Pain Au Levain vs Sourdough – Here’s What Sets Them Apart

Last updated on June 24th, 2026

So you’ve been baking with a sourdough starter for quite some time now, but haven’t quite become accustomed to some of the terminology floating around. A levain and sourdough starter might be similar, but they also have many differences that you should know of. Some of these are outlined below.

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Levain vs. Sourdough Starter (The Easy Answer)

Your sourdough starter is like a pet: you feed it regularly and keep it alive indefinitely. It is a live culture that you continuously fed and maintain.

A levain is a smaller portion of this starter. It’s what you get when you take a little of your starter and feed it fresh flour and water before a bake. Once it’s bubbly and active, you mix it into your dough to help the bread rise.

The big difference between the two is that your starter sticks around as long as you feed it, but the levain is a one-time thing, only for when you want to make something. Your sourdough starter is the “mother” culture you keep alive, and the levain is the offspring you create from it each time you bake.

Same ingredients (flour, water, and wild yeast), same idea, but different jobs!

What is The Meaning of Pain Au Levain?

The phrase pain au levain translates to naturally leavened bread. It is a basic French style of sourdough with a mildly sweet taste compared to regular sourdough bread.

Although, much like a sourdough starter, the levain acts as a leavening agent, is added to the dough, and provides unique flavors, and textures, as well as a natural rise.

What is The Difference Between a Starter and a Levain?

The levain and sourdough starters are made with the exact same ingredients, but they are different:

What It’s For

Your sourdough starter is essentially a living thing. It’s a jar of wild yeast and bacteria that you keep fed and active over time. Its whole job is to stay alive and healthy so that whenever you’re ready to bake, it’s there and ready to go. If you neglect it for too long, you’ll have to start all over (and building a starter from scratch can take weeks!).

The live culture of wild yeasts and bacteria penetrate the levain with these healthy microbes, that then go on to expand and strengthen the levain. This is then used to leaven any sourdough bread recipe.

Size

A sourdough starter is often kept alive in a small jar to use for baking sourdough bread. Often sourdough starters are kept in smaller quantities to avoid the growing sourdough starter from expanding too much and becoming harder to maintain.

This is why a small portion of the starter is discarded or kept in a separate jar to accommodate more feedings.

When it’s finally time to bake, you feed the starter portion you set aside until it reaches the right amount needed for your recipe, and that portioned-out, freshly fed amount is what we call a levain.

The Use

A sourdough starter is continuously maintained for future use, while a levain is used once.

Essentially, the sourdough starter is alive and has an ongoing culture, growing and maintaining a healthy population of fermented microbes.

The sourdough starter can live for as long as it is fed with flour and water. The small portion that is separated and used for baking is what helps leaven the bread.

The levain, on the other hand, is a one-time-use offshoot of that starter. Once you mix it into your dough, its job is done.

How Much Levain is in Sourdough Bread?

The amount of levain used in sourdough bread can vary from recipe to recipe.

Typically, a sourdough recipe requires 6-30% levain in the dough, but this can be adjusted according to your particular recipe.

Can I Use Sourdough Starter Instead of Levain?

The short answer is yes.

The main difference between a sourdough starter and a levain is the weight.

A starter and levain of equal weight will contain the same strength and number of microbes, meaning that they’ll have equal leavening abilities. Consequently, both types of leaven can be used to bake a sourdough loaf, and they’ll likely produce identical results, if not similar.

The main thing to pay attention to in all sourdough or bread-baking recipes, is the percentage of flour in the sourdough starter or levain, as this plays an important role in leavening bread.

This is translated to the inoculation percentage. For instance, a standard inoculation of 5% for a dough that contains 500g of flour, would mean that the weight of the flour in the levain or sourdough starter must be 50g, and an additional 450g of flour will be included in the levan or starter once it’s ready for the big bake.

Can You Use a Different Flour To Your Starter?

You certainly can!

You may wish to bake a sourdough loaf with whole wheat flour, or rye flour, and this is totally fine, even if your sourdough starter has been fed with all-purpose flour or bread flour.

Before baking, feed your levain with 40g of whole wheat flour or rye depending on what you plan to bake with, and 80g of water, to create a specific levain for your recipe.

Customizing Your Levain

The great thing about having a levain is that you can customize its taste to suit your preference. Especially if you’re planning to bake a sweet or savory sourdough loaf.

For instance, you can create a sweet levain by including sugar or honey in the flour and water fed to your starter.

This sweet levain is perfect for sweet bread like brioche, quick bread, or banana bread.

What Does Pain Au Levain Taste Like?

Baking with a pain au levain produces wonderful loaves with a rich flavor and that distinct, tangy sourdough taste.

This is very similar (if not completely equal) to the bread you’d get when you bake sourdough.

And much like sourdough bread, it pairs great with soups, especially with its very wide crumb.

• Creamy Cauliflower Soup
• Butternut Squash Soup Recipe with Fermented Vegetables and Sourdough Sides
• What Soup Goes Well With Sourdough Bread

Main Differences Between a Levain and Sourdough Starter (Summarized)

	Levain	Sourdough starter
Main ingredients	Flour, water, yeast and bacteria	Flour, water, yeast, and bacteria
Function	Help bread rise	Flour, water, yeast, and bacteria
Weight	100g or more (larger)	between 20-100g (smaller)
Duration	Enough for one bake	For as long as needed, with regular feedings
Type of flour	Any type of flour you fancy	Normally fed with one type of flour to maintain consistency

Despite the size of your levain, it is almost always used for one bake, compared to a sourdough starter which is fed continuously and kept indefinitely, for as long as it is maintained and kept alive.

Another distinct difference we can mention is the taste of the levain. A sourdough starter has a more pronounced sour flavor, whilst a levain has a milder version of this flavor. The levain can also be made with any type of flour you want to use in your recipe, as opposed to the sourdough starter which is better to feed with the same flour to maintain consistency.

Pain Au Levain Sourdough Recipe

A simple pain au levain makes the a good sourdough recipe to attempt for first-time bakers. The dough is pretty low in hydration, so it’s easy to handle.

You can experiment with any type of flour you fancy, to create the loaf you desire.

And here’s how to make it!

• Type: Bread
• Cuisine: French/Italian
• Recipe yield: 1 loaf
• Calories: 500kcal
• Preparation time: 30 minutes
• Cooking time: 40 minutes
• Total time: 6H10M

Ingredients

For the levain

• 60g strong white bread flour
• 10g active sourdough starter
• 40g of water

For the dough

• 310g of strong white bread flour
• 30g of rye flour
• 7g of salt
• 220g of water

Instructions

1. Make your levain by mixing the water, sourdough starter, and flour. Let this ferment for 10-12 hours. The levain should have doubled in size, with a stretchy texture, it should not be runny.
2. Mix the remaining flour with the leftover water. Sprinkle salt over the dough, cover, and leave to hydrate for 30-60 minutes.
3. Add the levain to the dough and knead for 5-6 minutes. This should depend on the temperature of your dough. The cooler your dough, the longer it will take to be ready.
4. Let your dough ferment or rest for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
5. Then stretch and fold your dough 4 times at 30-minute intervals.
6. Shape your dough into a loaf, and place it into a lightly floured proofing basket.
7. Let it rest for 3 hours. Meanwhile, preheat your oven and Dutch oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Score your dough, and bake in the Dutch oven with the lid on for 25 minutes.
9. Remove the lid and continue baking for 15 minutes.
10. Let this cool down completely before slicing.

Nutrition

• Calories: 500kcal
• Carbohydrates: 85g
• Protein: 20g
• Fat: 5g
• Saturated fat: 1g

Pain Au Levain is Sourdough Starter!

To recap: Your levain is also a sourdough starter but a version that will only be used one time, while your sourdough starter is expected to remain alive and thrive forever!

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