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.
Turned out perfect for our son’s birthday party! We made 6 large out of this recipe x 3.
What size pizza does it make? 12in. Or 15.?
Thanks 🙂
Is it okay to substitute the olive oil for avocado oil
And when you say olive oil, does this refer to extra virgin olive oil?
Yes and yes. Any oil would technically work. The flavor will be a little more mild than with extra virgin olive oil.
I came here looking for a sourdough pizza recipe as I love your recipes. Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread is in the works this morning!
I don’t have an electric dough hook mixer. Will this turn out ok doing it by hand?
Thank you!
Yum! Yes you could, it will just take a while to hand knead it to the right consistency.
Lisa, have you tried this recipe with whole grains at all? I’m going to try it today with all purpose flour. I don’t have quite 8 hours, but my wood stove is going so my house is nice and warm. I’m thinking it will still be good.
I did mix the dough up in bread machine and it came out perfect.
I love all your sourdough recipes, and have made many of them. My issue with this one is that I prefer a crispy crust on a pizza, not a soft and chewy one. Any way to get it crispy?
Roll it really thin maybe? Or try my sourdough starter pizza dough for a crispy crust.
Can I divide the dough before the 8 hour rest?
That should be ok. I always wait to divide my doughs until after the bulk ferment.
Do you have a recipe to make the starter?
Thank you
Yep! You can learn how to make a sourdough starter here: https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/make-sourdough-starter-scratch
I threw this together just this morning, and I have a question about how wet the dough is expected to be? I followed the recipe but the dough was very wet and sticky even after 10 minutes in the mixer. I added about another ⅔ cup of flour, a tiny bit at a time, and left it in the mixer on medium speed for about 10 more minutes. Then I kneaded it for about 5 minutes by hand and it finally came together. It’s possible my measurements were off, but aside from that error, did the dough just need longer in the mixer? I’m used to sourdough recipes being very sticky at first and sometimes taking a lot longer to come together, but this one just seemed way too wet. Would more time in the mixer fix this issue? And again, also just wondering what the dough should feel/look like for this recipe? Thanks!
I love your recipes so much and am excited to see how this one tastes!!
That very well could be. My friend and I were just chatting today about how long it takes for her doughs to come together (for various recipes). She finds that her doughs take 20 minutes before they come together. So it could be that, or it could be needed a touch more flour. Hope that helps and it was delicious.
Thanks Lisa! It was delicious and I’ll be making it again very soon! So easy and yummy!
Wonderful!
Is There any chance that you are cooking in high altitude? Because you would add more liquid than I would in my lower altitude and that might be why my dough is so much wetter.
I am not! My guess is you may want to add a bit more flour or you can try kneading a bit longer. Hope that helps!
The same thing has happened to me when I make this! I’ve added more flour both times and it’s seemed to help! Glad I wasn’t the only one with this happening!
I have noticed that my dough and the dough of my sister-in-law across town will have different wetnesses, and I think some of it may be the differences in our stand mixers. Hers has a bit more power, and on low speed does a better job of incorporating the dough than mine does. So mine usually takes longer to knead and let all of the flour incorporate. It’s at least something to consider!
Lisa. I just made up a pizza dough recipe using sourdough starter. It was good, but not great. I’ll try yours next, and hope for even better results!
Good luck!
Hi Lisa would this work with gf as well
I’m not sure that the recipe could be substituted with gf flour one for one. May need to experiment with it.
Thanks for including the gram weight!
My pleasure!
Yes I love my weight scale when in the kitchen! Thank you!