Sourdough Rye Bread Recipe [hearty + rustic]

1. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup water. Add 2 teaspoons honey. Whisk until yeast dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

   
   

2. Add remaining 1 3/4 cups water to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, along with remaining 3 tablespoons honey, butter, caraway seeds, and salt. Mix on low to combine. Gradually add both flours, one cup at a time, mixing until dough comes away from sides of bowl and forms a ragged, slightly sticky ball. Butter a large bowl.

   
   

3. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball. Transfer to prepared bowl; cover with plastic wrap.

   
   

4. Let dough stand in a warm place until it doubled in volume (it should not spring back when pressed), about 1 hour. Butter two 4 1/2-by-8 1/2-inch loaf pans. Punch down dough and divide in half.

   
   

5. Working with one piece of dough at a time, shape into a 7-by-7-inch square. Fold dough into thirds; press seam to adhere and pinch ends to seal. Place seam-side down in loaf pan. Repeat process with remaining piece of dough.

   
   

6. In a small bowl, mix egg white with 1 teaspoon water and brush mixture over tops of loaves; sprinkle with caraway seeds.

   
   

7. Spray two pieces of plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray; drape loaves with prepared plastic wrap and let stand until dough rises about 1 inch above tops of pans, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

   
   

8. Preheat oven to 450 degrees on a conventional oven or 425 degrees on a convection oven. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees (conventional) or 375 degrees (convection).

   
   

9. Uncover loaves and transfer to oven. Bake, rotating pans after 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer to wire racks. Let cool slightly; turn out loaves. Let cool completely before slicing.

   
   

If you long to bake sourdough rye bread, but you’re worried it might be too hard, then this easy sourdough rye bread recipe was written just for you.

This delicious sourdough rye bread recipe uses a combination of rye flour and bread flour to give you a perfect balance between taste, texture, shape-ability and crumb. Seriously, it’s going to be your go-to rye sourdough recipe in no time!

I’ve shaped this simple sourdough rye bread recipe into a boule, but you can shape it into an oval or batard or even bake it in a loaf pan if you’d prefer. It works really well for sandwiches and toast, so you can just choose the shape that best suits your needs.

What Is Rye?

Rye is a grass, closely related to the wheat family. Rye has an intense taste that can be overpowering if it’s not complemented with other stronger flavors. This versatile grain can be used in beer, whiskey, vodka and of course bread and sourdough! You can even use cracked rye grains in salads and greens for increased flavor and texture.

There are different types of rye including a lighter rye flour and dark rye flour. The darker the rye flour the more vitamins and trace minerals present. Using rye flour in your sourdough baking (or any bread baking) is a fantastic way to give your baked goods a higher nutritional profile.

While rye flour contains less gluten, it’s not considered gluten free.

What You Need To Know About Using Rye Flour

This really is a great rye bread – but the best thing is, it’s much easier to work with than a sourdough made only with rye flour. Being lower in gluten, rye flour really needs to be paired with another flour of higher protein content to ensure it’s not too sticky to shape. The richer, more complex flavors of rye flour really do pair well with the fermentation process which only serve to enhance their complexity.

Dough made with rye flour will be wetter and stickier than you’re used to. The dough can feel a bit overwhelming if you’re not used to it, but rest assured the wet dough will firm up as you perform stretch and folds. As long as bulk fermentation is timed well, you’ll find this dough isn’t too difficult to shape (as long as you have a dough scraper and rice flour on hand).

The most important thing to remember when working with rye flour sourdough is not to panic! If the dough seems to tear, wet your hands and gently perform some stretch and folds to further agitate the gluten structure.

What is the Hydration of Sourdough Rye Bread?

This sourdough rye bread recipe is 80% hydration. It has less flour than a regular white sourdough recipe, as well as liquid molasses (which is not actually part of this calculation).

400g of water (350g of water + 50g from starter) divided by 500g of flour (450g of flour + 50g from starter) equals 80% hydration.

Rye flour absorbs more water than bread flour or all purpose flour, so you need to add more water to make the flour workable. If you feel the dough is too stiff after autolysing this dough, wetting your hands can be a good idea to gradually work extra water into the dough.

Do I Need a Rye Starter?

You don’t need a rye sourdough starter for this sourdough bread, but you can enhance the rye flavor by building a rye levain specifically for this loaf. You definitely do not have to though and you can use your regular active sourdough starter.

But if you do like the idea of using rye for your starter you could build a rye sourdough starter or use your existing sourdough starter to build a rye levain for this sourdough bread.

To build a rye levain, take 20g of your own sourdough starter and feed it with 50g of warm water and 50g of rye flour. Allow the levain to double before you use it in this recipe. This will give your bread an intense rye flavor and can help to build a more sour flavor profile.

How To Make Sourdough Rye Bread

Sourdough rye bread can seem a bit overwhelming because of the way rye flour dough can behave. The great thing about this bread is that it still contains a percentage of bread flour which provides structure and fantastic oven rise to the bread.

Autolyse

Weigh out your bubbly starter, water and molasses into a large ceramic or glass bowl. Mix them together briefly. Then add your rye flour, bread flour and salt and mix altogether with the end of a wooden spoon.

The dough will be fairly shaggy and only just brought together.

Cover your bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel and let it sit for around 1 hour. This process is called the “autolyse” and allows your flour to soak in all the water and become hydrated.

Forming Up Your Sourdough Rye Bread:

After the dough has been through autolyse you need to bring it together into a ball. You’ll notice that the dough is fully hydrated after soaking all the water up.

Work your way around the bowl, grabbing the dough from the outside, stretching it up and over itself until a sticky ball is formed (remember that rye flour will make the dough stickier than you’re used to).

Once the dough has formed into a rough ball, pop the plastic wrap or food cover back on and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Stretch & Folds:

Over the next few hours you need to create some structure for your dough by “stretching and folding”. Aim to do around 4-6 sets of stretches and folds. For each set, stretch the dough up and over itself 4 times. Leave around 15 minutes in between each set. Again you do not have to be exact with time, but you need to do at least 4 sets over 2 hours.

You will need to really work the dough to develop the gluten – because rye flour has a lower gluten content. But do not worry if the dough seems sticky, it will be ok and it will get less sticky during the fermentation process.

*if you want to add caraway seeds, add them during the second stretch and fold*

Bulk Fermentation for Sourdough Rye

Once you’ve finished your stretch and folds, place the plastic wrap or damp towel back over your dough and let it rest and ferment at room temperature until the dough has grown. For this recipe you are looking for the dough to sit just under double (you don’t want over fermented rye as it will be a big sticky mess).

You can find a full guide to sourdough bulk fermentation here.

Shaping Your Dough

Once your dough has finished its first ferment, it’s time to form it back into a ball and give it some shape and surface tension. You’ll need to have a lightly floured surface to shape this rye bread. I don’t normally use flour to shape however you’ll need some rice flour to shape this sticky dough.

Use a silicone dough scraper to gently ease the dough out of the bowl. You want it to land upside down on your counter so that the smooth top of the dough is on the countertop and the sticky underside is facing up. This will make it easier to shape.

Once the dough is shaped into a tight ball, place it into your banneton smooth side down, so your seam is on the top – this way the top of your dough will get the pretty lines from the banneton. If you’re using a cloth or tea towel in a bowl it’s ok to put your dough with the smooth side up. Just make sure the dough is tight.

Lift your dough around the edges to pop a little more rice flour if you feel it needs it. Just try to handle the dough as little as possible and be really gentle as you really want to preserve all the gases and air bubbles that have formed during your bulk ferment.

You will need a floured banneton to put your dough into. If you do not have a banneton, then a bowl or basket lined with a floured tea towel is perfectly fine. Make sure your bowl isn’t too big though, you want your dough to retain some shape.

Whatever you’re using needs to be liberally floured with your rice flour. If you’re using a banneton – liberally sprinkle it with rice flour. If you’re using a cloth or tea towel, rub the flour into it to ensure it becomes non stick.

Cold Ferment

Now your dough is in its proofing basket cover it loosely with a plastic bag or damp tea towel and place into the fridge. I use a large plastic bag to cover it – I just reuse it each time. It’s not totally essential to cover it – you can place it in the fridge uncovered if you’d prefer.

Try to leave it in the fridge for a minimum 5 hours up to a maximum of around 36 hours. The longer you leave it the better your bread will be! A longer cold ferment creates beautiful blisters on your crust and a deeper sourdough flavour. It will also ensure your dough forms a skin which makes it easier to score.

Preparing to Bake Your Sourdough Rye Bread

Once you’re ready to bake your sourdough, you’ll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F.

Place your Dutch Oven into the oven when you turn it on so it gets hot. Try to preheat for around 1 hour to ensure your oven is super hot – but you know your oven so just adjust this time if you need to.

Leave your dough in the fridge until the very last minute – placing a cold dough into a hot oven will give you a great “spring”.

Baking Your Sourdough

When your oven is at temperature. Take your sourdough out of the fridge.

Gently place it onto a piece of baking paper.

Make sure that you make the baking paper big enough to use the edges as a handle to lower to dough into your Dutch Oven.

Gently score your bread with a lame, clean razor blade or knife.

Carefully take your dutch oven out of the oven. Place the sourdough into the pot using the baking paper as a handle. Put the lid on and place into the hot oven. If you want to you can spritz your dough with extra water before you put the lid on.

• 30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus
• 10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F

If you feel your sourdough rye isn’t done, it’s totally fine to leave it in the oven for a bit longer. Sometimes I find that taking it out of the Dutch Oven and placing it on the rack directly for an extra 5 to 10 minutes can help to give your sourdough a deeper, darker crust. This can be important due to the extra moisture content in this bread.

Finishing Your Bake

When you remove your dough from the oven, carefully remove it from the dutch oven as soon as possible and place on a wire rack to cool. Sourdough bread containing rye flour takes much longer to cool than white sourdough bread. I recommend letting your sourdough rye bread cool for at least 12 hours before you cut into it (with your Mercer Knife of course).

Does Rye Bread Always Have Caraway Seeds?

Caraway seeds are a very popular addition to rye bread, particularly in the United States. They are used as a spice in the rye bread and are used to boost the flavor of the bread. Caraway seeds add an aniseed flavor to the rye bread which is quite unique.

A fun fact – caraway seeds are actually the dried fruit of the plant.

You don’t have to add the caraway seeds to your rye bread (and in fact I prefer it without). This is the great thing about making your own homemade sourdough bread – you get to choose what you put in it!

Should I Add Vital Wheat Gluten To Rye Bread?

Vital Wheat Gluten is an additive you can add to flour to increase the protein and thus give you a better gluten network.

It’s often used with low gluten flours like rye and whole wheat. It’s certainly not essential to this sourdough rye bread recipe (because it contains some high protein bread flour) however it’s worth experimenting with to see if you prefer working with dough containing vital wheat gluten.

What To Serve With Sourdough Rye Bread

This delicious sourdough rye bread is just asking to be topped with your favorite things! Here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy this hearty sourdough rye bread:

• spread with homemade cultured butter
• serve with this whipped herb butter for a big flavor hit
• toasted and spread with this fig and cream cheese spread
• used for open sandwiches and topped with tender roast beef and whole grain mustard

Does Sourdough Rye Last Longer Than Sourdough Bread?

Because rye flour absorbs more moisture than white flours (like bread flour), sourdough made with a higher percentage of rye flour has a more moist crumb than you might be used to. This means that it will stay fresher for a little longer than conventional white sourdough bread, which can go stale very fast. I have found that this sourdough rye stays fresh for at least a couple of days, after which it’s perfect for toasting.

Because this rye bread is oh so pretty, I love to store this under a glass cloche on my kitchen counter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does rye flour make sourdough more sour?

Yes using rye flour can enhance the sour flavors of fermented sourdough bread. Rye flour has an intense and more sour flavor than processed white flour. This flavor is further augmented when put through a fermentation process like sourdough (or beer and whiskey making). Using a rye sourdough starter or replacing some of the white flour in your recipe with rye flour is a popular way to make sourdough more sour.

What is the difference between sourdough and rye sourdough?

Sourdough and rye sourdough are both essentially sourdough bread, made using a sourdough starter. Conventional sourdough bread is made with high protein bread flour, whereas rye sourdough contains a percentage of rye flour, if not all rye flour for increased flavor and texture.

Does it make a difference whether you use light rye or dark rye in sourdough baking?

Using light rye or dark rye won’t make all that much difference to the actual process of making sourdough rye. However, dark rye flour will give you a more intense flavor and color to your bread than light rye. Dark rye also contains increased levels of vitamins and minerals, giving bread make with dark rye a higher nutritional profile.

A simple rye bread with big intense flavors perfect for sandwiches. Bake it as a boule or batard or even in a loaf tin, the choice is yours!

• (fed and bubbly) see notes for using levain
• (darker or light rye is fine)

Optional

• (approx. 2 tablespoons)

• Weigh out your sourdough starter, water and molasses into a large ceramic or glass bowl.

  Mix them together briefly. Then add your rye flour, bread flour and salt and mix altogether with the end of a wooden spoon.

  The dough will be fairly shaggy and only just brought together.

  Cover your bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel and let it sit for around 1 hour. It’s ok if it’s a little bit longer, it’s not going to matter too much.

  This process is called the “autolyse” and allows your flour to soak in all the water and become hydrated.

• Forming Up Your Dough:

  After the dough has been through autolyse you need to bring it together into a ball. You’ll notice that the dough is fully hydrated after soaking all the water up.

  Work your way around the bowl, grabbing the dough from the outside, stretching it up and over itself until a rough ball is formed. You shouldn’t need more than about 20-25 folds to form the ball (and remember that rye flour will make the dough stickier than you’re used to).

  Once the dough has formed into a rough ball, pop the plastic wrap back on and let it rest for 30 minutes.

• Stretch & Folds:

  Over the next few hours you need to create some structure for your dough by “stretching and folding”.

  Aim to do around 4-6 sets of stretches and folds. For each set, stretch the dough up and over itself 4 times. Leave around 15 minutes in between each set. Again you do not have to be exact with time, but you need to do at least 4 sets over 2 hours.

  You will need to really work the dough to develop the gluten – because rye flour has a lower gluten content.

  *if you want to add caraway seeds, add them during the second stretch and fold*

• Once you’ve finished your stretch and folds, place the plastic wrap or damp towel back over your dough and let it rest and ferment (see notes).

• Shaping Your Dough:

  Once your dough has finished it’s first ferment, it’s time to form it back into a ball and give it some shape and surface tension. You’ll need to flour your counter top with rice flour for this (we use rice flour because it has no gluten). Try to be quite sparing with the rice flour, you only need a very light dusting.

  Use a silicone dough scraper to gently ease the dough out of the bowl. You want it to land upside down on your counter so that the smooth top of the dough is on the countertop and the sticky underside is facing up. This will make it easier to shape.

  You can shape into whatever you like. I prefer this one as a boule but it also works well as a batard or even in a loaf pan.

• Once the dough is shaped into a tight ball, place it into your banneton smooth side down, so your seam is on the top – this way the top of your dough will get the pretty lines from the banneton. If you’re using a cloth or tea towel in a bowl it’s ok to put your dough with the smooth side up. Just make sure the dough is tight.

  Lift your dough around the edges to pop a little more rice flour if you feel it needs it. Just try to handle the dough as little as possible and be really gentle as you really want to preserve all the gases and air bubbles that have formed during your bulk ferment.

• You will need a banneton to put your dough into. If you do not have a banneton, then a bowl or basket lined with a floured tea towel is perfectly fine. Make sure your bowl isn’t too big though, you want your dough to retain some shape.

  Whatever you’re using needs to be liberally floured with your rice flour. If you’re using a banneton – liberally sprinkle it with rice flour. If you’re using a cloth or tea towel, rub the flour into it to ensure it becomes non stick.

• Now your dough is in it’s “shaping container” cover it loosely with a plastic bag or damp tea towel and place into the fridge. I use a large plastic bag to cover it – I just reuse it each time. It’s not totally essential to cover it – you can place it in the fridge uncovered if you’d prefer.

  Try to leave it in the fridge for a minimum 5 hours up to a maximum of around 36 hours. The longer you leave it the better your bread will be! A longer cold ferment creates beautiful blisters on your crust and a deeper sourdough flavour. It will also ensure your dough forms a skin which makes it easier to score.

• Preparing to Bake Your Sourdough:

  Once you’re ready to bake your sourdough, you’ll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F.

  Place your Dutch Oven into the oven when you turn it on so it gets hot. Try to preheat for around 1 hour to ensure your oven is super hot – but you know your oven so just adjust this time if you need to.

  Leave your dough in the fridge until the very last minute – placing a cold dough into a hot oven will give you a great “spring”.

• Baking Your Sourdough:

  When your oven is at temperature. Take your sourdough out of the fridge.

  Gently place it onto a piece of baking paper.

  Make sure that you make the baking paper big enough to use the edges as a handle to lower to dough into your Dutch Oven.

  Gently score your bread with a lame, clean razor blade or knife.

  Carefully take your dutch oven out of the oven. Place the sourdough into the pot using the baking paper as a handle. Put the lid on and place into the hot oven. If you want to you can spritz your dough with extra water before you put the lid on.

  30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus

  10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F

• Finishing Your Bake:

  When you remove your dough from the oven, carefully remove it from the dutch oven as soon as possible and place on a wire rack to cool. You’ll need to allow this bread a bit longer to cool due to its higher moisture content. It will take up to 12 hours for it to cool completely.

Notes on Rye Starter / Levain – You don’t need a rye sourdough starter for this sourdough bread, but you can enhance the rye flavor by building a rye levain specifically for this loaf. You definitely do not have to though and you can use your regular active sourdough starter.

But if you do like the idea of using rye for your starter you could build a rye sourdough starter or use your existing sourdough starter to build a rye levain for this sourdough bread.

To build a rye levain, take 20g of your own sourdough starter and feed it with 50g of warm water and 50g of rye flour. Allow the levain to double before you use it in this recipe. This will give your bread an intense rye flavor and can help to build a more sour flavor profile.

Notes on Rye Flour – rye flour has a lower gluten content than bread flour and so will make the dough harder to work with. Stick to it though, it should become easier to work with as you move through the stretch and folds. You can use light rye or dark rye for this recipe. Darker rye will give you a more intense color and flavor.

Caraway Seeds – if you want to add caraway seeds you can add them during the stretch and fold stage. I would recommend adding them during the second stretch and fold. They will become fully incorporated by the end of the process.

Notes on Bulk Fermentation – 

Notes on Baking – 

If you prefer a less crusty loaf, wrap in a tea towel and let it cool under that. The tea towel will make the bread sweat a little and soften your crust.

If you’re worried about your bread not being cooked all the way through, turn the oven off and place your dough straight onto the oven rack. Leave the door ajar and let your bread rest there for a few hours.

Sourdough Bread, Sourdough Recipes

Homemade Rye Bread has great flavor thanks to honey, caraway seeds and a long slow rise. Start this rye bread recipe night before to have fresh bread for lunch. 

I’m a huge fan of rye bread in just about any form. If you’ve got a bread starter I highly recommend my Sourdough Rye Bread, Sourdough Rye Crisp Bread or Sourdough Pumpernickel Bread.

I’m kind of picky about Rye Bread, so it’s always homemade in our house.

But this rye bread recipe is so easy there’s no reason not to bake it yourself.

If you want fresh bread for lunchtime, start the night before and your bread is half way done when you get out of bed. 

And that overnight rest is not only good for you, it’s also really good for the taste and texture of your Rye Bread.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

• Rye Flour does not have the gluten forming properties of wheat flour. Use any type of rye flour in this recipe, light, medium or whole grain. Stone ground rye flour has an especially nice flavor and texture.
• Bread Flour is a wheat flour with a high protein content. Higher protein means better gluten development.
• Instant Yeast I prefer instant yeast to rapid rise yeast for a slightly slower rise.
• Honey adds the slightest sweet note which works very well with the flavor of rye flour.
• Caraway Seeds add the characteristic “rye bread” flavor, but they are optional.

How to make Rye Bread:

• Combine the water, yeast, rye flour and 1 cup of the bread flour in a mixer bowl. Set aside for 30-60 minutes.
• During the resting time the sponge will activate the yeast, the flour will absorb water, and the gluten will start to form.
• Add the salt and honey to the sponge. Add the rest of the bread flour.

• After adding the rest of the bread flour the dough will be quite sticky and shaggy.
• After 5 minutes of kneading the dough should gather on the hook and clear the sides of the bowl.

• Let the dough rise 1x, then punch it down. Put the dough back into the bowl. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.
• By the morning the dough should have risen again.

• Sprinkle caraway seeds on top of the dough. Knead the seeds into the dough and shape the loaf.
• Cover the loaf and set aside to rise until doubled in volume.

• Once the loaf has doubled in size, make 5 slashes across the top of the loaf, brush it with egg white, and sprinkle with the rest of the caraway seeds.

• Bake until the loaf is golden brown and the internal temperature of the loaf is 200F.

A timeline for making Overnight Rye Bread:

• Mix the dough the evening before baking day. Refrigerate the dough before going to bed.
• Take the dough out first thing in the morning and shape the loaf.
• Leave the loaf at room temperature to rise for 1 – 1 1/2 hours.
• The dough can be baked the same day it is made. The entire process, including cooling time, takes about 5-6 hours. To have bread ready for lunch, start before 7am.
• If you use rapid rise yeast your rising times will be quite a bit faster, possibly half the time. But remember, the longer rise creates a better tasting loaf.

How to Enjoy Rye Bread

A slice of fresh rye bread slathered with good butter is a simple and perfect treat. But there are many ways to enjoy this bread.

Rye Bread is essential for the classic Reuben Sandwich. Take two slices of rye bread and layer them with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island or Russian dressing. Grill the sandwich and enjoy.

Rye bread is also traditional in a tuna melt. Stuff two slices of rye bread with tuna salad and swiss cheese. Grill until the cheese is melty. Yum.

How to Know when the Rye Bread is Done

The best way to know if your rye bread is done it to use a probe thermometer to check the internal temp. When the center of the bread registers 200F the bread is ready.

If you don’t have a probe thermometer you can try and judge if the bread is done by the color and weight of the loaf. A perfectly baked loaf of rye bread should be golden brown and will sound hollow if you tap the bottom of the loaf.

How to Store Rye Bread

Rye bread keeps extremely well at room temperature for 2-3 days. For longer storage slice the loaf, store the slices in a freezer bag and freeze for up to a month. Defrost or toast the bread as needed.

Pro Tips for making Rye Bread in a Dutch Oven

• Instead of forming the loaf into a football shape, form the dough into a round and place it on a sheet of parchment paper. Preheat a Dutch oven in oven while the bread rises.
• Remove the preheated pan from the oven and remove the lid. Use the parchment paper to lift the loaf into the Dutch oven. Replace the lid on the pot and slide it into the oven.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid from the Dutch oven. The loaf should be well risen and pale in color. Continue baking another 20 minutes until the loaf is nicely browned and beginning to crisp.
• Remove the pan from the oven. Use the parchment to lift the loaf out of the pan. Use the parchment to place the loaf directly onto the rack in the oven. Bake another 5-10 minutes until the loaf is deeply browned and very crisp. Total baking time is about 40-50 minutes.

If you love this rye bread recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.

Homemade Rye Bread Recipe

Homemade Rye Bread has great flavor and texture. Start the night before to have fresh bread for lunch.

• (3 ¼ cups)

• Combine the water, yeast, rye flour and 1 cup of the bread flour in a mixer bowl. Mix until a thick batter is formed. Cover the bowl and set aside for 30-60 minutes.

  16 ounces warm water, 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast, 5 ounces rye flour, 16 ¼ ounces bread flour

• If you’re using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook. Add the honey, salt and and remaining bread flour. The dough should begin to clear the bottom of the bowl and form a ball around the hook. If the dough is extremely sticky sprinkle in a few more tablespoons of bread flour.

  1 tablespoon honey, 2 teaspoons table salt

• Knead the dough for 5 minutes then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. If working by hand, stir in as much of the flour as you can then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 4-5 minutes.

• The dough may be a little sticky so keep your hands well floured. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat the dough. Cover the bowl.

• Rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until doubled in size. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough, cover tightly and refrigerate over night or up to 24 hours. To bake the same day you can skip the refrigeration step and go straight to shaping the loaf.

• Remove the bowl from refrigerator and dump the cold dough onto floured surface. Sprinkle the dough with 1 tablespoon caraway seeds and and knead to distribute the seeds.

  2 tablespoons caraway seeds

• Knead the dough into a smooth ball then taper the two ends for form a football shape. Place the loaf on a wooden peel or sheet pan sprinkled liberally with corn meal. (It you plan to bake in a Dutch oven see notes below)

• Cover with a damp kitchen towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, and it springs back slowly when poked, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to . If you have a baking stone place it in the oven to preheat.

• Make 5 diagonal slashes in the dough with a single edge razor or very sharp knife. Brush the dough with egg white and sprinkle with another tablespoon of caraway seeds. Slide the dough onto the preheated stone or slide the sheet pan into the oven.

  1 egg white

• The bread is ready when the internal temperature of the loaf is . Baking time is approximately 25 minutes.

• Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

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To bake rye bread in a Dutch oven, instead of forming the loaf into a football shape, form the dough into a round and place it on a sheet of parchment paper. Preheat a Dutch oven in oven while the bread rises.

Remove the preheated pan from the oven and remove the lid. Use the parchment paper to lift the loaf into the Dutch oven. Replace the lid on the pot and slide it into the oven.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the lid from the Dutch oven. The loaf should be well risen and pale in color. Continue baking another 20 minutes until the loaf is nicely browned and beginning to crisp.

Remove the pan from the oven. Use the parchment to lift the loaf out of the pan. Use the parchment to place the loaf directly onto the rack in the oven. Bake another 5-10 minutes until the loaf is deeply browned and very crisp. Total baking time is about 40-50 minutes.

1. Place bread flour, rye flour, potato flakes, caraway seeds, demerara sugar, yeast, and sea salt in the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn mixer to low and thoroughly mix dry ingredients. Beat warm water, canola oil, and pickle juice into dry ingredients.

   
   

2. Switch to the dough hook attachment and beat until dough is rough and shaggy-looking. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for exactly 30 minutes.

   
   

3. Remove plastic wrap and knead with the dough hook until smooth, firm, and only slightly sticky, 6 to 8 minutes. Turn dough onto a floured work surface and knead until smooth, 1 to 2 more minutes.

   
   

4. Form dough into a ball. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, set into a warm place, and let rise until nearly double, about 1 hour.

   
   

5. Grease a 5×9-inch loaf pan. Turn dough onto a lightly oiled surface, shape into a log, and place into the prepared loaf pan. Cover with a cloth kitchen towel and let rise until top of dough has risen slightly over the top of the pan, 60 to 90 minutes.

   
   

6. Place rack in the middle of the oven; preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

   
   

7. Bake loaf in preheated oven until golden brown and cooked through, about 35 minutes. The internal temperature of the bread should be 190 degrees F (90 degrees C). If loaf browns too quickly, cover loosely with a tent of aluminum foil with the shiny side out. Remove loaf from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

   
   

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This recipe for homemade Rye Bread gives you a perfect rustic loaf, loaded with fibre and aromatic caraway. With my step-by-step instructions and detailed tips, you’re guaranteed a success no matter your baking expertise level.

The Best Rye Bread Recipe

I’ve been baking up a storm lately! When I have free time on my hands, I always gravitate to my true calling: bread making. Most bread recipes are made with a short list of ingredients and incredibly easy steps. Nothing is quite as satisfying as pulling out a gorgeous homemade loaf from the oven!

Not to mention that smell. The aroma of freshly baked bread is absolutely hypnotizing. Especially with the caraway seeds in this loaf of rye bread! You’ll barely be able to contain yourself while it’s baking. Trust me, it’ll all be worth it in the end once you sink your teeth into a slice.

What Is Rye Bread?

This variety of bread is more dense, fibre rich, and a bit darker than whole wheat bread. While the flavor is a bit stronger than typical white or whole wheat bread, the main source of flavor that we all recognize and love about rye bread comes from the caraway seeds.

While similar to pumpernickle, rye bread is a little more airy and light. It’s the perfect type of loaf to make when you want to pack a bit more flavor into your bread while still maintaining a great balance between a soft and dense bite.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Yeast – Active dry yeast. If you use instant yeast, you can skip the first proofing step and mix it straight into the flour.
• Water – It’s super important to make sure your water is lukewarm. The best temperature of the water should be anywhere from 95 degrees to 105 degrees for this. You don’t really want anything warmer, as it will kill the yeast.
• Brown sugar – While granulated can be used instead, brown sugar will give your bread a deeper flavor.
• Salt – To taste.
• Caraway seeds – The classic flavor of rye bread comes from caraway seeds. Make sure they’re fresh, and not stale.
• Vegetable oil – Canola or olive oil will work too.
• Flours – Rye, and all purpose. You can also add in a bit of whole wheat flour, so for example instead of 3 cups of all purpose flour, use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2 cups all purpose.
• Cornmeal – For dusting.

How To Make Rye Bread

1. Proof the yeast: Add the lukewarm water and yeast to the bowl of your mixer. Give it a quick stir, and leave the mixture for 5-10 minutes to foam up.
2. Form the dough: Add the brown sugar, salt, caraway seeds, oil, rye flour, and 2 1/2 cups of the all-purpose flour. Using the dough hook, mix on medium speed until smooth. Add the remaining flour and mix until the dough is firm and comes clean off the sides of the bowl. About 5 minutes.
3. Rise: Spray a large mixing bowl with cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl, spritz the top of the dough with oil, and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free environment for 30-40 minutes, or until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 425F. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and sprinkle it with a bit of cornmeal. Punch the dough down and form it into a ball by pulling the dough from the center to underneath, repeat these pulls about 4 or 5 times. Sprinkle some flour over the risen dough. Cut a few slashes into the top of the dough with a sharp knife. Place the ball on the the prepared baking sheet. Let it rise for 30-40 minutes or until doubled in size in a warm, draft-free environment.
4. Bake: Pour 1 cup of water into a shallow metal pan and place it onto the lower rack of your oven. Transfer the dough, with the parchment paper, onto a baking sheet or dutch oven. Bake for 30 minutes or until crusty and golden brown.

How to tell when my bread is done baking

Every oven is different. Not sure if your bread is done? Turn the loaf upside down and give the bottom a firm thump with your thumb. It’ll sound hollow when it’s done.

You can also use an instant read thermometer. Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the loaf. It’ll read 200F when the bread is completely done.

Best place for your dough to rise

Dough thrives in a warm, draft-free environment. If your oven has a “proof” function, then use it. The “proof” function preheats the oven to 100 F degrees, causing a warm, but not hot environment for your dough to rise nicely.

If your oven doesn’t have this “proof” function, I would still use the oven. What I usually do is preheat the oven to 200F degrees, or whatever the lowest setting is for it. Once it reaches that temperature, turn off the oven, then place the dough in there to rise. This will speed up the proofing process tremendously.

My dough isn’t rising!

The most important part about bread baking is the yeast. If you are having trouble getting the dough to rise, this is an issue with your yeast.

• Make sure your yeast is new. Even if it’s close to the expiry date but not past it, the yeast may be dead.
• If the yeast doesn’t foam up in step 1, stop. The bread will not rise. This can be one of two issues:
  • The water was too hot and killed the yeast. You just want want lukewarm- about 110F/43C.
  • The yeast is dead and you’ll need a new jar.
• Yeast thrives in a warm environment. Preheat your oven to the lowest setting, then turn it off. This is a perfect draft-free place for your dough to rise.
• Last, but DEFINITELY not least, store your yeast in the freezer and it’ll stay fresh much longer.

What to serve with your freshly baked bread

You can make some gorgeous sandwiches:

Or serve it as a side to soak up these saucy dishes:

How to store homemade rye bread

The bread will need to be fully cooled down to room temperature before storing. Keep your loaf in a bread box, large freezer bag, airtight container, or cake plate with a dome to ensure it doesn’t go stale. It’ll last 3-4 days at room temperature or 6-9 days in the fridge.

How to freeze homemade rye bread

Wrap the loaf well with both plastic wrap and foil. It’ll last frozen for 3 months. Let it thaw at room temperature, or you can use your microwave if it has a bread function.

Looking to expand your bread baking repertoire?

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

This recipe for homemade Rye Bread gives you a perfect rustic loaf, loaded with fibre and aromatic caraway. With my step-by-step instructions and detailed tips, you’re guaranteed a success no matter your baking expertise level.

• active dry yeast

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

• Proof the yeast: Add the lukewarm water and yeast to the bowl of your mixer. Give it a quick stir, and leave the mixture for 5-10 minutes to foam up.

• Form the dough: Add the brown sugar, salt, caraway seeds, oil, rye flour, and 2 1/2 cups of the all-purpose flour. Using the dough hook, mix on medium speed until smooth. Add the remaining flour and mix until the dough is firm and comes clean off the sides of the bowl. About 5 minutes.

• Rise: Spray a large mixing bowl with cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl, spritz the top of the dough with oil, and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free environment for 30-40 minutes, or until doubled in size.

• Form the bread: Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and sprinkle it with a bit of cornmeal. Punch the dough down and form it into a ball by pulling the dough from the center to underneath, repeat these pulls about 4 or 5 times. Sprinkle some flour over the risen dough. Cut a few slashes into the top of the dough with a sharp knife. Place the ball on the prepared baking sheet. Let it rise for 30-40 minutes or until doubled in size in a warm, draft-free environment.

• Preheat the oven to 425 F°. Place a shallow pan (not glass, glass will break) on the lower rack in the oven. Transfer the baking sheet to the middle rack in the preheated oven. Pour 1 cup of water in the shallow pan on the lower rack.

• Bake for 30 minutes until crusty and golden brown.

1. You can mix the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour, so use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2 cups of all-purpose flour.
2. You can also place the loaf of bread in a Dutch oven to bake, if doing so, make sure to preheat the Dutch oven first.
3. Do not use a glass pan for the water bath in the oven, as it will break.
4. The bread will need to be fully cooled down to room temperature before storing. Keep your loaf in a bread box, large freezer bag, airtight container, or cake plate with a dome to ensure it doesn’t go stale. It’ll last 3-4 days at room temperature or 6-9 days in the fridge.

Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.

Hint of sour taste that is slightly similar to sourdough, rye bread has a deep earthy flavor with flat and chewy texture. It is not the same as typical white bread or whole wheat bread. 

The bread consist of caraway seeds, which brings out the strong characteristic of earthy flavor of the light or dark rye. Due to its unique flavor, it is quite often for someone to get confused with what foods to consume in combination with rye bread. 

What to eat with rye bread? A slice of rye bread pairs well with cream cheese and smoked salmon as a classic combination. If you crave sweet and salty flavors, go for spread of raspberry jam and top with goat cheese. 

Rye bread can be served as breakfast, brunch, or lunch as well. Wholesome flavor combination include egg and spinach, smoked mackerel and red onion, or pear, cinnamon and toasted nuts with salted butter. 

Its bitter and sour flavor gives it a variety of options with many recipes because it blends with almost any variety, including cheeses. 

In this article, our focal point is the various foods that can be enjoyed with rye bread. Answered below are frequently asked questions about pairing rye bread with other foods, and what ingredients go best together. 

What tastes good with rye bread?

With the right ingredient combination, rye bread taste so much better than a regular loaf of bread. It is rich in flavor that pairs well with sweet, sour, salty, and savory. 

If you are looking for specific ingredients that taste good with sliced rye, here are options to fill your sandwich with:

• Fruits: dried apricots, cherries, raisins, figs, dates, plum, peach, blueberry, orange, grapefruit, pears, black currant
• Meat: corned beef, roast beef, pastrami
• Vegetables: cucumbers, onions, green cabbage, arugula, eggplant, spinach, avocado
• Cheese: cheddar, swiss, parmesan, cream cheese, goat
• Condiment: mustard, mayonnaise, hummus, pesto
• Nuts: walnuts, pecans, almonds, pine nuts
• Spices: cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, fennel

What cheese goes well with rye bread?

The best cheese that goes well with rye bread is a nutty swiss, cheddar, parmesan, and cream cheese. 

In the case of swiss cheese, it is often paired with a Reuben sandwich or patty melt. Cheddar cheese is perfect with rye bread to make grilled cheese sandwich. 

Adding parmesan cheese on rye bread is widely used for cocktail party bites and appetizers. 

Lastly, cream cheese is considered as spread to make sandwich with smoked salmon, tuna, or avocado.

• swiss cheese
• provolone cheese
• cheddar cheese
• cream cheese
• parmesan cheese

The ability of rye bread to maintain its mild flavor can be regulated by the amount of rye flour added to the dough. Whether the rye bread is dark or light will greatly affect the rye flavor of the actual recipe. 

What meats go well with rye bread?

Depend on what kinds of sandwich you are making, popular and classic meat options that go well with rye bread are corned beed, pastrami and ground beef.

On the other hand, other meat options to pair with rye bread include:

• bacon
• brisket
• turkey
• ham
• chopped liver
• ground beef

What flavor goes well with rye bread?

Flavors that go well with rye bread are bitter-sweet and sharp tastes from pepper and citrus, fruits, and chocolate with nuts.  Rye bread has an earthy tang that is slightly malty on the palate.

Here is best flavor combination to serve with rye bread:

• rye bread + cream cheese + tuna
• rye bread + swiss cheese + pastrami + sauerkraut
• rye bread + corned beef + sour cream
• rye bread + walnuts + cranberry
• rye bread + chocolate + cherry

What foods go well with rye bread?

Nutty, hardy and strong flavored rye bread generally works well as a sandwich. Whether you are looking for a sweet or savory sandwich to eat at lunch or snack, here are food options that go well with rye bread.

• Peanut butter and grapes
• Sliced tomatoes and topped with sautéed mushrooms
• Mix strawberries and banana in yogurt and drizzle honey on top of rye bread
• Cream cheese with black currant jam
• Cream cheese with smoked salmon, sliced red onion and chopped chives
• Smear honey on the bread and top with banana slices
• Spinach or pesto and boiled egg with chili sauce
• Mashed avocado with lime and sliced radish

Eat With Rye Bread: Conclusion

Rye bread blends perfectly well with cheese, fruit, nuts, vegetables as well as a variety of meats. Due to its slightly sour aftertaste with earthy tones, rye bread makes a great sandwich for lunch or snack. 

When smeared with cream cheese and top with smoked salmon or smashed avocado, it can transform into healthy or classic recipe of your choice. For other protein option, the rye bread also taste good with bacon, brisket, turkey, ham, chopped liver and burger patties. 

Generally, rye bread is well-known for rueben, patty melts and pastrami sandwiches. However, it can become delicate and light with raspberry jam, honey, or roasted pear to sweeten the toast. 

Cream cheese, swiss, cheddar, and parmesan all blend well with rye to transform a savory dish.

Try out the flavor combination listed in this article to help to build you knowledge of different foods that pair with rye bread. Due to the ability of rye bread to blend greatly with other kinds of food recipes, it makes delicious mergers that are quite exquisite.

Certain combinations are so tightly connected that it would be inconceivable to think of one without the other. Cookies and milk, peanut butter and jelly, pastrami and rye, it’s all the same. Trying to imagine a reuben or a pastrami sandwich without rye bread is a difficult task for any foodie’s mind.  Still, we have to ask ourselves what exactly makes rye bread taste the way it does because taste and texture are important when pairing anything together.

Rye bread has seen something of a rejuvenation over the last few years. According to The New York Times, numerous bakeries and restaurants across the United States, aided by farmers from Maine to Minnesota, are contributing to the revival of heritage grains. Rye is a simple, historic, and hearty grain to grow. However, it is not correct to say that rye itself is the predominant flavor of rye bread because there are other flavors at play across a variety of rye-based breads. But there is one flavor so indicative of rye bread that it’s been mistaken for the flavor of rye itself.

Caraway seeds add depth

We’re talking, of course, about caraway seeds. These aromatic little seeds that are a member of the parsley family with a sweet yet tangy flavor (via Spice Advice). They are responsible for the “vibrant, earthy flavor a little like a strong herbal tea,” in rye bread, per Thrive Cuisine. Caraway is a very common ingredient in commercially baked rye bread, so much so that it’s been misconstrued for the flavor of the actual rye grain, per Zingerman’s Bakehouse. 

Rye has a flavor profile uniquely its own. Far from the citrusy tang of caraway seeds, King Arthur Baking invites us to think of rye as a combination of earth, malt, and nuts, kind of like an old-fashioned milkshake. In addition to its unique flavor, rye has a chewy texture because of its naturally low gluten content and high moisture retention. 

In order to really get an idea of rye’s depth of flavor, you need to try a slice of pumpernickel. Pumpernickel is a bread notorious for how long it takes to make, but the result is a deep, darkly rich rye-based bread with an amalgamation of sweet and sour flavors (via German Food Guide). While it’s heavier than many other types of rye bread, including rye sourdough, pumpernickel will still give you the most rye for your buck.