread, and without extra sweeteners in the dough to embrace the fruit theme, it just didn’t taste right.
- Dragonfruit powder: Turned out baby shower pink, not red.
- Beet powder: The red color baked out completely, leaving behind a dull brown color. Also, it stinks.
The Recipe Testing Journey
I filmed all of my attempts, and here’s a recap of each one.
Attempt 1: Natural Dye Drops & Freeze-Dried Fruit
The freeze-dried fruit looked really good but the taste was a little weird in artisan sourdough bread. It needed more sweetness.
The dye drops were too muted, and adding them during stretch and folds wasn’t ideal as the colors didn’t fully disperse. Free-handing a star was kind of a disaster – I need a stencil.
Attempt 2: Natural Dye Drops Mixed At the Beginning
Mixing the dye drops with the water helped get an even color throughout the dough. But the dye drops were so muted, even though I added what felt like a ton to the dough.
Also, the blue completely disappeared, and the layering of the colors during shaping could have been better. The star-shaped cookie cutter as a stencil was really helpful!
Attempt 3: Dragonfruit Powder & Blue Spirulina
The last loaf lost the blue color, and this one lost the red! The dragonfruit powder completely baked out. But the blue spirulina was a keeper.
Attempt 4: Beet Powder & New Layering Process
The beet powder wasn’t much better… the red color baked away and left behind a dull brown color.
I did like the new layering process, but it was more work, and I’m not totally sold on the complexity of it. Not that it’s hard – it just takes more time.
Attempt 5: Red Yeast Rice Powder & New Shaping Process
Finally, we got a winner! The red yeast rice powder stayed red through baking, and the new shaping process I decided to try was a winner.
I pre-shaped the dough, let it rest 20 minutes, and did a final shaping. This really helped with oven spring as I felt my prior loaves were baking up too flat.
Step-by-Step Process for Patriotic Sourdough Bread
Step 1: Feed Your Starter
Feed your starter the night before using 13g starter, 65g flour, and 65g water. This gives you active starter for the morning with a little extra to ensure you have enough.
Want to adjust the timing? Use my sourdough starter feeding ratio calculator to customize your feeding schedule based on when you want your starter to be ready.
Step 2: Mix the Doughs
Set up three medium-sized bowls and add 116g water to each. For the red bowl, whisk in 2 tsp of red yeast rice powder. And for the blue, whisk in 1 tsp of blue spirulina.
Add 40g active starter, 166g bread flour, and 3g salt to each bowl. Knead until no dry flour remains, washing hands between colors.
Cover and rest 30 minutes. I like to cover these bowls with an inverted plate and/or an upside-down sheet tray.
When I used plastic wrap, it often stuck to the dough because these bowls are on the smaller side.
Step 3: Stretch & Folds Through Bulk Fermentation
Perform 4 sets of stretch and folds, 30 minutes apart. You can switch to coil folds for the third and/or fourth round – it’s gentler on the dough and will preserve those bubbles!
Then, continue bulk fermentation until the dough has increased in volume, appears puffy and bubbly, and jiggles when shaken. For me, this took about 5.5 hours total at 74°F.
It’s worth pointing out that this timing is a lot faster than usual—just another reminder to watch your dough, not the clock. If I had let the dough go as long as I typically do, it would have overproofed.
Step 4: Shape and Cold Retard
Lightly flour your work surface to prevent too much sticking. Dump out each bowl of dough and arrange them into a rectangle shape (red top, white middle, blue bottom). Pinch seams together.
Fold the bottom third up, the top third down, turn 90°, and roll into a log.
Shape into a round ball with a bench scraper or your hands.
Let the dough ball rest for 20 minutes uncovered.
For the final shaping, we’re just repeating the same folding, rolling, and shaping process.
Flip your dough ball upside down, fold in thirds like we did before, roll it up, and coax it into a tight round shape.
Place shaped dough seam-side up in a lined banneton and stitch any open seams back together.
Dust the top with rice flour to prevent any sticking, and cover with plastic wrap or a flour sack towel.
Refrigerate overnight.
Step 5: Prepare for Baking and Score
Preheat oven to 450°F with Dutch oven inside. Turn dough onto parchment paper, seam-side down.
If you have a lazy susan, place the parchment and dough on top – this makes scoring the circle much easier!
Tip: I recently started crumpling my parchment paper and running it under the faucet for a few seconds, then wringing it out. These tricks prevent the parchment from creasing your dough and add extra steam to the Dutch oven during baking, creating more blisters on the crust.
Lightly mist the surface with water – this helps the rice flour adhere and makes scoring easier. Dust the wet surface with rice flour and gently smooth it out, brushing off any excess.
For the decorative scoring, lightly press a star-shaped cookie cutter on top to create a guide outline. Use a toothpick to trace over the star shape, making it more visible for scoring.
With your bread lame held at a slight angle, score along the star pattern about 1/8″ deep – just enough to allow the bread to open slightly during baking.
Finally, score a continuous circle around the entire loaf, rotating the dough as you go to maintain consistent depth and create an even border. This can be a deeper score as it’s our expansion score.
Step 6: Bake
Bake covered 25 minutes, then uncovered 10-15 minutes until golden and internal temp reaches 205-210°F.
Cool 90 minutes before slicing to reveal the red, white, and blue interior!
FAQs
No, I don’t think so! I couldn’t taste any difference, and my three kids tried it and didn’t notice anything, either. They’re 3, 5, and 6, and our 6-year-old can be quite picky, so hopefully, that reassures you that the powders don’t add any off flavors!
No! The red beet powder bakes off and leaves behind a dull brown color.
Patriotic Artisan Sourdough Bread
Equipment
- Round Dutch oven ($15 off with code REBEKAH15)
- Round banneton (5% off with code TSG5) | Size I'm Using: Round – Smooth MD
Ingredients
Red Dough
- 116 g water
- 2 tsp red yeast rice powder
- 40 g active sourdough starter
- 166 g bread flour
- 3 g sea salt (about 1/2 tsp)
White Dough
- 116 g water
- 40 g active sourdough starter
- 166 g bread flour
- 3 g sea salt (about 1/2 tsp)
Blue Dough
- 116 g water
- 1 tsp blue spirulina powder
- 40 g active sourdough starter
- 166 g bread flour
- 3 g sea salt (about 1/2 tsp)
Misc.
- Rice flour (for dusting)
Instructions
Feed Your Starter
- To make this bread, you need 120g total of active sourdough starter. If you want to make this dough in the morning, I suggest feeding your starter before bed: 13g starter, 65g flour, 65g water. This will give you a little more than you need.
Mix Your Dough
- Get three medium-sized bowls. • In the first bowl, whisk 116 g water with 2 tsp red yeast rice powder. Then, add 40 g active sourdough starter, 166 g bread flour, and 3 g sea salt. • In the second bowl, whisk 116 g water with 1 tsp blue spirulina powder. Then, add 40 g active sourdough starter, 166 g bread flour, and 3 g sea salt. • In the third bowl, whisk 116 g water with 40 g active sourdough starter. Then, add 166 g bread flour and 3 g sea salt.
- Knead all three bowls of dough, washing any food dye off your hands between each, until each is a shaggy dough with no dry bits of flour remaining. Cover each bowl (I used an upside-down plate and sheet tray) and let rest for 30 minutes.
Stretch and Folds
- Perform 4 sets of stretch and folds, each set 30 minutes apart. You can also switch to coil folds for the final sets, which are gentler on the dough.
Bulk Fermentation
- Continue bulk fermentation until dough has increased in volume and appears puffy and bubbly. When shaken, dough should jiggle. My timing: approximately 5.5 hours at 74°F. This is faster than my norm, but I wanted to provide it as a point of reference. Watch your dough, not the clock.
Pre-Shape & Final Shape
- Lightly flour your work surface. Arrange the three doughs in a rectangle with red on top, white in middle, and blue on bottom, gently pinching the seams together.
- Fold the blue (bottom) third up to the center, then fold the red (top) third down over it. Turn the dough 90° and roll it up into a log. Using a bench scraper, shape into a round using circular motions to create surface tension. Rest uncovered for 20 minutes.
- For final shaping, repeat the same folding and rolling technique, focusing on creating a tight, smooth surface.
Cold Retard
- Cover banneton (I used a flour sack towel) and refrigerate overnight. Ideal cold retard: 12-36 hours. Do not exceed 96 hours.
Score and Bake
- Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C) with Dutch oven inside. Transfer dough to parchment. Mist surface with water, then dust lightly with rice flour.
- Lightly press a star-shaped cookie cutter on top to create an outline, then trace with a toothpick for visibility. Score the star pattern about 1/8" deep with your lame. Score a circle around the entire loaf, rotating the dough as you go to maintain consistent depth.
- Place in Dutch oven and bake with lid on for 25 minutes. Remove lid and bake for 10-15 minutes more, or until golden brown and the internal temperature is 205-210°F (96-99°C).
- Cool on a wire rack for at least 90 minutes before slicing.
Video
Conclusion
This patriotic sourdough bread is completely beginner-friendly! While there are more bowls to manage, there’s nothing fancy or complicated about the technique.
The best part? You’ll get maximum impact with minimal extra effort – it’s just your normal sourdough process with colorful doughs.
This showstopper is perfect for impressing guests at parties, creating a gorgeous centerpiece for your Fourth of July table, or just having fun with a creative twist on classic sourdough.
The “wow factor” far exceeds the actual effort required, so have fun with it. Happy Independence Day!
Other bread recipes to try:
I’m making it and my dough for the blue is very wet and sticky. I’m on my third s&f. Is there anything I can do next time to help it not be so sticky and wet?
The texture of my blue dough was also a bit looser than the others, but it’s fine. If you want to add a tbsp more flour to help, you can, but it’ll come together in the end! Bench flour during shaping will take care of any lingering stickiness.
Okay, thank you! I’ll be shaping it soon.