This Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe makes the best, perfectly crispy, and chewy pizza dough crust with impressive air pockets – it tastes like it came out of a fancy pizzeria. This pizza dough keeps really well in the refrigerator and freezer so it’s perfect for a pizza party.
Watch the video tutorial to see how we make this easy pizza dough with sourdough starter and you will be a pro in no time.
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Sourdough Pizza Dough Video
See how easy it is to make sourdough pizza dough with your active starter. Natasha takes you step-by-step in the easy process. The flavor and texture is excellent.
The Best Sourdough Pizza Recipe
I have been developing this sourdough pizza crust recipe for what feels like ages and I am confident this is the one you’ll make on repeat.
You’ll also be happy to know that it’s make-ahead friendly (it lasts up to a week in the refrigerator) and you can also freeze pizza dough for another time (and yes, I do stockpile this pizza dough in my freezer).
You’ll love the big bubbly edges which are actually my favorite part of homemade sourdough pizza – trust me, you will never throw your crusts away again!
Pizza Dough with Active Sourdough Starter
This pizza dough uses 70% hydration which results in a dough that is easy to handle and cooks up into a light and airy crust that is chewy on the outside and so soft inside. The flavor and texture are actually very similar to our popular Overnight Pizza Dough which uses yeast as leavening.
The sourdough starter adds a lovely layer of flavor, and sourdough can be easier to digest, so if you don’t already have a sourdough starter, it’s surprisingly simple to make one and you’ll be on your way to making some of the best pizza dough you’ve sunk your teeth into.
Ingredients for Sourdough Pizza Crust
This sourdough pizza dough recipe calls for just 4 ingredients, so it’s easy to whip it up when your starter is active and bubbly. Even if you don’t have the right flour on hand, you can substitute it in a pinch.
- Flour – we use “00 Flour” (Double Zero flour) for the best stretchy, yet strong texture. It’s the finest flour available and the best for that chewy, crispy pizza crust texture. You can also use all-purpose flour or bread flour if desired. *see our note below for where to buy and substitutions
- Salt – fine sea salt adds flavor, but more importantly, it helps strengthen the dough and control fermentation–don’t skimp on this ingredient!
- Water – opt for room temperature, filtered water, so the temperature won’t slow the yeast’s fermentation.
- Active Sourdough Starter – You’ll need 100 grams of active starter. Feed your sourdough starter 4-6 hours before mixing the dough. The starter should be at least doubled in size, bubbly, and domed at the top.
- Semolina flour – optional, but best for dusting the pizza peel. you can substitute with AP or 00 flour.
Where can I get 00 flour?
You can look for it in your grocery store, but I found that not all grocery stores carry it. Locally, I have only found this flour in specialty higher-end grocery stores. For convenience, I purchase it online. Here is my favorite brand of 00 flour, which is also perfect for making homemade pasta.
How to Make Sourdough Pizza Dough
It takes only a few minutes of active prep time to make this sourdough pizza dough, so it’s easy to mix up anytime your starter is active and store until you’re ready to bake. This sourdough pizza dough recipe works on your schedule.
- Feed your sourdough starter 4 to 6 hours before you start making the pizza dough. You must start with an active and bubbly starter that has more than doubled in size. See our post on How to Feed Sourdough Starter.
- Make the dough – Whisk flour and salt and then add the water and starter. Mix and pinch the dough together until combined. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- Knead the dough – knead on a clean surface or in the bowl for 2 minutes. Oil a bowl and place dough inside. Cover and rest until doubled, around 4-5 hours. Don’t be tempted to speed up proofing. It’s best to rest at room temperature of 70-75°F
- Divide the dough – Turn the dough onto a floured surface and dust with flour, then divide into 4 pieces using a bench scraper. Working each piece at a time, fold the dough over itself 8 times turning the dough between folds. Form a ball with each piece and place it in an oiled bowl seam-side down. Cover and place in the fridge for 18 hours or up to 1 week.
Pro Tip:
After the cold ferment stage, you can also use the refrigerated sourdough pizza crust for our Easy Calzone and Stromboli recipes as well
How to Make a Sourdough Pizza Crust
You can change up the toppings any way you want here, but this is a great starting point. Top with our easy Red Pizza Sauce, White Pizza Sauce, or homemade Pesto, plus your favorite toppings for the perfect pizza every time. We even have a super delicious Tuscan Pizza in our Debut Cookbook that would be perfect on sourdough pizza crust!
- Prep – When you’re ready to make pizza, remove the dough to come to room temperature, for at least 15 minutes. Put a pizza stone or upside-down baking sheet in the center rack and preheat the oven to 550°F (if your oven won’t go to 550, bake at 500 for a little longer). Chop and prepare toppings and dust the pizza peel with flour.
- Shape the Crust – Working one piece at a time, place a ball of dough on a floured surface, and turn to coat. Watch the video above for the best technique! Flatten gently without popping bubbles, and then use the backs of your hands to work the dough into a 10-12” round with a thicker edge. Place on the floured peel.
- Add Toppings – spread a light layer of pizza sauce over the center and add light toppings. Shake the pizza peel slightly to be sure the dough isn’t sticking, then slide into the oven to the hot pizza stone. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Pro Tip:
Don’t overload the pizza with sauce and toppings, because this can weigh down the center and prevent it from baking properly.
What to Serve with Sourdough Pizza
Make this Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe anytime for a delicious, crowd-pleasing meal. Here are a few of our favorite sides to serve with homemade pizza:
- Caesar Salad
- Garden Salad
- Easy Garlic Bread
- Corn on the Cob
- Avocado Corn Salad
- Oven-Roasted Broccoli
- Strawberry Salad with Honey Vinaigrette
- Homemade Lemonade
Make-Ahead
This dough keeps really well in the refrigerator or freezer which is perfect for when you’re craving pizza.
- To Refrigerate: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week. It will have a more pronounced sourdough flavor as it sits in the refrigerator. I think it gets better with time. Choose a container that has room for expansion.
- Freezing: Once the dough has completed its overnight cold fermentation in the refrigerator, you can freeze and store it for up to 3 months. See how to freeze pizza dough for all of our best tips.
- To Reheat: Thaw the dough in the refrigerator overnight then the dough is ready to use for forming a pizza crust.
This tested and approved Homemade Sourdough Pizza Dough recipe makes the best homemade pizza with a chewy and crispy crust. The dough is made ahead, so you just top it with your favorite sauce and veggies for an incredible meal.
More Sourdough Recipes
Sourdough Pizza Dough is one of our family’s favorite ways to use our active starter. Once you try pizza, try these other favorites:
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Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 grams 00 flour, (500gr=4.17 cups), or all-purpose or bread flour, plus more for dusting
- 12 grams fine sea salt, or 2 tsp
- 335 grams water, (335gr=1.4 cups), filtered, room temperature
- 100 grams active sourdough starter, (100gr=1/2 cup)
- Semolina flour, to dust the pizza peel
Instructions
How to Make Sourdough Pizza Dough:
- Feed your sourdough starter 4 to 6 hours before you start making the pizza dough. You must start with an active and bubbly starter that has more than doubled in size. See our post on How to Feed Sourdough Starter.
- Make the Dough – Whisk together flour and salt. Add water and starter and mix with a firm spatula then use your hands to pinch the dough and mix until really well combined. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- Knead and Proof – Knead the dough in the bowl or on a clean work surface for 2 minutes then transfer to a bowl coated with olive oil. Cover and proof for 4-5 hours or until the dough has risen at least 50% in volume. Do not speed up the process but proof at room temperature 70-75 ̊F.
- Fold dough and Refrigerate– Transfer dough to a floured surface and turn to coat lightly in flour so it isn’t sticky. Use a bench scraper to divide the dough into 4 equal-sized pieces. Fold each piece of dough in half 8 times, gently pulling the sides over the center like closing a book, turning the dough each time and repeating for 8 folds. Form a ball in your hands and transfer each piece of dough to a lightly oiled bowl seam-side-down, cover and refrigerate overnight (18 hours) or up to 1 week.*
How to Form a Sourdough Pizza Crust:
- PREP: Remove the dough 15-30 minutes before using it to let it relax while preheating the oven or pizza oven. For oven baking: Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet onto the center rack of the oven and preheat to 550 ̊F. Lightly flour a pizza peel and prep toppings.
- Shape the Crust: Transfer 1 piece of dough to a lightly floured surface, turning to lightly coat in flour. Flatten the dough gently with your fingertips, moving the bubbles to the edges. DO NOT pop any bubbles. Lift the dough over the backs of your hands and roll your knuckles under the center of the dough, working outward as you rotate the dough along your knuckles, leaving a slightly thicker edge. Continue working the dough until a 10-12” pizza has formed. It will shrink slightly when you set it down. Place the dough down on a semolina-dusted pizza peel. Give the pizza peel a little shake to make sure the pizza slides over it and is not sticking.
- Add Toppings: Spread on a light coating of pizza sauce and toppings. Give the pizza another shake to make sure it slides on the pizza peel (to ensure it doesn't stick while transferring to the hot pizza stone). Slide the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone and bake at 550 ̊F for 8-10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and some of the larger bubbles on the crust are lightly scorched to ensure a crisp crust.
Notes
- “00” Flour (Double Zero flour) is the best flour for making pizza dough. If you can’t find it, you can substitute it with bread flour or All-purpose flour.
- Semolina is best for keeping the pizza dough from sticking to the peel, but you can substitute with 00 Flour, All-purpose, or bread flour.
- Baking in the Oven – For oven baking: Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet onto the center rack of the oven and preheat to 550 ̊F. Lightly flour a pizza peel and prep toppings. Tip: If your oven only heats to 500, that’s ok, just bake slightly longer.
- Measuring Tip: To make this process easier and more precise, weigh your pizza ingredients into the bowl over a kitchen scale. If you don’t have a scale, see our post on How to Measure Ingredients.
- Don’t overload with toppings and sauce to be sure it cooks properly in the center.
- To Freeze – After the cold ferment for at least 18 hours in the refrigerator, you can place freezer-safe containers of dough into the freezer to store for up to 3 months. See How to Freeze Pizza Dough.
Nutrition Per Serving
Good Things
The best kind of cooking is when your visitors can get in on the action. My husband’s family was visiting from California, and I happened to have ten pizza doughs in the fridge from all of the pizza filming and recipe development process for this video recipe, so of course, we had a pizza night. Vadim captured this fun moment where Nadya and I were laughing over forming the dough.
P.S. I would LOVE your recommendation for a great pizza oven – if you have one that you are happy with, please let me know in the comments!
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Natasha, I am so excited to try this recipe. Can I knead the dough in the mixer? If so , how many minutes should I do it? Thank you!
Hi Ann! I think that would be fine, you can use the dough attachment and knead it in a low speed for around 5-7 minutes until the dough becomes smooth.
The dough looks amazing so far. I having done the fridge part yet. I don;t have a peel or a stone. Could I press the dough into a large bar pan? If so, would I use it all? And. Would I just turn the one dough instaed of cutting in fourths?
Hi Laurie, it works best on a peel or a stone, but a normal metal pizza pan or pan will work also. I hope you love it.
Hi Natasha,
I love the simplicity of this recipe and being able to cold ferment in the fridge!:))
Unfortunately, when I make it the dough comes out very sticky and I have to knead it for a long period of time to create any kind of structure. I am measuring everything with a scale. I am using purified water- does this matter? In my last batch, it was still sticky after having the 4-5hr rest. In watching your video, it looks like my dough is already too sticky at the beginning. Do you have any advice? Thanks so much for your help! Mary Beth
You can dust a work surface with flour and turn your dough in the flour to keep it from sticking when you are shaping the pizza dough. If it still seems a little sticky, I would recommend adding a bit more flour next time around but I would not add more flour to the dough after it is already proofed and completed it’s cold fermentation in the refrigerator. Just dusting the dough should be enough to keep it from sticking.
Hello, i love your recipes! However. my sourdough came out very thin and tore when I tried to stretch it out. I followed your directions exactly. What did I do wrong? Thanks!
Hi Christine, its hard to say what caused that without being there, but if the dough tore while stretching that could be due to underdeveloped gluten. You may need to let the dough rest for a while longer before stretching again. Also be sure you’re not using too much flour, too much flour may make it dry. I hope this helps.
Is there a link for the plastic tubs for the individual pizza dough?
Hi Irene. In the recipe card, click on “how to freeze pizza dough” in red font. Scroll down through that blog post, I linked the rubber ware containers there at the bottom (in red font).
I’ve been making sourdough pizza dough and when refrigerate it, I find it takes 5 hours to get warm enough to shape. I’m surprised by 15-30 minutes from refrigerator to shaping. I
will be trying your recipe soon.
We have an Ooni pro pizza oven. We love it! It’s portable, capable of wood or gas cooking and can go to high temps for Neapolitan style. We have only cooked wit it using the propane because it’s so easy and comes out great.
It Heats up to 900 in 30 minutes!
Fancy models can take a really long time to heat up.
Semolina isn’t the same as semola ramacinata which is what you show in your photo. They are both milled from Durum wheat but semolina is course (like corn meal) whereas semola ramacinata is double milled and much finer
Hi, yes you are correct, but this is still semolina. Either one will work great and both work to help keep the pizza from sticking to the peel.
Do you think I can make the dough in my breadmaker on the dough setting?
Hi Lori, I don’t own a bread maker to test this. If you experiment, please let me know how it goes.
I didn’t use the bread maker but made the dough as you outlined. I followed the directions exactly as written but after rising for 4 to 5 hours the dough is still very sticky. I folded each piece 8 times and put them in the fridge. When I go to make the pizzas in the next few days would you recommend adding any additional flour if the dough is still sticky?
Hi Lori, you can dust a work surface with flour and turn your dough in the flour to keep it from sticking when you are shaping the pizza dough. If it still seems a little sticky, I would recommend adding a bit more flour next time around but I would not add more flour to the dough after it is already proofed and completed it’s cold fermentation in the refrigerator. Just dusting the dough should be enough to keep it from sticking.
Thank you, that worked perfectly! The crust was delicious!
That’s so great!
Another 5 star sourdough recipe! You did it again Natasha! Thank you for this wonderful pizza dough recipe it was incredible. And I made your pizza sauce – can’t get any easier and soooo delicious. Keep the sourdough recipes coming 🙂 P.S. if you end up getting a pizza oven let us know!
Aw, thank you, Bridget!
My daughter requested sourdough pizza for her recent birthday and this recipe came out the very next day after she planned her menu. Perfect timing! I made the dough on the weekend and kept it in the refrigerator all week. I was skeptical that it would work, but it was PERFECT. It rose beautifully, had great bubbles, and was the perfect consistency. I never eat pizza crust (“pizza bones” as we called them), but there were no crusts left behind! Delicious!
Such a great recipe and laid out easy to follow with good options for baking some later. Thank you Natasha! Can you please tell me if nutritional info is for one of 4 pizza crusts or one slice of a completed pizza and if you have grams available for amount used. Thanks again
Hi Anita, The serving size can be found at the beginning of the print-friendly recipe card (located at the bottom of the recipe post). The nutrition label shows counts “per serving.” Hope that helps!
Hi I’m not understanding these ingredients for the flour what does 4.17 cups mean
I never seen ingredients like this .
Hi Joanne! I highly encourage using a food scale and use the gram measurement for the most accurate measurements. 4.17 is just below 4 1/4 cups which would be 4.25, so it’s more difficult to measure this by cup.
Could you leave the dough out overnight during the proofing process? Will longer than 4-5 hours negatively affect the dough?
Hi Tera, 4-5 hours, especially in a warm home may over proof the bread. I would caution it, but if you’re watching it closely and your home is not too warm, that may work.
I recently found your website and am absolutely loving all of your recipes!! Thank you! Is there a link for those cool pizza containers that you keep your dough in the fridge in? I would love to get some.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Amy!
Always amazing recipes thank you Natasha from a loyal fan
I’m so happy you’re loving my blog and recipes! Thank you for that review, Edna!
Hi Natasha! 😄 I love All your recipes! It’s very hard to keep up because I want to make All of them! Lol 😛 “and I pretty much do “ lol 😝 Natasha, You Are The Best! Thank you so much 😊 with your great recipes it’s almost impossible to go wrong! The descriptions, the details are always amazingly simple to understand and follow! Don’t ever stop to be so authentic and amazing! Again…Thank you! ( all your pizza dough and sauces are delicious and my pizza party are always turning up amazing and delicious and everyone are raving about how delicious my pizza is! 🍕 🎊 🎉 🍕 but I have to say with out Natasha guidance I couldn’t ever do! 🙏🙂👍🥂 Blessings 🙏Paola
I’m so happy you love our recipes! Thank you so much for the fantastic review and your encouraging words. I am smiling big reading your comment, Paola!
This was everything a gourmet pizza should be, and then some! Turned out fluffy, light and delicious; easily, a new favorite recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for the wonderful review!
We have used this recipe for pizza dough many times!! It really does make the perfect crust!
HI Kristyn, I’m so happy to hear that! Once you discover a great sourdough recipe, it’s hard to go back to non-sourdough! That extra layer of flavor and the fact that it’s easier to digest is hard to beat.
This was my first time to try — much less make — a sourdough pizza crust, and it turned out fantastic! The flavor and texture were perfect and I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make.
It sure is simple! Thank you so much for the feedback and for trying the recipe!