Sourdough breadsticks are incredibly soft, fluffy, and sprinkled with a garlic parmesan mixture. They’re like Olive Garden breadsticks but are long-fermented for good gut-healing health benefits.

Perfect as the bread component to any meal, and can be frozen for a quick meal finisher any night of the week!

Related: Sourdough Pretzel Bites

Related: Sourdough Discard Bagels

sourdough breadsticks with garlic parmesan topping in a wooden basket with a blue and white tea towel

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Tools You’ll Need

Sourdough Starter – My favorite kitchen “tool” is my active sourdough starter! Learn how to make a sourdough starter in 7 days right here.
Stand Mixer – This isn’t necessary but makes the process so nice! Double the kneading time if using your hands. Find a stand mixer here.
Large Non-Reactive Bowl – I like using glass or ceramic for sourdough foods so the metal doesn’t kill off my yeast.
Water Filter – Super important to use filtered water for sourdough so the contaminants in tap water don’t kill off your yeast. We use a Berkey water filter and LOVE it! Get a discount using my link.
Baking Sheet – even though my food rarely touches the actual metal, I like stainless steel instead of aluminum.
Pizza cutter – Shaping these breadsticks couldn’t be easier. All you need to do is roll them out and slice with a pizza cutter!
Rolling pin – Not necessary, but makes the rolling of the dough much easier.
Pastry brush – Use a pastry brush to slather the melted butter overtop your breadsticks.
Parchment paper – What I cover my baking sheets with if I’m not using silicone mats.

Recipe Highlights

sourdough breadsticks in a tea towel lined basket with garlic parmesan topping with one broken in half so you can see how fluffy they are

No yeast sourdough breadsticks – a pet peeve of mine is when I’m looking for a sourdough recipe and I see a packet of yeast on the ingredients list. This is a true sourdough recipe and you don’t sacrifice fluffiness for it!

Variety of topping options – See my breadstick topping varieties below. They’re really endless!

Can freeze for later – my favorite thing to do with these is to eat a few for dinner the day I make them so they’re nice and warm, then freeze the rest for another night when I need a quick bread component.

Flexible baker’s timeline – The timeline is super flexible – you can do a one-day timeline, or overnight. The choice is yours!

How to Make Sourdough Breadsticks using Starter

Fluffy and flavorful long-fermented sourdough breadsticks slathered with melted butter and a garlic-parmesan topping. The whole family will love these breadsticks!

Sourdough Breadsticks Ingredients

Sourdough starter – make sure she’s active and bubbly.
Filtered water – filtered water is important with sourdough. Contaminants in tap water could kill off the yeast.
Honey – I like to use honey as a natural sweetener for this recipe.
Sea salt – I use either Maldon’s flake salt or Celtic grey sea salt.
Butter – Quality butter is important – grass-fed, organic butter is what I get.
Unbleached all-purpose flour – if you’re using a different flour with a different hydration level, you’ll need to adjust the water content.

Garlic Parmesan Topping Ingredients

Melted butter – you could also go the olive oil route here.
Garlic salt – this adds such good flavor to these breadsticks!
Parmesan cheese – these seriously taste like Olive Garden breadsticks with the parmesan cheese! You could also use nutritional yeast here.

Step by Step Instructions (with photos)

Make your dough using ingredients for the dough (minus salt).
Let your dough sit for 15 minutes.
Add salt and knead dough for 5 minutes on low speed.

adding salt from a blue and white china jar to sourdough breadstick dough in a kitchenaid stand mixer

Transfer dough to greased bowl and ferment for 8-12 hours.

sourdough breadstick dough in a greased ceramic bowl before proofing

Shape your dough into a 12×7 rectangle and use a pizza cutter to make your slices.

using a pizza cutter to cut into dough to make sourdough breadsticks

Transfer breadsticks to a baking sheet and let proof until they puff up.

sourdough breadstick dough in strips on a parchment lined baking sheet rpior to proofing so you can see how flat they are — prior to proofing

sourdough breadstick dough after proofing on a parchment lined baking sheet so you can see how poofy they are — prior to proofing

Bake at 400F for about 10 minutes.

slightly golden brown sourdough breadsticks after baking on a parchment lined baking sheet

Top with melted butter and garlic-parmesan topping.

sourdough breadsticks on a parchment lined baking sheet topped with melted butter and garlic parmesan topping

How to Store Sourdough Breadsticks

As with any sourdough recipe, these breadsticks are best enjoyed on day one of baking. Even better straight from the oven! But here are storage options for you.

Room Temperature

You can store sourdough breadsticks in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Freezer

Sourdough breadsticks freeze wonderfully. Let them cool completely after baking then store in a plastic bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.

It’s best to freeze them without any toppings. When you reheat them, slather the warm, reheated breadsticks with butter and any other toppings you like.

Reheating Sourdough Breadsticks

Whether you stored them at room temperature or in the freezer, sourdough breadsticks can be heated either in the microwave until heated through, or in a 300F oven until heated through.

*It’s best to let frozen breadsticks defrost at room temperature prior to reheating.

In a Pinch Idea

Make-ahead – Make a double batch and freeze some for later. This makes for a great in a pinch bread component to any meal.

Sourdough Breadsticks Tips

fingers holding up a sourdough breadstick that has a bite taken out of it so you can see how soft it is inside

If freezing – Don’t top the ones you plan to freeze for later with any sort of toppings – do this after reheating them to make them taste extra fresh.

Don’t bake too long – they should barely start to turn brown on the top. Baking too long will lose some of the fluffiness.

Test slice – When you’re ready to slice your dough, I like to make a little mark on the edge of the dough before cutting into it to make sure I evenly space the breadsticks.

Salt in the dough – A trick to make sure your sourdough isn’t dense is to add the salt after giving the sourdough starter time to activate in the dough. Don’t skip this step – it’s important.

Flour – less flour makes for fluffier breadsticks. Using too much will make them denser.

How to Make Sourdough Breadsticks Healthier

This sourdough breadstick recipe is already quite healthy – here are the highlights for what makes them healthy, and further options!

a bunch of sourdough breadsticks in a wooden crate lined with a ticking striped tea towel

Sweetener – Use a natural sweetener to sweeten your dough. Honey is a great natural sweetener that is lower on the glycemic index than most sweeteners, it’s unrefined and has great nutrients!
Long fermented – Long-fermented dough provides great gut-healing bacteria. This helps people to digest bread better too.
Quality ingredients – Using quality ingredients will not only help your breadsticks taste better, but they’ll be much better for you too. Go for organic flour, grass-fed butter, raw and local honey.
Toppings – This is the area where it’s easy to make a super healthy sourdough breadstick take a turn for the worst. Using good quality butter or oil will help to prevent this!

Baker’s Timeline

These timelines are very rough and the environment of your home will greatly affect what’s listed below. Use these as a guide and tweak as fits your schedule.

sourdough breadsticks on top of eachother on top of a tea towel both are broken in half so you can see the inner crumb

Overnight option

This will allow you to break bread by 5:30pm.

6am – Feed starter

10am – Make dough

10:30am – Proof dough

4:30pm – transfer bowl to fridge

12pm – Remove from fridge and allow the dough to come to room temperature.

3pm – Shape breadsticks

5pm- Bake and top

5:30pm – Serve

Same day option

This will allow you to break bread by 6pm.

6am – Feed starter

10am – Make dough

10:30am – Proof dough (in a very warm (75F or higher) place so they rise in time for dinner)

4:30pm – Shape dough and let rise in a very warm place.

5:45pm – Bake and top

6pm – serve

Serving Suggestions

My favorite part about these breadsticks is they’re great year-round! Especially in the summer when it’s hot out and you don’t want your oven on too long.

sourdough breadsticks stacked on top of each other in a box lined with a ticking stripe tea towel

Pasta night – Nothing better than pasta and breadsticks. Create Olive Garden in your own home!

Salads – Make a large salad and serve these breadsticks on the side.

Appetizer – Bring these as an appetizer to any potluck, or party.

Sourdough Breadstick Topping Ideas

Butter and sea salt
Sesame seeds
Everything Bagel seasoning
Olive oil
Zaatar seasoning blend

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Berkey water filter (we use the Royal because we drink an insane amount of water!)

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Dutch oven
Stand mixer
Boos Block Butcher Block
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More Sourdough Recipes

Roasted Garlic Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Bagel Recipe

Sourdough Tortillas

Sourdough Flatbread

Sourdough Pizza Crust

Pin it For Later – Sourdough Breadsticks

sourdough breadsticks with garlic and parmesan topping

Related: Long-Fermented Sandwich Bread

Print the Sourdough Breadsticks Recipe

Kyrie | Healthfully Rooted Home

Sourdough Breadsticks

Fluffy and flavorful long-fermented sourdough breadsticks slathered with melted butter and a garlic-parmesan topping.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 10

Fermenting time 12

Total Time 12 40

Servings: 12 breadsticks

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Calories: 250

Ingredients Method Video Notes

Ingredients

3/4 cup Sourdough starter
3/4 cup Filtered water
2 tbs Honey
2 tsp Sea salt
1/4 cup Butter
2 cups Unbleached all-purpose flour

Garlic-Parmesan Topping

2 tbs Melted butter
1 tsp Garlic salt
2 tbs Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast

Method

Add sourdough starter, water, honey, softened butter, and 1 1/2 cups flour to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix until a smooth dough forms.
For the last 1/2 cup flour, add a little bit at a time until the dough begins to pull away from the bottom and sides of the mixer. Only use as much as necessary to form a workable dough.
Let your dough sit for 15 minutes.
Add your sea salt then continue kneading on low speed for 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Transfer the dough to a large greased bowl and cover with a tea towel. Let the dough ferment for 8-12 hours. You'll know it's ready when it's doubled in size. *to make this an overnight recipe, you can allow the dough to ferment for 4-6 hours, put it in the fridge until you're ready to bake. When you're ready to bake, bring it out several hours before shaping to allow it to proof at room temperature.
Shape your dough by rolling it out on a floured surface (make sure your surface can handle a pizza cutter). Use a rolling pin to shape it into a 12×7 inch rectangle.
Using a pizza cutter, slice the breadsticks into 10-12 breadsticks.
Transfer breadsticks to a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about 1-inch space between each one. I split mine onto 2 baking sheets.
Preheat your oven to 400F and allow breadsticks to proof in a warm place for a couple of hours until they puff up. I like to put the pan on top of the stove while the oven preheats since it gets quite warm there.
Bake your breadsticks on the center rack for about 10 minutes. They should just barely start to brown on top.
Remove from the oven and immediately brush with melted butter and sprinkle with the garlic-parmesan mixture.

Video

Watch this video on YouTube

Notes

How to Store Sourdough Breadsticks

As with any sourdough recipe, these breadsticks are best enjoyed on day one of baking. Even better straight from the oven! But here are storage options for you.