How to Store Pizza Dough (The Best Ways and What to Avoid)

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Making food in advance can save you a lot of headaches, especially during those lazy days when you just can’t be bothered to stand in the kitchen and prepare some food.

However, pizza is one of those foods that you should eat fresh out of the oven. So, how can we make the best of both worlds? Nobody likes frozen pizzas, do they?

The good news is that you can get the best of both worlds. But instead of freezing the whole pizza, you should freeze just the dough!

Of course, this assumes you’re making a traditional dough & toppings pizza. If you’re making pizza without dough, this is a different story. 

Once you make the dough, it’s all about the proper storage. There are a few ways in which you can store pizza dough while keeping it fresh and delicious. Store your pizza dough the right way and you can quickly throw together a pizza, baking it on-demand, anytime!

Let’s start by knowing how to make pizza dough and how to portion it for storage.

How to Make Pizza Dough

Pizza dough is easy to make. In just a few simple steps, you can have a perfect, restaurant-worthy dough that will be the perfect base for any pizza (even ones without sauce!).

To start, mix active yeast and water and leave them to sit for several minutes. This will make the yeast come to life.

Next, add the remaining ingredients (usually flour, salt, sugar, and olive oil) and knead the dough together (make sure not to over-knead).

After a smooth dough has formed and you have kneaded the dough as directed in your recipe, the pizza dough will need to rest.

During this time, the yeast will begin to expand and release gasses, causing the dough to rise (see why this is so important). This is what makes for a nice fluffy pizza crust, or any kind of fluffy bread!

After the dough has risen, you will punch it down, deflating the dough and shaping it into your pizza crust. Some recipes will call for the dough to rise again before baking while others will say the pizza dough is ready to use after just one rise.

Read your directions carefully- both ways work well!

Portioning Dough for Storage

This is when things get interesting. If you are making pizza dough, you might as well double or triple the recipe, making extra to prepare for your next pizza night. You’ll eat what you need for now, and store the rest for later!

Most pizza dough recipes will multiply just fine, giving you the same dough results for four pizza crusts that you would attain when making just a single batch. So why not make more?

You may have to knead the dough a little longer but it’s not a difficult thing to do.

When you make a big batch of dough, it is a good idea to portion the dough before you store it. So, if you make a 4x batch of pizza dough after the dough has risen once, divide it into four equal pieces before storing. It is much easier to use the dough later on when it is nicely divided like this.

Anytime you are ready for a pizza, you can just take out one of your pre-portioned doughs and make your pizza! There is no need to cut dough apart or mess with mixers every time you have a pizza craving.

So take the time to separate the dough before you store it- you will be happy that you did!

If your dough isn’t stretching, try the steps mentioned in this article.

When To Store Pizza Dough

You’ve now made your dough. It’s important not to store it immediately. You have to allow it to rise first.

If you don’t do that, you’ll have a bad dough consistency once you attempt to use it.

So, after you have mixed the pizza dough and let it rise once, you should store it using your preferred method.

Divide the dough and store as desired (keep reading to find out the best way to store pizza dough!)

Note: Before making your pizza, you should let the dough warm up and rise one more time. Fortunately, this is much easier and less time-consuming than making dough from scratch every time you want pizza!

How to Store Your Frozen Pizza Dough

Okay, you’ve made your dough, and you used what you need to make pizza now. In this section, we’ll discuss how to store the pizza dough properly.

Storing Pizza Dough in the Fridge

Quick reminder: these storing steps assume that you’ve let your dough rise at least once.

You can simply place the dough in a plastic storage container with a lid or you can wrap the dough directly in plastic wrap. It is also easy to place the dough in a large zippered bag, press the air out of the bag and seal it.

Once wrapped, the dough can go right into the fridge. Pizza dough will stay food-worthy for about two weeks in the fridge. When you are ready to use the dough, remove it from the fridge, unwrap the dough, and place it on your counter or in a lightly floured bowl.

Cover the dough loosely and then let it come to room temperature. For a ½ pound ball of dough, this will take about 30 minutes. Roll the dough into a pizza crust and then add your favorite toppings and bake!

Storing Pizza Dough in the Freezer

Storing pizza dough in the freezer is much like storing it in the fridge. You should wrap the dough tightly in an airtight container to prevent it from drying out.

Then, place the portioned dough in the freezer until you are ready to use it. Storing pizza in the freezer is a good idea if you don’t plan to make it any time soon, as it will keep in the freezer for around three months.

When you are ready to use your frozen pizza dough, move it from the freezer into the fridge to let it thaw overnight. Then, take the thawed dough out of the fridge and unwrap it.

Move the dough to a lightly floured surface, loosely cover it with flour, and allow it to come to room temperature. Once warmed, roll or stretch the dough into your pizza crust, bake, and enjoy!

If you need to speed up the process, try one of these alternative ways to defrost pizza dough.

Can You Store Your Pizza Dough on the Counter?

It’s not recommended to do that. If you leave your dough at room temperature, on your kitchen counter, for example, the yeast would continue to expand the dough, causing yeast over-fermentation, resulting in a bitter taste. 

When left even more at room temperature, the yeast will grow for a while and then die.

If you bake pizza dough with inactive yeast, it won’t rise since all the power of the yeast has already been used. Instead, the dough would be a tough, chewy, solid, unappetizing crust.

So, if you want to store pizza dough, you should chill it to prevent the yeast from growing too fast and dying. Chilling the dough slows down the yeast, causing it to go dormant.

Think of the fridge or freezer as a place your yeast can go to hibernate, resting and waiting until you are ready to enjoy a pizza!

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