Here's my step-by-step guide for making the perfect crispy and chewy sourdough pizza at home. This simple sourdough pizza crust comes together easily in a stand mixer, or you can mix it up by hand. I'll walk you through the steps so you can enjoy a molten cheesy pizza night.
Pizza nights are a staple weeknight meal in our home. Although homemade pizza may seem like an extravagant indulgence, it's surprisingly simple to make.
With only five basic pantry ingredients, this sourdough pizza dough comes together for a bulk ferment. Then, you roll it out, add your favorite toppings, and bake.
Incredibly simple and yet delicious enough to be everyone's favorite meal of the week.
Serve it alongside these discard pretzel bites rolled in some cinnamon sugar for a sweet little side.
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Ingredients
I love the simplicity of homemade pizza. I always have all the ingredients on hand, and I bet you do, too. This is truly an easy-as-it-get sourdough pizza crust recipe.
- Sourdough starter (active) - Because we are using a starter to raise this dough, I recommend getting your starter nice and bubbly before beginning the recipe.
- Flour - I like to use both all-purpose flour and bread flour for the best results.
- Water
- Salt
- Olive Oil
See the recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Sourdough Pizza
Let's walk through this dough-making process. There are no fussy steps here, I promise.
Step 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine sourdough starter, bread flour, all-purpose flour, water, salt, and olive oil. Alternatively you can mix this up in a large bowl using a wooden spoon and kneading by hand.
Step 2. Using a dough hook attachment mix the ingredients together on medium speed until the dough is stretchy and passes the windowpane test (see notes). This can take up to 10 minutes.
Step 3. Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl, cover and allow the dough to go through bulk fermentation at room temperature for 8 hours or until doubled in size. This is when that delicious sourdough flavor develops.
Step 4. Place a pizza stone or cast iron skillet into the oven and get it preheating to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Divide the dough into 2 to 3 equal pieces, cover them, and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.
Step 5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each dough ball and form a slight ridge around the edges to form a crust. Gently brush each dough circle all over with olive oil over the top of the crust.
Step 6. Add the pizza sauce and toppings and bake in the oven for 13-15 minutes. You can also bake for 12 minutes and finish with a 3-minute broil for a crispy golden top.
Hint: I like to use a 15-inch cast iron skillet if I'm splitting the dough into 2 crusts and a 13 ¼-inch skillet if I'm doing 3 crusts. You can also use a regular baking sheet.
A helpful trick for baking sheet pizzas is to roll out the ball of dough and place the uncooked crusts onto a sheet of parchment paper before loading them up with sauce and toppings. This makes for easy transfer to the baking sheet.
Variations
My top 3 favorite combinations of toppings for family pizza nights:
Margherita style - This classic Italian-inspired pizza combines a simple red tomato sauce, chunks of buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, and tomato slices.
Supreme - Americans love the popular base of tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese topped with sausage, pepperoni, green peppers, red onions, and black olives.
Three cheese - Start with a simple tomato sauce and top with a combination of mozzarella, provolone, and fontina.
Substitutions
If you don't have bread flour on hand, you can substitute 100% all-purpose flour.
Store-bought pizza sauce is perfectly fine, but for a from-scratch sauce, simply mix together a can of crushed tomatoes, a splash of olive oil, a little salt, and some oregano.
Tools You'll Need
- Cast Iron Skillet - I use my cast iron skillet so regularly. It's super versatile and you'd be surprised how many different types of dishes you can make in it.
- Pizza Stone - If you're not a fan of cast iron, cooking pizza stone is, of course, the next best choice for cooking up homemade pizzas.
💭Crucial Success Tips
Choose a high-fat mozzarella for the best melt and a buttery flavor profile. In the US, this will be labeled as firm mozzarella.
You can keep the pizza sauce super simple with a high-quality tomato sauce, olive oil, and oregano. It's delicious, and no store-bought sauce is needed!
Place your rolled-out and formed dough onto a sheet of parchment paper before adding the sauce and toppings. This will make it easy to grab the parchment and transfer the pizza to the baking dish once you've loaded it up with the toppings.
Another easy method is to simply roll out the dough and then transfer it to a pre-heated cast iron skillet. Quickly add on your sauce and toppings, and then pop it back into the oven. This is my favorite method as it starts cooking the dough immediately and prevents it from getting soggy.
FAQ
I love creating recipes that cut down on extra steps, saving time and effort in the kitchen. You do not have to par-bake this sourdough pizza and can skip straight to sauce and toppings after shaping the dough.
More Sourdough Recipes
Looking for other sourdough recipes like this? Try these:
📖Printable Recipe
📖 Recipe
Sourdough Pizza
Jump to VideoIngredients
- 180 grams water
- 150 grams bread flour
- 150 grams all-purpose flour
- 80 grams sourdough starter active
- 10 grams olive oil
- 5 grams salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine sourdough starter, bread flour, all-purpose flour, water, salt, and olive oil. Alternatively you can mix this up in a large bowl using a wooden spoon and kneading by hand.
- Using a dough hook attachment mix the ingredients together on medium speed until the dough is stretchy and passes the windowpane test (see notes). This can take up to 10 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl, cover and allow the dough to go through bulk fermentation at room temperature for 8 hours or until doubled in size.
- Place a pizza stone or cast iron skillet into the oven and get it preheating to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Divide the dough into 2 to 3 equal portions, cover them, and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out each dough ball and form a slight ridge around the edges to form a crust. Gently brush each dough circle all over with olive oil.
- Add the pizza sauce and toppings and bake in the oven for 13-15 minutes. You can also bake for 12 minutes and finish with a 3-minute broil for a crispy golden top.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Baking Schedule
I like to include a baking schedule for my sourdough recipes to help give some general ideas for a timeline.
Don't worry, though; you can fudge this schedule to suit your needs. On warm days, the dough may rise much faster.
9:00 AM - Mix up the dough. Combine all the ingredients according to the recipe instructions above and allow the dough to rest at room temp until doubled.
5:00 PM - Shape the dough and add your sauce and toppings then bake in preheated oven.
How to Store Sourdough Pizza
If you're lucky enough to have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
Raw sourdough pizza dough can also be frozen in balls wrapped tightly in plastic wrap for up to 3 months. Allow the dough to go through the bulk fermentation before shaping and freezing.
When you're ready to use, set the dough in the fridge overnight, and then the next day, allow it to come to room temp before shaping it into crusts.
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Beth says
Can’t wait to try this in our pizza oven!!
Leisha says
Yum! Looks like a delicious recipe!
Anna says
You make it sound so easy. I'm excited to try! Thank you for sharing.
Sonja says
Amazing! This is what I have been looking for, saved for the weekend to try this out! Thanks!
Nikki says
This looks delicious, can't wait to try it!
Rachel says
I can't wait to try this!
Halli says
What a great idea to use sourdough in pizza dough! Will be trying this recipe soon!
Tina says
Do try it, it's so worth it! 🙂
Hope says
I don’t know why I never think to make a sourdough pizza crust. I will try this. I like that you added a schedule!
Tina says
I probably baked 20 different things before trying sourdough pizza dough as well, but it's so worth it!
Courtney Scholz says
Love your pictures! Such a great recipe and blog name😊 thank you for sharing!!!
Tina says
Thank you!! Pictures are something I'm working hard at because photography doesn't come naturally to me, so that means a lot.