Simple Sourdough Pizza Crust: A Step-by-Step Guide
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Here is my guide for making sourdough pizza crust at home. As far as sourdough pizza recipes are concerned, this one is as simple as it gets — it’s made with all-purpose flour and there is no autolyse or preferment. Everything gets mixed together at once and you are on your way! Ready? Wake up your starter! Let’s do this 🍕🍕🍕
One of the most frequently asked questions I’ve received these past few weeks is: “Have you ever replaced the yeast in “X” bread recipe with sourdough starter?”
And specifically: “Could I use sourdough starter in your pizza dough recipe?”
Yes! And today, I’m going to show you how. The process is very similar to how I make yeast-leavened pizza, and the resulting pies are similar: ballooned and blistered edges with crisp but pliable crusts. In the recipe below, there are instructions for making three favorite pizzas 🍕🍕🍕:
- Classic Margherita
- Kale and Crème Fraîche
- Naked Pizza with Spicy Scallion (or Ramp!) Oil … made this on Instagram over the weekend
Simple Sourdough Pizza Crust: The details
This sourdough pizza crust is …
- Basic! Given supply constraints, I didn’t get creative with the flour mix here. This dough is made with 100% all-purpose flour. You absolutely can use bread flour or tipo 00 flour (read more about tipo 00 flour here) if you can get your hands on either. If you have been having a hard time finding flour, Baker’s Authority is a great option — great prices, too, even with shipping tacked on.
- 75% hydration. This is a classic sourdough formula: 375 g water, 500 g flour. (Note: This calculation is not quite accurate, because I am not including the weight of the water and flour of the sourdough starter in the calculation.)
- Simple! As with all of the sourdough recipes on this site, there is no autolyse or preferment or levain. I do call for some stretches and folds, which build strength in the dough. I like to do 4 stretch and folds, but even if you can only perform one stretch and fold, your dough will benefit.
Can you Freeze Sourdough Pizza Dough?
Yes. In my experience, the pizzas made from frozen dough do not spring as high upon being baked, but they still taste delicious.
Also, in my experience, the more time dough spends in the freezer, the more air bubbles the dough seems to lose. After 1 week in the freezer, my dough will bake up beautifully. After 3 weeks in the freezer, my dough will be less bubbly and will bake into a thinner and crisper crust.
To freeze sourdough pizza dough: make it through step 4 in the recipe below or until after you transfer the portioned rounds to quart containers. At this point, transfer the quart containers to the freezer. To thaw, remove a container (or more) and let thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day or thaw at room temperature for 8 hours. Then, proceed with the recipe.
5 Keys to Excellent Pizza Every Time
Regardless if you are using yeast or sourdough, these (for me) are the keys to making excellent pizza at home every time.
- High-hydration Dough: When handled properly, doughs with a high proportion of water relative to the flour bake into beautiful, ballooned-pocketed crusts.
- Refrigerator time: After the first rise, time (at least 6 hours, but up to 3 days) in the fridge further develops flavor and improves the texture of the pizza dough.
- 1 hour at room temperature: If time permits, letting the dough come to room temperature an hour before baking, allows for easier shaping — room temperature dough will more easily stretch into a round than cold dough.
- Minimal handling of dough: Using a delicate hand to shape the dough, preserves the air pockets created during the fermentation process. I learned this from Jim Lahey:
“As soon as I began really paying attention to how I shaped my pizza rounds by taking care to use a gentle hand, I noticed a difference in the finished product. The air pockets pervading the unbaked round really affect the texture of the baked pizza.”
- Baking Steel: As you might know, I am a huge fan of the Baking Steel. In sum: steel is a better conductor of heat than stone — i.e. it transfers heat to the dough faster — which promotes great oven spring which translates to glorious bubbles throughout the dough. (Read more about the Baking Steel here.)
To be clear, I do not think you need to use a sourdough starter to make excellent pizza at home. A high hydration dough + leavening of choice + proper handling will give you excellent pizza every time, including that baked in a skillet: How to Make Excellent Skillet Pizza.
Here’s my guide to making yeast-leavened pizza dough at home: How to Make Pizza
Pizza Night
My cookbook, Pizza Night, which includes 52 pizza and 52 salad recipes, one pair for every week of the year, as well as five simple desserts is now available for preorder 🍕🍕🍕
It’s organized seasonally and includes recipes for the home oven, outdoor oven, the grill, Sicilian-style, Detroit-style, grandma-style, skillet pizzas, gluten-free, and more. There are both yeast and sourdough recipes for every style of pizza in the book.
Get your copy here: Pizza Night.
New to Sourdough?
If you are intimidated by sourdough bread baking, I have a free email course that covers the basics: Sourdough: Demystified.
And if you are looking for other easy sourdough bread recipes, this simple sourdough focaccia recipe, as well as this simple sourdough bread recipe, are the recipes I suggest attempting first, both for their simplicity and flavor. Another great beginner’s bread recipe to try is this overnight, refrigerator focaccia, which requires minimal effort but yields spectacular results.
PS: Easy, Homemade Pita Bread Recipe
PPS: My Mother’s Peasant Bread: The Best Easiest Bread You Will Every Make
Here’s the simple sourdough pizza crust play-by-play: As always, a scale is essential for best results. You need water, flour, salt, and a sourdough starter. I am a proponent of buying a starter (see recipe box for sources), but if you are up for it, you can build a starter from scratch in just about 1 week.
Combine 375 g water, 100 g sourdough starter, and 10 g salt in a bowl. (See notes in recipe box about using less water if you live in a humid environment.)
Stir to combine; then add …
… 500 g all-purpose flour.
Stir until you have a sticky dough ball.
Transfer to a straight-sided vessel (if possible) and let rest for 30 minutes. Then, “stretch and fold” the dough (see video for guidance) 4 times at 30 minute intervals. Cover the vessel. Let it rest for 6 to 12 hours (see recipe notes for timing) or until the dough…
… has about doubled in volume. (Note: This is a little bit more than double. Ideally you don’t want your dough to rise much beyond double. More recently, in fact, I stop the bulk fermentation when the dough has increased in volume by 50%.)
Turn dough out onto a work surface. Use flour here as needed.
Portion into 4 equal pieces, again using flour as needed.
Ball up and transfer to quart (or other similar-sized) containers (I love these deli quart containers). Transfer to the fridge, ideally for at least 6 hours and up to 3 days.
An hour prior to baking, remove a round (or more) of pizza dough, and place it on a floured work surface. If you have a Baking Steel, place it in the upper third of your oven, and heat the oven to 550ºF. (See recipe for other options.)
Delicately stretch the dough into a round, trying as best you can to preserve those air pockets.
Top as you wish. This one is spread with tomato sauce and topped with fresh mozzarella, parmesan, olive oil, and sea salt.
Transfer pizza, parchment paper and all to a preheated Baking Steel or stone in a 550ºF oven. Bake 5 to 6 minutes or until cooked to your liking.
Slice and serve.
A little fresh basil is always nice.
This is the beauty of the Baking Steel: oven spring!
Another favorite: kale + crème fraîche:
Another favorite: “naked” + spicy scallion (or ramp) oil:
Simple Sourdough Pizza Crust
- Total Time: 1 day + 1 hour
- Yield: 4 pizzas
Description
**Attention Pizza Fans**: My pizza cookbook, Pizza Night, is now available for pre-order. Get your copy here: Pizza Night
What you need to make this recipe…:
- …a sourdough starter. Ideally, you want to use your starter 4 to 6 hours after you feed it, when it has doubled in volume and is very bubbly and active. You can build a starter from scratch in just about 1 week. Or you can buy one. Here are three sources:
- …time. Once your starter is ready to go, this recipe requires an initial 6 – 18 hour rise, followed by at least 6 hours in the fridge or up to 3 days.
Timing/Schedule:
The more I make sourdough, the more I realize that the timing of each bake depends so much on the time of year and the temperature of my kitchen. In the summer, because it is warm and humid, the first rise (bulk fermentation) of all my sourdoughs takes between 6 – 8 hours; in the winter it will take longer, 10 to 12 hours.
It is best to rely on visual cues. For the bulk fermentation, you want the dough to double or less than double: I now end my bulk fermentation when the dough has risen by 50% to 75% in volume. This is why I cannot recommend using a straight-sided vessel (as opposed to a bowl) enough. It makes gauging the first rise easier.
If at any point you are worried the dough will over-ferment — say, for example, the bulk fermentation is nearly complete but you are tired and want to go to bed — stick the vessel in the fridge and pick up the process in the morning. (Note: If your dough rises above double, don’t despair … my dough has tripled in volume during an overnight rise, and the resulting dough still had plenty of strength and spring.)
Schedule: I like mixing this dough in the evening, performing 4 stretch and folds before I go to bed (if time permits), then letting the dough complete its bulk fermentation at room temperature (68ºF) overnight or in the refrigerator (especially in the summer, when my kitchen is much warmer). In the morning, it’s typically ready to be portioned (if it rose at room temperature), transferred to quart containers, and stashed in the fridge. If I had let my dough spend time in the fridge for the bulk fermentation, I remove it in the morning, and let it complete its bulk fermentation at room temperature. Once complete, I portion the dough and stash it in the fridge. Sometimes I’ll use the dough that same evening; sometimes I’ll use it the following day or the next. I encourage using the dough within 3 days.
In short: If you want pizza for the weekend, mix your dough on either Wednesday or Thursday.
Troubleshooting: If you have issues with your dough being too sticky, please read this post: Why is my sourdough so sticky? The 4 common mistakes.
Water: If you live in a humid environment or if you are making this on a particularly humid day, consider starting with less water, such as 335 grams of water, which will bring the hydration down to 70%. This amount of water will still produce a light airy crust but the dough will be more manageable.
Flour choice:
- Due to supply issues, I’ve been making this recipe with all-purpose flour, and it works beautifully. You absolutely can use bread flour or tipo 00 flour if you can get your hands on either. If you can’t, know that all-purpose (unbleached) flour works great here. If you use 00 flour, you’ll likely need to reduce the amount of water. I would start with 350 g, and adjust moving forward based on your results.
Favorite Pizza-Making Tools:
- Baking Steel
- Pizza Peel
- Parchment Paper: I bake my pizzas on parchment paper on my Baking Steel. Parchment allows for easy transfer from peel to steel.
- Cast Iron Skillet: If you do not have a Steel or stone, you can use a cast iron skillet. Rub a half teaspoon of oil over its surface, transfer a stretched dough round to the skillet. Top as desired. Bake at 450ºF for about 15 minutes.
- Quart Containers for storing dough
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 375 g water (or less, see notes above)
- 100 g sourdough starter, active and bubbly, see notes above
- 10 g salt
- 500 g all-purpose or bread flour
For each Margherita pizza:
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 1 to 2 oz mozzarella
- handful of grated Parmigiano Reggiano (less than an ounce)
- drizzle olive oil
- pinch sea salt
For each kale and crème fraiche pizza:
- extra-virgin olive oil
- a couple handfuls of baby or Tuscan kale
- 1 to 2 cloves garlic
- Sea salt, such as Maldon
- 2 tablespoons crème fraîche
- grated Parmigiano Reggiano, about 1/4 to 1/3 cup
For each naked pizza with ramp or scallion oil:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup minced scallions or ramps
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 to 2 tablespoons crème fraîche
- handful grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- sea salt
Instructions
- Mix the dough. Place the starter, salt, and water in a large bowl. Stir with a spatula to combine — it doesn’t have to be uniformly mixed. Add the flour. Mix again until the flour is completely incorporated. Transfer to a straight-sided vessel (if you have one.) Cover vessel with tea towel or cloth bowl cover and let stand 30 minutes.
- Stretch and fold: after 30 minutes have passed, reach into the vessel and pull the dough up and into the center. Turn the vessel quarter turns and continue this pulling 8 to 10 times. See video for guidance. Let the dough rest for another 30 minutes; then repeat the stretching and folding. If possible, repeat this cycle twice more for a total of 4 stretch and folds. By the 4th cycle, you will notice a huge difference in the texture of the dough: it will be smoother, stronger, and more elastic.
- Bulk fermentation: Cover vessel with a tea towel or bowl cover and set aside to rise at room temperature (70ºF/21ºC) for 4 to 18 hours (the time will vary depending on the time of year, the strength of your starter, and the temperature of your kitchen; see notes above) or until the dough has roughly doubled in volume. (UPDATE: In the past I have recommended letting the dough rise until it doubles in volume. If you’ve had success with this, continue to let the dough double. Recently, I have been stopping the bulk fermentation when the dough increases by 50% in volume, and I feel my dough is even stronger in the end.) Note: Do not use your oven with the light on for the bulk fermentation — it is too warm for the dough. When determining when the bulk fermentation is done, it is best to rely on visual cues (doubling in volume) as opposed to time. A straight-sided vessel makes monitoring the bulk fermentation especially easy because it allows you to see when your dough has truly doubled.
- Portion and shape: Turn the dough out onto a work surface and shape into a rough ball, using as much flour as needed — the dough will be sticky. Using a bench scraper, divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Sprinkle portions with flour. With floured hands, roll each portion into a ball, using the pinkie-edges of your hands to pinch the dough underneath each ball. Transfer each round of dough to a plastic quart container, cover, and store in fridge for at least 6 hours or up to 3 days or transfer to the freezer (see notes in post about thawing).
- Make the pizzas: Pull out a round (or more) of dough from the fridge one hour before you plan on baking. Dust dough with flour and place on a floured work surface. Let sit untouched for about an hour (a little longer or shorter is fine). Place a Baking Steel or pizza stone in the top third of your oven. Set oven to 550ºF. Heat oven for at least 45 minutes but ideally 1 hour prior to baking.
- Shape the dough: Gently shape dough into a 10-inch (roughly) round handling it as minimally as possible. (See video for guidance.) Lay a sheet of parchment paper on top of a pizza peel. Transfer the dough round to the parchment-lined peel.
Top and Bake
- To make a classic Margherita-style pizza: Spread 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce over the surface of the dough. Top with mozzarella to taste. Sprinkle with parmesan to taste. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Shimmy the pizza, parchment paper and all into the oven. Bake pizza until top is blistered, about 5-6 minutes. Transfer to cutting board. Sprinkle with basil, if you have it. Cut and serve. Discard parchment paper.
- To make a kale and crème fraîche pizza: Place the kale in a small bowl, drizzle with olive oil, season with sea salt, and toss. Spoon crème fraîche over the dough leaving a 1/2-inch border or so—I use about a tablespoon per pizza. Sprinkle with minced garlic and a handful of grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Top with the kale. Shimmy the pizza, parchment paper and all into the oven. Bake pizza until top is blistered, about 5 – 6 minutes. Transfer to cutting board. Cut and serve. Discard parchment paper.
- To make a naked pizza with scallion oil: Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a skillet with 1/4 cup of minced scallions (or ramps!) and 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes. Keep it over low heat while you make the pizza. Spoon crème fraîche over the dough leaving a 1/2-inch border or so—I use about a tablespoon per pizza. Sprinkle with a handful of grated parmesan. Shimmy the pizza, parchment paper and all into the oven. Bake pizza until top is blistered, about 5 – 6 minutes. Transfer to cutting board. At this point, the scallions should be starting to “frizzle”. If they aren’t, crank up the heat until the oil is sizzling. Spoon a few tablespoons of the hot oil over the pizza (you’ll have extra oil). Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Cut and serve.
- Prep Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 5 to 6 minutes
- Category: Pizza
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American, Italian
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
1,091 Comments on “Simple Sourdough Pizza Crust: A Step-by-Step Guide”
More puddle than pizza dough. Has anyone had success with this dough? Disappointed.
Hi Richard! At what point was it a puddle? When you mixed it? Or was it after the bulk fermentation? If the first part of the recipe went fine, as in if the mixing, stretching and folding, etc. went fine, the issue likely is that your dough over-fermented during the bulk fermentation. Unfortunately if it over ferments, there is no salvaging.
How many hours was your bulk fermentation?
Mine was more on the wet side too from the beginning. I think it’s because I used a different flour than what she used. If you start with a flour that has a lower protein content, you might need to reduce the amount of water used. I will be trying again with either King Arthur Flour or Trader Joe’s all purpose flour and I think that will help
Hi Sharon! Thanks for this. Yes, if you found the dough wet, hold back 25-50g during the mixing process; you can always add more water slowly while you are mixing if the dough seems too dry.
I’m trying this for the first time today for pizza tomorrow. I wish I’d done the bakers percentages before mixing. It’s not 75% hydration, which is already very wet for sourdough beginners, it’s almost 78% when you account for the 100% hydration starter. I’ve got some high hydration boules under my belt, so I did some Rubaud mixing and will definitely do the stretch and folds throughout. I’ve had a lot of wet failures with pizza that tasted great but handled terribly so I’m hoping this is better.
OK, Dee, keep me posted on how it turns out! How did the dough feel when you were doing the stretches and folds?
Wet wet wet. It was really hard to build any structure in. I use a 100% hydration half rye half AP starter which was at peak. It tasted great, and maybe the 6 balls I put in the freezer will shape better if I don’t defrost them long.
OK, interesting. I imagine the half rye starter is playing part of a roll in the wetness, but not all. Next time, I would reduce the water by 25-50 g.
Thank you Alexandra for this and your focaccia recipe! I have made this pizza recipe now with a sourdough started fed on 25%rye/25%highpro/50%AP flour 4 times and each time its great! I noticed that the time I used fed starter with my robust starter (my small stock starter can double in 3-4h at 68F room temp), it was more wet. Now I adjusted to use 50%discard and 50% fed and follow the rest of the steps and it’s great! It’s less wet since the discard is less active. The discard makes a more sour tasting dough, but my family loves it!
Wonderful to hear all of this Bonnie! So interesting. Thanks so much for taking the time to share all of this … so helpful for others.
This dough recipe is nicely bulk fermenting on the counter. This is my 3rd time making this dough – the first two with spelt starter were perfect! Trying this one with rye starter, but King Arthur all purpose white flour. Looking forward to pizza / game night tomorrow.
Oh yay! So nice to hear this, Maggie! Would love to hear how the rye starter works out with this one. Happy pizza + game night 🍕🍕🍕🎉🎉🎉
I tried 3 sourdough pizza recipes before I discovered this one – and my search has ended. We have a winner. The taste is perfect, the texture is sublime – I rolled mine out with a rolling pin but still got lovely gas pockets. I made 4 pizzas – they vanished within 15 minutes. No more gloopy sourdough with uncooked patches ever again! Thanks Alexandra!
Wonderful to hear this, Theresa! Thanks so much for writing.
I sprayed a silicone mat for rolling out and cooked them on a hot grill. I put the toppings on immediately after flipping. The crust puffed up beautifully and was delicious. I know I will use this recipe often for lots of diverse uses.
Molly! I love this. So smart. Thanks so much for sharing your method, and thanks for writing. Yay for grilled 🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕
Are you using an active starter or discard?
Thanks!! Excited to try
Hi Lauren! I’m using active, fed starter — I typically use starter 4-6 hours after a feeding, when it has doubled in volume.
Hi, I let mine bulk ferment for 8 hours, had the bubbles and everything. When I pulled it out , it was so much stickyer in comparison to your video. I used 00 flour, maybe that’s why? What can I do to straighten it out at this point? Or do I need to start over?
Arjun, yes, I imagine it’s because of the 00 flour. Did you portion the dough and refrigerate it? If your dough still had strength and elasticity when you were shaping it, it will be fine. If it was totally slack, it may have overfermented, in which case it is not salvageable.
So, if you think the dough is still good, when you are ready to shape it, I would use flour as needed — you may need to be a little more generous with the flour to make the dough easier to manage.
Thank you! — I did portion it and put it in the fridge. I had to use generous flour just to be able to shape it into a ball. Once into the fridge, it turned back into a puddle – hours later, but bubbling was occurring. I pulled it out about 16 hours after I put it into the fridge and reshaped into balls with more flour. Lets see how it plays out. Crossing my fingers it’ll work.
OK, keep me posted AJ! I’m a little worried the dough over-fermented, but my fingers are crossed for you. If the dough is too tricky to shape, you could try baking one of the rounds in a cast iron skillet… simply pour a teaspoon or so of olive oil into the skillet, drop in the round, turn to coat, and don’t touch it for an hour; then use your hands to spread the dough in the pan, top it and bake it. 450ºF for 10-15 minutes.
I don’t leave reviews often but this recipe was amazing! It was one of the best pizzas I have had. I even had to use a cast iron skillet but I still got good spring. We will be coming back to this recipe on a regular basis. Thank you!
Wonderful to hear this, Katie!
Can I make this with whole wheat flour?
Hi Rachel! I wouldn’t recommend using 100% whole wheat flour as I think the result will be quite dense. I would start with no more than 25% whole wheat flour. Do you have bread flour or ap flour on hand?
Is there anyway you can freeze the dough and then take one out the next week
Hi Lucinda! Yes! There are freezing instructions in the post above.
Hi Ali,
I recently tried your focaccia and it was the best I have tried so far so I decided to give this pizza recipe a go. I used wholemeal flour, my rye sourdough starter and I reduced the water to 350(started with 330 and used 350).
During stretch and fold, my dough was fine and getting smoother but after bulk fermentation(4 hours as its hot here in the UK) it just fell apart. It had no stretch and was a wet puddle.
I have managed to divide it into 4 using lots of flour but couldn’t shape it into a ball and now its in the fridge overnight.
Any ideas on what went wrong as I did reduce the water level. I don’t think I over fermentated it because as soon as it doubled I moved to shaping?
Thanks,
Abhi
Hi Abhi! It sounds as though the dough may have over fermented. Question: when you made the focaccia, what type of flour did you use? And what type of starter?
I’m wondering if the combination of the wholemeal flour and rye + hot weather caused the dough to ferment especially fast.
Hi is it necessary to refrigerate the dough before making pizza or can v directly use it after bulk fermentation. Thank you
Hi! I don’t think you have to refrigerate, but I think refrigerating will give you a slightly better result. If you want to use it right away, I think after you shape the ball, I would let it rest for 45 minutes to an hour before baking it.
Hi,
If i do not have industrial oven should I bake base first or all together and what temperature? I have done it before but it was soggy in the middle😔
I bake bread all the time but i would like to get the pizza base right too too.
Thank you
Hi! Do you have a pizza stone?
Your idea is good if you have not been satisfied with previous attempts. I’ve never done that, but I could see it being effective.
Ali: This is the best pizza recipe. We no longer order pizza from outside, and my family loves the naked and kale pizza. So so delicious!! Thank you for sharing!
So wonderful to hear this, Anu! Thanks so much for writing. I love the naked pizza too 🍕🍕🍕🍕
Hi Ali,
I’m new to the sourdough world and am excited to try this recipe.
The sourdough starter that I’ll use, is it fed or discard?
Thank you!
Hi Maria! It’s fed starter. Wait till it doubles in volume; then use it. Let me know if you have any other questions!
I’ve made this twice now. The first time was way too wet so I lost probably half my dough to my hands while stretching and folding the first night. The second time I added quite a bit more flour to the initial mix and then oiled my hands before each stretch and fold. Much better!
I love the video and the instructions are so clear. Despite our small first batch, it was so perfectly delicious we knew we had to try again. Thanks for the great recipe!
I’d like to know if it’s necessary to divide the dough into 4 parts before stashing in the fridge. It takes up so much more room that way. If not, what would I do? Punch it down after the first rise then stick it in the fridge?
Hi Amanda! Glad you’ve been able to make the recipe work for you. It sounds as though you could reduce the water a bit from the get go to make the dough a little more manageable.
Regarding your question, I suppose you don’t have to divide the dough into 4 portions. So yes, I would punch down the dough; then stash it in the fridge.
Just keep in mind this: when you divided the dough into 4 pieces after the bulk fermentation, you deflate the dough a bit. When the dough is in its own container before you bake it, you’re simply removing it, placing it on a floured work surface, and barely handling it — so you won’t deflate the air bubbles created during the proofing phase … I worry that if you shape the dough into rounds right before baking, the dough might not have as many air bubbles … just a thought.
Totally worth experimenting! Report back if you give it a go.
I’ve used this recipe 3 or 4 times and I love it (have some in the bulk fermentation stage right now). I use the exact proportions as posted; yes, the dough is wet at first, but by the second stretch and pull it’s really built up its structure nicely. I also double the recipe and use 1/2 that evening and use the other 1/2 up to 5 days later… man, is it tangy at that point. Seriously the best pizza crust I’ve ever had, even better than our local “gourmet” pizza joint with their own signature pizza crust. Thank you!
So nice to hear this, Lilu! Great to know that doubling the recipe works well, too. And I’ve been able to push the time in the fridge to 4-5 days as well and yes: tangy is right!
I’ve made this recipe 4 times now.
Things of note:
1. Measurement is important !
2. If dough is sticky do not wet your hands – this leads to increased wetness!
Not sure where I got this advice from, but the result was a disaster (never again!)
3. Read the full instructions, not just the bit at the top 😉
4. On the first few attempts I underestimated the importance of stretch and fold.
Getting this right makes the dough MUCH easier to work with.
Thanks for sharing the recipe, I’ll be making it again !
Wonderful to hear this, Laurence! Great notes. So helpful for others.
Seriously awesome dough. I’ve always made dough from yeast but wanted to start making it with my starter. Second batch is in the fridge waiting for baking tonight. I made it in the cast iron last time and kids loved it.
Wonderful to hear this, JPT! Thanks for writing. My kids love the skillet pizzas too.
Hi
This recipe looks great! Planning on trying it out this weekend. I’m still a bit of a sourdough newbie!
Question, if I only want 1 or 2 pizzas, can I divide the recipe accordingly like any other recipe or should I still keep the starter quantity as is and divide all the other ingredients?
Thx!
Hi Chantal! I think you can get away with halving this recipe including halving the starter. Good luck!
Easy, delicious!
Wonderful to hear this, C.J.!
I have made this dough twice now and it’s amazing!!! My family requests homemade pizza all the time now! I even doubled the recipe when we had cousins staying with us and it worked perfectly! Your site is my only go to for yummy breads and doughs!
Oh yay! So nice to hear this, Sarah! Thanks so much for writing 😍😍😍
Great guide! Whenever getting bored with frozen pizza or takeaways, I spend time making the pizza by myself. The first time the crust was too hard 😥 So I believe I got some tips from yours 😉
Dear Ali, many many thanks for sharing this superb pizza recipe! I made pizza with yeast three times in my life and they didn‘t taste good. Ever since I started baking bread with sourdough (thanks to Corona crisis! ;-)), I began to explore baking pizza with sourdough. The German flours have up to a max of 12% (which affects the gluten development) and baking bread with higher hydration like 75-80% is problematic. I changed the recipe slightly to include Italian fine samolina flour (400g bread flour type 550) and 100g samolina flour and added 10g of olive oil. I allowed 30 minutes of Autolyse (just water and flour), then added salt and starter and oil. Then stretch and fold 4 times as stated in your instruction. Then bulk ferment during the day after the last stretch and fold for another 2-2.5 hours (at room temperature of 23C in summer). I kept the portions in the fridge for at least 16 hours, and the pizza dough was easy to form. I stretched / pressed it out by hands thinly. The thin crusted crunchy pizza dough was perfect, tasted almost like the French Flammkuchen. Thank you so much! (I gave the extra information for the German enthusiasts). 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Hi Juliette! Thanks so much for writing and for sharing all of this! I love the idea of using semolina flour here and a bit of olive oil, too. And I absolutely love Flammkuchen!! Thanks again for sharing so many detailed notes — so helpful for others!
Hi Ali!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’m planning on making the pizzas tonight and am super excited!! Just wanted to check – I put them in the fridge yesterday morning and noticed this morning that the couple in smaller containers have more than doubled in so they are right at the top now. Is this okay? Are they supposed to rise whilst in the fridge or have I gone wrong somewhere?
Any help would be amazing. Thank you! X
Hi Evie! It is fine! I find in the cooler months, my sourdoughs don’t change much in the fridge, but recently, perhaps because my starter is even more active in combination with the warmer weather, my sourdough have been rising considerably in the fridge. They’ll be great! Use flour as needed when shaping and let them rest at room temp for at least 30 minutes before shaping … in cooler months I bring them to room temperature 45-60 minutes before cooking, but right now, they’re warming up much more quickly. Good luck!
Thanks so much for getting back to me Ali! Everything was looking sooo good until I cooked them – they were so stuck to the parchment that they were pretty much unsalvageable unfortunately. The bits I picked off were delicious and I definitely want to try again but I’m not sure where I went wrong! I don’t have a baking steel so heated a baking sheet in my oven at 270c (the highest it goes) – maybe this is the issue??
Oh no, Evie! I’m so sorry. Unfortunately, not all parchment is created equally … I have had sticking issues with various brands of parchment, so I always only use one brand now. I don’t know how to advise moving forward. If you can try a different brand of parchment (I like If You Care), that’s what I would advise first, maybe using store bought dough first. The preheated baking sheet shouldn’t be an issue.
Just curious: you say “Combine 375 g water, 100 g sourdough starter, and 10 g salt in a bowl.” Does not combining the sourdough starter and the salt not risk killing the yeast in the starter; when making sourdough bread i always Keep the starter as far away from the salt as possible.
No need to keep them separate!
this is the BEST crust EVER. thank you so much! the dough was so lovely and soft and squishy and delightful.. then turned into the most delicious pizza EVER. <3 🙂
Yay 🎉🎉🎉🎉
So nice to hear this, Emily 💕💕💕
Hi! I know you strongly recommend using a scale. I am probably going to order one but need to make this recipe before then as I have items that will go bad that I bought to make the pizzas. Can you give a rough range of measurements in cup, tsp, etc? If not, I totally understand, but figured I’d ask. Thank you!!
Sure thing!
375 g water = 1.5 cups plus 1 tbsp
100 g sourdough starter = 1/2 cup
10 g salt = 2.5 teaspoons
500 g all-purpose or bread flour = 4 cups plus 2 tbsp
Good luck!
Just made this pizza base- lovely! One wee problem- pizza cooked beautifully(only had baking tray) but stuck to the grease proof paper. Should I put oil or flour on the paper to prevent it from sticking?
Thanks
Oh bummer! Yes, unfortunately, sometimes parchment is not non-stick … various brands work beautifully; others do not. I think a slick of oil will work great.
Hi Alexandra,
Thank you for the recipe. I have prepared a batch of sour pizza dough, however i notice it does not have those nice bubbles likes yours. My starter looks strong and bubbly.
Living in hot weather with humidity up to 90% and 35C most parts of the year, Singapore, could it be due to the weather conditions?
Best, Ching
Hi Ching! Humidity and weather do play a role, but you should see some bubbles. How long was your bulk fermentation? Have you already shaped the dough into portions? If so, when you shaped, did the dough have strength and elasticity?
This is the best pizza crust I have ever had or made. Since discovering the recipe less than a week ago my family & I have had this for dinner 3 times. It’s a keeper. So simple, just requires a little advance planning with timing. THANK YOU
Wonderful to hear this, Jackie! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Your site is very interesting so I just ordered the book through Amazon UK.
Thanks
Oh awesome, thanks so much, Amanda!