I got to the point where I’d rather have a pizza at home than go out and have a pizza in a restaurant. My homemade sourdough pizza with various toppings is simply so delicious I don’t want to satisfy my cravings with any other (half-assed) pizza.

I’ve been meaning to upload this recipe for months. I am so glad I did because now YOU can share my love for homemade sourdough pizza too!

Best homemade pizza dough

I know many people claim their dough is the best pizza dough. I’m not going to do that. But I can confidently say that this pizza dough is the best for me. Maybe it will be for you, too.

What makes it special is fermentation. Sourdough is the best dough in the world. It doesn’t go just for bread, but also for rolls, pizza dough, or cookies. I feel like a well-made sourdough product, whatever it may be, always ends up better than its commercial yeast or baking powder cousin. Sourdough is simply delicious, but you need to know what you’re doing. The person who keeps inspiring me to bake with sourdough and whose sourdough pizza recipe I used first is Polona from Pola Bekeraj. Pola is someone I really look up to, an incredible woman and an incredible sourdough baker. I adore her.

Here are some things I highly recommend:

• Your sourdough starter should be freshly fed. It works with a starter straight from the fridge, but I learnt that it needs more time and still might not turn out as soft and fluffy.
• Use strong wheat flour. Don’t use wholemeal flour though, as the dough tends to tear more and it’s not as fluffy. You can play around later, but if you’re making sourdough pizza for the first time, use refined flour – it’s easier to work with.
• You can leave out olive oil, but I prefer adding a splash of high-quality olive oil for the taste and for the texture.
• Don’t use hot water. It’s better if it’s cold than hot. It’s best if it’s lukewarm, but more towards cold. Hot water can harm your sourdough culture.

Sourdough pizza with *various* toppings

What was that supposed to mean?

We all know that pizza allows for a gazillion different toppings, different combinations, and different tastes. So choose whatever you like best!

Being vegan I’m usually forced to choose badly structured pizza in the restaurants. It’s usually quite tasteless and boring. That’s why I like to go all-in when I’m making my pizza at home. I’m not necessarily using meat substitutes, but I can say that the combinations I’ve created for my clients are bombastic. For a very long time, toona pizza was my favourite, but now I can’t really decide between toona and kebab. They’re both juicy, fluffy, crispy, and full of flavour.

My favourite vegan kebab is Pleanty Reasons from Vegansko.si – they also have pepperoni and tons of other options, like bacon, ham, ribs etc. And toona comes from Amaze, a Slovenian brand that has fresh produce and dry mix options (toona is my favourite, ofc).

Go ahead and try any of these topping combinations or create your own! I think we can all agree that the dough is what makes or breaks pizza. So be careful what dough you choose and how you prepare it. Everything else is just a cherry on top.

Are you a fan of kneading dough and creating more advanced desserts? Try this recipe for leavened dough crescent rolls with chocolate or try your skills with walnut potica.

Are you using any of my recipes? Don’t forget to share your creations with me: tag me on Instagram @littlekitchenvibes

Sourdough pizza with various toppings

Pizza cannot disappoint you. Unless it's made with bad dough and bad topping combinations. I've got you covered. Let the joy begin!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 7 minutes mins

Resting time 20 hours hrs

Course dinner, lunch, Main Course, Snack

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4 pizzas

Ingredients

  

Dough

• 560 g white flour strong
• 1 tbsp salt
• 100 g sourdough starter freshly fed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 300 ml water

Tomato sauce - base

• 200 ml tomato purée
• 2 cloves garlic
• ½ tsp oregano
• pinch salt

Kebab topping

• vegan kebab pieces
• vegan cheese mozzarella or gouda flavour
• ¼ red bell pepper
• 1 tomato
• ½ red onion
• lettuce or rucola

Yogurt sauce

• 1 tbsp natural plant-based yogurt
• pinch salt
• pinch black pepper
• ⅓ tsp paprika
• ½ tbsp tahini
• 4 tbsp water

Pepperoni topping

• vegan pepperoni
• vegan cheese mozzarella or gouda flavour
• 3 cherry tomatoes
• ¼ red bell pepper

Mustard sauce

• 1 tbsp mustard
• 1 tbsp agave syrup
• 1 tbsp vegannaise vegan mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp water

Toona topping

• vegan toona
• vegan cheese
• 1 shallot
• wild garlic pesto
• 3 cherry tomatoes
• green olives

Instructions

 

• For the dough, add all the ingredients to a large bowl and mix them well. Knead the dough so it's homogenous and formes a smooth ball. Coat the dough with olive oil, cover the bowl with a wrap or wet kitchen towel, and let it rest on the countertop for at least 3 hours. The more, the better.
• After a few hours transfer the bowl with the dough to the fridge and let it rest there overnight.
• The next morning, take the bowl out and let it sit on the countertop for at least 3 more hours. At this point, the dough should be larger in volume and soft. You should also start seeing little bubbles right under the surface.
• After those few hours, cut the dough into 4 pieces. Form 4 balls and let them rest for a few more hours. They should become larger in volume and softer with visible bubbles.
• When you're ready to make pizza, turn on the oven to maximum temperature (275°C) and set the pizza stone or a large pan inside right away. You want the stone or the pan to warm up along with the oven and become super hot. It should take between 20 and 40 minutes.
• Prepare all the ingredients while the stove is heating up.

  Tomato sauce: put all the ingredients together and whisk them well. In case you're using fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes, put everything into a blender and blend until smooth.

  Kebab pizza: Cut red bell pepper into small dices. Do the same with tomatoes. Slice onions into thin half-circles. If you're using lettuce, slice it into thin strips. No need to cut rucola. For the yogurt sauce, mix all the ingredients well.

  Pepperoni pizza: Slice red bell pepper into thin strips. Halve cherry tomatoes. For the mustard sauce, mix all the ingredients well.

  Toona pizza: Slice shallot into thin slices. Prepare toona if needed as it says on the package.
• To stretch the dough, take one ball and set it on a floured surface. Push into the middle of the ball with your fist to create a little crater. Now lift it up and hang it onto your knuckles. Gently move it around in a circle, shifting from one hand to another to stretch it. Then set it back onto a floured surface. You should have it stretched out into a circle now, with a thin layer of dough in the middle and a thicker circle of crust on the edges. Gently stretch it a bit more if you feel it's needed.
• Once the stove is hot and the pizza stone is super hot, place the stretched pizza dough on top of the pizza stone. I help myself with a well-floured cutting board. Spread a few tablespoons of tomato sauce on top and bake for 3 minutes.
• Then add the ingredients for the pizza you wish to make. I usually first add cheese and then everything else.

  For pepperoni pizza, first, add cheese and red bell pepper. Bake for 2 minutes and only then add pepperoni on top. Pepperoni tend to burn or dry if baked full time. Add cherry tomatoes, too. After adding pepperoni and tomatoes, bake for additional 2 minutes. Drizzle with mustard sauce only when pizza is out of the oven.

  For kebab pizza, add all the toppings except for the sauce and lettuce. Bake for 3 minutes, then turn on ventilation and bake for additional 2 minutes. Once you take your pizza out, add lettuce or rucola and drizzle with yogurt sauce.

  For toona pizza, add all the ingredients except for wild garlic pesto. Bake for 3 more minutes and then additional 2 minutes with ventilation on. Add wild garlic pesto only after baking.
• For a special experience, glaze pizza crust with olive oil. Serve with some kombucha, ginger beer, or wine of choice.

Notes

Here are some swaps you can make:

• cherry tomatoes on pepperoni pizza can be swapped for regular diced tomatoes. The same goes for tomatoes on kebab pizza that can be swapped for cherry tomatoes.
• Wild garlic can be replaced by finely chopped garlic in olive oil.
• lettuce on kebab pizza can be swapped for rucola, as mentioned. You can completely leave this out, but I highly recommend adding some fresh greens to kebab pizza.
• Sauces: you don't have to use yogurt or mustard sauce, but I swear pizzas won't be the same without them.
• red onion/shallot: you can use regular onion, too. 

Keyword homemade pizza, pizza, sourdough pizza, vegan pizza