The beauty of this recipe is the flavor and money saved when making your sourdough pizza dough from the starter. All you need is a well-fed sourdough starter, flour, salt, and a bit of water. A simple plan ahead (overnight) for the wild yeast to do its thing and break down the gluten.
If you haven’t read my post on why I love my sourdough starter and how to make your own from scratch you can check it out here.
I like to make homemade pizzas from scratch because they are a fraction of the cost, and the crust has an explosion of flavor! The nutritional benefits are also huge with sourdough, so it may make me feel just a little less guilty for INDULGING in our favorite pizza recipe here at home.
Add a white garlic sauce to this sourdough crust and it will please any crowd. My favorite go-to white sauce contains cream, garlic, cheese, salt, and a little pepper.
TIPS FOR MAKING SOURDOUGH PIZZA DOUGH
- Prep this the night before so the dough can rise enough to give you all of the nutritional benefits from the wild yeast!
- This sourdough pizza dough recipe is cooked to perfection with all the toppings right in your cast iron pan. It is best to pre-heat the cast iron pan before you add your dough to prevent sticking.
- Chop and prep the ingredients while your cast iron skillet is heating up!
- Let it rise at a temperature of at least 70 degrees for optimal rise effectiveness. If you are in a warm and humid climate it is best to reduce the water added to your dough by just a few tablespoons. You will know when your dough has that perfect elastic feel.
- Generously add more flour to your workspace once the sourdough pizza dough is done rising. If it is sticking at all to your hands you need to add more flour.
SOURDOUGH PIZZA CRUST INGREDIENTS
- Fed Sourdough Starter
- All-purpose unbleached flour
- Einkorn flour (If you don’t have just use whole wheat or stick to unbleached)
- Water
- Olive oil
- Salt
SUPPLIES YOU MAY NEED
- 12’’ Cast Iron Skillet or a Pizza stone will work too
- Glass bowl
THE PROCESS
- Get out a glass bowl and add in your fed sourdough starter as well as the flour mixture, salt, and water. The starter acts as the natural yeast that will rise this pizza dough using a sourdough starter.
- Once the dough is formed, place a lid or tea towel over your bowl and let it rise overnight or all day if you are making it that evening. The dough should double or even triple in size. Once the dough has risen, fold and stretch it a few times. You do not want to deflate it completely (even though tempting) because air pockets from the stretching give sourdough those gorgeous holes once baked.
- Now the dough is ready to make in your skillet. If you are not ready to make it, you can place it in your fridge for up to 24 hours.
- Before you stretch it out and bake it make sure the sourdough is at room temperature. I like to take my dough out of the fridge for about 30 minutes before adding the toppings.
SOURDOUGH PIZZA OPTIONS
MARGARITA PIZZA
This pizza has an olive oil base and is topped with basil, mozzarella, and tomatoes. I like to add a sprinkle of sea salt over each piece with a glazed balsamic drizzle.
CHICKEN BACON
One of my all-time favorite pizzas to make is a white garlic cream sauce-based pizza with chicken, bacon, green + red onions, tomatoes, and cheese-like gruyere or three cheese Formaggio from Trader Joes.
PLAIN OR PEPPERONI
Like your basics? So do I! Just a red sauce and cheese with a little pepperoni is where it’s at! You cannot go wrong here.
WHY USE A CAST IRON SKILLET?
I love cooking with cast iron for many reasons. The pans get lightning hot, which is wonderful for making pizzas. I would not recommend cooking this sourdough pizza crust in a regular nonstick pan for temperature reasons.
It is also nice to transfer the pizza dough from the stovetop in the skillet right into the oven (with all toppings intact) for a final cook and broil to finish everything off nicely. It would be too hard to transfer it from a nonstick pan to a cookie sheet or pizza stone.
If you have not checked out how to make your sourdough starter from scratch, definitely do it! It is one of the easiest processes! A sourdough starter is the key to getting the best sourdough pizza on the table for your family and friends to devour!
Enjoy this recipe!
Sourdough Pizza Crust
Equipment
- Glass bowl
- Cast Iron SKillet
- Wooden Spoon
- Cookie Sheet
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Sourdough Starter
- 1/3 Cup Einkorn Flour Whole wheat or bread flour will work if you don't have Einkorn.
- 4 Cups All Purpose Unbleached Flour
- 1 1/3 Cups Water You can add a bit more if dough appears to need it
- 3 tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Instructions
The Fermentation Process The Night Before
- In a large glass bowl add in your sourdough starter, flours, salt, olive oil, and water. Stir well and cover with a tea towel. Allow to ferment at least 12 hours at room temperature. The longer the fermentation time the more gluten gets broken down!
After The Fermentation Period Is Over
- When the dough has fermented and risen simply uncover the bowl with your tea towel and perform a few stretch and folds. Pull one side of the dough and fold it over to the other side. Three to four times is enough until all sides have been folded.
- The dough is ready to be rolled out and made at this point, but if you are not ready to make it yet just place it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
- If you placed the dough in the fridge: When you are ready to bake divide the dough into 4 balls and let it rest covered for 30 minutes so it can come to room temperature.
- Once the dough has gotten to room temperature, roll it out and prep your cast iron pan by pre-heating it. Turn the heat to medium.
- While the pan is heating, place the dough on a floured surface and start rolling it out into about an 8'' circle. Use more flour if it is sticking to the counter.
- Once your cast iron is hot, place the pizza dough in and start adding your toppings. Cook for about 5 minutes until you see a slight char on the bottom of the crust.
- To finish off the top of the pizza, turn your oven broiler to high and then transfer the cast iron skillet into the oven for about 3-5 minutes.
- * A trick if your pizza gets too burnt on the bottom: If my cast iron cooked the bottom of my dough too much simply get a cookie sheet out when it comes time to broil and place your cast iron in the cookie sheet. It prevents burning on the bottom of your pizza!
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.