by Rachel Leave a Comment
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
This quick Sourdough Cheesy Breadstick with Discard is an easy beginner sourdough recipe that you’ll love! It is a soft, garlicky, pizza-style breadstick topped with herbs, spices, and lots of cheese. No complicated shaping or proofing with this quick recipe. Just mix it up, let it rest, shape, top it with cheese and herbs, bake, and enjoy the cheesy goodness of this amazing sourdough breadstick.
Why this cheesy breadstick is a family favorite!
- It’s perfect for crowds. I often feed 8 or more people and this recipe is easily doubled to accommodate more guests or so you can have leftovers.
- This is a sourdough cheese bread that is quick and easy to make. There is no need to long ferment the sourdough or start early in the morning.
- A great way to use up sourdough discard! If you have extra sourdough discard in your fridge, this is the perfect opportunity to use some of it and make a delicious side dish. No need to use an active starter.
- No fancy ingredients. If you love simple recipes with amazing flavor, this is a perfect easy recipe for you.
Meals to Serve with Cheesy Sourdough Breadsticks
Sourdough discard breadsticks are a good and inexpensive way to make it feel like you went the extra mile to make a meal. It makes the perfect side dish for a steak dinner or a fettuccine dish. I also love serving cheesy breadsticks with a chicken Caesar salad or a hot bowl of venison stew.
What is Sourdough Discard?
Sourdough discard is the portion of sourdough starter that is removed or discarded during the process of feeding or refreshing the starter. Once the starter has risen to peak height and just starts to fall, it is considered an active sourdough starter. If you don’t use it right away, it falls and becomes flatter and less bubbly. Or inactive. The longer it sits at room temperature, the more hungry or sour it gets. It needs to be fed. It has no more strength to rise dough. What happens next is you can either take that whole amount and feed it a 1:1:1 starter, water, flour ratio or you can take a smaller amount like 50 grams, and feed it a 1:1:1 (50 g starter, 50 g water, 50 g flour) or 1:2:2 (50g-100g-100g) ratio depending on how soon you want to bake next. If you aren’t planning on baking in the next 24 hours, feed it and put it into your refrigerator until you are ready for more sourdough baking.
Sourdough discard doesn’t need to go to waste! There are so many great discard recipes that you can make like these Sourdough Discard Rhubarb Muffins.
If you have more sourdough discard to use up, you could also make my popular Sourdough Flatbread with or without discard.
Why this is a great sourdough discard recipe
As every sourdough baker knows, sourdough discard can sometimes add up quickly. I love using my no-fuss method of feeding my sourdough starter and usually don’t have a lot of sourdough discard. But life happens and sometimes I feed my starter with the intention of baking bread and then I don’t get around to it. What then? Why waste discard when you easily incorporate it into your next meal? Sourdough cheesy bread for the win!
This is such a nice soft dough to work with and you don’t need an active starter to make this sourdough breadstick recipe. Although you could totally use one if you have one ready to go!
Ingredients for Sourdough Discard Cheesy Bread Sticks
For the yeast mixture
- Warm water
- Yeast – this recipe uses yeast because it is a quick sourdough recipe. The discard would not be strong enough to rise the dough sufficiently on its own.
- Sugar – I prefer cane sugar. It is used to help activate the yeast.
The rest of the ingredients
- All-purpose flour – You can also substitute for freshly-milled flour like hard white or bread flour.
- Garlic salt – Adds a nice garlicky taste to the dough
- Olive Oil – Buy cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil that has a stamp of traceability from cultivation to bottling.
- Sourdough Discard – A great way to use sourdough disard plus you get that nice sourdough tang!
Cheesy Garlic Herb Butter Topping:
- Melted Butter
- Sea Salt & Pepper
- Spices – Garlic powder, dried oregano, dried parsley, Italian seasoning
- Mozzarella Cheese and Parmesan Cheese – or you can substitute with any cheese that you have on hand
How to make the best Sourdough Cheese Breadsticks with Discard
- In your stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, combine warm water, yeast, and sugar in the mixing bowl.
- Let the yeast mixture begin to foam.
- Add flour, garlic salt, oil, and sourdough discard.
- Mix until smooth and elastic. About 3-4 minutes.
- Put in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the breadstick dough rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin and place on a greased baking tray.
- Brush dough with 2 tbsp melted butter.
- Lightly sprinkle dough with sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, parsley, and Italian seasoning.
- Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.
- Let rise for 15 minutes. Bake breadsticks at 400 F for 15-20 minutes on the lowest rack of your oven so that the bottom gets nice and crunchy. If needed, switch to a higher rack for the last 2 minutes to get the top of the breadsticks a golden brown color.
- Use a pizza cutter to cut the breadsticks. Cut the dough in half the long way. Then cut into 12 equal portions per side to get a total of 24 breadsticks.
- Serve with warm homemade marinara sauce or homemade ranch dip.
Variations for Sourdough Breadstick dough
- Add fresh herbsfrom your garden to bring out even more flavors in this sourdough breadstick recipe
- This recipe can be used as ahomemade pizza dough recipe. I have added toppings like goat cheese, tiny tomatoes, and fresh basil to make a gourmet pizza-style breadstick.
- Makestuffed crustsourdough breadstick. Want amazing cheese stuffed breadsticks? The best trick to making a stuffed crust is to use string cheese. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Place on a pizza pan or sheet pan. Make sure to create a lip around the edges. Arrange the string cheese around the edges of the crust and fold the edges over the string cheese, pinching down to completely seal the cheese inside. Continue with the garlic butter topping and bake according to instructions.
Let me know in the comments of any variations you have tried! I love hearing from you and will include them in future recipes!
If you love this recipe, check out my other sourdough recipes!
Have you ever thought of combing sourdough with freshly milled flour? It mixes the benefits of sourdough with the benefits of whole grain, taking your baking to the next level. Not to mention the incredible health benefits! Try my Fresh Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread to get you started!
Quick Sourdough Cheesy Breadsticks – with Sourdough Discard
This Quick Sourdough Cheesy Breadstick with Discard is an easy beginner sourdough recipe that you'll be making again! It is a soft, garlicky, pizza-style breadstick topped with herbs, spices, and lots of cheese. No complicated shaping or proofing with this quick recipe. Just mix it up, let it rest, shape, top it with cheese and herbs, bake, and enjoy the cheesy goodness of this amazing sourdough breadstick.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 15 minutes mins
Rising time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 50 minutes mins
Servings 24 breadsticks
Ingredients
Yeast mixture
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1 tsp yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
Next add:
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup sourdough discard
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
Cheesy Garlic Herb Butter Topping
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 each tsp salt and pepper
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
Yeast Mixture
In your stand mixer bowl with a dough hook attachment, combine warm water, yeast, and sugar.
Let the yeast mixture begin to foam. About 5 minutes.
Make the dough
Add garlic salt, olive oil, and sourdough discard to the mixing bowl.
Begin mixing on medium speed and add in the flour.
Mix until smooth and elastic. About 3-4 minutes.
Put in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the breadstick dough rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
Roll dough into a rectangle shape on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin. Place on a greased 13×18 baking tray. Press into corners.
Cheesy Garlic Herb Butter Topping
Brush dough with 2 tbsp melted butter.
In a small bowl, combine garlic powder, oregano, parsley, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Lightly sprinkle the herb mixture over the dough.
Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Let rise for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Bake breadsticks at 400 F for 15-20 minutes on the lowest rack of your oven so that the bottom gets nice and crunchy. If needed, switch to a higher rack for the last 2 minutes to give the top of the breadsticks a golden brown color.
Use a pizza cutter to cut the breadsticks. Cut the dough in half the long way. Then cut into 12 equal portions per side to get a total of 24 breadsticks.
Serve with warm homemade marinara sauce or homemade ranch dip.
Notes
You can use any type of herb or cheese for the topping. Mix it up!
Keyword sourdough, sourdough discard
