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It’s no secret that we love a good slice of sourdough pizza in our house (or that we’re big fans a crusty artisan sourdough loaf, for that matter!) This Pizza Sourdough Bread combines two of my favorite bakes into one irresistible, savory loaf.
Packed with marinara sauce, melty cheese, herbs, and pepperoni, it’s perfect for snacking, serving alongside soup, or turning into an extra-special loaded sandwich. Every slice delivers that classic pizza flavor—with the tang and texture of naturally fermented sourdough. And if you’re still craving sourdough pizza, then try my Sourdough Discard Pizza or this delicious Sourdough Focaccia Pizza too!
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Why You’ll Love Pizza Sourdough Bread
- Easy Tomato Flavor – This loaf is infused with store-bought tomato sauce for a quick, savory flavor boost. Want to level it up? Try using the tomato purée from my Tomato Basil Sourdough Bread recipe for a homemade touch.
- Pizza Mix-Ins – Fold in your favorite pizza toppings like cheese and pepperoni for big flavor in every bite. Be cautious of any mix-ins that could add moisture to the dough (like pineapple). For more inspiration, check out my Pesto Tomato Sourdough Bread.
- Pizza Flavor in Every Slice – This loaf has all the classic flavors of your favorite slice: tangy tomato, melty cheese, and savory herbs—all wrapped in the chewy, crusty goodness of sourdough. And for more pizza-inspired sourdough, try these Sourdough Pizza Rolls too.
New to Sourdough? If you are new to sourdough, learn how to make a sourdough starter from scratch and check out my Free Sourdough Beginner Guide. Using naturally fermented sourdough will take much longer, but you will love the fermentation benefits and the flavor!
Important Ingredients
- Sourdough Starter – Use an active/ripe sourdough starter (doubled in size/bubbly/mild sour aroma) to mix the levain. Ripe, bubbly, and active sourdough starter can also be substituted for levain in this recipe.
- Marinara Sauce – I like to use Rao’s marinara sauce for this recipe because it has a great flavor and consistency. I haven’t tested it with other brands, but you can definitely substitute another marinara. Just keep in mind that different sauces can vary in water content, so you may need to adjust the amount of water in your dough depending on the sauce you use.
- Herbs – A combination of fresh and dried herbs give this loaf great flavor.
- Mozzarella Cheese – I like to use fresh mozzarella cheese in this recipe, which I cut into cubes. Pre-shredded cheese has anti-caking agents that give it a chalky residue, so I don’t recommend baking with it.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
Substitutions
- Sourdough Starter: Ripe, bubbly, active starter can be substituted for levain in this recipe.
- Cheese: Mozzarella is classic in this loaf, but provolone, fontina, or cheddar work too. Or, make the loaf without cheese altogether.
- Pepperoni – I use a shelf-stable pepperoni that doesn’t need refrigeration. If you want to substitute another meat (like cooked sausage, ham, or salami), it’s best to laminate it into the dough during shaping.
- Herbs – Fresh basil adds brightness, but you can substitute 1 teaspoon dried basil (or use Italian seasoning) instead.
- Marinara sauce – I use Rao’s for its flavor and thicker consistency. You can substitute another brand, but if it’s thinner, reduce the water in your dough slightly.
Sourdough Baker’s Timeline
A sample baking schedule helps me when baking with sourdough. Sourdough takes much longer to rise than commercial yeast bread. This schedule helps me plan my bake.
A few notes: This schedule assumes the dough temperature is 78°F throughout the process. If you’d like to make the bread all on the same day, skip the cold fermentation and let the dough rise for a few hours in a banneton before baking.
| Day 1 | Levain/Mixing/Bulk Fermentation/Shaping/Cold Fermentation |
| 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Mix Levain. Let sit at 78°F for about 3-4 hours until doubled/bubbly and ripe. |
| 12:00 PM | Mix the Dough |
| 12:30 PM | Stretch and Fold #1 |
| 1:00 PM | Stretch and Fold #2 Add Inclusions |
| 1:30 PM | Stretch and Fold #3 |
| 2:00 PM | Stretch and Fold #4 |
| 2:00 PM – 4:30 PM | Bulk Fermentation Continued |
| 4:30 PM | Pre-Shape the Dough |
| 5:00 PM | Shape and begin cold fermentation |
| Day 2 | Bake |
| 9:00 AM | Preheat Dutch oven |
| 9:15 AM | Score and Bake |
How to Make Pizza Sourdough Bread
Mix the Levain
Step 1: Mix Levain. Mix together ripe, active sourdough starter, water, and flour (Image 1). Let rise in a warm place (around 78º Fahrenheit) for 3-4 hours until peaked, bubbly and active (Image 2).
Have a bubbly, active starter on hand? You can use it in place of the levain—just use the same amount of starter that the recipe calls for in the levain.
Mixing the Dough
Step 2: Mix Dough: Use a dough whisk to combine ripe levain, water, and marinara sauce (Images 3 & 4). Add salt, seasoning, garlic powder, and bread flour and continue whisking together until the ingredients are fully incorporated (Image 5). Your dough will be somewhat sticky. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Marinara Tip: I use Rao’s Marinara sauce. You can substitute another marinara, but since sauces vary in thickness, adjust the water in your dough if your sauce is thinner or more watery.
Bulk Fermentation
Step 3: Stretch and Folds: In making artisan style bread, we don’t use traditional kneading methods, instead we use a series of gentle folds to help strengthen the gluten strands in the dough. This dough usually gets about 3-4 sets of stretch and folds over a 2 hour period, if the dough is kept right around 78°F.
Stretch and Fold: To “stretch and fold,” wet your hand (so it doesn’t stick to the dough). Reach down to the bottom of the bowl of dough and pull the dough up and over the top of the dough (Images 6 & 7). Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat the stretch and fold. Turn another quarter turn and repeat (Images 8 & 9). Perform one more quarter turn with stretching and folding the dough. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes. Repeat every 30 minutes for a total of 3-4 times. Over time, your dough will strengthen and get less sticky and more cohesive (Image 10).
Before beginning the second stretch and fold, chop the mozzarella, pepperoni, and fresh basil (Image 12). Add the these mix-ins to the top of the dough after your dough has rested for 30 minutes and before beginning the second set of stretch and folds (Image 13). As you perform the second stretch and fold, the inclusions will begin to become incorporated. They will continue being further incorporated during the third and fourth sets of stretch and folds (Images 14-16).
Step 4: Rest. By the end of the stretch-and-fold process, your dough should feel stronger and more cohesive. If it still feels weak, add an extra set or two of folds. Once the final stretch and fold is complete, cover the dough and let it rest for 2–2.5 hours at 78°F, until it has puffed up about 40% and has a gentle jiggle when you shake the bowl (Image 17).
Pre-shape and Bench Rest
Step 5: Pre Shape. Tip the dough onto a clean counter surface. Use wet hands and a bench knife to to gently tuck the dough into a ball, pushing any mozzarella chunks that have risen to the surface under the dough (Image 18).
Step 6: Bench Rest. Leave the dough uncovered and let it rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature until the dough has relaxed and flattened a little bit.
Note: If your dough feels very light, airy, warm, and looks slightly over-proofed after the rise, skip the bench rest and move straight to shaping.
Shaping the Dough
Step 7: Shape. Prepare a bowl or banneton basket (I like to line mine with reusable hairnets so I don’t need extra flour) and lightly dust with flour if desired. To shape, gently pull the dough toward yourself and fold it in (Images 19, 20 & 21), working in a circle until the surface is taut and you have a round ball of dough (Image 22). Carefully place the shaped dough into the prepared bowl or banneton (Images 23 & 24).
Don’t Have a Dutch Oven? You can also place the shaped dough into a greased loaf pan to rise. Baking this sourdough in a loaf pan will give you a taller, more structured loaf that slices easily—perfect for sandwiches or garlic bread.
Cold Ferment & Proofing
Step 8: Cold Fermentation. Cover your pizza bread dough and refrigerate for up to 14-20 hours (overnight). Alternatively, you can leave your dough out at room temperature to rise for about 2-3 hours until it is puffed and risen (Image 25).
Baking the bread
Step 9: Bake. Once dough has risen and is puffed up, you are ready to bake.
Pre-heat the Oven: Put a Dutch oven (top and all) into the oven and preheat to 450°F. Allow the Dutch oven to heat for about 20 minutes at 450°F. This builds up steam, which is necessary to achieve the beautiful oven spring and perfect crust that artisan bread is known for.
Scoring the Dough: Once the oven is preheated for, pull the loaf out of the refrigerator. Remove the plastic wrap (this is easy to do straight out of the refrigerator if the dough is chilled – not easy if the dough warms up) and place a piece of parchment paper on top of the bread dough. Flip the dough over so that it is now sitting on the parchment paper. Take off the bowl/banneton and kitchen towel. Smooth the flour over the top of the dough and use a bread lame or very sharp knife to score the dough. I find a simple score is best when working with this dough (Image 26).
Baking the Bread: Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven with hot pads. Take the top off and place your bread into the Dutch oven (including parchment paper – this helps with the transfer). Be very careful not to touch the sides of the hot Dutch oven. Put your hot pads back on before you pick up the lid of the Dutch oven and place it on top of the bread. Put the whole Dutch oven back into your oven. Bake for 25 minutes. Once 25 minutes are up, take the top off the Dutch oven and continue baking for 20 minutes (Image 27) until the bread is fully baked (Image 28). Let cool completely and enjoy.
How to Store Leftovers
Let your loaf cool completely. Then slice and stick in an airtight bag and freeze. You can also freeze the whole loaf and then let it thaw or warm back up in the oven for a few minutes before enjoying.
Amy’s Recipe Tip
This loaf is packed with mozzarella, pepperoni, and seasonings, which makes it flavorful but also a bit trickier to shape. Don’t worry if it feels a little messy—that’s normal with all the inclusions! If you prefer an easier dough to handle, you can cut the inclusions back by up to half while still keeping that pepperoni pizza flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You can open-bake the bread with steam in your home oven. Read more about that method here.
The way this recipe is written, it is not recommended to leave the dough on the counter overnight because it could easily over-proof. If you want to make an overnight loaf, reduce the levain or starter in the recipe. Let the dough bulk ferment overnight in a cooler spot before shaping, chilling for a few hours and baking.
If your dough was too wet, decrease some of the water in the dough next time. Different marinara sauces can have different water content, so you may need to make adjustments, especially if you aren’t using the Rao’s marinara sauce.
Gummy dough is usually caused by too much moisture and most often happens when the dough is under-proofed or under-baked. Make sure your dough has enough time to rise in a warm place before shaping. If your dough is on the cooler side, it will need a longer fermentation. Also, be sure to bake the loaf until it reaches an internal temperature of 205–210ºF.
Sourdough Pizza recipes
If you tried this Pizza Sourdough Bread or any other recipe on my website leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Happy Baking!
Pizza Sourdough Bread
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Ingredients
Mix Levain (1:1:1 ratio, ready in 3-4 hours at 78-80ºF)
- 35 grams sourdough starter, about 2 Tablespoons
- 35 grams all-purpose flour, scant 1/4 cup
- 35 grams water, about 2 Tablespoons
Pizza Sourdough Loaf
- 100 grams levain, about 1/2 cup
- 175 grams water, about 3/4 cup
- 250 grams Rao’s marinara sauce, about 1 cup
- 10 grams salt, about 1.5 teaspoons
- 3-4 grams Italian seasoning, about 2 teaspoons
- 2 grams garlic powder, about 1/2 teaspoon
- 500 grams flour, about 3 3/4 cups
Inclusions
- 225 grams mozzarella cheese, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces (8 oz)
- 60 grams pepperoni chopped into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces, about 1/2 cup, see recipe notes
- 10 grams fresh basil, finely chopped (about 1 Tablespoon)
Instructions
Levain (1:1:1 ratio, 3-4 hours peak at 78-80ºF)
- Mix together ripe/active sourdough starter with all-purpose or bread flour and water. Cover loosely and let sit 3-4 hours at 78-80°F until doubled, bubbly & peaked.Note: If you have a ripe, bubbly, active sourdough starter that is fed equal parts flour and water – you can substitute 120 grams of it for the levain in this recipe.
Sourdough Pizza Loaf
- Mix Dough: To a large bowl, mix together ripe levain with water and marinara sauce. Whisk together. Then add salt, seasoning, garlic powder and bread flour. Mix together using a dough whisk or spoon until a wet and sticky dough forms and the ingredients are fully combined. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Stretch and Folds: After the dough has rested, you will perform a series of “stretch and folds” over the next 1 ½ hours. The goal is to strengthen the dough through a gentle kneading process. You will also add cheese, pepperoni and basil into the dough during this process, which will evenly disperse them throughout the dough.To “stretch and fold,” wet your hand (so it doesn’t stick to the dough). Reach around the dough down to the bottom of the bowl, pull the dough up and over and place it on top of the dough. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat the stretch and fold. Turn another quarter turn and repeat. Perform one more quarter turn, stretching and folding the dough. Cover and set aside. Take note of how the dough feels through this process. It will go from feeling a little shaggy to smooth and elastic. Cover the bowl and wait about 30 minutes between stretch and folds.
- Stretch and fold #1: 30 minutes into bulk fermentation. Prepare Mozarella, pepperoni and basil, cutting them into chunks and smal pieces. Stretch and fold #2: 30 minutes later, the dough will spread out. Add the mozzarella cubes, pepperoni chunks, and fresh basil. Stretch and fold again, beginning to incorporate the inclusions into the dough.Stretch and fold #3: 30 minutes later, stretch and fold again. The inclusions will continue dispersing throughout the dough, but this is a lot of inclusions, so having some pop through is okay.Stretch and fold #4: 30 minutes later, stretch and fold again. You should notice the dough feeling more cohesive and strong during this stretch and fold, and not needing very much folding to come together. If your dough still feels loose, add in another couple of stretch and folds to help strengthen and tighten the gluten strands.
- Rest: Cover the dough and let rise for 2-2.5 more hours at 78ºF. You’ll know the dough is ready to shape when the dough is puffed up about 40%, jiggles when you shake the bowl, and has scattered bubbles visible on the sides and top.If your dough is cooler, this will take longer and you will want to look for a larger percentage rise before shaping the dough.
- Pre-shape: Tip the bowl upside down, allowing the dough to fall onto a clean counter surface. Be gentle to avoid degassing the dough as much as possible. Wet your hands and the bench knife if needed and push the bench knife under the dough on one side and your free hand on the other side to tuck the dough under itself. The goal is to introduce some tension into the dough. Repeat this process, going around in a circle until you have a ball of dough, tucking the cubes of cheese that pop out back under the dough if possible.
- Bench Rest: Let the dough rest uncovered for about 30 minutes at room temperature. The dough will flatten a little as it sits. This allows the gluten in the dough to relax and prepares the dough to be shaped.
- Shaping: Prepare a bowl or banneton. Place a kitchen towel or hair net in the bowl and liberally flour as needed. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough if desired. Using a bench knife, lift the dough up off the counter and place it on top of the countertop – floured side down. This ensures that the flour is staying mainly on the outside of the dough.Going around in a circle, pull the dough sideways towards you and then fold up to the top of the round. Move 90 degrees and repeat the same process pulling the dough sideways and then folding up to the top. As you continue this process around the dough, increase the tension as you pull. Gather the bread into a circle and place into a lined bowl. If any of the cheese or pepperoni pops out of the dough, remove them or stick them on the bottom side of the bread dough.Note: It is possible to shape the dough without any extra flour. The dough can stick to the kitchen towel but doesn't stick to the hair nets if cold proofed.
- Cold Fermentation: Cover the dough with the tea towel/shower cap/plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 14-20 hours. If you want to bake the same day, you can let the dough rise for about 2-3 hours until puffed up and risen. Then bake according to recipe directions.
- Preheat the oven: Put a Dutch oven (top and all) into the oven and preheat to 450°F for 20 minutes. You are working with very high temperatures, so make sure you have some good hot pads. Once preheated for 20 minutes, pull the loaf out of the refrigerator. Remove the covering. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the dough. Flip the dough over so it is now sitting on the parchment paper. Take off the bowl/banneton and the kitchen towel.
- Scoring: Use a very sharp knife or bread lame to score the dough. Take the bread lame and score on one side of the dough, at a shallow angle about 30º and 1 inch deep. Score straight from the refrigerator on the cold dough for best results. This is not a loaf for intricate scoring – the cheese will burst and brown during baking which will turn out to be a focal point of your loaf.
- Baking: Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the 450°F oven. Take the lid off and place your bread into the Dutch oven (including parchment paper – this helps with the transfer). Put the lid on and put it back in the oven. After 25 minutes, take the lid off the Dutch oven for the remainder of the bake. Once the bread reaches an internal temperature of 205-210ºF, remove the bread from the Dutch oven to a cooling rack and let the bread cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Amazing!!!! So so good thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the review!
I have tried to make this recipe 4 separate times and each time the bread comes out undercooked. Last time I did 30 min covered and 30 min uncovered and still doughy 🙁
I would check with a thermometer that the internal temperature is around 200 degrees Fahrenheit before pulling out of the oven. Hope that helps!
I almost gave up on this recipe AND IM SO GLAD I DIDNT!!! Don’t let it fool you, the dough is sticky and hard to work with, but my loaf baked up PERFECTLY and it’s soooooo delicious! Thank you for your consistently spot-on recipes!!!
I’m glad it turned out great! Thanks for keeping with the process!
This is a flavor bomb of a boule! I only had pepper jack cheese which I feel made it even more special. I also used an open bake method so my times were different to get to the correct bake temp. Strongly suggest to use a instant read thermometer if you want to bake the perfect 🍞 Everyone’s oven is different 🔥
A thermometer definitely makes a big difference! Thanks for the review.
I really enjoyed this recipe! Instead of using pepperoni, I swapped it for ham, and I opted for a regular pasta sauce instead of marinara. My loaf rose nicely. To prevent burning in the last 10 minutes, I covered it with the lid again. Plus, when I placed it in the Dutch oven, I added a handful of ice cubes between the pot and the parchment before covering it to create plenty of steam.
Yum! Thanks for the review and feedback!
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You can share a picture and review here! I’m glad it turned out great. Enjoy!
Do we know how many grams a serving is? Just put mine in the oven and it looks awesome!!
The nutritional information is for one slice, based on the loaf being evenly divided into 16 slices. Hope that helps!
I made for Christmas Eve and it was a HUGE hit! I put out extra spaghetti sauce and olive oil with Italian seasoning for dipping. Everyone’s favorite! Thank you for all your amazing recipes!
Thanks for the review! I’m glad it was a big hit!
OMG!! This bread is fantastic! The house smells so good. We could not wait 2 hours for it to cool, so we dug in after 1 hour. I did some research and although the marinara sauce I used is high quality, it does have a higher moisture content. I added some tomato past to compensate. The recipe if followed is perfect! Thank you for another awesome sourdough bread recipe.
I’m so glad it was a success – thanks for the feedback and review!
Excellent! I made it for the first time yesterday and sliced it just now, and am very pleased with the results. I did find I had to leave it in the oven an extra 10 minutes to bring it up to 205 degrees internal. Next time, I’ll leave it covered for 30 minutes, 25 uncovered. Will freeze for Thanksgiving. Thank you, Amy.
Thanks for the review! I’m glad you love the recipe.
Love this! I’ve had a feeling I would like it and I doubled the recipe. My coworkers will be happy tomorrow! The only change I would make is to use turkey pepperoni. It’s a little greasy and I have to watch my fats due to high cholesterol. I will try to remember to report back on how it comes out with the turkey pepperoni. Regardless, this is being saved to my recipe files because I will be making it again!
Thanks for your review and substitution ideas!
I’m just now finished with the stretch and folds and this dough is horribly sticky. Even wetting my fingers before hand, my hand is covered in dough after each stretch/fold. The instructions said it would be wet and sticky so I didn’t think anything of it, but it’s not improving after 2+ hours. Really hoping it gets less sticky so I can shape it without too much trouble.
I’m sorry it’s giving you trouble! I will say this pizza bread is a bit wetter and stickier than most bread recipes. I hope it turned out well when you shaped it!
I made it for the first time using turkey pepperoni and it’s delicious and not at all greasy!
So glad you all loved it! Thanks for sharing.