Can You Freeze Pizza Dough? Yes, You Can. Here’s How.
Everybody loves a good homemade pizza, especially when it is your ultimate soul food. Imagine yourself whipping up a batch of spectacularly good homemade pizza dough and making some amazing pizzas. Now, what do you do when you have a lot of leftover pizza dough?
You don’t want to waste it by throwing it away, you might not want to eat pizza for the next few days either. So, what else can you do? You freeze it!
Yes, you heard that right. You can freeze your pizza dough and have it as soon as you crave it again. It’s super easy!
Advantages Of Freezing Pizza Dough
There are many advantages to freezing pizza dough. Given below are some reasons for why freezing pizza dough is the perfect solution.
- It is an easy way to include pizza into your monthly meal. It is a lot healthier too.
- It is fun and cheaper than ordering pizza online. You can also prepare it in half the time.
- It is a great arrangement for your children’s birthday parties or any official gathering.
- When you have plenty of time on your hands, you can whip up an extra batch and freeze it for later use.
- You can freeze your pizza dough in any quantity. You just need to let the dough fully rise before dividing it into portions and freezing it. It can be frozen for up to three months!
- Thawing is easy. It just needs to be kept in the refrigerator overnight.
- You can experiment with your pizzas when you have plenty of dough at your disposal.
How To Freeze Pizza Dough
- The first step is to make a batch of pizza dough. You can make multiple batches if you want. It will save you time and effort if you make multiple batches instead of a single one. You can also freeze a store bought pizza dough by following the same instructions.
- The next step is to prepare your pizza dough through the first rise. This is a very important step, as it allows the dough to come together. One rise is very important, even if it is a short one of 10-30 minutes. When you make your pizza dough with yeast, the first rise allows the yeast to feed on the sugar and starch and grow. This is what gives the rise when the dough bakes.
- The next step is an optional one. It is the shaping of your pizza dough. When the dough has finished its first rise, poke holes in the dough to rule out any air bubbles. Fold your dough over itself about 5-10 times and make it into a round disc shape. You can make any other shape you want but remember, a disc shape allows the dough to thaw faster.
- Make sure that your pizza dough is roughly 1” thick. Be sure to make certain that it will actually fit in your freezer if your freezer is a bit narrow.
- The next step in the process is to double wrap the pizza dough. It is a very important step, as not being properly wrapped will dry out your dough, rendering it useless. That is why being wrapped twice is necessary. The first wrap around the pizza dough should always be done with plastic wrap.
How To Wrap The Dough
- First, take a large piece of plastic wrap and place your pizza disc at one end. Work through the dough and cover it properly. The aim should be to leave no surface exposed at all.
- Yank the end of the plastic wrap over the pizza dough disc. After that, flip over the entire disc so that both the top and bottom part are covered in the plastic wrap.
- Then pull the sides of the wrap over the pizza dough, similar to folding a t-shirt sleeve inwards toward the middle. Make sure that every portion of the dough is covered
- Cover the dough until the rest of the plastic wrap is finished.
- For your second wrap, you can use a freezer-safe bag, aluminum foil, or any container.
How To Thaw Your Pizza Dough
There are many different ways to thaw your pizza dough. Regardless of what technique you use, make sure to:
- Keep your dough covered. Do not leave it out in the open.
- Make sure that the dough has been thawed to room temperature before being shaping, topped and cooking.
- You can thaw the dough overnight in the fridge too. However, this method will take at least 8 hours and if you need it done as soon as possible, this method is not for you.
How To Thaw Pizza Overnight In The Fridge
- Remove the pizza dough disc from both the wrappings.
- Keep the dough in a container in the fridge. Be sure to cover it with a plastic wrap. Let it sit overnight. The overnight process will let it thaw and the dough will go through a short second rise simultaneously.
- When you bring the dough out of the fridge, let it come to room temperature before adding the toppings and baking it.
How To Thaw Pizza Dough On The Counter
- As with the previous method, remove the pizza dough from both the wrappings.
- Place the dough now in a container and cover it with a plastic wrap. Before long, it will thaw and go through a second short rise.
With these methods, you can make batches of your own pizza dough, freeze them, and use them according to your convenience. Just top your dough with your favorite toppings and bake. Have fun!