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Looking for a quick and easy pizza dough recipe that uses your sourdough discard? This Sourdough Discard Pizza Dough is the answer! It’s fast, flavorful, and perfect for busy weeknights, family dinners, or homemade freezer pizzas. With a little help from commercial yeast, this homemade pizza dough comes together quickly (no long fermentation required) while still giving you delicious flavor.
Whether you’re making pizza on the fly or prepping ahead, this recipe is a must-have in your sourdough rotation. Take your pizza night up a notch and put that sourdough discard to good use with this awesome pizza crust recipe. Or if you want a naturally fermented sourdough version, be sure to check out my 100% Sourdough Pizza Dough that’s just as tasty.
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Why You’ll Love Sourdough Discard Pizza
- Family Favorite – This recipe is the sourdough discard version of our family’s pizza night favorite Sourdough Pizza Dough. And for a fun appetizer, try these Cheesy Sourdough Breadsticks too!
- Sourdough Discard Recipe – If you are wondering what sourdough discard pizza is – it’s pizza made with the flavor and moisture of sourdough discard AND instant yeast making it a quick sourdough pizza dough recipe – just like these Sourdough Discard Breadsticks.
- Perfect Mini Pizzas – We love to make mini pizzas out of this discard pizza dough so that each family member can customize their pizza with their favorite toppings. If you want a non-sourdough version, then try my Quick Pizza Oven Pizza Dough! Or try my sourdough pizza rolls that make the best appetizer.
- Home Oven: I love that you can get amazing quality sourdough pizza straight out of your home oven! If you happen to have a pizza oven, you may want to try my sourdough pizza dough recipe for an Ooni Pizza Oven or my pizza oven pizza dough with instant yeast.
Don’t Just Take it From Me
One reader, Alisa B., wrote, “The BEST pizza dough recipe I’ve ever made. I gave up years ago even trying. Thank you Amy!!” ★★★★★
One reader, Katrina A., wrote, “Made this recipe and now I can never buy frozen pizza from the store again! It was so easy to make and came out absolutely perfect!! I cooked mine in a cast iron pan and it was incredible!!” ★★★★★
One reader, Jenny, wrote, “Just made it, came out delish!! There’s nothing like a recipe you can trust. Thank you!” ★★★★★
Important Ingredients
- Sourdough Discard – You can use either fresh, bubbly starter or older discard that’s been sitting in your fridge. I often use discard that’s a couple of weeks old (sometimes even longer) with great results. The older it is, the tangier the flavor, which is perfect for adding a little extra zing to your pizza crust.
- Milk: Use 2% or whole milk. A plant-based milk also works in this recipe.
- Pizza Sauce – Use your favorite store-bought sauce or make your own. I usually go with the red sauce recipe I’ve included in the post below. It’s simple, flavorful, and our go-to for pizza night.
- Toppings – Anything goes with pizza! We love a good quality mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and pineapple (yes, I love pineapple on pizza!).
- Instant Yeast – This pizza recipe relies on instant yeast to rise, making it a quick and easy way to use up your sourdough discard without a long rise time.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
Substitutions
- Bread Flour: I do love bread flour for a chewy crust, but this recipe works with all-purpose flour too. You may need just a bit more flour if you make that swap to get the right consistency.
- Whole Wheat Flour: Substitute up to 50% (half) freshly milled or aged whole wheat flour for the bread flour in this recipe.
- Garlic Powder: I love the flavor that a little garlic powder brings to this pizza crust recipe. You can leave it out or add some Italian seasoning
- Olive Oil: Olive oil keeps this dough tender and gives that crispy crust once baked. You can substitute it for any neutral-flavored oil if desired.
Sourdough Discard Tip: I keep a jar in my fridge that I continually add sourdough discard to. Discard is a by-product of your sourdough starter, and there is no reason to throw it away. Instead, use it in incredible sourdough discard recipes where it adds moisture and great flavor. Use older, more tangy discard in savory recipes like this Sourdough Discard Focaccia Bread and young/fresh discard in sweeter recipes like my favorite Sourdough Blondies.
How to Make Sourdough Discard Pizza
Mix the Pizza Dough
Step 1: To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the ingredients (Images 1 & 2). Mix the dough until it’s soft, smooth and has been kneaded for about 8-10 minutes. The dough should feel tacky, but not sticky. If the dough feels sticky, add a few more Tablespoons of flour.
If you don’t have a stand mixer and want to mix the dough by hand, you can do that too. Just add about 5 minutes to the kneading time.
Instant Yeast Tip: You don’t have to activate instant yeast before using it. Just mix it right in with the dry ingredients. That said, I like to mix it with warm milk and check for bubbling as a quick confirmation that it’s active. If you’re using active dry yeast, be sure to activate it in warm liquid first before adding it to the dough.
Step 2: Once the dough is mixed, cover it and let it rise for about an hour (Image 3).
Shape & Proof
Step 3: After the dough has doubled in size and risen, it’s time to shape the dough into pizza-sized balls. Dump the dough on the counter and decide how many pizzas you want to make. To shape the dough into balls, take each piece of dough and pull/pinch up the sides until it forms a ball (Images 4 & 5). Roll the ball on the counter, holding your hand in a cupping shape (see video here) to seal the balls and create tension (Images 6 & 7). For larger dough balls, use both hands to drag the dough on the counter into a round shape.
Note: This recipe makes 2-3 large pizzas. You can make 4 smaller pizzas or 6-8 individual-sized pizzas instead – we often do this for family pizza night and everyone gets to top their own.
Step 4: Place the pizza dough balls on the counter and let rest for about 10 minutes while you prepare the toppings (Image 8).
Note: To use the pizza dough later, place the dough balls on a baking sheet or baking pan and cover with plastic wrap. Stick in the refrigerator and use straight from the refrigerator within about 48 hours. The longer the pizza dough rests in the fridge, the more flavor it will have.
Shape and Top the Pizza
But first – prepare your oven! Place a pizza stone on the highest rack of your oven. Preheat the stone and your oven at the highest heat it will go (usually 500-550℉) for 30 minutes. If you don’t have a baking stone, don’t worry! Turn your baking sheet upside down in your oven and get similar results.
Step 5: Prepare your pizza toppings (see my recipe tip below for homemade pizza sauce). Once your toppings are ready, grab a piece of parchment paper for each pizza. Take a pizza dough ball and stretch it with your hands to form a circle. Continue working around to stretch the dough out until you get the shape and size you want (Image 9).
Place the dough on top of the parchment and stretch to your desired size. For a thicker crust, leave the edges a little bit thicker than the rest of the pizza. If your dough tightens up on you and is hard to stretch, let it rest and then try again in a few minutes. Patch any holes you may find with pieces of the crust. This pizza dough is very forgiving, so don’t worry if you tear the dough. Just push it back together, let it relax and try again.
At this point, you can follow my directions for making the perfect frozen pizza or proceed with the recipe for fresh homemade pizza.
Step 6: Top your pizza with your favorite toppings (Images 10-12). Most pizza nights I set out bowls of different toppings, usually whatever we need used up in my fridge, but also fresh herbs, pepperoni and other family favorites. I’m a supporter of pineapple on pizza, so I always try to have canned pineapple (lightly drained). Be as fun and creative as you want with the toppings or stick to pepperoni.
Note: The one thing I don’t mess around with is the cheese on pizza. Specifically, pre-shredded/bagged cheese. This is a no-go if you really want the best homemade sourdough pizza. Pre-shredded cheese is often coated in an anti-caking agent, which makes it more difficult to melt together and get that perfect melty crust on top of your pizza. Moral of this story…shred your own cheese! Or grab a log of that fresh mozzarella, tear it into pieces and use that instead.
Bake The Pizza
Step 7: Once the oven has preheated, place the pizza on a cutting board and launch it on top of the baking stone in the oven (Image 13). The parchment paper will burn up a little in the oven, but it’s an easy way to get the best bake on your pizza. You don’t have to use parchment paper and can instead use cornmeal or semolina on the bottom of your pizza crust. Work quickly and form your pizza on a cutting board or pizza peel, top it and then launch it (no parchment) into the oven .
You can also bake this recipe in a pizza oven. Just keep in mind that pizza ovens run hotter than a standard home oven, so your pizza will bake much faster.
Let the pizza bake for about 5 minutes. Then turn the pizza 180 degrees so you can evenly bake both sides for 3-5 more minutes. Watch the pizza carefully so it doesn’t burn, and remove from the oven when the cheese is fully melted and the crust is golden brown (Image 14).
Repeat with the remaining pizza dough and enjoy!
Amy’s Tips: You CAN get restaurant-quality pizza out of your home oven. It IS possible, and if you love pizza as much as I do, you need to read this: The key to a good quality pizza from a home oven comes from how you bake it. High HEAT and a preheated stone will get you the closest to restaurant-quality pizza from your home oven. I think it’s worth investing in a baking stone and a pizza peel if you love pizza and want to have frequent homemade pizza nights, but you can get by without.
How to Store Leftovers
Cut the pizza into pieces and store in an airtight ziplock bag or container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. Reheat when you want a piece. I like reheating mine in our air fryer at 350ºF for 3-5 minutes.
Amy’s Recipe Tip
The pizza sauce itself is so important to a good homemade pizza. I love this quick and easy pizza sauce that I can throw together in my blender and use right away. Here’s my simple recipe:
To a blender add the following ingredients:
- 14.5 oz diced or crushed tomatoes
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground basil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon chili pepper (optional)
Blend the ingredients together until smooth and then adjust the seasonings as needed. If the tomatoes aren’t sweet, I may add a dash of sugar. If they taste acidic, I’ll add a little bit of baking soda. Sometimes I’ll add more salt based on my tomatoes. Any extra sauce can be stored in the fridge for about a week.
Frequently Asked Questions
This pizza dough is for a thicker style pizza. If you want a Neapolitan style pizza, check out my thinner Neapolitan-style sourdough pizza crust.
Sourdough discard is unfed starter that has already gone through a fermentation cycle. While it still adds great flavor, moisture, and fermentation benefits to baked goods, it no longer has the strength to rise dough on its own (unless you activate it!).
That’s where instant yeast comes in. This recipe uses discard for its tangy sourdough flavor, but relies on instant yeast to do the heavy lifting when it comes to leavening the dough and creating a soft, bubbly crust. It’s the perfect way to reduce waste and still get a delicious homemade pizza – fast.
Want a naturally leavened version? Try my favorite Neapolitan-style sourdough pizza crust, made with active sourdough starter for that full fermentation experience.
Yes! Just turn a baking sheet over so the bottom of the sheet is facing up in the oven. Follow the baking directions using the baking sheet instead of a baking stone.
Yes! Because this dough has instant yeast in it that makes it rise, yes, you can freeze the dough. After mixing the dough, let it rise once. Then shape them into pizza dough balls. At this point place the dough balls on a baking sheet and stick the dough balls in the freezer to freeze. Once the dough is completely frozen place in an airtight container or ziplock bag. Keep for up to a month in the freezer. When you want to make pizza pull the dough out of the freezer. Let thaw and puff up a bit and then use to make your pizza.
I find that frozen pizza dough doesn’t always come back quite as well as when it’s freshly made (yeast tends to die off in the freezer), so you can also par-bake the crusts until they are baked but not brown. Let those par-baked crusts cool and then freeze the crusts to top and finish baking later. For complete instructions and best results, check out this post on how to make homemade frozen pizza.
The parchment paper can burn if it gets too close to the heating element. Cutting the parchment to fit the size of the pizza helps, or leave the parchment off completely and use cornmeal underneath the dough that provides friction and helps the pizza launch into the oven. You can also make this pizza on a baking sheet pan or a special pizza pan if desired instead.
Sourdough Pizza recipes
If you tried this Sourdough Discard Pizza or any other recipe on my website leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Happy Baking!
Sourdough Discard Pizza
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Equipment
- mixer dough can also be kneaded by hand
- pizza peel optional (use a large cutting board instead)
- parchment paper optional (use cornmeal instead)
Ingredients
Sourdough Discard Pizza Dough
- 200 grams sourdough discard , 100% hydration (see recipe notes), heaping 3/4 cup
- 460 grams warm milk, whole or 2%, scant 2 cups
- 9 grams instant yeast, about 1 Tablespoon
- 15 grams granulated sugar, about 1 Tablespoon
- 14 grams salt, about 2 teaspoons
- 2 grams garlic powder, about 1/2 teaspoon, optional
- 30 grams olive oil, about 2 Tablespoons (or any neutral-flavored oil)
- 700 grams bread flour , 12.5% protein content, about 4.5-5 cups
Sauce and Toppings
- Good quality pizza sauce (see recipe notes)
- Freshly grated mozzarella cheese
- Desired toppings
Instructions
- Mix Dough: To the bowl of a stand mixer, add sourdough discard and warm milk. Sprinkle the yeast and sugar on top. Add the salt, garlic powder, olive oil and most of the flour. I like to reserve a little of the flour to add in while the dough is mixing so I can get the texture of the dough just right. Turn the mixer on and use the dough hook to knead the dough for 8-10 minutes. Add the rest of the flour as needed until the dough clears the sides of the bowl, feels smooth and tacky to the touch, but not sticky. If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour. This dough can also be kneaded by hand for 10-15 minutes if you don't have a stand mixer.
- First Rise: Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and set in a warm place to rise for about an hour. If your sourdough discard was cold, the dough may take longer to rise. This dough can be used immediately after rising to make pizza or you can keep it in the refrigerator for a few days for the best flavor.
- Shape and Rest: Once the dough has risen and doubled in size, dump it out on a countertop and cut the dough into two to three large pieces, depending on the size of pizza you want to make. For smaller personal-sized pizzas, cut the dough into 6-8 pieces. Take each piece of dough and pull/pinch up the sides until it forms a ball. Roll the ball on the counter, holding your hand in a cupping shape (see video here) to seal the balls and create tension. Let the dough balls rest on the counter for about 10 minutes. At this point you can also place the dough balls on a baking sheet, cover them and refrigerate for a few hours or a few days if making the dough ahead of time.
- Prepare Oven: About 30 minutes before assembling the pizzas, place a baking stone (see recipe notes if you don't have a baking stone) on the top rack of your oven. Pre-heat the oven and baking stone at the highest temperature possible (500℉) for 30 minutes.
- Make Pizza: After the dough balls have rested for 10 minutes, prepare a piece of parchment paper for each pizza. Take one piece of dough and stretch it with your hands to form a circle. Continue working around to stretch the dough out until you get the shape and size you want. Place the dough on top of the parchment paper and stretch to your desired size. Leave the dough thicker around the edges for a fluffy crust if desired. Top the pizza dough with pizza sauce, freshly grated mozzarella cheese and any desired toppings. Cut the parchment paper to fit the stretched dough so the paper doesn't burn in the oven. See recipe notes for cornmeal option.
- Bake: Use a cutting board or a pizza peel to launch the pizza into the oven on top of the pre-heated baking stone. Bake for about 5 minutes. Check on the pizza and turn it 180 degrees so the pizza cooks evenly. Bake another 3-5 minutes until done. Larger pizzas often take a little longer to bake than smaller ones, so watch closely. Remove pizza from the oven and enjoy!
Notes
After the first rise, you can refrigerate the dough to use later. Either:
- Refrigerate the bulk dough and shape it into balls when you’re ready to bake, or
- Shape the dough into balls, place them on a baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours or up to 3 days.
- Freezing Dough: Pizza dough can go through the first rise, then be shaped into dough balls and frozen. Thaw and let puff up before shaping into pizzas. To make pizza dough last a little bit longer in the freezer, add an extra 5 grams of instant yeast to the dough when mixing. Place the frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight to thaw or thaw on the countertop until pliable.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’ve never used milk in a pizza dough. How does it affect the texture? Can I use water or yogurt whey instead?
Milk enriches the dough and makes it fluffier and softer. You can try either of those substitutions and see how you like it!
You are quickly becoming my fave (new to the sourdough journey). This is the best crust!! I’ve been looking for a great crust since I got my Blackstone Pizza oven over a year ago. This is it. Restaurant quality pizza
Thanks for following along! I’m glad you are loving these recipes. Enjoy!
Par baked two shells for freezer and used one to make pepperoni rolls so I got to taste the dough. It’s phenomenal!!! I’ll never use another recipe I used “00” flour because I was out of bread flour
I’m glad it turned out great! This is my go-to recipe for frozen pizza too!
Thank you for a great recipe. I had leftover pizza sauce and cheese from making pizzas with my grands. I have a lot of sourdough discard in the fridge and did a search for a recipe. I decided on yours and I’m certainly glad I did. It made great deep dish pizza dough. I can’t wait to try your other discard recipes. Now I’m going to order your cookbook. Great recipe!
Thanks for the review and your support!
Has anyone tried to freeze this?!
Yes! This is my favorite recipe to use when making frozen pizza. I make the dough and then follow the steps in this guide to making frozen pizza. Happy baking!
Has anyone frozen the dough?
Par bake maybe?!
Yes! This is my favorite recipe to use when making frozen pizza. I make the dough and then follow the steps in this guide to making frozen pizza. Happy baking!
Was delicious!
Thanks for the review!
Such an amazing recipe!! We love it 😋.
Quick question, has anyone tried this recipe on the grill?
Thanks for the review!
After making your Sourdough Focaccia Pizza, thought I’d give this a go! Used my kitchenaid, super easy recipe to follow and the dough had a nice rise. I decided to divide into two, shape and pop into the fridge for a few hours before stretching out into rounds and topping. I used a cast iron pan and a pizza tray with a little oil, that I didn’t preheat. Both pizzas came out nice and crisp on the outside with a soft pillowy centre. For personal preference I think I’ll make four bases for a thinner crust. Delicious pizza and will be my go to for pizza when needing to use up discard. Thanks Amy x
I’m glad it turned out great! Thanks for the review.
Great recipe but how do you get it so thick?
Good question. The thickness comes from not stretching the dough too thin and letting it fully proof so it puffs up nicely. Happy baking!