Homemade Sourdough New York Style Pizza Dough Recipe

Last Updated on April 11, 2025 by TheFarmChicken

close up of ny style sourdough pizza slices on board

What is a New York Style pizza? Thin crust, crispy edges and usually huge slices, the size of your head, that fold in half for that perfect bite. So, let’s take that inspiration and make the best Homemade Sourdough New York Style Pizza Dough Recipe. You are already a step ahead because sourdough makes for impressive flavor while most pizzerias use a small amount of instant dry yeast and time in the fridge to get flavor.

Say there are two options delicious NY style pizza on the farm or in NY…. I’d definitely choose a homemade NY style pie in our farmhouse gathered with the ones I love and a view of the vast prairie we live on. Don’t get me wrong I love a good food experience…and eating New York style pizza in New York would be SO fun but I am all about creating an everyday life I love. Let’s make some sourdough pizza as a home baker!

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Ingredients for Sourdough New York Style Pizza Dough

Flour: I like using half bread flour and half all purpose, but you could do all bread flour. I want to try “00” flour soon for my pizza crust and see how that preforms. It is a finely ground Italian flour that is supposed to work well for pizza crust. “00” refers to the fine grind…being the finest on the Italian flour scale.
Water: A room temperature water works best!
Sourdough Starter: You want an active and bubbly sourdough starter. One that has at least doubled. You will use this in place of the instant yeast that is more commonly used in this style of pizza.
Brown Sugar: This gives the yeast in your dough a little kick start.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: New York style pizza is known for having a fat like Olive Oil in the dough.
Sea Salt: I love using a sea salt for this recipe.

Bonus – Our Favorite Pizza Sauce Ingredients (recipe below)

Tomato Sauce: You just need 1 can about 15 ounces.
Garlic: I love using fresh garlic for a better flavor.
Olive Oil: Just a little oil.
Sea Salt: For flavor.
Oregano: Like the salt…for flavor.
Basil: Like the salt and oregano…for flavor. Ha! If you have fresh basil, be sure to use this, just use a few leaves in place of the dried. The fresh basil would also be delicious on top of the pizza too! Here on the farm, I love using fresh basil during the warm months.

Starting your Sourdough Journey:

Maybe you haven’t started with sourdough and would love too! Not sure where to get started?? I have two resources that can get you started on your sourdough journey.

Learning Sourdough with Agnes – If you want to start your sourdough starter from scratch this resource is for you!
Dehydrated Sourdough Starter – I have dehydrated sourdough starter and have it in my Farm Goods store. This is a way to start your journey quickly.

Hand Tossing:

It sounds a lot harder than it is. Hand tossed pizza is so fun and a great pizza style to have a fun pizza party with.

Some tips:

Use the backs of your hands.
Stay toward the crust. (Don’t just hold the pizza in the center or else it will get too thin.)
Have FUN!

Tips For a Good Pizza Launch:

One of the hardest things about the pizza process is the launch. Such a big pizza and getting it to slide without sticking onto your baking steel or stone can be a challenge. I have some tips on how you can set yourself up for success!

Flour your surface liberally before setting the dough ball on it.
Dust your peel or pan with a little flour.
Let your dough rest at least 45 minutes at room temperature. This helps the dough be less sticky.
Work quickly.
Do a test launch…before you put your pizza in the oven do a test to see if the pizza is sticking anywhere. If it is, pick it up gently in the sticky spot and place flour in that area.

Tools that are helpful for NY Style Pizza at Home:

Baking Steel or (Stone): I love using my baking steel to get that authentic crust on my pizza. You can use my link if you’d like to get one and code FARMCHICKEN10 to save some money.
Pizza Cutter: I love the handheld kind, but anything should work!
Pizza Peel or Flat Baking Sheet: This will make it so much easier to transfer the pizza to the oven. I don’t have a peel yet but would like to get one. In the meantime, I have been using a baking sheet that is flat (air bake) for my pizza peel.

Baking Temperature for Pizza Making:

If you have wood-fired pizza ovens like the famous pizzerias then you are making your pizza at a temperature around 800 degrees! So hot! As this is not likely for the home cook you will find yourself looking to see how hot your oven goes.

Your home oven probably goes up to at least 500 degrees with some reaching 550 degrees. This is the temperature you will preheat your oven to with your baking steel or pizza stone INSIDE the oven. For best results heat to 500 or 550 degrees or to the oven’s highest temperature.

The high heat leaves you will a similar and delicious sourdough pizza!

close up of ny style sourdough slices on board

Other Sourdough Recipes to Try: (I love doing these on my baking steel also.)

Sourdough English Muffins
Sourdough Tortillas
Sourdough Bread (I haven’t tried this on the steel yet but have seen others do it.)

More Sourdough Pizza Recipes:

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Homemade Sourdough New York Style Pizza Dough Recipe

Pizza Dough Ingredient:

500g water
40g active sourdough starter
15g brown sugar
800g bread flour (400g of this AP, optional)
25g olive oil
25g sea salt

Pizza Sauce Ingredients:

1 can (15oz) tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp dried basil

Cheese:

Shredded Whole Milk or Fresh Mozzarella Cheese or BOTH

Sourdough NY Pizza Instructions:

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, weigh out the water, sourdough starter and brown sugar. Stir until a slurry is formed.
Add the flour and olive oil to the bowl and with a Danish dough hook, the dough hook attachment or by hand mix on low speed until a shaggy dough is formed.
Let this fermentolyse (rest) for 30 minutes, covered.
Next, add the salt and knead the pizza dough for 10 minutes on low or by hand.
After you are done kneading the dough, rest on the counter for 1-2 hours.

Shaping the Pizza Dough Balls:

With a bench scraper divide the dough evenly into 3 and form into balls roughly 470 grams each.
Do this by cupping your hands and pulling the dough toward you to create a nice ball.
Place in a shallow dish. (The dough balls will touch but that is okay.)
Next, put the covered dish in the fridge and let ferment at least 1 day or up to 6 days. This is the cold fermentation.
I find the dough get better with a longer fermentation time so don’t worry about how good your 3-day old pizza dough will be. It should be great!

Making a Pizza:

Now that you have made the dough made and it has fermented in the fridge for at least 24 hours you are now ready to make a pizza.
Start by heavily flouring a spot on a clean work surface. Take the dough out of the fridge (this is the instructions for doing one pizza) take one of the dough balls and create a tight dough ball again.
Then place it top side down on the flour. Let the dough rest on the counter for 1 hour. *
At this point preheat your baking stone or baking steel to 500 degrees. You want the stone or steel to preheat for a good 45 minutes before you bake your pizza.
Once the dough has rested for about an hour, take and press the center of the dough pushing it out to the sides leaving a thicker part around the exterior. This will be the crust.
Sprinkle your pizza peel or flat baking sheet with a little flour.
Next is the fun part…gently pick up the dough (I remove any rings for this step) and with your knuckles stretch the dough until it is a large 18-20 in circle.
Tip: Work from the edges as you move the dough. If you place your fists in the center of the pizza dough it will get much too thin in the center and too thick on the edges.
This takes some practice so take your time and enjoy!
Once you are done hand tossing your pizza, place on your pizza peel. Gently pull and stretch it so that it is a nice circle. Working quickly, add the sauce in a thin layer and cheese (and any other toppings you want) on top of the dough.
Test to make sure your pizza dough slides on the surface. If it is sticking, simply put some flour under it until it loosens up where it was sticking.

Baking the Pizza:

Next, slide your pizza quickly onto the steel or stone and set your timer to 8-10 minutes. Check it often toward the end of the baking time. You want it to be golden and bubbly.
Using your peel slide your pizza out of the oven and onto a cutting surface.
Cool briefly, cut, and enjoy!
Make sure to enjoy this pizza New York Style…Big slices and cracking the crust in half. Enjoy!

serving pizza off of a pizza pan with slices on the board

Prep Time:1 2

Cook Time:10

Ingredients

500 g water
40 g active sourdough starter
15 g brown sugar
800 g bread flour 400g of this AP, optional
25 g olive oil
25 g sea salt

Pizza Sauce Ingredients:

1 can 15 oz tomato sauce
3 cloves garlic minced
1 T olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp dried basil

Cheese:

Shredded Whole Milk or Fresh Mozzarella Cheese or BOTH

Instructions

Sourdough NY Pizza Instructions:

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, weigh out the water, sourdough starter and brown sugar. Stir until a slurry is formed.
Add the flour and olive oil to the bowl and with a Danish dough hook, the dough hook attachment or by hand mix on low speed until a shaggy dough is formed.
Let this fermentolyse (rest) for 30 minutes, covered.
Next, add the salt and knead the pizza dough for 10 minutes on low speed or by hand.
After you are done kneading the dough, rest on the counter for 1-2 hours.

Shaping the Pizza Dough Balls:

With a bench scraper divide the dough evenly into 3 and form into balls. Roughly 470 grams each.
Do this by cupping your hands and pulling the dough toward you to create a nice ball.
Place in a shallow dish. (The dough balls will touch but that is okay.)
Next, put the covered dish in the fridge and let ferment at least 1 day or up to 6 days. This is the cold fermentation.
I find the dough get better with a longer fermentation time so don’t worry about how good your 3-day old pizza dough will be. It should be great!

Making a Pizza:

Now that you have made the dough made and it has fermented in the fridge for at least 24 hours you are now ready to make a pizza.
Start by heavily flouring a spot on a clean work surface. Take the dough out of the fridge (this is the instructions for doing one pizza) take one of the dough balls and create a tight dough ball again.
Then place it top side down on the flour. Let the dough rest on the counter for 1 hour. *
At this point preheat your baking stone or baking steel to 500 degrees. You want the stone or steel to preheat for a good 45 minutes before you bake your pizza.
Once the dough has rested for about an hour, take and press the center of the dough pushing it out to the sides leaving a thicker part around the exterior. This will be the crust.
Sprinkle your pizza peel or flat baking sheet with a little flour.
Next is the fun part…gently pick up the dough (I remove any rings for this step) and with your knuckles stretch the dough until it is a large 18-20 in circle.
Tip: Work from the edges as you move the dough. If you place your fists in the center of the pizza dough it will get much too thin in the center and too thick on the edges.
This takes some practice so take your time and enjoy!
Once you are done hand tossing your pizza, place on your pizza peel. Gently pull and stretch it so that it is a nice circle. Working quickly, add the sauce in a thin layer and cheese (and any other toppings you want) on top of the dough.
Test to make sure your pizza dough slides on the surface. If it is sticking, simply put some flour under it until it loosens up where it was sticking.
Next, slide your pizza quickly onto the steel or stone and set your timer to 8-10 minutes. Check it often toward the end of the baking time. You want it to be golden and bubbly.
Using your peel slide your pizza out of the oven and onto a cutting surface.
Cool briefly, cut, and enjoy!
Make sure to enjoy this pizza New York Style…Big slices and cracking the crust in half and eating.

Notes

*This helps the dough be easier to work with and I find it sticks less to the peel this way too!

Servings: 8 slices

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can you freeze pizza dough?

Yes! Place one pizza crust separately into a lightly greased container and freeze. To thaw place in the fridge overnight and then continue with the instructions above.

What makes a New York Style pizza?

Usually, they are easy to spot…being large with a thin crust.

Would “00” flour, Tipo 00 flour work well for this kind of pizza?

Yes! I have heard that “00” flour works exceptionally well for this kind of pizza. It is on my list to try!

I hope you enjoy making a pizza slice the size of your face! The end result of this New York Style sourdough pizza is so good, full of incredible flavor and such a fun option for your next family pizza night. We are looking for a wood-fired sourdough pizza dough experience at home! Why travel to New York when you can have an authentic New York pie in the comfort of your home! I love creating authentic pizza on our farm on the prairie!

Happy Pizza Making!

Mariah Nienhuis | TheFarmChicken

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7