I’m so excited to share my sourdough pizza dough recipe with you! This pizza dough recipe has become a staple in our home. It is my go-to recipe for an easy dinner idea for guests. All you have to do is make the crust, and the pizza combos are endless(I’ll share a few of our favorite combos below)! Once you successfully make your own homemade sourdough pizza, you will never go back!
Ingredients needed for your Sourdough Pizza Dough:
- Active Soughdough Starter
- Bread flour or Organic All Purpose Flour (this is the flour I use)
- Avocado Oil or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Water
- Italian Seasoning
- Garlic Powder( Or Garlic and Herbs Seasoning)
- Ranch Seasoning(homemade ranch seasoning works too)
- Dried Dill
- Sea Salt
Baking Sourdough Pizza Dough on A Pizza Stone
I use a pizza stone when baking my sourdough pizza dough. It helps to absorb and retain the heat in your oven, and as a result, aids in baking your crust all the way through evenly. Another great alternative to a pizza stone is a cast iron pan. It works very similarly to a pizza stone. If you don’t have one, then no worries! In that case, you can use a regular old baking sheet that can handle high heat. Pre-heat your baking sheet, just as you would a pizza stone. You may need to bake your crust slightly longer, since the baking sheet doesn’t hold as much heat, but it will still work just fine.
What is a stretch and fold and how do I do it?
A stretch and fold is a form of kneading used in sourdough to help activate and strengthen the gluten in wheat flour. To stretch and fold your dough, you will start by lightly wetting your hand with water. Then, keeping your fingers together, you will scoop your hand under one side of the dough. Next, you will lift the dough up as far as you can while trying to avoid it tearing. Next, you will fold the dough over onto itself. You will repeat this process on all four sides of your dough. As you perform the stretch and fold sequences throughout the process of making the pizza dough, you should notice your dough becoming more elastic with each set of stretch and folds. Generally, with the first set, your dough will be more firm, and by the last set you will see great improvement in its elasticity.
Pizza Combos For Sourdough Pizza
Here is a list of some supreme pizza toppings in my mind! The combinations are endless, so check out my Instagram page for some of the ones that I have used. I will leave a list here though of all of our favorite sauces, cheeses, and toppings that we have used thus far!
- Sauces: Homemade Alfredo sauce, homemade pesto, bbq sauce(we like the Primal Kitchen Hawaiian BBQ sauce,), classic marinara sauce, balsamic glaze, and Frank’s Hot Sauce.
- Cheese: For mozzarella, ideally you will want to find one that is specifically for pizza. If you can’t find one, just look for a “low moisture” content mozzarella. I have also used fresh mozzarella, burrata, ricotta, Boursin, and feta.
- Meat Toppings: Steak, shredded chicken, any Amylu sausages(sliced and fried before adding to your pizza), ground beef, bacon, and eggs(yes, I know they aren’t meat:).
- Vegan Pizza Toppings: Red onions, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, sweet potato, corn, roasted garlic, herbed olive oil, roasted chickpeas, black beans, green chilis, and green onions.
Garlic Butter Recipe:
Full Disclosure, I never have never measured any of the ingredients that I put in my garlic butter for the sourdough crust. The reason being, I just gauge it off of how many pizzas I am making at the time. That being said, I will list all of these ingredients here so you can make your own garlic butter creation when you make a pizza.
- Grass fed butter(melted, about 1-2 tablespoons melted for 1 pizza)
- Italian seasoning
- Parsley
- Garlic Salt
- Garlic and herbs seasoning
Sourdough Pizza Dough
Equipment
- pizza stone or cast iron pan
- Parchment Paper optional but encouraged
Ingredients
- 240 grams Active Sourdough Starter
- 480 grams lukewarm water
- 5 tbsp(62g) avocado oil extra virgin olive oil works too
- 720 grams Bread Flour organic all-purpose flour works great too
- 20 grams sea salt
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tbsp ranch seasoning homemade ranch seasoning works great too!
- 1 tbsp dried dill
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Begin by combining active starter, water, and avocado oil in a large bowl. Stir until well combined.
- Next add, bread flour, salt, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, ranch seasoning, and dried dill. You will mix until it is a loosely combined sticky ball.
- Cover with a lid or reusable shower cap for 30 minutes
- When the 30 minute wait is up, you will fold and stretch your dough.( I explained how to do this up in the blog post). You will want to have damp hands(run them under water every few stretch and folds so that your hands don't stick to your dough). This round you will imagine your dough divided into four quarters. Folding and stretching each quarter in a clockwise motion. You will do this fold and stretch sequence six times. Or a total of twenty four stretch and folds.
- Cover dough, and leave for one hour.
- Come back to your dough after one hour. Perform the same stretch and fold sequence written above. Then cover and leave for 1 more hour.
- After another hour you will come back to your dough and perform one more stretch and fold sequence.
- Cover and leave your dough to ferment on the counter for four hours.
- After four hours. You have two options. You can divide your dough now into two or three equal parts(2 or three separate containers sprayed with avocado or olive oil). OR you can place your dough in an extra large greased bowl with a lid and divide right before baking the next day.
- This dough recipe will make 3 smaller pizzas or 2 medium/large pizzas.
- Once you have divided your dough into equal parts(placed in their covered, greased bowls), You will place them in the refrigerator for 24 hours.(This time frame is fairly forgiving, but make sure it's at least overnight!)
- The next day:
- When you are ready to bake your pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Then place your pizza stone inside the oven, and pre-heat to 500ºF.
- While your oven is preheating, lay a large square piece of parchment on the counter or a baking sheet(laying it on a baking sheet makes it easier to transfer your pizza to the hot pizza stone)and sprinkle a salt amount of flour or cornmeal where the dough disk is going to be. If using a cast iron pan, make sure it is seasoned properly and coat with a layer of oil or grass fed butter before placing dough directly on hot pan.
- Again, wet your hands as your work with your dough to stretch it out and form it into a large disk(pizza shape) on your parchment paper.
- Once it is in the shape that you want, you are going to transfer your pizza dough to the pizza stone and bake for 6 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Then dress your pizza dough however you want! Adding sauce and toppings of choice.
- Place pizza back in the oven for 5-7 minutes, watching for the crust and cheese starting to turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven, and brush crust and top of cheese with garlic and herb butter!
- Cut with a pizza cutter, and serve immediately!
