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.
Do you have advice for someone who is on a tight budget and doesn’t have a stand mixer yet? I’m not sure how long it will be until I get one, I don’t know what I’m doing but the first two bread loaves I made with your easy sourdough recipe turned out great, so if the kneading process is anything like the stretch and fold then I can do it!
Yes. You could definitely do the stretch and fold method for this (and really any bread recipe).
Massive hit with everyone in our family. Came out better than our favorite pizza shop. And we live in NY! Five stars – Thank you!
Wow! That is a compliment. Thank you so much.
I love the simplicity of this recipe. However I have a question – When I make it, it’s quite runny and I have to add a decent amount of flour. I’m wondering if the oil listed on the ingredients isn’t meant to be in the dough. Is it just for oiling the bowls or is it meant to be mixed in the dough itself?
It shouldn’t be runny. The oil is for the dough. Are you weighing the ingredients or using volume? If it is consistently running, I would suggest adding the water slowly so you can get it to the right consistency without adding too much.
Can you tell me how many pizzas this makes and what size? I’m trying to figure out how to teach this to the children at our camp this week and I need 10 – 8 inch pizzas…I’m not sure if I need to double this or triple it?
This makes 4 small pizzas.
Farmhouse on Boone inspired me to start my sourdough journey and I’m so grateful! I’ve been doing it about a year now but this was the first pizza crust I tried and it turned out so incredible! Making it again today and planning on freezing, thanks for the great recipe and great instructions
Yay! That makes me so happy.
The best pizza dough!
Woo woo!
Such an amazing recipe! I don’t have a stand mixer and mixing it by hand was no problem! I let it proof at room temp then put it in the fridge overnight because I started too late for it to be made into dinner. I noticed it’s more relaxed and easier to shape when the dough is warmer, so letting it come back to room temp was ideal. Question about the nutrition facts, is that per serving? Can’t wait to try more recipes!
So glad to hear it. That is per serving if you make 4 individual pizzas.
We were not fans of this recipe. It turned out way too thick and not airy at all and it was too hard to spread out. I’m glad this wasn’t the first sourdough pizza crust we tried because we probably wouldn’t try again.
I’m sorry you had troubles with this recipe. This is usually a pretty light and fluffy pizza crust. I hope you give it another try!
This recipe was so good! And fairly easy.
Do you shape the dough on the pizza pan or do you shape it then transfer it? I had a heck of a time moving the raw dough to the pan but shaping it in the pan was a little easier.
I was having the same trouble! This was my first time trying any kind of scratch made pizza dough, so it’s a learning curve for sure.
Mine didn’t rise as much as I wanted to, but it tasted delicious!!!
We’ve been rolling ours out on parchment paper and finding that waaaay easier to transfer.
I tried it once and for some reason it looked more like a rustic wood fired pizza dough. It was good though. It was a square shape as I don’t have a stand up mixer. Any suggestions for someone off-grid?
I’ve seen people cook it in a Dutch oven. That may be worth a try.