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.
Pizza is so great because it is quick to throw together and it makes the perfect base to be topped with whatever you desire. This sourdough pizza crust recipe puts you just a few ingredients away from the most delicious bubbly pizza with a chewy crust. Whether you choose to cook it in an outdoor pizza oven, your home oven, or even a grill, it is sure to come out amazing!
Top your pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil for a classic taste, or skip the pizza sauce and use homemade pesto as the base. Make a chicken Alfredo pizza by topping your crust with Alfredo sauce, chicken, cheese and any veggies you like. You can also get a little fancy and try an olive oil, goat cheese, and date sauce pizza. Serve a fresh salad with homemade dressing on the side to round out the meal.
No matter how you choose to adorn your perfect pizza crust, it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser next time you have a pizza party!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Tasty – The sourdough in this recipe adds so much flavor and tanginess. This crust also has the best chewy consistency. There is just something about making your own pizza at home, it’s fun and tasty!
Crowd pleaser – Homemade pizza is so delicious, plus being able to customize it with your own topping preferences makes it great for picky eaters.
Make ahead – Make this dough days or weeks ahead and have pizza dough ready for a quick and easy meal.
Ingredients
Active sourdough starter – Active starter 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.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Tools You May Need
How to Make Sourdough Pizza Dough
Step 1: The morning of pizza night, add the ingredients to a stand mixer bowl, using a kitchen scale if you choose to weigh the ingredients.
Step 2: With a dough hook attachment, mix the dough on medium speed until the dough passes the windowpane test, which might take up to 10 minutes.
Step 3: Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a lid, plastic wrap or a plastic bag. Rest at room temperature for about 8 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
Step 4: Preheat oven to 475. Divide dough into 4 equal portions and allow to rest while you prepare your toppings.
Step 5: Roll out on a lightly floured work surface with a rolling pin. I like to create a bit of a ridge around the outside for hand stretched thickness.
Step 6: Spread pizza sauce on top of the dough and top with your favorite toppings.
Step 7: 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.
Tips
- Be careful not to over-ferment the dough. This will leave you with a sloppy mess.
- 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 airtight container until ready to use. You can also freeze for later.
- Make sure that your dough is at room temperature before rolling. The correct dough temperature allows the dough to relax, and makes it easier to shape and roll.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. Sourdough starter and the fermentation process adds another layer of flavor to pizza dough and makes it easier to digest
Most dough uses conventional yeast like instant yeast to give it rise. Sourdough is made with a sourdough starter, which uses wild yeast and bacteria to leaven the dough.
This could be caused by a few different things, such as over baking, over working the dough, or adding too much flour.
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.
More Sourdough Recipes from the Farmhouse
- 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 it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Easy Homemade Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Kitchen Scale optional
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup starter
- 4 cups flour
- 1.5 cups water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
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
- Active starter 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.
- Be careful not to over-ferment the dough. This will leave you with a sloppy mess.
- 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 airtight container until ready to use. You can also freeze for later.
- Make sure that your dough is at room temperature before rolling. The correct dough temperature allows the dough to relax, and makes it easier to shape and roll.
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.