Perfect for gourmet sandwiches or just for snacking, my sourdough cheddar jalapeño bread is fun, rustic, and oh-so tasty. A fun way to take your sourdough bread to the next level, this recipe is ideal for beginner and advanced sourdough bakers alike!
Cheddar Jalapeño Sourdough Bread
Today we’re transforming classic sourdough bread into an even more flavorful artisan bread experience. This sourdough cheddar jalapeño bread has become nearly a weekly indulgence for my family; we eat it by the slice and use it for the absolute best sandwiches (especially with fresh tomato basil soup!)!
This bread is cheesy and chewy with just the right amount of jalapeño flavor. It’s fun, versatile, and I really think you’re going to love it as much as Zach does (the man will destroy an entire loaf by himself if left alone with it for even a minute).
Things to Know About This Recipe
- Texture: Crusty exterior with a springy, chewy interior flecked with melty cheese and bits of jalapeño.
- Taste: Slightly tangy from the sourdough, savory and salty from the cheddar, and a vegetal, mildly spicy note from the jalapeño.
- Appearance: Impressive! This looks like a loaf of artisan bread you’d buy from a fancy bakery. I include instructions on how to add shredded cheese and sliced jalapeños on top for even more flair.
- Difficulty: It’s best if you’ve made sourdough bread before, since we’ll be doing some stretches and folds in this recipe. But, once you’ve mastered the basics, you can definitely handle this one.
- Time: The bread will take 5-7 hours or longer to reach an 80% increase in size. I aim to make the dough no later than noon so it has enough time to rise at room temperature before fermenting in the fridge overnight.
Ingredients
This sourdough cheddar jalapeño bread recipe uses just eight ingredients. I’ll go over a few before we get started with the recipe.
- Sourdough starter. Make sure your starter is active, nice and bubbly before you begin. Most of you likely already have this on hand if you’re reading this post, but in case you’re new to the sourdough club, I have a whole post on how to make a sourdough starter.
- Jalapeño. You can slice the jalapeños thin or dice them small (or do a combo of both!). They largely disappear in the bread (you can’t see much of them after cutting in), but the taste is definitely there! I typically de-seed my jalapeños, but you can leave some of the seeds in if you like a spicy kick!
- Cheddar cheese. I always recommend shredding your own cheese, whether you are making mac and cheese, quiche, or this jalapeño cheese bread. Store-bought shredded cheese has anti-caking additives that can keep the cheese from melting nicely, so shredding your own is a nice way around this and takes only minutes.
- Honey. We’ll add just a touch of honey for flavor and moisture. Don’t worry, this won’t make your bread sweet! Though if you do like a spicy/sweet combination, try a slice with some honey butter!
- Bread flour. Bread flour yields the best texture, creating a chewy, springy interior with a crusty exterior. If you must, you can substitute all-purpose flour, but the texture won’t be quite as nice.
SAM’S TIP: Feel free to use a different cheese; Asiago or pepperjack would be great alternatives!
This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe and entire list of ingredients with amounts, please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Sourdough Cheddar Jalapeño Bread
If you’ve made my classic sourdough bread, most of these steps will be super familiar to you. One key difference is that there are fewer stretch and folds, so in my opinion this bread is actually even easier than its cheese-less, spice-less counterpart.
Make the dough & autolyse
Stir the wet ingredients together in a large bowl, then sprinkle the flour and salt overtop. Work the dough together with your hands or a spoon until mostly combined (it will be shaggy, but shouldn’t have any dry patches), then cover and let sit for an hour to autolyse.
This autolyse (resting) period is helpful to hydrate the flour and develop the gluten, as well as the overall flavor of the bread.
Add the add-ins
After your dough has sat for an hour, uncover it and sprinkle the shredded cheese and jalapeños overtop.
I do a mix of diced and sliced jalapeños, which, in the end doesn’t make much of a difference because you can’t really see them when you cut into the bread. I do like to reserve some sliced jalapenos for sprinkling on top, though!
Stretch & fold
Stretch one side of the dough up and over the opposite side. Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat three more times before covering the bowl with plastic wrap. If you need a visual, check out my sourdough bread video where I demonstrate this.
Let the dough sit for 30 minutes, then do your stretch and folds another time. Repeat this process of resting, stretching, and folding until you’ve done it a total of four times.
Stretching and folding adds some lift to your bread and helps strengthen the gluten. You only need to do this a few times with this recipe.
Rest and ferment
Cover and let the dough rest in a warm spot for 5-7 hours or until increased in size by about 80% (I don’t like to quite let it double). After it’s risen, transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 12-24 hours. This overnight ferment helps the sourdough flavor shine.
Bake
I bake this bread in a Dutch oven, but you could follow my instructions in my classic recipe to bake in a classic loaf pan (there’s a note at the bottom of the recipe on how to do this).
Make a parchment sling for your dough to easily transfer it and gently lower it into your dutch oven. Score it with a knife or lame and let it rest while your oven preheats.
Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncover the dough and bake for another 20-23 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 205F. Let the bread sit for 10-15 minutes before lifting from the pan and placing on a cooling rack to cool completely.
SAM’S TIP: An instant read thermometer is really the best way to tell if the bread is done. You want your bread to be 205F (96C).
Frequently Asked Questions
You can, but I usually don’t because it’s just fussier. I don’t find there to be a significant difference between putting the bread into a room temperature Dutch oven and a preheated one (Ok, sometimes the bread in a hot pot rises a little more)l
To do this, preheat the Dutch oven (just pop it in the oven while your oven is preheating, it should be in there for at least 20 or 30 minutes). Remove it carefully from the oven. Your bread dough should be on parchment paper, use this to carefully lower the Dutch oven and cover with the lid (again, be careful! Use oven mitts!) and bake 30 mins covered. After 30 minutes, uncover, then bake for another 20 minutes or so until the internal temp reaches 205-208F.
While it’s great on its own, we love eating it by the slice with chili or taco soup, tomato soup or broccoli cheddar soup (really, any soup!). but it also makes an amazing sandwich bread for grilled cheeses, avocado toast, and breakfast sandwiches. I sometimes like to put my scrambled eggs on this bread for breakfast.
Sure, if you prefer the taste of pickled jalapeños, you can absolutely use them. Just make sure to drain them well before adding them to the bread.
Enjoy!
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Sourdough Cheddar Jalapeño Bread
Sourdough cheddar jalapeño bread is the ultimate bread for sandwiches or snacking. This recipe is perfect for sourdough bakers who want to take their bread to the next level!
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Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 221kcal
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Instructions
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Before beginning, please note that the dough will need to rise at room temperature until increased 80% in volume – for me this is typically 5-7 hours. After that it will need to ferment overnight in the refrigerator before being baked.
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In a large mixing bowl combine starter, water, oil, and honey and stir well until completely combined.
⅔ cup (150 g) active bubbly sourdough starter, 1 ¼ cup (295 g) warm water, 2 Tablespoons (24 g) olive oil, 2 Tablespoons (42 g) honey
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Add flour, sprinkle salt overtop, and work dough together with your hands or a wooden spoon until it is mostly combined. Dough will be shaggy but should not have any dry patches of flour remaining.
3 ⅔ cups (450 g) bread flour, 2 teaspoons (13 g) table salt
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Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for an hour undisturbed (autolyse).
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Once the hour has passed, sprinkle the top of the dough with shredded cheese and jalapenos.
4 oz (113 g) shredded cheddar cheese, ½ cup jalapenos
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Stretch and fold: Grasp one side of the dough and stretch it up and then fold it over the opposite side of the dough. Turn your dough 90 degrees and repeat this again three more times, for a total of four stretch and folds. (It’s okay if the jalapenos and cheese are not well distributed at this point, they will become more evenly distributed as we do more stretch and folds.)
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Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes. Stretch and fold your dough again as described above. Repeat every 30 minutes until you have done a total of four stretch and folds. After the final stretch and fold, cover dough and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place until it has increased about 80% in size (this will likely take 5-7 hours).
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Once dough has risen, lightly oil a medium-sized bowl and place dough into bowl, tucking the ends under to create surface tension on the dough. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight (up to 24 hours).
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The next day, preheat your oven to 450F (230C). Remove dough from refrigerator, turn it out onto a large piece of parchment paper (you’ll want the parchment to be large enough that when placed in the dutch oven you have enough going up the sides to pull the bread out), and lower dough into 4 quart Dutch oven. Score the top of the bread (see note if you want to add jalapenos and cheese on top – don’t add them here). Allow the dough to rest in the Dutch oven while the oven preheats.
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Once oven is preheated to 425F (230C), cover the dough with the lid and place in oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for another 23 minutes longer (the internal temperature should reach 205).
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Remove from oven and allow bread to sit in the dutch oven for 10-15 minutes before carefully using the parchment paper to lift it out of the Dutch oven and remove to a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing and enjoying.
Notes
Adding cheese and jalapeño on top
If you’d like to add cheese and jalapeno on top, add them after the first 30 minutes in the oven. Just be quick about it and have the toppings ready to go, the less time the bread is out of the oven the better.
Preventing over-browning on the bottom
Place a baking sheet in your oven and place the Dutch oven on top of the baking sheet when baking to help minimize the chance of the bottom of your bread burning.
Baking in a loaf pan
This bread could alternatively be baked in a loaf pan. You can follow the instructions in my sourdough bread recipe or simply place in a standard-sized loaf pan and bake as indicated.
Storing
Store in an airtight container or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. This bread also freezes well. I like to slice it and wrap the individual slices, then toast them to defrost them.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 221kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 452mg | Potassium: 57mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 136IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 74mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.