I Froze Sourdough Bread Dough – And It Baked Beautifully

When I make a loaf of sourdough bread, it’s usually a 3-day process.

Day 1 evening, I feed my starter. Day 2, I make my dough and put it in the fridge overnight. Day 3, I bake it.

But sometimes, I don’t have 3 days. I need a loaf of bread stat for whatever reason.

Enter: frozen sourdough bread dough!

It would be awfully helpful if I could make the dough and freeze it. Then, it could be ready to bake at any time!

But can I freeze sourdough dough before baking? The answer appears to be yes!

Editorial Note: I have been asked for more information on freezing bread dough by hundreds of people, so I put this guide together based on the test I did. I will conduct more experiments and try sight variations, like freezing directly in the banneton. But at least for now, here’s a quick guide to what I did (which worked great!).

Freezing Sourdough Bread Dough: The Result

I’ll tell you how I prepared, froze, and baked my dough, but you have to see the result.

Like, WHAT?

I did not expect the loaf to turn out so beautiful, especially because I baked it straight from the freezer.

And apparently, there are some potential health benefits to freezing the dough before baking, which I’ll cover next.

A full tutorial showing what I did and thoughts on what I’d do differently next time will follow!

Note: you can watch the full journey in the “Frozen Bread” highlight on my Instagram profile. These clips take you through exactly what I did.

Here’s a short video recap of the whole frozen dough experiment:

Freezing Sourdough Bread Health Benefits

Sourdough already boasts impressive health advantages over commercial yeast breads and ultra-processed options.

But here’s something unexpected: freezing your sourdough might actually enhance these benefits further. The science supporting this is surprisingly robust and compelling.

TL;DR: Freezing bread can lower the glycemic index, helping you stay fuller longer and avoid big blood sugar spikes.

Studies have shown that freezing bread causes the starch molecules to reorganize—a process called starch retrogradation—which increases the amount of resistant starch in the bread.

Since resistant starch is harder for your body to digest, it has a lot of benefits:

• It feeds the good bacteria in your gut
• Keeps you feeling fuller longer
• Helps manage blood sugar by slowing down how glucose enters the bloodstream (which effectively lowers the bread’s glycaemic index)

Some studies have even found that thawing and toasting the bread after freezing can reduce the GI even further.

It’s worth mentioning that these studies were conducted on regular white bread, not sourdough specifically. They also tested already baked bread that was frozen and then thawed—not dough that was frozen before baking.

You can check out how I freeze my already-cooked loaves here.

So while the research looks promising, I would love to see more studies focused on sourdough and frozen dough. For now, take this information at face value—but if you’re already freezing your sourdough to keep it fresh, it’s nice to know there could be some added health benefits, too.

Step 1: Make your sourdough bread recipe through the final shaping.

I used my regular sourdough bread recipe.

Once the bulk fermentation was done, I did the pre-shaping and let the dough rest on the counter for about 30 minutes.

Then, it was time to get things ready for the freezer and move on to the final shaping.

Step 2: Shape your bread for freezer storage.

I’m not sure if my freezing method is the most optimal, but it did work.

I put parchment paper in a stainless steel 9×5 loaf pan. I dusted rice flour inside (figured it might help the dough release later on if it wasn’t stuck to the parchment).

Pro tip: If you don’t want parchment creases on your dough, crumple it up in your hands like you’re about to toss it, then smooth it out before lining the pan. One of my Instagram followers suggested doing this, and it really helped the paper mold to the shape of the pan without leaving marks, so thanks for that!

My final shaping method was a single caddy clasp (my fav), which I put in the loaf pan.

I pinched the seam shut, dusted more rice flour on top, and covered the whole thing with a shower cap-style bowl cover.

From there, I let it cold proof overnight in the fridge like usual.

In the morning, I transferred the whole setup—pan, dough, and cover—straight into the freezer.

My loaf was only in the freezer for 2 days, but if I was planning for longer, I’d probably opt for a better cover. I’m sure the top of the bread would start getting freezer burn.

Step 3: Bake from frozen.

When I was ready to bake, I preheated my oven to 450°F (230°C) with the Dutch oven inside. 

I took the dough out of the freezer, and it was frozen solid. Getting it out of the bread pan was tricky. I had to let it sit on the counter just long enough to get it to slide out.

It took some coaxing, but I finally got it out by flipping the pan over and gently pulling on the extra parchment paper sticking out of the sides.

Once it was out, I peeled off the parchment and set the frozen loaf on my silicone bread sling (you can use parchment paper if you don’t have one). 

Scoring it while frozen was a bit of a challenge—my little razor blade wasn’t going to cut it (literally!), so I grabbed a big serrated knife instead and that worked decently. 

In hindsight, I probably should’ve scored it after the cold proof and before I stuck it in the freezer. Another option would be doing a delayed score after the loaf bakes for a little while, but I’m not sure about the timing of that.

I placed the loaf straight into the hot Dutch oven. Now, a huge word of caution here: ice cubes in a Dutch oven can potentially cause it to crack, and I’d argue that putting frozen dough in a Dutch oven is like ice cubes on steroids!

It didn’t crack my Martha Stewart Dutch oven, but it may be an issue for cheaper/less sturdy vessels. Open baking would be interesting but I think you’d need LOTS of steam.

I then baked it covered for 45 minutes, then uncovered it for 10 more minutes to brown the crust.

To make sure it was fully baked, I checked the internal temperature—210°F, so no frozen center.

Thoughts on the Baked-From-Frozen Loaf

When I cut my first frozen loaf open, I was honestly pretty impressed!

The crust was nice, the crumb looked good, and the bread had a definite sour kick. 

The flavor was more acidic than usual—my husband said it was kind of vinegary, more sour than normal—but not in a bad way.

I liked it, and my husband had no complaints.

What I’d Do Differently Next Time

Here are a few things I’d do differently if I froze my dough again:

• I’d skip the overnight cold retard and put my loaf straight in the freezer after the final shaping. The loaf was quite sour to my taste, and I think this would tone it down.
• I’d score the loaf before freezing it. I had to hack at that frozen dough with a large serrated knife to score it. It felt dangerous.
• I’d like to try freezing it directly in a banneton – perhaps this is a good way to use those horrible silicone bannetons? I wouldn’t be able to score the dough (since the top would be at the bottom), but it would allow for different bread shapes versus the rectangular loaf pan.

I Also Tried Par-Baking and Freezing

In addition to the frozen dough method, I tried parbaking another loaf and freezing it after the covered portion of the bake. 

The idea was that when I was ready to bake, I could just pull it out of the freezer and finish it off with 10–15 minutes in the oven to brown the crust.

Well, I can confirm that after 4 months in the freezer and finally getting it out and finishing up the bake, I’m not a fan. I need to test this out more, but the loaf had a really weird flavor and smell.

It’s almost like a freezer-burnt sensation… hard to describe. One follower suggested it could be the loaf soaking up different scents from the freezer. Although the loaf was wrapped up tightly, it seems like the most plausible explanation for the bizarre smell and taste.

At this point, I know frozen dough turns out well, so that’s the method I’d recommend until I can nail down the par-baking and freezing method.

FAQs

How long can the frozen dough stay in the freezer?

Mine stayed in the freezer for 2 days, but in theory, you should be able to freeze it for several weeks—up to 1 month is a safe bet for best results. Just make sure it’s wrapped well to prevent freezer burn.

Can you leave the dough in the loaf pan to bake?

Yes, you can! If you’re baking in the same loaf pan, just use another loaf pan inverted on top as a lid to trap steam, especially for the first part of the bake.

Does freezing affect the flavor or texture?

Freezing can slightly increase the sourness (mine had a tangier, more vinegary flavor), but the crust, crumb, and rise were still great. As long as your dough is well-fermented before freezing, it should bake up beautifully.

Conclusion

Turns out, you can freeze your dough and make it work when it works for you!

Let me know in the comments: have you tried freezing sourdough bread dough? Did it work?