For More Flavorful Sourdough Bread, Reach For This Condiment (It's Summer In Every Bite)

Have you caught the sourdough bug? The trend has been an ongoing phenomenon that's taken over TikTok since the pandemic, with people sharing videos of themselves adding their favorite mix-ins, cutting their crunchy loaves into aesthetically pleasing cross-sections, and tending to their starters like they're children. 

Although the recipe for a quality sourdough bread is pretty simple — sourdough starter, flour, water, sometimes commercial yeast, and salt — there are so many opportunities for customization, and you can even add your sourdough discards to other types of bread (and baked goods) like focaccia. One of the tastiest ways to upgrade sourdough-anything is to swap out some or all of the the water for another liquid ingredient — like salsa. 

A salsa sourdough is a one-way ticket to savory town. The tomatoes will perfectly complement the acidic tang of the sourdough, and any spices and seasonings in the salsa will already elevate your bread even more. Plus, when you bite into a piece of soft tomato, you'll get a burst of moisture and flavor that will make whichever sandwich you eat it with that much more compelling. 

While there is a decent payoff to perfecting your salsa-sourdough combination, the process is not quite as easy as with other mix-ins. A delicious loaf of bread hinges on the perfect hydration ratio, which varies based on the type of bread. Focaccia, for example, is a very well-hydrated dough, so it can stand some liquid additions like salsa. However, a drier bread, like sandwich bread or bagels, doesn't take kindly to extra water. 

With that in mind, if you're just starting, we recommend going with a beginner-friendly bake like focaccia. It requires very little handling and comes together in no time at all, and since it's such a high hydration dough, you shouldn't have many problems with its texture when swapping one liquid out for another. Try substituting a wet salsa for water in your recipe to infuse it with a summery flavor. 

We say "wet" salsa here because not all types of salsa are conducive to bread baking. Chunky salsas (like pico de gallo) won't add much to the hydration, so they're not a good substitute for liquid. Cantina- or restaurant-style salsas, on the other hand, are good options.