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.
I am making this dough on first rise right now on my kitchen counter and another batch in fridge from yesterday. I am planning on freezing both batches. My question is this: Once I have divided and shaped in a ball and placed in freezer, when I take it out of freezer to shape and bake, do I thaw it and let it rise again or how does that part work? Thanks for all the great recipes… Lovin this
I usually pull it out of the fridge and let thaw at room temperature until it is workable, then roll it out, add toppings, and bake. Hope that helps!
About how long would I have to hand kneed if I don’t have a stand mixer??
It could take awhile. I would look for the dough to pass the window pane test.
I love this recipe!!!!!
It is the best I’ve tried with my starter.
Thank you so much for sharing this!
Yay! That is so great to hear.
I’m assuming this recipe yields 4 pizzas and you bake them in your cast iron pans. What size is your pan/dish?
How do you get the pizza from the counter and put it on the cast iron or the stone, if that has to be preheated? I had a hard time transferring the dough!
Same! Everything started to fall apart and i was like ‘oh this is really good dough’ haha
If you have a rimless baking sheet ( or a piece of firm cardboard), sprinkle semolina flour or corn meal on the surface before you place the dough and add toppings as usual. It should allow you to slide it off if you don’t have a pizza peel.
So if it’s hard to stretch & breaks when it is, has it been worked too much? Or does it need to be worked more?
It probably needs more kneading. It should be really nice and stretchy.
At what stage can I freeze it? After the 8 hours rise?
Yes. I would let it bulk rise, shape it back into a ball and then freeze.
Pizza crust is really hard to get right, and this recipe did just that. I made chicken bacon ranch pizza and wow, so good! I did have to add in a little extra flour as my kitchen was really hot that day. The crust is tangy, chewy and fairly easy to stretch out.
Can you use discard that is not active and has been in the fridge for this recipe?
This recipe is for active starter. If you’d like to use discard, here is my discard pizza crust recipe: https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/how-to-make-easy-sourdough-pizza-crust
Just made this and not sure why my crusts rose/fluffed up like bread in the oven. I flattened it with a silicone oven mitt, curious to see how it actually tastes.
Thank you for this beautiful recipe.
I really enjoy your channel and what you do inspires me during work. (Im a freshly married house painter)
I got to the understanding trough your teachings and Gods guidance that i want to be a Homemaker to in future, which is a very radical way to go in the country i life in. (Israel)
Thank you for keeping up the good fight, showing us women whats “in here” to achieve.
Ps: for some time i am wondering where you get you beautiful aprons from, it would be a big blessing if you could share the pattern or store, so i can get myself one for future. Seeing you in it the last years made it become a symbol of domestic work motivation.
Here are a few of my aprons: https://www.amazon.com/shop/farmhouseonboone/list/SH97QVW6NJ24?ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d (affiliate link). I also sew my own. You can search “apron” on the blog to find those tutorials.