Homemade Frozen Pizzas
Forget store-bought frozen pizza. Homemade is easier than you think, tastes fresher, and costs a fraction of the price – about $2.50 each. Make a big batch, load them with your favorite toppings, and have homemade frozen pizzas on hand for months to come.
Have you seen the price of frozen pizzas at the grocery store lately? They’ve really gotten expensive. I’ve seen higher end frozen pizzas at the grocery store for as high as $13.00.
What should be a cheap and convenient grocery item has turned into a splurge. But there’s a better way.
What if I told you it’s possible to make delicious, high-quality homemade pizzas at home for about $2.50 per pizza?
Why Make Homemade Frozen Pizzas?
Maybe it seems like a lot of work… but I promise you, making your own homemade frozen pizzas at home is worth it. Here’s why:
- Cost: These pizzas are extremely affordable when you make them homemade. Right around $2.50 per pizza (I shopped at Walmart for groceries).
- More toppings: Store-bought frozen pizzas often skimp on the toppings. When you make homemade pizzas, you can add as many as you’d like.
- Convenience: This recipe makes pizzas that are just like store-bought frozen pizzas. Once you’re done prepping them, you wrap them in foil or plastic wrap – then take one out and bake it when a craving hits.
A Meal Worth Sharing
One thing I love about these make-ahead frozen pizzas is that they’re ideal for sharing. If there’s a person or family in need, you can bring them a frozen pizza. Sure, soups and casseroles are great – but a homemade frozen pizza feels like a treat. There’s no pressure to eat it right away – it’s waiting in their freezer whenever they need it most.
Ingredients: What You’ll Need
The ingredient list is short and easy to find at most grocery stores. You’ll need:
- For dough:
- Bread flour: Bread flour is my top choice for homemade pizza dough. The higher protein content develops more gluten, giving you a dough that’s easier to stretch and a crust with that satisfying, chewy texture. If bread flour isn’t available, all-purpose flour works in a pinch – but bread flour is worth seeking out and it very affordable.
- Yeast: Look for instant yeast, quick-rise yeast, or rapid-rise yeast – they’re all the same thing
- Salt
- Olive oil
- Water
- For sauce: I love a zesty, flavorful pizza sauce that adds flavor and doesn’t disappear. Check out this recipe for zesty pizza sauce.
- For toppings:
- Cheese: For the meltiest cheese for your frozen pizzas, grate your own from a block of mozzarella cheese. While pre-shredded cheese will work, it contains anti-caking agents which impede melting and add extra (unnecessary) ingredients to your pizzas.
- Other toppings: I used pepperoni, chopped onions, and sliced green olives. But pretty much any pizza topping will do; Ham, Canadian bacon, sausage, ground beef, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, black olives, pineapple, etc. Check out these 50+ creative pizza topping ideas.
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Making Homemade Frozen Pizzas At Home: The Process
A bit of prep work pays off big time when you make homemade frozen pizzas. Scroll down for detailed recipe. But here’s the process, in a nutshell:
- Shred 2 blocks of mozzarella cheese
- Make pizza dough – I used this amazing fermented pizza dough recipe which results in crust that has excellent flavor and texture. The hands-on time is minimal – you mix the dough, pop it in the fridge, and let time do the work. Alternatively, you can use regular pizza dough or even store-bough pizza dough for this recipe – but if you have the time, the fermented dough is totally worth it.
- Divide dough into 6 to 8 rounds, depending on how big you want your pizzas
- Roll out dough and par bake it for 4 minutes (this bakes it enough so it’s not raw… then it continues to bake once bake the frozen pizza)
- Continue baking remaining crusts – cool to room temperature
- Top each pizza with 1/3 to 1/2 cup pizza sauce, 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese, and desired toppings
- Freeze each pizza for at least 30 minutes – then wrap in plastic wrap or tin foil and freeze until ready to bake. These frozen pizzas will last in the freezer for several months and are great for giving away to a friend or neighbor in need of a meal.
- Bake pizzas at 425F for 10 to 12 minutes
How To Bake Frozen Pizzas
Preheat oven to 425F. Place pizza on a pizza pan or parchment paper. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until crust is browned and cheese is melted to your liking. (Pssst… just like you’d bake a frozen pizza from the grocery store!)
FAQs
Why do you par bake the crusts before freezing?
Par-baking the crust before freezing is the secret to a crispy, fully cooked crust once you bake the frozen pizza. If you skip this step and freeze the pizza with raw dough, the crust won’t cook through properly by the time the cheese and toppings are done. A quick 4-minute bake at 450°F is all it takes – it sets the crust without fully cooking it, so it finishes perfectly when you bake it from frozen.
Do I add toppings before or after freezing?
Before! Once the par-baked crusts have cooled to room temperature, top each pizza with sauce, cheese, and your desired toppings – then freeze. This way your pizzas are completely ready to go straight from the freezer to the oven with zero prep work.
Do I need to thaw the pizzas before baking?
Nope — that’s one of the best things about this recipe. Go straight from the freezer to a preheated 425°F oven. No thawing, no planning ahead. Just bake for 10-12 minutes and dinner is ready.
Homemade Pizza Recipes
While you’re here, here are a few more pizza recipes and inspiration that will help you level up your homemade pizza game:
DIY pizza spices (makes a great gift!)
50+ creative pizza topping ideas
How to make paleo cauliflower pizza crust
Homemade Frozen Pizzas
You control the size of the pizzas. Using this recipe, I made 7 pizzas about 10 inches in diameter. You can make 5 or 6 larger pizzas that feed 2 to 3, or 7 or 8 smaller pizzas that feed 1 to 2 people.
Ingredients
- 7 cups bread flour
- 4 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon instant or rapid rise yeast
- 2 2/3 cups warm water
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 batch zesty pizza sauce
- 7 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 6 oz. package pepperoni
Instructions
- Prepare dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and yeast. Make a well in the flour mixture and add water and olive oil. Stir with a mixing spoon until dough comes together. Place dough in a large bowl coated with olive oil. Coat dough with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough ferment in the fridge overnight - or up to 3 days. The longer you let it ferment, the more flavorful the crust will be.
- Remove dough from fridge. Place on a clean, floured countertop. Coat all sides of dough lightly with flour. Cover with a cloth and let dough rest for an hour.
- Portion dough: Divide dough into equal sized portions. I ended up making 7 pizzas with this batch of dough, which yielded pizzas that were about 10 inches in diameter. You can make them smaller or large to your liking.
- Par-bake pizza crusts: Preheat oven to 450F. Using a rolling pin or stretch method, take one dough ball and form into a crust. Place on pizza pan. Bake for 4 minutes, until crust is just baked through but not well done. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Assemble pizzas: Once all pizza crusts have been baked, add toppings: About 1/3 cup pizza sauce, 1 to 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, and desired toppings. Place each prepared pizza crust in freezer and freeze for about 30 minutes, to solidify. Then wrap each pizza in plastic wrap or tin foil and place in freezer until ready to bake.
- To bake frozen pizzas: Preheat oven to 425F. Bake frozen pizzas on a pizza pan (or directly on oven grate) for 10 to 12 minutes, until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.
- Frozen pizzas can be stored for several months in the freezer.