Packed with fiber and low in gluten, this rye sourdough pizza crust is a wholesome upgrade to your usual dough. Rye flour adds nutrients and a rich, earthy flavor, while natural fermentation makes it easier to digest. A deliciously healthy and hearty crust for pizza night!

Why You Will Love This Recipe

Easy

This rye dough recipe is a simple no-knead method with only a few steps! After combining ingredients, let the dough rest for a few hours at room temperature. Form the dough into a ball, then place it in the refrigerator for a day or two to slowly ferment. After fermentation, it’s ready to form into a pizza crust and bake!

Healthy

Rye is packed with nutrients that you won’t find in regular white flour. Whole grain rye flour has high levels of fiber and low levels of gluten. This makes it more ideal for some people who are sensitive to gluten (although not for those with celiac disease). It’s packed nutrients like B vitamins, iron, magnesium, and zinc. Rye is an ancient grain, meaning it’s the same as is was thousands of year ago – unlike modern wheat!

Delicious

With a bold, nutty flavor and a dense, moist texture, rye pizza is a unique and hearty treat. Rye pairs beautifully with a variety of toppings, and the rye adds a deep flavor to the pizza. While it doesn’t make a light and fluffy crust, it makes a dense, filling crust with unique flavor profiles.

Rye: an Amazing Ancient Grain

Long before what we know of as traditional pizza, flatbreads were enjoyed with cheeses, meats, olive oil, and other toppings. Rye flour was commonly enjoyed in Northern parts of Europe, including some areas of Northern Italy. Rye thrives in cooler regions, and has been a staple to people living in cold, harsh climates for thousands of years.

Why Long Fermentation?

Fermenting dough (what we call “sourdough”) not only makes grain easier to digest, but also develops delicious flavors. By fermenting the dough in the refrigerator for a couple of days, you are making an end product than is healthier and more delicious!

Baking Rye Bread Pizza Crust to Perfection

Make a thin crust pizza: this rye pizza crust is more dense than regular pizza, and a thin crust pizza is ideal when making this recipe.

Preheat the oven: make sure to preheat the oven prior to baking! It should be very hot, at 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Use a pizza stone or cast iron pizza pan: this recipe works best when using a heavy duty, preheated pizza stone or cast iron pizza pan.

If you don’t have a pizza stone, use a baking sheet: you can use a regular baking sheet if you don’t have a pizza stone, but you will most likely need to extend the baking time a bit. The crust will differ slightly in texture.

Use parchment paper: the dough is fairly wet, and will stick to surfaces. Parchment paper (not wax paper!) will help with transferring the wet dough to the pizza stone.

Sourdough Rye Pizza Topping Ideas

Margherita style: my favorite pizza toppings are fresh basil, a simple tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese!

Pepperoni: top with pasture raised pepperoni or another pork sausage.

German style: top with caraway seeds, smoked meats, soft cheese, and maybe even some saurkraut!

Finnish style: top with smoked salmon and goat cheese!

Olive oil and herbs: have a simple flatbread style pizza, bake it first, then top with olive oil, herbs, and garlic powder!

Hamburger pizza: cover the pizza with cooked ground beef and cheddar cheese!

Reuben Pizza: top the pizza with corned beef, Swiss cheese, and homemade Russian dressing!

How to Store Rye Sourdough Pizza Dough

Once fermented, store dough in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 4 months. Storing in the refrigerator for over 4 days will lead to overfermentation.

How to Make a Rye Sourdough Starter

Making a rye sourdough starter from scratch will be a lengthier process than converting a wheat starter or using a store-bought sourdough starter- it takes about a week. After that, you will have a sourdough starter that you can store in the refrigerator and use whenever you need it!

Combine 50 grams of rye flour and 50 grams of filtered lukewarm water in a glass jar or other non-metallic container with a lid. Cover the container and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
Combine 50 grams of this starter (discarding the rest) with 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of filtered lukewarm water. Cover the container and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
Repeat step 2 four times (four days) or until starter appears bubbly and active within about 12 hours.On the sixth day (sixth feeding), as long as it’s bubbly and active enough, start feeding the starter every 12 hours.
On day seven, after feeding every 12 hours three or four times, your new starter is ready to use!

Feed this starter every 8-12 hours when kept at room temperature. Store it the refrigerator when not in use, feeding once per week. Refresh the refrigerated starter by feeding it and letting it sit at room temperature for about 8 hours before using in a recipe.

How to Convert a Wheat Starter to a Rye Starter

This process can be done over the course of a couple of days, feeding once in the morning and once at night. In my experience, it doesn’t have to be precise, I just eyeballed the measurements. The starter should be a thick, pourable consistency.

Combine 1/4 cup sourdough starter, 3/4 cup wheat wheat flour, 1/4 cup whole grain rye flour, and 1 cup of water. Let ferment at room temperature for about 8-10 hours.
Combine 1/4 cup sourdough starter, 1/2 cup wheat wheat flour, 1/2 cup whole grain rye flour, and 1 cup of water. Let ferment at room temperature for about 8-10 hours.
Combine 1/4 cup sourdough starter, 1/4 cup wheat wheat flour, 3/4 cup whole grain rye flour, and 1 cup of water. Let ferment at room temperature for about 8-10 hours.
Combine 1/4 cup sourdough starter, 1 cup whole grain rye flour, and 1 cup of water. Let ferment at room temperature for about 8-10 hours. Now your starter is ready to use in rye baking!

How to Keep a Rye Sourdough Starter Alive

If you aren’t used to sourdough baking, it may sound overwhelming but it’s actually very simple. Like mentioned above keep sourdough starter in the fridge, and feed it once a week or so. That’s it! I often go longer than a week without feeding my starters in the fridge, and don’t notice a difference. But to make sure they stay alive, once a week is best.

How to Make Sourdough Rye Pizza Dough

Add filtered water and sourdough starter to a large bowl and stir to combine.

Add rye flour and salt to bowl and combine well with a stiff wooden spoon until a wet dough forms- almost like a very thick batter.

Cover the large bowl with a plate or damp tea towel or kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, uncover the bowl and with wet hands, stretch and fold the dough by pulling up the sides and pressing down to the opposite side of the dough ball. Repeat this about 10 times, and form into a round shape.

Place the dough ball in the bottom of the bowl, then cover and let the rye dough rise in a warm/room temperature place for about 6 hours.

After 6 hours or so, the dough will be risen slightly and no longer look like a ball. Use wet hands to form the dough into a ball again, then transfer to an airtight container (or cover a bowl with a damp cloth and a secure plate/lid.)

Place dough in the refrigerator to long ferment for 24-48 hours.

45 minutes prior to baking, preheat oven with a pizza stone or cast iron pizza pan inside to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lightly flour a work surface topped with a sheet of parchment paper.

Remove rye dough from the refrigerator and turn dough onto work surface.

Sprinkle flour over dough ball and press dough down onto parchment paper to form into a 1/2 inch thick (or thinner) pizza round .

Once oven is fully preheated, add desired pizza toppings to pizza round.

Carefully transfer pizza round on parchment paper to pizza stone.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until outer crust and cheese (if using) is slightly golden brown.

Enjoy!