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Favorite Beer Crust Pizza + Sauce

My most favorite beer-crust pizza recipe + the easiest, most delicious pizza sauce! Both the dough and sauce can be mixed and stashed separately in the fridge for several days, making this the ultimate in meal planning!
5 from 4 reviews
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Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Pizza
Keyword: Pizza, Dinner, Beer-Crust, Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

For the Beer-Crust Pizza Dough

  • 12 ounces (340 g) light-flavored beer or water, warm (100-110F, 38-43C)
  • 2 ounces (55 g) water, warm (100-110F, 38-43C)
  • 4 teaspoons (12 g) active dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (31.5 g) honey
  • 4 cups (540 g) all-purpose flour or bread flour (how to measure flour)
  • 1 tablespoon (14 g) olive oil, plus more for the bowl
  • 1 tablespoon (18 g) sea salt

For the Pizza Sauce

  • 15 ounces (425 g) can of tomato sauce
  • 3 tablespoons (54 g) olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (9 g) dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons (12 g) sea salt
  • I garlic clove (peeled and crushed)

Some of My Favorite Toppings

  • Leafy greens (I love kale and arugula on pizza)
  • Thinly sliced sweet potatoes
  • Olives
  • Whole grape tomatoes
  • Thinly sliced shallots or purple onions
  • Pomegranate arils
  • Fresh herbs (pre-bake: put underneath the cheese so they don’t burn; post-bake: sprinkle over the top)
  • CHEESE! All different kinds of cheese; consider mixing mozzarella with goat cheese (white cheddar with some parm…)

Instructions

For the Beer-Crust Pizza Dough

  • In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the beer, water, yeast and honey and let sit for 10 minutes until the yeast is floating at the top and looks foamy. Add in the flour and olive oil and stir to combine thoroughly, you don’t want any dry bits of flour. Cover with a damp hand towel and let sit for 20 minutes. Add in the salt and run the mixer on medium high for 10 minutes or until the dough is sticking to the bottom of the bowl and slapping the sides. It should not be sticking to the sides of the bowl at the end of the 10 minutes. If it’s sticking to the sides, add flour in 1 tablespoon increments. The dough should be smooth, soft, pliable and elastic; it will also be quite damp. Lightly grease a large bowl with olive oil and place the dough in there, turning once to make sure the topside has a light coating of olive oil. Cover tightly and stash in the fridge overnight and up to 3 days. *If not using an electric-stand mixer, see my note above in the Before We Get Started section about skipping the kneading step. You can only skip this step if you’re going to rest the dough in the fridge for a day or more.

For the Pizza Sauce

  • For the pizza sauce, combine the tomato sauce, olive oil, oregano, salt and the crushed garlic clove in a medium, lidded, non-reactive container. Cover and stash in the fridge. When you’re ready to make pizza, bring to room temperature before using. This will last up to 1 week in the fridge.

To Assemble

  • Preheat your oven to 500F (260C) and place a pizza stone, pizza steel or inverted, level baking sheet on the center rack of the oven. I like to preheat my oven for at least 1 hour prior to making pizza. Set your pizza sauce out on the counter to come to room temperature.
  • Equally divide the pizza dough up depending on how many pizzas you want to make (2-8). Roll each piece of the divided dough into a tight, compact ball. Set on a lightly floured surface and lightly dust the tops with flour. Lay a clean hand towel over the top. Let rest for about 1 hour or until the dough is no longer cool to the touch; may take longer depending on ambient temperature. Once they are no longer cool, gently stretch the dough into pizza rounds. Cut sheets of parchment paper the size of each pizza dough round, lightly dust with flour and set the dough on top. The parchment makes it easier to get the pizzas in and out of the oven.
  • Cover each pizza in a light coating of pizza sauce, cover with some cheese (not too much) and whatever toppings make you happy and then bake in the center of the oven for about 10 minutes. Some ovens will take a minute or two less, some ovens a minute or two more. You want there to be some dark charred spots on the top of the crust and the bottom should be firm and crispy. Let sit for 3 minutes (this lets the cheese set a bit) and then cut and serve!
Thanks for baking with me! Please rate + comment this recipe and tag me on social @displacedhousewife #displacedhousewife so I can see your beautiful treats! xo