Frozen pizza is a guilty pleasure in my household. There are so many evenings (too many, if I'm being honest) where I'm simply too tired to cook dinner. We usually keep frozen pizzas on hand for these occasions. It's so brainless, and dinner is ready in less than 15 minutes. It's total comfort food. However, I recently figured out how easy it is to prepare homemade frozen pizzas from scratch! These are much more economical and the ingredients are less processed, especially if using homemade pizza dough and sauce. I love having control over the various ingredients and toppings. Let's get started.
Things You’ll Need
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1 pound room temperature pizza dough, store-bought or homemade
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2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
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1 – 1 1/2 cups pizza sauce, store-bought or homemade
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1 1/2 – 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
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Optional: additional toppings, such as pepperoni, banana peppers, mushrooms, sliced black olives, additional cheeses
Step 1: Gather your ingredients and tools.
The ingredients are all very straight forward. Some grocery stores have started carrying bagged pizza dough in the refrigerator section, which is a nice time saver if you don't want to make your own. Homemade pizza sauce is always going to taste better than jarred varieties, but this is entirely up to you.
For tools, you'll need a rolling pin and plastic wrap. A large baking sheet lined with parchment paper is an ideal way to pre-bake the dough.
Step 2: Roll out the dough.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. On a clean surface, roll out pizza dough to the desired size. You can also divide the dough in half or even quarters if you prefer single serving pizzas (note: this may decrease the cook times below). Pizza dough is very elastic. If you find that it's not holding its shape while you roll it, switch to stretching and letting it fall into the desired size (hold from the top and let the weight of the dough stretch it down while turning the circle). Place the dough on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush with olive oil.
Step 3: Partially cook the pizza dough.
Bake the dough for approximately 8 to 10 minutes until solid but not golden. It will be back in the oven again at a later time, so there's no need to cook it completely. If any air bubbles form while baking, gently pop them with a fork to deflate. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Step 4: Build the pizza.
Spread the pizza sauce evenly over the crust, leaving space around the edges. Top with the cheese.
Step 5: Add optional toppings.
Add additional toppings, if desired.
Step 6: Wrap and freeze.
Carefully wrap in two layers of plastic wrap. The goal is to enclose the pizza as tightly as possible to hold the toppings in place without disturbing or compressing them. Place in the freezer on as flat of an angle as your freezer will allow until the pizza is fully frozen. After that, you can store it upright.
To Cook the Frozen Pizza:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Remove the plastic wrap from around the pizza.
- Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, or on a preheated pizza stone (see tip below).
- Bake for approximately 10 to 11 minutes, until cheese is fully melted and the crust is golden brown.
Tip
A pizza stone is an excellent way to achieve a crispy crust. If using, place in the oven during preheating.
