My Sourdough Pizza Crust recipe makes a thin, crispy, and oh-so-flavorful crust that will make any pizza taste like an artisan pizza. It’s great for preparing in advance, freezes well and makes enough for the whole family. Recipe includes a how-to video!
The BEST Sourdough Pizza Crust
Grab your sourdough starter because today we’re making sourdough pizza crust! My recipe ferments overnight (or longer) for the most nutritional benefits and BEST flavor.
While today’s recipe isn’t particularly complicated, there are quite a few steps and it does require some patience (it’s quite different from my quick & easy homemade pizza dough that way). However, the time it takes is largely hands-off and most of the time spent making it is just waiting (patiently or impatiently–you decide 😉).
The best part of today’s recipe is that it’s a choose-your-own-ending type of recipe. Use your favorite toppings, I am pretty classic, usually using my homemade pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and sometimes(ooh, I’m going to get some hate for this) pineapple, but feel free to go wild with the toppings, though, or even use the toppings from my dessert pizza! The sourdough complements so many different flavor combinations (and I’d love to hear what you come up with in the comments!).
Why you’ll love it:
- No yeast required!
- Incredible flavor and crisp texture.
- Just a bit of hands-on time.
- Freezes nicely for grab-and-go dinners!
What You Need
As with my sourdough bread, you only need a few (6, to be exact!) basic ingredients to make today’s recipe. In addition to the ingredients discussed below, you’ll also need any toppings you’d like. Pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and basil are common toppings, but we make everything from margherita pizza to bbq chicken pizza with ours!
- Sourdough starter. Your starter should be active and bubbly–if it isn’t yet, don’t use it! Don’t have a starter already? Check out my post on how to make a sourdough starter! It breaks down every step (with photos) so you can make your own at home. It’s surprisingly very easy!
- Olive oil. This keeps the pizza dough nice and chewy. Even though we are only using a small amount, I recommend using extra virgin olive oil for the best flavor.
- Honey. Pizza dough has a reputation for being bland, but between the sourdough flavor and a bit of honey for sweetness, this dough is super flavorful.
- Warm water. Make sure your water is between 90-100F before adding it. If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer, I highly recommend this one.
- Bread flour. Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose, which makes it ideal for pizza dough. The extra protein creates more gluten and yields a chewier crust than its all-purpose counterpart. All-purpose flour could work in a pinch, but it will yield fluffier results.
- Salt. Salt is critical for flavor, especially in this recipe with so few ingredients.
SAM’S TIP: You can increase the hydration in this dough by bumping the water up another ⅓ cup. If you do this, you will get a thicker dough that is a bit easier to form a crust on; however, it will be very crisp. Personally, I like using amounts listed in the recipe because it strikes the perfect balance between crispness and chew (and all of my taste testers agreed).
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Sourdough Pizza Crust
Making the Dough
- Stir together the wet ingredients until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and stir until the dough clings together (the dough will be shaggy, don’t overdo it).
- Autolyse. Cover the dough and let it sit for 30-60 minutes. This lets our flour hydrate and our starter begins breaking down the starches in the dough.
- Form the dough into a ball using your hands.
Stretch & Fold
Stretching and folding is commonly used in sourdough recipes. It’s an alternative to kneading (which is common with classic yeast recipes, like my homemade bread, but would be difficult with such a high-hydration dough as this one). It improves the structure of the crust and helps the gluten develop.
- Run your hands under cool water before stretching the top of the dough up and over the bottom. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat this process a total of four times.
- Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes, repeating the stretch and fold process every 30 minutes until the dough increases in size by about 50%.
- Divide the dough into two pieces and place in lightly oiled bowls (the dough will need a bit of room to rise).
- Cover with plastic and let rest in the fridge overnight or up to 3 days. Bring the dough out of the fridge to sit at room temperature at least half an hour before using (cold dough is more difficult to shape, it can sit at room temperature for up to several hours before you use it).
SAM’S TIP: Give your oven at least 30 minutes to preheat to 500F! My oven notoriously tells me it’s ready when the temperature is not actually at 500F, so give it time and if you have an oven thermometer, use it! You want your oven to be nice and HOT for crispy results.
Baking the Crust
- Place the dough onto a lightly oiled pizza pan and form it into a 10-12″ circle.
- Form a crust with your hands, then brush the pizza with olive oil and pierce all over the bottom with a fork.
- Bake in a 500F oven for 8-9 minutes, then remove and brush with more olive oil.
- Add your toppings and bake for an additional 8-11 minutes (depends on your oven; look for a golden crust and melty, bubbly cheese!).
SAM’S TIP: I like to make my sourdough pizza crust in bulk, typically 3 batches at a time (giving me 6 pizzas). I’ll then par-bake them and freeze them for later. This makes for convenient last-minute or weekday meals!
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe makes two 10-12” pizzas. The crust is thin and the pizzas are not huge, so I’d say each pizza could feed 4 people depending on their appetite and the sides you serve with it (homemade garlic knots are always a good idea!).
Yes! To do this, follow the recipe through the par-baking step, then cool, wrap in plastic, and freeze for several months. When ready to enjoy, let the crust thaw at room temperature, brush with olive oil (at least in a perfect world you should brush with olive oil again — I always forget!), add your toppings, and bake.
Sourdough pizza is easier to digest and has more nutrients, vitamins, and good bacteria than regular pizza crust. Keep in mind, sourdough pizza is still NOT considered health food when topped with lots of cheese or other indulgent toppings (just like my sourdough pancakes).
How do you like this sourdough pizza crust vs my traditional homemade pizza dough? Let me know in the comments!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Sourdough Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- ½ cup (115 g) active sourdough starter
- 1 cup (236 ml) warm water (90-100F/32-37C)
- 1 Tablespoon (14 g) olive oil
- 2 teaspoons (11 g) honey (may substitute sugar)
- 2 ¾ cups + 2 Tablespoons (370 g) bread flour
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) salt
- Additional olive oil for brushing pizza
- Pizza toppings: pizza sauce mozzarella cheese
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Combine sourdough starter, water, olive oil and honey in a medium-sized mixing bowl and stir until well-combined.½ cup (115 g) active sourdough starter, 1 cup (236 ml) warm water, 1 Tablespoon (14 g) olive oil, 2 teaspoons (11 g) honey
- Add flour and salt and stir until you have a shaggy dough that clings together. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to sit for 30-60 minutes (autolyse).2 ¾ cups + 2 Tablespoons (370 g) bread flour, 1 teaspoon (5 g) salt
Stretch & Fold
- Use your hands to form the dough into a ball in the bowl.
- Run your hands under cool water and grasp the top of the dough and stretch it over the bottom. Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat this process. Do this twice more until you have made your way all the way around the dough.
- Allow dough to rest, covered, in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- Repeat step 2 every 30 minutes until dough has increased in size about 50%. I find this typically takes about 3-4 hours for me.
- Divide dough into two pieces and place each in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to rest overnight or up to 3 days.
Assembly & Baking
- Remove dough from fridge and leave it covered to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours. Preheat your oven to 500F (250C).
- Once oven is preheated, lightly oil a pizza pan with olive oil.
- Turn out the pizza dough onto the prepared pan and use your hands to gently shape it into a 10-12” (28cm) circle (it will be fairly thin). Fold over or pinch the edges to form a crust.
- Brush the pizza all over with olive oil and use a fork to pierce the bottom all over.Additional olive oil for brushing pizza
- Transfer pizza to 500F (250C) oven and bake for 8-9 minutes.
- Remove pizza from oven and brush all over again with a light layer of olive oil, then add your toppings.Pizza toppings: pizza sauce
- Return to the oven and bake another 8-11 minutes, until crust is golden and cheese is melted and bubbly.
Notes
Storing/Making in Advance
Pizza dough will keep in the refrigerator for several days. If I want to have pizza crusts ready to go, I will follow the recipe through “Assembly and Baking” step 5 (par-baking the crust) then allow it to cool, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to several months. When ready to use, simply thaw (or partially thaw) in the plastic wrap at room temperature then proceed with the recipe from “Assembly and Baking” step 6 (brush with oil, add toppings and bake).Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Cail Elise
Excited to try this recipe! Going to triple it for a get together we are having this weekend. Can you tell me if I can put the dough in the fridge without separating into pieces? I’m trying to make storing in the fridge for several days easier & don’t have the fridge space for.a ton of bowls. Thank you!!
Sam
Hi Cail! I wouldn’t recommend leaving this dough in the refrigerator for more than a day, maximum of 2. If it’s par-baked it will be fine. You could leave it all together if you’d like. 🙂
Sarah Stock
OMG! Sam’s sourdough pizza crust is so good! We actually had to put it away because we couldn’t stop eating it! Thank you for giving us the super delicious recipe!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy it was such a hit, Sarah!
Sanya Paul
First time making sourdough pizza crust. Very very yummy. And easy to make. Only had time to stretch and fold twice but it was still amazing. Even separated the doughs the next day and still came out amazing! Perfect recipe. I did use flour to help roll out the dough
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Sanya! 🙂
Vicki
Will definitely try this recipe. After par cooking and then freezing. Can I cook this on a blacktop [camping] would
Love to have hot pizza for dinner one night
Sam
Hi Vicki! I haven’t tried it, but as long as it can warm both the crust and the toppings, then it should work. 🙂
the baker
I want to state first that I have made my own pizza for over 20 years, just not sourdough pizza. Since I made a starter 8 days ago, I’ve been searching for more and more recipes. I tried this recipe, felt the timing was too long on the initial bake. The pizza is good, but not over the top good.
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
We usually like to wait about 2-3 weeks before using our starter, you can try again once your starter is a little older and see if the flavor wows you! As for the bake time, you can certainly bake a little less time on the initial bake if you like a softer crust or if your oven runs a little hot. Hope this helps! ☺️
James
Love this easy recipe. The honey was a special note to find. Crispy with some chew pretty, as you said. Thanks for the good time.
Kami
This may be a stupid question but why does the recipient have you separate the dough into two parts? Is that just for two separate pizzas? Will it be to big if I leave it whole? Thank you in advance!😊
Sam
Hi Kami! This does make 2 10″ pizza crusts. You could leave it as one. You will end up with a pretty large crust. 🙂
Candice
Can I leave it six stars?!? Oh my! So amazing! The only thing I would change is the water on the recipe is in mL and not grams. But the recipe is incredible! Thank you!!!!
Sarah
If wanting to freeze dough for future use, after it’s done rising and I divide it into two balls, THEN I put in freezer, or would you have it rest in the fridge overnight and then freeze? The comment about “allowing it to cool”
Confused me. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Sarah! I will want to follow the recipe a little further and go the through “Assembly and Baking” step 5 (par-baking the crust) then allow it to cool, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to several months.
Hope Rosenberg
Can you cook this pizza in a pizza oven?
Sam
Hi Hope! I haven’t personally tried it, but I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work.
Stefanie
Best homemade dough I’ve made.
Jay Lawson
Have you tried this in a pizza oven? I use the Ooni gas fired oven with great success already but haven’t ever tried to make a sour dough crust. It bakes so fast, I can’t imagine putting the sourdough crust in there without the toppings.
Sam
Hi Jay! I have not tried it so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. I think it will work, but if you do try it I would love to know how it goes. 🙂
Rebekah
Can I skip putting the dough in the fridge overnight and use it after stretching and folding? Will this greatly affect the results?
Sam
The overnight rest really allows the flavor to develop so I wouldn’t recommend skipping it.
Paula
Awesome recipe! I have been making homemade bread since the Pandemic and have not been able to make a good pizza crust. My family told me to quit trying but I had to try this recipe since I make your sourdough bread. It is amazing. We all love the crunchy and soft crust. Thank you!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Paula! 🙂
Kristy
Loved the recipe!!! First time making sourdough pizza crust, glad I used this recipe. Everyone who’s eaten it has thought it was the best!!!!
Pia
I do really love the flavor and the crispy crust of this recipe! Used it many times now. The dough is really sticky and it’s a bit difficult to stretch onto the pan, i let it rest a couple of times during the process but it’s worth the effort 🙂
Thanks Sam, my hub and i both really love it!