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.
How would you suggest making this without a stand mixer? Knead by hand? Or do a certain number of stretch and folds? Thanks!
You can knead it by hand for about 20 minutes.
I put this in my zojirushi bread maker on the dough setting and left it in there for 8 hours came out prefect. I have made this multiple times in the oven with great success every time. However this time I made it in my pellet smoker too hot to turn the oven on. Used my cast iron flat pan and a pizza stone. Came out amazing!!!
Directions on using frozen dough? Do you put olive oil on the dough balls before freezing? Thawing instructions woulsd be so helpful. I keep messing it up.
I don’t add olive oil! Just freeze. When ready to use, let warm up and thaw on the counter. Roll out when it is pliable and let the dough rise anymore if needed.
If you plan to make the dough for later in the week, do you still let it rise for 8hrs and then refrigerate? Can you make the dough and put in the refrigerator without the 8hr rise?
Yes!
If I double recipe, do I need to double the time the dough rests at room temp (bulk ferments) as well? Thank you!
No, you don’t!
In your recipe, you start with a half cup starter. Is this fed and active starter or unfed? Thank you!
Fed and Active!
This is such an awesome recipe. I was using another popular blogger’s pizza crust recipe for the longest time, and tried this one today because I didn’t have the bread flour called for the other one and needed to use all-purpose. I ended up using 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 all purpose. I found this recipe to be very easy, quick and mess-free to put together, proofed in about 6 hours (it was a warm July day) and I also found the dough much easier and more forgiving to stretch/form into crust than the other recipe. For the other recipe, you had to cook on stovetop first, then add toppings, then place in oven, so I loved the simplified steps of this recipe too and the cooking process was quicker. It turned out perfectly puffy and crispy, especially the ones we cooked on the pizza stone vs. cast iron. Delicious and stood up well to the toppings. This will be my new go-to!
Do you know if there is a way to get my sourdough less glutinous with using wheat flour? I’ve heard to let it set longer might help.
I found your recipe from my little sister who uses it.
Yes. I would let it long ferment in your fridge for up to three days. That helps to break down the gluten.
Hi! I had a similar question about removing most of the gluten – would you skip the room temp rise for 8hrs and just place in the fridge to long ferment for 3 days?
Thank you! Looking so forward to making this for my family!
Still keep the room temp rise. That helps the bread to actually rise. In the fridge, it does not rise as much, but works to break down the gluten.
Thank you so much! Can’t wait to try this, this week!
If frozen,what is the process for thawing and using it?
Thaw on the counter and roll it out to let it rise again. Then bake like normal.
Is the dough supposed to rise during its resting period? Mine seems to have a minimal rise. I made the mistake of rubbing a little of the olive oil from the bowl coating on top of the dough. Will that mess up the rising process if it is supposed to rise?
It will rise some, but not as much as a bread dough.