Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe

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Pizza is the ultimate, last minute, no forethought kind of dinner. But sourdough pizza dough? How can that be last minute? Well girls, we make it ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze those babies! They are ready and waiting for us in our time of hunger and post-school / after work meltdowns!

Sourdough pizza is delicious. Honesty, homemade pizza is delicious. So when you can make it a bit better for digestion (via fermenting), why not?! Oh, and it tastes like heaven! Did I mention that?

So if you’re like me and oftentimes find yourself thinking “Oh crap, what’s for dinner?”, having an ample supply of sourdough pizza dough waiting in the fridge/freezer may need to be in your not too distant future.

Fresh vs Frozen Sourdough Pizza Dough

Here’s the thing – – you can absolutely make sourdough pizza dough and have fresh baked pizza the same-ish day. It just takes planning.

I’ll give you a couple of timeline options so you can see how to best fit this dough into your schedule. Obviously you will have to tweak this based on your needs and life. My kitchen is still fairly cold in April. As a result, my starter takes about 8 hours to be active from a feeding, and my dough takes about 12 hours to double. You may have different times, and that’s okay. You’ll get to know your starter and how it responds to your environment.

And honestly, I think sourdough has a way bigger margin for error than we give it credit for. Maybe you don’t nail the timing, but I bet whatever you make will still be pretty damn tasty! Don’t let the times scare you. This dough is really just mixing and sitting (that’s the fermenting time aka doubling in size).

And you have options. If your dough looks ready and it’s meal time, make pizza! If it’s not, you can wrap it up in plastic, pop it in an airtight container, and put it in the fridge for 2 or 3 days until you’re ready. Or, you can throw it in the freezer for months! You have choices. That’s the best part:)

Onto some timelines!

Next Day Timeline 1:

10 PM: Feed starter.

7 AM: Make dough in mixer and leave to ferment on counter all day.

6 PM: Divide dough into 3 parts and make pizza for dinner!

Next Day Timeline 2:

Noon: Feed starter

8 PM: Make dough in mixer and leave to ferment on counter all night.

7 AM: Divide dough into parts. Wrap in plastic and store in fridge until dinner.

6 PM (or whenever you eat dinner): Remove and unwrap the sourdough pizza dough from fridge, lightly cover with the same plastic while you gather your supplies. Roll out the dough, preheat the oven, add toppings, and cook the pizza.

Frozen Timelines:

Frozen dough looks much like above. The only difference is once it’s doubled in size, you will divide the dough into 3 parts (for 3 pizzas), wrap each ball in plastic, and then place all 3 balls in a ziplock bag, or some type of airtight container. Then you pop it into your freezer until you need it.

When I need the dough, I take 2 or 3 balls out of the freezer, unwrap them, place them on an oiled baking sheet and cover with lightly greased plastic (the same piece it was stored in). It takes about 3 hours for the dough to thaw out and be ready to roll.

For my timing, I usually think about dinner when I’m getting my daughter from school. Before I leave I’ll throw some dough on the counter, and around 5 pm it’s ready to be worked. Dinner is ready by 5:30.

Make a couple batches of this sourdough pizza dough and see what works best for you.

Step by Step Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe

Step 1

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add water, starter, and honey. Mix to combine.

Step 2

Then add in flour, oil, and salt.

Step 3

Use the hook attachment and knead for 8 minutes on setting 2 or 3 until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Step 4

Cover with plastic and leave on the counter to ferment until the dough has roughly doubled in size. This could take up to 12 hours, or possibly more (my dough once took 15 hours, but other times 10).

Step 5

Once doubled, scrape the dough onto the counter and divide into 3 equal portions for 3 medium pizzas, or 2 equal portions for 2 large pizzas.

Step 6

Working with 1 piece at a time, lift the edge bringing them into the middle, all around the dough, to form a ball.

Step 7

Flip the ball over and gently cup the dough, pulling it towards you to tighten the skin on top. Do this a couple of times. This is the same technique you use to make sourdough bread.

Step 8

If saving the dough for later use, wrap each piece in plastic, then place the wrapped balls of dough in an airtight container. You can keep the dough refrigerated for about 3 days, or frozen for 1 – 2 months.

Step 9

If using the dough fresh, once the dough is formed into a ball, roll it out to desired thickness. I shoot for about 1/4″ thick. Cover the dough once it’s been rolled.

Preheat the oven to 425.

When the oven has come to temp, add your toppings and bake on a pizza pan for about 12 minutes.

Another variation (and my favorite) is to cook the pizza on the stove top in the cast iron pan. Heat up the pan, add a bit of oil. Roll out the dough and place it in the hot pan. Spread a bit of oil on the dough and then add your toppings. Place the pizza (while still in the cast iron skillet) in the oven under the high broiler for 2-3 minutes to cook the top of the pizza and get that heavenly char. But be careful, it can burn super fast!

More Delicious Sourdough Recipes to Try

If you are really on a time crunch and you don’t have any sourdough pizza dough at the ready, you can whip this cast iron pizza up in an hour, start to finish.

But if you’re in the mood for all things sourdough, you may want to check out a couple of these:

Sourdough Discard Bagel Bites

Sourdough Bagels

Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes

Sourdough Bread

I’d love to know what you think. Feel free to leave a comment below.

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