Soft, chewy, and tangy, this sourdough pizza dough is the perfect recipe for those family pizza nights. Start the dough in the morning and it will be ready to bake up with your favorite toppings in the afternoon.
I know, I know. The audacity that I post a sourdough pizza dough when I’ve been devoted to this recipe for so long.
But hear me out. My sister was having a dinner party at her farm recently, and she purchased a pizza oven. Naturally, I offered to make some delicious sourdough pizza crust to take the wood fired pizza up another notch.
The crust turned out absolutely delicious. It was soft and chewy and bubbly. All the good things you want in pizza.
But you don’t have to have a pizza oven to get amazing results. This will work just fine in a standard oven or even on the grill.
Top with your favorite ingredients for your next pizza night.
Why you will love this recipe:
Tasty: The sourdough in this recipe adds so much flavor and tanginess.
Chewy: These crusts have the best chewy consistency.
Perfect for a pizza oven or grilling: I love this recipe to make delicious, grilled pizza or wood fired pizza.
Make ahead: Make these days or weeks ahead and have pizza dough ready for a quick and easy meal.
Tips:
- Be careful not to over-ferment the dough. This will leave you with a sloppy mess. Ask me how I know.
- This dough can be made days or even weeks in advance. If you are planning to use it within a few days, place in the fridge in an air tight container until ready to use. You can also freeze for later.
- This recipe is great for baking in the oven, a pizza oven, or even on a grill.
Pizza dough Ingredients:
Active sourdough starter: This is sourdough starter that has been fed within 4-12 hours, and it’s active and bubbly. You want to use starter that is at the peak of its bubbling in order to give the dough the most rise.
Flour: All purpose flour will work just fine.
Water
Salt: This adds a lot of flavor to the dough so it doesn’t taste bland.
Olive oil: This helps the dough to be softer and stretchier.
Tools:
Stand mixer
Measuring cups and spoons or scale
FAQ
Is sourdough good for pizza?
Yes. Sourdough starter and the fermentation process adds another layer of flavor.
Is pizza dough the same as sourdough?
Most pizza dough uses conventional yeast to give it rise. You will have to find a specific sourdough pizza dough recipe like this one to ensure it is sourdough or look on the ingredient list of a pre-made dough.
Why is my sourdough pizza hard?
This could be caused by a few different things, such as overbaking, overworking the dough, or adding too much flour.
How To Make Sourdough Pizza Dough:
The morning of pizza night, add the ingredients to a stand mixer bowl.
With a dough hook, mix the dough on medium speed until the dough passes the windowpane test, which might take up to 10 minutes. (This is when you are able to stretch a small amount of dough so thin, you can see through it.)
Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Rest at room temperature for about 8 hours.
Preheat oven to 475.
Divide the dough into 4 equal sections and allow to rest while you prepare your toppings.
Roll out on a lightly floured surface. I like to create a bit of a ridge around the outside for hand stretched thickness.
Spread on sauce and top with toppings.
Bake for 13-15 minutes (I like to use a preheated pizza stone or cast iron skillet but you can also use a pizza pan.). Finish off with a 3 minute broil to achieve the browning on top of the crust. Our vintage oven has a bottom drawer for broiling and it made the most beautiful pizzas.
Another option is to cook it in an outdoor pizza oven. We had a pizza party at my sister’s house and enjoyed the dough with this method as well! She has an Ooni, and now I’m thinking about getting one for our home. It makes for an easy night of entertaining guests!
How to Store:
Store dough in the fridge up to a week, or place in the freezer after it has risen and has been divided. Wrap with plastic wrap and then store in a freezer plastic bag.
Pre bake crusts for about 8-10 minutes and then allow to cool. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Baking Schedule:
9 AM: Create dough.
5 PM: Split the dough and allow to rest before baking.
5:15-5:30: Bake the pizzas.
Pizza Variations:
Pesto pizza: Skip the pizza sauce and use pesto as the base. Top with cheese and your other favorite toppings.
Olive oil, goat cheese, and date sauce pizza.
Chicken Alfredo pizza: Replace pizza sauce with Alfredo sauce and top with chicken, cheese, and any veggies you like.
Meat lovers: Pepperoni, cooked sausage, and bacon work amazingly for this one.
How To Make A Margherita Pizza:
Create dough according to the instructions above.
Preheat oven to 475.
Roll out into circles and create a ridge around the edge.
Spread pizza sauce over all the crust.
Top with freshly sliced mozzarella and very thinly sliced tomatoes.
Bake for 13-15 minutes until pizza is bubbly.
Top with fresh basil and enjoy. You can also sprinkle it with parmesan.
Find More Sourdough Recipes:
- Sourdough Pumpkin Bread
- Sourdough Sandwich Rolls
- Easy Sourdough Dinner Rolls
- Sourdough Cheese Bread
- Sourdough Cornbread
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Also, tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Sourdough Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup starter, 113g
- 4 cups flour, 600g
- 1.5 cups water, 354g
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, 26.6
Instructions
- The morning of pizza night, add the ingredients to a stand mixer bowl.
- With a dough hook, mix the dough on medium speed until the dough passes the windowpane test, which might take up to 10 minutes.
- Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Rest at room temperature for about 8 hours.
- Preheat oven to 475.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal sections and allow to rest while you prepare your toppings.
- Roll out on a lightly floured surface. I like to create a bit of a ridge around the outside for hand stretched thickness.
- Spread pizza sauce and top with your favorite toppings.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes (I like to use a preheated pizza stone or cast iron skillet but you can also use a pizza pan.). Finish off with a 3 minute broil to achieve the browning on top of the crust.
Notes
- Be careful not to over-ferment the dough. This will leave you with a sloppy mess. If you can’t bake it after 8 hours of fermentation, you can place it in the fridge to bake a later time.
- This dough can be made days or even weeks in advance. If you are planning to use it within a few days, place in the fridge in an air tight container until ready to use. Freeze the dough after rising for up to 2-3 months.
- This recipe is great for baking in the oven, a pizza oven, or even on a grill.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The 4 dough balls look like small personal pizzas, is that correct? So with the same amount of dough, making 2 dough balls, would make more like 2 typical large pizzas?
I would say they are slightly bigger than personal pizzas. Two dough balls would be more like two large pizzas.
A+ every time! I learned to make sourdough starter in July of ’23. Once it was mature enough to start using and I became comfortable with bread, I wanted to branch out. This was the best choice for item #2 in my new repertoire. Not only is it a hit every time I make it, but it saves our family so much money! Love this recipe, love the this blog and youtube channel too!
That is so wonderful to hear!
Excited to try this! I’m making to make pizzas for freezer meals postpartum. Can I make pizza up until the point of baking and place the pizzas with the raw dough & toppings in the freezer? Or would you recommend baking then freezing?
Thank you!
Yes, you could! I would take the frozen pizza out of the oven just a little bit before you plan to bake it, so the dough beings to thaw out a bit.
We love using this recipe for our family pizza nights!! I have been making the pizzas ahead of time by baking for 8-10 minutes then letting them cook and putting in the freezer. I’m having a hard time with getting them fully cooked… do I need to thaw the premade pizzas?? Can I bake from frozen?? Any specifics on this would be so helpful!! Thank you!!
I would let them come to room temperature, yes!
This was amazing dough. If I make and freeze, how do you suggest defrosting? Defrost and let rise slightly on counter?
Just thaw on the counter or fridge until it is thawed and can be rolled out. Top with toppings and bake.
How many grams are the dough balls when divided in to 4?TIA
Can I use half whole wheat and half All purpose flour in this recipe?
Can this dough be mixed in a bread machine on the dough setting?
I believe some people have and it worked okay! I have not tried it to say for sure.
What if I don’t have a stand mixer? Well, I do. But it makes my motor very hot and I’m afraid to burn up my motor. Do I just knead? Or should I do stretch and folds?
I would knead this by hand for twenty minutes or until it passes the windowpane test.
doesn’t the water need to be warm?
I like to make it lukewarm.