Baking

Sourdough Discard Pizza

⏱ ~3 hours (incl. proofing) 💰 Pantry staples 🔨 Skill level: Intermediate
Finished sourdough discard pizza topped with pepperoni, sausage, pineapple, and cheese Pin it

The idea

More sourdough discard, more uses for it — this time as a same-day pizza dough. Recipe card below, adapted from Vanilla and Bean with a couple of tweaks of our own.

Sourdough Discard Pizza Dough

Adapted from Vanilla and Bean · makes two 11" pizzas

Proof: 2–2½ hrs room temp, or 4 hrs fridge Oven: 450°F Bake: par-bake 5–10 min, then 7–10 min with toppings

Dough

  • ½ cup (130g) sourdough discard
  • ¾ cup + 1 tbsp (180g) hot water, 105–110°F
  • 1 tbsp (10g) extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the proofing bowls
  • ¾ tsp instant yeast
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 2 cups (250g) unbleached bread flour

To finish

  • Pizza sauce
  • Shredded mozzarella
  • Toppings of choice (we used pepperoni, ground beef, pineapple, and cherry tomatoes)
  • Extra flour, for shaping

Method

  1. Add the sourdough discard, water, olive oil, instant yeast, salt, and bread flour to the bowl of a stand mixer.
  2. Attach the dough hook and mix on speed 4 for 12–13 minutes, until the dough is smooth and pulls cleanly from the sides of the bowl. If it keeps sticking to the bottom, sprinkle in a few teaspoons of flour and keep mixing.
  3. Proof at room temperature for about 2 to 2½ hours, or in the fridge for about 4 hours, until puffy and roughly doubled.
  4. Preheat oven to 450°F.
  5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and flour the top. Dimple it all over with your fingertips, leaving the outer edge untouched, then drape it over floured knuckles and gently stretch and turn it into an 11-inch round.
  6. Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined pan. Bake for 5–10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pizza, until it just starts to bubble and feels slightly firm.
  7. Spread on a thin layer of sauce, then add the cheese and toppings. Bake 7–10 minutes, until the crust is golden with a few charred spots and the cheese is bubbling.
  8. Rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Our tweaks from the original: we skip the whole wheat flour and use all bread flour instead, and we proof at room temperature for 2–2½ hours or just 4 hours in the fridge, rather than the original's overnight cold retard.

What we did

The dough comes together fast in a stand mixer — discard, water, olive oil, yeast, salt, and flour, mixed on speed 4 until it's smooth enough to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Sourdough pizza dough being mixed in a stand mixer

After dividing and shaping into two balls, the dough goes into oiled bowls to proof until puffy and doubled — room temperature works in a couple of hours, or the fridge if we need more time before dinner.

Sourdough pizza dough proofed and doubled in a steel bowl

Once proofed, each ball gets stretched into an 11-inch round and topped with a thin layer of sauce.

Stretched pizza dough spread with a thin layer of red sauce

From there it's cheese and whatever toppings are on hand — this round got pepperoni, ground beef, pineapple, and cherry tomatoes — before going into a hot oven.

Pizza dough on a pan surrounded by bowls of pepperoni, cheese, ground beef, and pineapple
Topped sourdough pizza baking in the oven
What we learned: This dough is stickier than a standard yeasted pizza dough thanks to the discard, so don't be afraid to flour your hands, the counter, and the dough itself generously while shaping — it stretches easily once it's not clinging to everything.

Result

A chewy, slightly tangy crust with a good char on the bottom — and one more reliable way to work through a backlog of sourdough discard instead of letting it pile up in the fridge.

Slice of sourdough discard pizza on a plate

Looking for more?

← Back to Baking