• Alyssa Fontaine, RD
• Apr 11, 2025

Is Sourdough Plant-based?

It’s believed that sourdough bread originated from Egypt. In modern times, this type of bread can be found in grocery stores, bakeries or even made at home.

Say you have a loaf of sourdough bread on your table. You imagine a slice from the loaf: soft, a golden crackly crust, and a slightly tangy flavour – wait a second.

Can vegetarians eat sourdough bread? How about vegans? It can be challenging for people new to plant-based diets to know whether foods align with their preferences. Let’s talk about sourdough!

What’s in Sourdough?

It’s an art to make a loaf of sourdough bread. To successfully bake a loaf of bread, you need a leavening agent to make it rise. 

The leavening agent in sourdough is a bubbly sourdough starter, a culture of naturally occurring, wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria. Both wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria are single-celled organisms, which are not considered animals. Fun Fact: Yeast is considered as fungi like mushrooms.

Wheat flour, water, and time are used to ferment a good sourdough starter. Flour, water, salt, and sometimes oil are mixed with the starter to form sourdough.

The dough is rested, rinsed, scored, and baked into a beautiful loaf of bread.

Is Sourdough Vegan/Vegetarian?

Yes, basic sourdough is vegan and vegetarian. In basic sourdough recipes, the ingredients are flour, water, salt and oil, which are all plant-based ingredients.

Vegans have a plant-based diet that avoids all animal-containing foods. Vegetarians are plant-based that avoids eating meat and poultry, but may prefer to have eggs and/or dairy.

In fancier sourdough bread recipes, there are several ways for animal-based foods to make an appearance. For example:

• Egg, butter, and/or milk mixed into the dough
• Cheeses added into the bread
• Bacon added into the bread
• Lard (animal fat) mixed in the dough
• Sugar (may not be plant-based due to bone char processing) and honey in the bread

Whether you’re vegan or vegetarian, be mindful of food and nutrition labelling and ask if you’re unsure. Learn about Canadian nutrition labelling here.

When buying bread from a store, keep an eye out for hidden animal-containing ingredients:

• Albumen or albumin (from eggs)
• Honey, as colouring or flavour 
• Whey (from milk)
• Casein (from milk)
• Monoglycerides (from animal fat)

Making Sourdough at Home

You might be thinking, “maybe I should try making my own sourdough bread”. You definitely can!

There are plenty of online recipes that guide the bread making process. Making your own bread is one way to guarantee that it will be vegan-friendly or vegetarian-friendly. It does take a long time, but successfully baking a loaf of bread is an achievement!

Who Should Avoid Sourdough Bread?

Because sourdough contains wheat flour, individuals with Celiac Disease, wheat allergy or gluten intolerances should avoid it.

Can you Freeze Sourdough Bread?

Yes, you can freeze bread. The best way to store bread is at room temperature, but you can also store bread in the fridge to make it last longer.

Is Sourdough Healthier than Normal Bread?

Sourdough has a lower glycemic index than regular white bread. This means that sourdough bread won’t spike your blood sugar as much as white bread. 

Furthermore, there are potential gastrointestinal benefits to eating sourdough bread! Sourdough has prebiotics and probiotics, which can promote a healthier digestion.

Do you have other questions about some of your go-to foods having their place into a plant-based diet? Book a free discovery call with a plant-based dietitian today to talk about it!