This paleo sourdough pizza crust is made using a grain-free sourdough starter and grain-free flours. It is also dairy free and only uses a single egg to bind the gluten-free ingredients. This pizza crust is easy to make and tastes delicious thanks to the addition of the sourdough starter. It has a thin crust that leaves a lingering sourness on your tongue. This crust can be made days ahead for meal planning, which only enhances the flavor! This recipe is perfect for those seeking a healthier lifestyle or anyone with food sensitivities or autoimmune disorders.
Why I Love this Pizza Crust
I make a ton of pizza at my house, literally daily, for my autistic son! However, I rarely participate in eating all the pizza I make because it can hurt my stomach and I do better eating grain-free as much as possible. When I was eating completely paleo, it was so hard to find a pizza crust that tasted good. Most of them include coconut flour and left my pizza tasting like a dessert, which I’m not a fan of. Then, I discovered a way to make a grain-free sourdough starter and everything changed! I’ve been experimenting with so many paleo and grain-free recipes, making them tasty with the addition of my starter. It is such a game changer! I’m so happy to be sharing all of this with you guys! I hope you find it helpful.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Grain-Free Sourdough Starter – You can use active or discard for this recipe. It is a great way to use up extra starter you have in your refrigerator. This recipe will also work with a gluten-free sourdough starter, but it will no longer be considered “paleo”.
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil – can be substituted with avocado oil
- Large Egg – I have not experimented with it, but you could try using a flax egg. This is your only binder for this recipe as it does not contain any psyllium or xanthan gum.
- Almond Flour – It is hard to replace almond flour as it is such a special ingredient in grain-free baking.
- Tapioca Flour – you can use arrowroot powder as a substitute.
- Salt – It is best to use a salt that doesn’t contain any additives. The only ingredient should be “salt”.
- Water – make sure you use warm water for this recipe. The warmth helps to activate your sourdough starter and it is a big part of the fermentation process.
Tips for Success
- It is important to weigh all of your ingredients for best results. I highly encourage you to invest in a kitchen scale if you haven’t already. Not all brands of flour weigh the same, so a cup of one is not a cup of another. This is true of all ingredients really. I recently had to purchase a different brand of salt than I normally do and when I tried using my normal teaspoon of it in a recipe, it was way too salty! I needed a lot less than my normal salt, so weighing it made it the same level of saltiness.
- It is very important with this recipe to gradually add the water! Depending on the size of your egg and the humidity in your house, you may need more or less water each time you make this pizza crust. Make sure you stop adding water before it gets too wet. It shouldn’t be runny.
- If you do accidentally add too much water, you can still make the crust. It will just be a little tricky to shape. You can use an offset spatula to spread out the dough instead of shaping it by hand.
- When shaping the crust, you can easily repair any holes by pushing the dough back together. It is a very forgiving dough!
- It’s best to take the crust out of the oven earlier rather than later, so that is doesn’t burn. Almond flour can burn easily so keep an eye on it and use your nose if it needs to come out sooner.
Make Ahead Instructions
This paleo sourdough pizza crust is incredibly flexible for all schedules. Since it is sourdough and the good bacteria from the grain-free sourdough starter keeps the bad bacteria away, this recipe can be made several days in advance. You can make the dough on Sunday and keep it in the refrigerator until later in the week to bake. I would recommend no more than 4 days, since it does contain an egg. You can also par-bake the crust or multiple crusts and then freeze them. When you want to bake, take them out and put them in the fridge the night before to thaw and then top and bake the next day!
I hope you enjoy this recipe and if you do please consider giving it a rating and a review! As always, I’m hear to help if you have any questions as well.
Paleo Sourdough Pizza Crust
Equipment
- 1 Pizza Stone
- 1 Dough Whisk optional
Ingredients
- 150g grain-free sourdough starter active or discard
- 15g extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large egg
- 88g almond flour
- 132g tapioca flour
- 5g salt
- 30g-40g warm water
Instructions
- To a medium bowl, add starter, olive oil, and egg. Whisk to combine.150g grain-free sourdough starter, 15g extra virgin olive oil, 1 large egg
- Add the almond flour, tapioca flour, and salt. Combine using a dough whisk until the flour has absorbed the liquid.88g almond flour, 132g tapioca flour, 5g salt
- Gradually add the water, stirring after each pour until you reach a smooth, but not runny texture. You may not need all of the water.30g-40g warm water
- Once combined, smooth the top of the dough with a rubber spatula and cover the bowl with a lid. Let the dough sit at room temperature for 2 hours and then transfer to the refrigerator overnight.
- When you are ready to bake the pizza crust, place a pizza stone in your oven and preheat it to 450 degrees F. Set a timer for 1 hour.
- When your oven is fully preheated, take the dough out of the refrigerator. Rub some olive oil on a piece of parchment paper. Then, cut the dough in half with a butter knife. Take out half of the dough and form into a ball then flatten with your hands. Place the dough on the piece of parchment paper and press out into a 9 inch round, making sure to leave an outer crust.
- Transfer the dough, still on the parchment paper, to a pizza peel. Cut any excess parchment paper and then transfer to the hot pizza stone. Par-bake for 6-8 minutes.
- Once the crust is par-baked, add your favorite toppings and continue baking for an additional 10-12 minutes. Slice and serve hot!
Video
Notes
- You can bake the second pizza right away or you can place it back in the refrigerator for a few more days to use another time.
- It is important to add the water gradually because each egg can be a little different and may add more or less liquid to your dough. If it ends up being too wet, you might need to use an off-set spatula to spread the crust out instead of pressing it by hand.
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