Ciabatta Vs. Sourdough - What's the difference?

There are many different types of bread that seem to be made from the same basic ingredients, yet turn into completely unique and delicious loaves. Ciabatta and sourdough are popular variants, but do you know what sets them apart?

Ciabatta, as you probably know, is Italian, but is that the only thing that separates these two breads?

What is the difference between ciabatta and sourdough? Both ciabatta and sourdough are popular choices for sandwiches, although sourdough is used more for other purposes. The main differences are that the ciabatta uses olive oil, but the sourdough requires a culture of live and wild yeast.

Ciabatta is often used to create the perfect sandwich. It is made with flour, salt, yeast and water, and is usually baked in oblong and flat loaves. The only thing ciabatta uses that most other standard breads, including sourdough, don’t is olive oil.

Sourdough bread is also often baked in round loaves and made with flour, salt, water, and yeast, but in this unique bread, the yeast is a live, wild culture that is made from flour and water and grown in a sourdough ferment.

There are some other important differences between ciabatta and sourdough bread that we discuss in the article below, so read on.

What is ciabatta bread?

In Italian, ciabatta means “slipper,” which is a nod to the flat, round, or elongated shape of the bread, especially when sliced.

Since it’s Italian, a lot of people assume it’s a very traditional style of bread, but it was first made in the 1980s, so it’s actually quite a modern bread. It is made almost exclusively with white flour, which is not very old at all.

Ciabatta was an Italian baker’s response to constant requests for the popular French baguette, which was made with white flour. However, it differs from the baguette both in its shape and in the characteristic air holes.

The ciabatta dough is made with high-gluten wheat flour, which is not unusual for bread, but the dough is moister than a traditional baguette, mainly due to the olive oil added to it.

American ciabatta bakers often use a biga, or ferment, which is similar to that found in sourdough bread. However, in the case of ciabatta, the ferment is not fermented for a long time, so the flavor does not develop as intensely as in sourdough.

Whether or not a biga is used, ciabatta is the bread of choice for making paninis, which are Italian-inspired toasted sandwiches.

The olive oil used in the ciabatta adds some flavor, but it is bland and most ciabattas are quite understated, enjoyed for their texture and what is contained between their slices rather than the flavor of the bread itself.

Ciabatta ingredients

• High Gluten White Bread Flour
• Dry yeast
• Salt
• Water
• Olive oil
• Biga or ferment, according to the recipe

How is sourdough bread made?

Sourdough is a type of bread made with a slow-fermenting “wild” live yeast instead of dry yeast. The characteristic sour taste is developed by the fermentation of flour and water and the bacteria that grow in the process.

Creating a sourdough starter takes time and patience, and can go wrong, but once you have a thriving starter culture, it can be used to bake loaf after loaf of sourdough bread.

Even if they come from the same starter, no two loaves of sourdough bread will taste the same.

Because it’s such a rewarding process, we’ve devoted an entire article to helping you choose the best flour for making sourdough.

Sourdough is often considered one of the healthiest types of bread, despite being made with white flour. Due to the fermentation process to create the ferment, it is a probiotic food, which is good for the healthy bacteria that live in your gut.

Considering that bread is often vilified for causing damage to your gut, count this as a big win for sourdough bread.

Because sourdough has such a distinctive, spicy flavor, it is often eaten on its own merits, simply warm or toasted and lightly buttered. Of course, it brings a lot of character to sandwiches, fillings or even French onion soup.

Sourdough ingredients

• active sourdough
• bread flour
• Water
• Salt

Technically, a sourdough ferment is only made with flour and water.

However, when used in bread, bacterial growth has created a live, natural wild yeast that replaces the dry yeast used in most other types of bread.

Since sourdough is such a seemingly simple recipe, it is important to choose the right recipe for making sourdough bread. Here are our favorite sourdough books to get you started on your baking journey.

Ciabatta vs. Sourdough - Review

To sum things up, here’s a table comparing ciabatta (with or without biga) and sourdough: