Homemade Sourdough Pizza Using Sourdough Starter

Like anything made with sourdough, sourdough pizza bases take some time! It’s not difficult to make a sourdough pizza crust but you do have to plan ahead as the dough needs time to rest and mature.

I’d suggest you make your sourdough pizza dough either the day before you need them or in the morning of the day you’re having a homemade pizza night. If you’re super organised you can even make the sourdough pizza dough a few days in advance and keep it in the fridge until you need it.

To make your sourdough pizza base you’ll need to have your own sourdough starter. Making pizza from your sourdough starter can be a good way to use up some of your “mother dough” if you’re tired of just making sourdough bread all the time.

We’re assuming that you’ve got access to a sourdough starter or culture to make this pizza dough. If you don’t have a sourdough starter you can make your own but you’ll need to allow a week or so to get your starter active before it’s ready to bake with.

Here’s our easy, step by step, follow along guide to making pizza dough with a sourdough starter. Some recipes require adding dry yeast to the dough but this one is a yeast free version – we think the starter dough gives it enough taste and rise without needing to add yeast.

Making Pizza Dough With A Sourdough Starter And No Yeast

You should have a sourdough starter that looks something like this:

It doesn’t need to be super active and frothy to get your pizza base started but it should have some bubbles.

Begin by placing 160g of sourdough starter into a large mixing bowl.

Don’t forget to feed your remaining/leftover starter to keep your mother dough going.

Next add 600g of flour – preferably bread/pizza flour but if you don’t have any regular plain/ all purpose flour will do.

Then add 5 – 10g of salt (depending on how salty you like things).

And then add 400g of water.

Mix it all together with a fork until a rough dough has formed.

Tip your pizza dough out onto a lightly floured pastry mat.

Start kneading your dough, adding more flour as you go until it is no longer sticky.

Once you have a nice ball of dough that is no longer sticky, you can portion it into two pieces – we’re making two pizzas for pizza night tonight. This recipe makes 2 good size large pizzas or could make 3 medium size and maybe up to 5 small/personal size pizzas, depending on how thick you like your crust.

Shape your dough into two nice pizza dough balls.

Next you need to decide if you’re going to cook your pizzas later on in the same day or if you’re preparing your pizza dough to use in a day or two.

If you want to keep it for a day or two, put the dough ball into a container that allows it a bit of space to rise, put a lid on it, or cover it somehow and put it in your fridge. If storing your dough in the fridge you must remember to remove it 1-2 hours before you want to bake it to allow it to get back to room temperature.

As long as you’ve allowed enough time and made your pizza dough in the morning with at least 6-8 hours before you plan to cook it, you can allow the dough to rest and rise at room temperature – preferably somewhere warm.

To do this put your pizza dough into a mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel just like you would do for baking sourdough bread.

Six to eight hours later your dough should be looking slightly puffy and swollen.

And that’s it really, your sourdough pizza dough is complete! Now you just need to turn it into a pizza!

To do this tip the dough ball onto a lightly floured surface – I like to use a pastry mat like this one as it’s also got circles printed on it for me to measure the size of my pizza.

Knead and work your dough a bit and then roll out to the size and shape you need.

At this point you can either put your pizza dough onto a pizza tray or, take your pizza to the next level and bake it on a pizza stone or pizza steel. I’ve got a pizza steel that makes amazing pizza crusts so I’ll show you what I do to make amazing homemade pizza.

Firstly, make sure your pizza steel is in your oven and getting nice and hot. Follow the directions that come with your steel or stone but most will need a good 40-60 minutes in a hot oven to get hot enough for good results.

The best trick I’ve learned with homemade pizza making is to build your pizza right on the paddle of your pizza peel. I like to put a piece of baking paper on the pizza peel as this makes transfer onto and off the pizza steel super easy.

The whole thing, paper and all, can transfer onto the pizza steel – trust me it’s so much easier this way. Of course this works best if you’ve got a nice large pizza steel like mine.

Add your toppings – this one is a kind of “meat lovers” with BBQ sauce, ham, bacon, pepperoni and cheese.

Then transfer the whole thing onto your pizza steel or pizza stone.

It should take between 7 and 10 minutes to cook – keep an eye on it, pizza steels cook pizzas quite quickly.

When it’s done use your pizza peel to transfer your pizza to a cutting board.

Slice, serve and enjoy! If you don’t have a pizza cutter this one is amazing!

And that’s it! Once you’ve tried homemade sourdough pizza you’ll want to have it every pizza night!

Homemade Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe

Print Recipe

Homemade Sourdough Pizza

Ingredients

160 g sourdough starter/mother/culture
600 g flour plus extra for kneading/rolling – preferably bread/pizza flour but plain will do
5-10 g salt
400 g water

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Don’t forget to feed your leftover sourdough starter if you want to keep your culture going.
Tip your dough onto a floured surface.
Work and knead the dough (and keep adding extra flour if needed) until it is no longer sticky.
Divide dough into portions – there should be enough for 2 large pizzas, 3 medium or 5-6 small/personal sized pizzas depending on how thick you like your dough.
Keep pizza dough balls in a covered container with room to expand in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Remove from fridge at least 2 hours before needed to allow time to get to room temperature.
If using dough the same day, sit at room temperature or preferably in a warm place for 6-8 hours before using.
When ready to use simply roll to desired size and thickness, add toppings of choice and bake – use a pizza steel or pizza stone for the best results.

As long as you’ve got some sourdough starter and take the time to plan ahead, sourdough pizza dough is easy to make and will give you the tastiest homemade pizzas you’ve ever had!