Skip to Content

Sourdough and Masa Harina Cornmeal Pizza Crust – Made With Fully Fermented Sourdough Starter and Traditionally Soaked Masa Harina

I may receive commission if you purchase through links in this post.

You know by now that I’m all about the soaked grains.

This sourdough and masa harina cornmeal pizza crust is no exception. This easy crust comes together in a matter of minutes so it’s perfect for those busy weeknights when you don’t have time to prepare a fermented sourdough crust in advance. And the crust is made with fully fermented sourdough starter discard and traditionally prepared masa harina, so it’s super easy on digestion and delivers all the nutrients that only soaked grains can.

A collage of pizzas with sourdough and masa harina cornmeal crusts with text overlay.

Thin and Crispy, Strong and Stable

Go ahead and load up on the toppings, this crust can handle it. Nobody likes a floppy, soggy pizza. This crust is a workhorse and will hold all your favorite toppings. As you can see I didn’t shy away from sauce, extra cheese, steak, peppers, and tomatoes. Even after all those toppings the crust stays tender with a crispy edge.

A perfect slice of sourdough and masa harina cornmeal pizza crust.

Let’s Look at the Process

Rolling the sourdough and masa harina cornmeal crust between two pieces of parchment paper.

The dough is easily rolled between two sheets of parchment paper.

Fitting the sourdough and masa harina cornmeal crust into a pizza pan and docking the crust before baking.

Leave the bottom parchment on and easily slide the crust into a pizza pan. Par-bake the crust for 15 minutes.

Plenty of freshly grated mozzarella on a sourdough and masa harina cornmeal crust.

Top the crust with all your favorite pizza ingredients and bake it for 15 more minutes.

A sourdough and masa harina cornmeal pizza crust topped to perfection with steak, peppers, and tomatoes.

Oolala, doesn’t that look good!

The Difference Between Cornmeal and Masa Harina

Cornmeal is just dried corn that has been ground. Masa harina is corn that has been dried and then soaked in lime water (from limestone, lye, or ash), dried again, and then ground. This process is called nixtamalization. According to the study Nixtamalization, a Mesoamerican technology to process maize at small-scale with great potential for improving the nutritional quality of maize based foodsWacher Carmen (2003), these extra steps are the traditional preparation of maize and help to make the nutrients in corn more available while reducing phytic acid and mycotoxins.

This is why I choose traditionally prepared masa harina cornmeal over conventional cornmeal, polenta, or corn flour.

A traditionally prepared, soaked grain pizza crust with text overlay.

A sourdough and masa harina cornmeal pizza crust topped to perfection with steak, peppers and tomatoes.

Sourdough and Cornmeal Pizza Crust

Yield: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

A perfect pizza crust that comes together in minutes and is made with traditionally fermented and soaked grains for better digestion and overall health!

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together to form a soft dough. Let the dough rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
  2. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
  3. Pat the dough into a disk and set it aside.
  4. Cut two pieces of parchment paper to fit your baking pan or pizza pan.
  5. Place the dough disk between the parchment sheets and roll the dough out to 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. If you're using a pizza pan roll a circle, if you are using a baking sheet roll a rectangle.
  6. Remove the top parchment and slide the bottom parchment with the dough onto your baking sheet. If the dough overhangs the pan you can cut it off for a clean edge. 
  7. Using a fork, dock the dough to keep it from bubbling up in the oven while baking.
  8. Par-bake the crust without any toppings for 15 minutes.
  9. While the crust is baking prepare your toppings.
  10. Remove the crust from the oven and set it aside.
  11. Increase the oven's heat to 450°F.
  12. Spread the pizza with sauce, cheese, and favorite meat and veggie toppings. 
  13. Return the pizza to the oven and continue baking for 15 more minutes.
  14. Once the pizza is bubbly and brown, remove it from the oven and let it cool slightly before cutting it into slices. 
  15. Serve the pizza hot and enjoy!

Need an Easy Pizza Sauce Recipe?

Make Your Own Sourdough Pizza And Easy Pizza Sauce

Check out my Chewy Sourdough Pizza Crust for an easy sauce recipe.

Jessie

Saturday 25th of March 2023

This was great! I am always looking for ways to use my sourdough. Quite often we do pizza on Friday night and I didn’t have time to mix up my dough the morning of, and this worked great. I make a cracker recipe similar to this with just the sourdough discard and masa harina. My kids love it! Thanks for sharing!

Butter For All

Monday 27th of March 2023

Hey Jessie!

That's so awesome! I don't think lot of people have used this recipe so I'm super happy to hear you found it and that it worked so well for you! Great idea to make crackers with masa. I must try that!

Happy baking!

Alice

Thursday 29th of September 2022

I am new to your page and I have enjoyed learning about sourdough and can't wait to start baking. I am most interested in the recipe. Do you know if people who have celiac could have this pizza? Seems like it's low gluten between the sourdough discard and harina.

Thank you Alice

Butter For All

Wednesday 5th of October 2022

Hi Alice,

I'm so happy you are here! Unfortunately, no, people with true celiac disease can not have any gluten at all. In fact they must be very diligent. If it's a food sensitivity, and not celiac then typically, for most people, fermented wheat will be tolerated a lot better.

I hope that helps. make sure to check out my gluten-free recipes!

Best,

Courtney

Orli Glatt

Sunday 3rd of January 2021

This recipe looks amazing. would it be possible to use regular cornmeal or even a different type of flour if I don't have masa harina?

Butter For All

Saturday 9th of January 2021

Hi Orli!

You can certainly use cornmeal, but I would let the dough hydrate for a few hours before cooking as cornmeal can be tough. Also you will want to adjust the hydration as needed. You could also use any wheat flour or heirloom grain, just make sure to add enough liquid to make a firm but workable dough. And if using raw grain flour I would probably choose to let the dough rest and ferment for at least a few hours!

I hope you enjoy the pizza!

Courtney

Rita

Friday 19th of June 2020

You do not specify what size the 2 portions are meant to be, 8 inch circle, 10 inch circle, 12 inch circle?? Just need an idea Nor do you specify how many servings this recipe makes. Makes it hard to know how much I want to make.

Steve

Monday 3rd of August 2020

@Rita,

She lists your answer in the recipe header. Yields 4 pizzas. Based on the dry ingredients, you can figure out how many people this will feed. Since the dry ingredients don't exceed 1,000 grams, I suspect you would be making personal pizzas.

Su

Tuesday 14th of April 2020

Thank you Courtney.. That makes sense of building the culture in the jar itself. Another thing I thought the brown layer that we see is what we call hootch.. I did get it on Day 3 so from then now I am feeding the starter twice.. I am on Day 4.. So day 2 I fed it once, day 3 fed twice 12 hours apart as I saw the hootch.. so today onwards should I feed once or twice then?? Appreciate the patience that you are showing.. thank you <3

Skip to Recipe