Once You Make Sourdough Bagels at Home, There's No Going Back.

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These sourdough bagels are made with just 7 ingredients (and no supplemental yeast!). They take some time to make, but the final flavor and texture is well worth it! Totally customizable with your favorite seasoning, dried fruit, cheese, etc.

Close-up view of sourdough bagels of vary flavors, including plain, cheese, and everything.

Homemade Sourdough Bagel Recipe

Today we’re making authentic sourdough bagels! You won’t need any store-bought yeast for this recipe; just homegrown sourdough starter and a few pantry staples. They take a bit of time to make, but that time is just what you need to make bakery-worthy, chewy bagels with a fantastic sourdough depth.

4 Things to Know About This Recipe:

Taste: The sourdough adds depth of flavor without overpowering any mix-ins or toppings you choose to add. I include a few of our favorites flavorings below!
Technique: Pretty easy! There’s some kneading and shaping involved, but nothing too complicated.
Ingredients: Very simple and basic–we’re using just seven ingredients today! Most importantly, we are not using any supplemental yeast, which means these are real deal, authentic sourdough bagels.
Time: While the process is fairly simple, this sourdough bagel recipe is a two-day commitment, so keep this in mind before you get started. This is because we are using sourdough starter instead of a combination of sourdough discard and yeast (just like when making my sourdough donuts). You cannot rush the process; it will be an exercise in patience, but your patience will be greatly rewarded with chewy, fresh bagels 😉

Ingredients

We’re keeping things super simple; here’s what you need (plus I recommend an egg for the egg wash–I forgot to add that before I snapped this photo!).

Sourdough starter. Use an established, active and bubbly sourdough starter. If you haven’t yet begun your sourdough journey, head on over to my post on how to make a sourdough starter.
Honey. We’ll add this to our dough and to the boiling water we’ll dip our bagels in before baking (a key step for that classic bagel texture and appearance).
Bread flour. Bread flour really is best here; I don’t recommend substituting all-purpose flour (bagels will be more fluffy and less chewy, and a good bagel should have a nice chew). Note that you may need more or less than what I recommend and should add this by how the dough feels/looks, just like when making my sourdough soft pretzels.
Egg (not pictured above). We will whisk this with a little water to make an egg wash for brushing over our bagels before adding any toppings and baking.
Cornmeal (not pictured above). This is optional, but if you want to sprinkle some over your pan before you add your bagels, feel free. It adds a little texture and helps keep the bagels from sticking to the pan, but isn’t really necessary if you use parchment paper.

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

SAM’S TIP: Traditionally, you would boil your bagels in water and barley malt syrup. Barley malt syrup can be difficult to find, so I typically substitute this with honey (which works very well). You can use either; just know one is not a direct substitute for the other. I include measurements for both in the recipe.

How to Make Sourdough Bagels

Hands kneading dough into a smooth ball.

Step 1: Make the dough. Add the warm water, sourdough starter, oil, and honey to a mixing bowl. Stir together, then add the salt and 3 cups of the flour. Gradually add more flour until the dough starts to form a ball and cling to itself, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead with your hands until the dough is smooth and elastic; this usually takes about 10 minutes (add any mix-ins towards the end of this process). Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for several hours. Once it has nearly doubled in size, transfer the dough to the fridge and ferment overnight.

Hands stretching a hole into a dough ball to make a bagel.

Step 2: Shape the dough. Deflate the dough with your hands and divide into 12 equal pieces, forming each into a tight ball. Poke a hole in the center of each ball with your thumb, making each hole about 2″ wide (they will shrink!).

Overhead view of bagels proofing under plastic wrap.

Step 3: Proof. Place the bagels on a parchment lined baking sheet (dust with cornmeal first, if desired), then cover. Let rise until they look puffy, about 30 minutes.

Bagel being dipped into a boiling water and honey mixture before baking.

Step 4: Boil. Boil each bagel in the water and honey mixture, about 1 minute per side. Drain, then return the bagels to the baking sheet and brush liberally with egg wash. Add any toppings now, if you plan to use them.

Overhead view of a tray of homemade sourdough bagels, with three different flavors on the tray.

Step 5: Bake. Bake one tray at a time until golden brown. I like to check my bagels with a digital thermometer; the centers should reach 205F when they are done.

SAM’S TIP: I don’t recommend baking more than one tray of bagels at a time unless you really, really know your oven well. It’s totally fine to let one tray of bagels sit on the counter while the other one bakes (just like when making sourdough pretzels).

Close-up view of an everything seasoned sourdough bagel.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between a sourdough bagel and a regular bagel?

Traditional bagels (like my homemade bagels) use commercial yeast for their rise, while sourdough bagel recipes rely on the wild yeast from an active, bubly sourdough starter.

As a result, sourdough bagels take much longer to make (the long fermentation is critical), and they have a slightly tangy flavor similar to a sourdough bread. They still have that perfectly chewy, classic bagel texture though!

Are sourdough bagels healthier than regular bagels?

Much like my sourdough bread recipe, sourdough bagels have a lower glycemic index, are easier to digest, and have less ingredients (and no preservatives!) compared to standard store-bought bagels.

What flavorings can I add to sourdough bagels?

You can always add dried fruit like blueberries or raisins, minced onion or garlic, asiago cheese, cinnamon, chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc.

Or, skip any mix-ins and just add a topping like sesame seeds, a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar, poppy seeds, coarse salt, or everything bagel seasoning. There are lots of options here!

Can I make sourdough bagels with all-purpose flour?

Bread flour really is best for making these bagels as it has a higher protein content and results in chewier bagels (which is what we’re aiming for). If you use all-purpose flour, the recipe will still “work”, the bagels will just ve less chewy. If all I had on hand was all purpose flour, I wouldn’t let it stop me from making this sourdough bagel recipe, I would just make a mental note to make sure I tried them with bread flour next time, because they’re even better that way!