Chili Onion Crunch and Scallion Sourdough Bread

This chili onion crunch and scallion sourdough is what happens when my bread-baking obsession crashes into my love of snacky, flavor-packed condiments. The crumb stays soft and chewy, but every bite has little pockets of heat, toasted onion, and fresh, green scallion running through it. The crust bakes up wildly crackly and deeply caramelized—exactly the kind of loaf that sings when it cools on the counter. If you’re ready to level up your everyday sourdough without making the process more complicated, this is the loaf to start with.

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a hand holding a freshly cut sourdough bread loaf

Why you’ll love this loaf

This dough is built on a simple, bakery-style base that I bake every week, so the process stays approachable even if you’re newer to sourdough. The fun happens in the add-ins: cozy heat from chili onion crunch, sweet little pops of toasted onion, and those bright scallion ribbons running through the crumb. It’s the kind of loaf that turns a fried egg or a simple salad into a full-on event.

Freshly baked chili onion crunch sourdough loaf just out of the Dutch oven on the stove

If you’re comfortable with basic stretch-and-folds and an overnight fridge rise, you can absolutely make this bread. I’ll walk you through each step so you know what to look for—from how the dough should feel during bulk fermentation to how dark to take the crust for maximum flavor.

Serving ideas

My favorite way to eat this is still-warm slices with a generous swipe of salted butter and an extra drizzle of chili onion crunch over the top. It also makes the best grilled cheese (especially if you go for the jalapeño cheddar variation), tomato soup’s best friend, and a very fun base for breakfast toast with soft eggs and avocado.

However you serve it, this loaf is meant to be shared at a small, cozy table—the kind where you keep tearing off “just one more” piece. If you bake it, I’d love to see it: tag your loaf on social so we can cheer on each other’s bread adventures.

chili crisp sourdough bread loaf with scallions

Bread · Snack

Chili Crisp and Scallion Sourdough Bread

This chili crisp sourdough bread is layered with chili onion crunch and fresh scallions for a soft, chewy crumb and pockets of heat in every bite. The crust bakes up crackly and deeply caramelized, perfect with salted butter or a fried egg.

Prep: 15 min
Bulk Ferment: 6 to 8 hr
Cold Proof: 8 to 12 hr
Cook: 45 min
Total: 15 hr+

Ingredients

100 g active sourdough starter (about ⅓ cup + 1½ tbsp)
350 g water room temperature (about 1½ cups)
500 g bread flour or all-purpose flour (about 4 cups + 2 tbsp)
10 g fine sea salt (about 1¾ tsp)
3 tbsp chili crisp (mostly the crunchy bits with very little oil)
½ cup chopped scallions (about 4 to 5 scallions)
Rice flour (for dusting)

Instructions

Feed your starter. The night before baking, take your starter out of the fridge and feed it 1:1:1 (starter, flour, water). By morning it should be bubbly and about doubled.
Mix the dough. In a large bowl, combine the starter, water, flour, and salt. Mix by hand or with a stand mixer until no dry flour remains. The dough will look shaggy. Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Stretch and fold. Do 4 rounds of stretch and folds, 30 minutes apart. For each round, grab one side of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it over the center. Turn the bowl and repeat on all four sides. Cover the dough between rounds.
Bulk ferment. Cover and leave at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours, until the dough has grown noticeably, looks domed and bubbly, and jiggles when you shake the bowl.
Add the fillings and shape. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gently stretch it into a rectangle. Spoon the chili onion crunch over the surface, leaving most of the oil behind, then scatter the scallions on top. Fold or roll the dough up to enclose the fillings, then shape it into a round or oval.
Prep your banneton. Dust your banneton or a towel-lined bowl well with rice flour. Rice flour keeps the dough from sticking better than regular flour, which absorbs moisture from the dough. Place the loaf seam side up.
Cold proof. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or up to 48 hours. The longer proof gives the chili crunch and scallion flavors time to work their way through the dough.
Preheat. Place your Dutch oven, with the lid on, in the oven and preheat to 450°F for 45 to 60 minutes.
Score and bake. Turn the loaf out onto parchment, score the top, and lower it into the hot Dutch oven. Bake covered for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and bake uncovered for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is a deep golden brown.
Cool. Let the loaf cool on a rack for at least 2 hours before slicing so the inside can finish setting.

Notes

Go easy on the oil: Use mostly the crunchy bits from the chili onion crunch. Too much oil can make the dough slick, harder to shape, and can weaken the crumb.
Full batch: Double everything to make 2 loaves, just like the base recipe.
Hydration: About 72 to 73%, counting the flour and water in the starter.
Flour: Bread flour gives better structure and oven spring. All-purpose works well too, and I use them interchangeably.
Salt: These measurements are for fine sea salt. If you use kosher salt, weigh it instead, since it’s lighter by volume.
Kitchen temperature: These times are based on a kitchen around 75°F. A cooler kitchen means a longer bulk ferment, and a warmer one means a shorter one.

Made this? Tag me @thattablefortwo, I’d love to see it!