Homemade pizza is sooo very good, but it can involve a little bit of work. Make it easier to make pizza any night when you prep some freezer meal pizza kits in advance.
With sauce, cheese, and toppings all ready to go as well as a dough ball or some baked pizza bases, pizza night will come together in a snap. Feel free to vary the toppings based on your favorites, like Jalapeño Burn Pizza or a Supreme Pizza, whose toppings both freeze well.
Homemade Pizza brings you a big bang for your buck. With even the cost of Costco pizzas rising with inflation, making a pizza at home not only costs less but it tastes better, too.
Make pizza night even easier by assembling some pizza kits to freeze. In this way, the work of making a homemade pizza is diminished. It’s just a matter of thawing, assembling, and baking.
Why Do This
It makes pizza night easy! With pizza ingredients already prepped and ready to go, it will take just minutes to assemble a pizza and bake it fresh.
It allows you to cook for one. Making homemade pizza dough is well worth the effort. When you’re cooking for one or two people, though, you might not need a full batch of dough. Thankfully, you can freeze the other portions for another night in a handy pizza kit.
It helps you avoid food waste. By assembling pizza kits for later, you can package up topping items that might otherwise go to waste, such as shredded cheese, pizza sauce, and toppings.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make a basic freezer pizza kit:
pizza base – You can use homemade pizza dough or pre-baked bases such as pita bread, English muffins, french bread, tortillas, or bagels to add to your pizza kits. For best results, slice the muffins, bread, or bagels before freezing so that assembly is easiest later.
sauce – There are so many ways to sauce a pizza, including pizza sauce, pesto or Basil Sauce, BBQ Sauce, or even a garlic-scented White Sauce or Bechamel.
cheese – The best cheeses for pizza include shredded or fresh sliced mozzarella cheese or shredded Monterey Jack. Goat cheese and feta are also nice for sprinkling atop the other cheese.
pizza toppings – Use whatever you enjoy on pizza such as sliced pepperoni, cooked and crumbled sausage, or sliced/diced vegetables that freeze well, like onions, mushrooms, olives, peppers, and jalapeños. Cut pineapple freezes well also, so you can include that in your pizza kit as well.
Note: If you are freezing cooked toppings, be sure to cool and chill them completely in the fridge prior to freezing.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s how to assemble a pizza kit for the freezer:
To make the freezer meal pizza kit:
- Prepare your pizza dough and only allow it to rise for about 20 minutes, then divide into balls. Place each pizza dough ball in a greased container with a lid or a ziptop freezer bag. You can even freeze the dough in a Souper Cube. Store this in the freezer right away. If you’re using a pre-baked pizza base, slice if needed and store in a ziptop freezer bag or wrap well with foil or plastic wrap.
- Place the pizza sauce in a container with a lid or a ziptop freezer bag.
- Place the cheese in another container or ziptop freezer bag.
- Place the pizza toppings in separate containers or bag.
- Corral all the components in a larger container or bag and store in the freezer alongside the frozen pizza base.
The night before you want to bake the pizza:
- Remove the pizza kit from the freezer. Pop the frozen dough ball out of the container or bag and place it in a larger greased bowl to allow it room to thaw and rise. Store all pizza components in the fridge overnight.
To bake the pizza:
- Preheat the oven or grill to 475 degrees. Yes, you can grill pizza!
- Transfer the pizza dough to a floured surface and form into a 12-inch round. Transfer to a greased pizza screen.
- Spread the sauce over the surface of the pizza round. Top with the cheese and toppings.
- Bake in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or in the hot grill for 4 to 5 minutes, until the crust is crisp and the cheese melted.
FAQs
Pizza dough is generally good in the fridge for a day or so. For longer storage, place it in the freezer.
A pizza kit should last in the freezer for up to 2 months. If your pizza kit contains dough, once you thaw it, the dough should be baked within 24 hours for best results. A pizza kit with a pre-baked base will be good in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Baked or unbaked pizza bases can be stored in the freezer for 1 to 2 months, depending on how well they’re wrapped and how often the freezer is opened.
Fun Pizza Combos
There are so many great ways to top a pizza. Think outside the box when you assemble your pizza kits and keep in mind leftover vegetables, cheeses, and meats from other recipes that might be used for pizza toppings.
Check out these fun combos for inspiration:
How to Make a Freezer Meal Pizza Kit
Ingredients
- ⅓ batch pizza dough Can also be a baked pizza base such as pita bread, English muffins, french rolls, bagels, etc.
- ½ cup pizza sauce
- 2 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
- pizza toppings such as sliced pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, etc.
Instructions
To make the freezer meal pizza kit:
- Place the pizza dough ball in a greased container with a lid or a ziptop freezer bag. Store this in the freezer right away.
- Place the pizza sauce in a container with a lid or a ziptop freezer bag.
- Place the cheese in another container or ziptop freezer bag.
- Place the pizza toppings in separate containers or bag.
- Corral all the containers in a larger container or bag and store in the freezer.
The night before you want to bake the pizza:
- Remove the pizza kit from the freezer. Pop the frozen dough ball out of the container or bag and place it in a larger greased bowl to allow it room to thaw and rise. Store all pizza components in the fridge overnight.
To bake the pizza:
- Preheat the oven or grill to 475 degrees.
- Transfer the pizza dough to a floured surface and form into a 12-inch round. Transfer to a greased pizza screen.
- Spread the sauce over the surface of the pizza round. Top with the cheese and toppings.
- Bake in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or in the hot grill for 4 to 5 minutes, until the crust is crisp and the cheese melted.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on July 12, 2010. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Mary
Oh also I don’t know where I read this tip but I freeze the sloppy joes and pulled pork in muffin tins and then put them in a baggie so my husband can pull one out for lunch or a snack since he eats a ton and needs lots of protein.
Julie
That sloppy joe meat in the muffin tins is a great idea. Ground taco meat and black beans for quick after school burritos would be great frozen in the tins as well. Thanks for the tip!
Mary
This took me several hours throughout the weekend I made the following: (it’s just me and the hubby)
4 meals of pulled pork BBQ
2 meals of tacos
3 meals of sloppy joes
15 hamburger buns (Thanks for the recipe Jessica I didn’t actually taste one but they looked beautiful!)
10 chicken, corn and black bean enchiladas
2 sides of refried beans
3 loaves of whole wheat bread (already gone since my siblings in law stayed with us a few days)
1 side of black beans
4 meals of carnitas
3 brownie mixes that already got used (I didn’t eat them all I swear)
Plus I cooked a huge dinner for my in laws on Monday night because I’m crazy and felt the need to impress. I’m totally staying out of the kitchen for a few days now!
Jessica Fisher
@Mary, great job! Oh my word! Go put up your feet. 😉
Sonya
I’ve been doing a little freezer cooking for years – when I made a casserole, pot of soup, etc., I’d double the recipe and freeze half. But this freezer cooking looks awesome!!! I’ve been planning for the past couple days, got my list ready and I’m shopping for my first big-time freezer cooking day tomorrow! Then my mom and sister-in-law are coming over the next day, and we’re gonna cook till we drop! I can’t wait to have a freezer full of nearly-ready meals! Thanks for the great ideas!
Morgan
I made your pizza dough this weekend and the whole family absolutely loved it. I only baked one large pizza and froze the other two dough balls. My question (I am new to all things frozen): when I set out the dough, should I set it on the counter to thaw, does it need to rise or anything like that after thawed or just roll and go?
Jessica Fisher
@Morgan, I usually take mine out of the freezer and put it in a greased dish in the fridge. It thaws/rises during the day and is ready to go by dinner. I have pulled it at noon and let it rise on the counter and that has worked as well.
Casie
Okay. That’s it. I think I’m jumping on this bandwagon next month! 🙂
Jessica Fisher
@Casie, well, it’s about time!
Laura Aridgides
Jessica,
How do you “flash freeze” veggies, especially peppers and onions?
Laura
Jessica Fisher
@Laura Aridgides, Just lay the sliced veggies on a tray. You can line it with parchment or plastic wrap to prevent sticking. Freeze until solid. Then move the veggies to a plastic freezer bag. They’ll be now frozen separately instead of one big chunk.
Tricia
I just today blogged about freezer kits!
I’m going to the store today to get stuff to work on my freezer meals (on vacation last week).
Dana @ The Coupon Challenge
Thanks for the linky!
I love the idea of freezing the pizza dough. I will definitely add that to my list of dishes to try with your pizza sauce.