Can You Freeze Pizza?

5 minutes

Nothing beats a weekend treat like a great movie, pizza and popcorn! Whatever your favourite toppings are and no matter how much you love a good pizza it is easy to end up with more pizza than you can possibly eat in one night. So, what do you do with it?

How To Freeze Pizza

We have a few options for you to take when it comes to freezing pizza. Which you use will depend on whether or not you have a homemade pizza you want to freeze unbaked or you are freezing leftovers.

How to Freeze Pizza Dough

One of the preferred methods of freezing homemade pizza is to freeze the elements of it and then assemble it before baking. This allows you to have freshly baked pizza but saves you a little time. So how do you freeze pizza dough?

1. Make Dough: Make your dough as you normally would. Roll the dough into a ball.
2. Wrap: Wrap the dough ball with cling film. You want to have enough layers of cling film to ensure the dough is airtight.
3. Chill: Pop the wrapped ball of dough into the fridge for about an hour to chill.
4. Label Bag: Prepare a freezer bag by labelling it with the date and contents.
5. Bag Up: When the dough has finished chilling take it out of the freezer and put it into the bag.
6. Freeze: Seal the bag and put it into the freezer.

How to Freeze a Whole Uncooked Pizza

If you want to have a whole pizza, ready-made and good to go from the freezer then this is the method to follow: 

1. Make Pizza: Make your dough and make the pizza base as normal. Assemble all the ingredients on the top. Make sure you only use ingredients that can be frozen.
2. Place Onto a Tray: You need to keep the base stable in the freezer while it is freezing so pop the pizza onto a baking sheet or pizza tray that is safe to put in the freezer.
3. Wrap: Wrap the tray lightly with clingfilm whilst being careful not to disturb the toppings of the pizza.
4. Freeze: Put the tray in the freezer. Ensure you keep it flat and away from other food that may cause damage while it is freezing.
5. Remove from the Freezer: After a couple of hours, take the baking tray and pizza out of the freezer. The pizza should have frozen solid and be easier to handle.
6. Wrap: Remove the pizza from the baking tray and wrap it in cling film. Use several layers until the pizza is airtight and protected.
7. Freeze: Label the pizza with the date and pop it back into the freezer. You will still need to be careful as the pizza can break in the freezer if it is moved about too much or if other food is placed on top of it.

How to Freeze Portions of Leftover Pizza

The best way to freeze leftover pizza is in portions. This means you can grab a slice of pizza without wasting the rest! Here is the method you’ll need to follow: 

1. Wrap Slices: Wrap each slice of pizza individually in cling film.
2. Prepare Bag: Prepare a freezer bag by labelling it with the date and contents.
3. Bag Up: Place the individually wrapped pizza slices into the bag and seal it tightly.
4. Freeze: Place the bag carefully into the freezer. If you can, lay the slices as flat as possible.

This method can be used whether you’ve made your own pizza, bought an Artisan pizza from the supermarket or have leftover Dominos pizza you want to freeze.

3 Tips for Freezing Pizza

Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing pizza to have the best results:

Flash Freeze Whole Pizza
You know how pizza comes from the shop, wrapped and solid. That’s what you want to recreate at home. Once you’ve made your pizza, freeze it until solid on a tray before bagging it up. 

Consider Toppings
Some toppings (like parma ham) will not freeze well so make sure you search on FreezeIt to determine whether an ingredient will freeze well or not. 

Don’t Reheat in the Microwave
Although it can be tempting to turn to the microwave for convenience, it will turn your pizza soggy so only reheat it in the oven.

How Long Can You Freeze Pizza?

Leftover pizza doesn’t have the longest freezer life, but it should remain good for about one to two months. Just don’t forget it or the taste will degrade, and it won’t be as tasty.

If you have frozen unbaked pizza, then it should be able to be frozen for about three months so it has a slightly longer freezer life and this should give you plenty of time to cook it up for a treat.

How Do You Defrost Pizza?

To defrost your pizza, the best method to use is to thaw it slowly in the fridge. All you need to do is take the pizza out of the freezer and pop it into the fridge to thaw out.

You might find the pizza gets a little soggy, but you can fix most of this by heating it in the oven.

One thing you shouldn’t do is reheat the pizza in the microwave. This can make it even soggier, and you won’t get the crisping qualities the oven gives.

If you have uncooked pizza, then you should be able to cook it from frozen! Even easier!

Can You Refreeze Pizza?

Pizza shouldn’t be frozen again if it has already been thawed. Not only will the quality have suffered, but you run the risk of bacteria growing and causing illness. It would be best if you were especially careful of pizza you buy frozen.

You shouldn’t refreeze it if it has already been frozen.

Does Pizza Freeze Well?

Pizza is one of those meals that freeze well enough but don’t freeze perfectly. You will notice a difference between fresh and frozen pizza, but it isn’t enough to make it inedible. You should be able to enjoy your frozen pizza almost as much.

If you have frozen uncooked pizza then by the time it has cooked you shouldn’t notice too much of a difference at all. Any degradation that occurred in the freezer can be helped by cooking the pizza.

Related FAQs

If you’ve still got questions about freezing pizza or pizza in general, then these may help: