Refrigerator pizza dough is the best way to have fresh, homemade pizza anytime you crave it! Make it ahead, let it rise, and it’s ready to use for up to 2 whole weeks!
It’s a rare day that you wouldn’t find pizza dough in our fridge. Sometimes we need a last minute meal and pizza is our favorite go-to. You can put almost anything on a pizza and make it good. This dough is great because you can make a batch (or double batch), toss it in the fridge, and then I know that you’re covered for dinner emergencies for the next two weeks. You can pull it out of my fridge and have dinner ready within 15 minutes. We showed this trick once for a group cooking lesson and everyone was amazed.
There is no reason to order out. Just keep shredded mozzarella and pepperoni in your freezer, and a jar of sauce in your pantry, and of course some dough in your fridge. It’s easy and it only takes 5 minutes of hands on work to put the dough together. Forget about it for an hour or two while it rises, and then toss it in the fridge.
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Topping Options:
You can add any and all of your favorite toppings to this pizza dough! You can spread it with pizza sauce, pesto, or even just a garlic and olive oil mixture. Veggie lover? Meat lover? It’s all up to you and what you prefer on a pizza. We promise you’re going to love it!
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Instant Vs. Active Dry Yeast:
You can use either yeast in this recipe. Instant yeast can be added with all ingredients and doesn’t require any activation or proofing time. If you choose to use active dry yeast, you’ll want to let that proof in a small bowl by mixing it with the amount of water called for in this recipe. Your water needs to be warm, and should be between 100-105 degrees F to properly proof the yeast.
I just made your pizza dough recipe tonight with a bunch of teenage girls in the youth group I lead. It was an absolute hit! Everyone raved about it. I would love to share this recipe on my blog, Sweet as Sugar Cookies. Is it alright if I do so?
I once shared this recipe with a youth group as well! If you share the recipe, please do so with proper attribution and your own photo. Thanks!
When "yeast" is called for in a recipe, I never know what kind to use. Fresh, active dry, instant, rapid rise, quick rise??? Please specify.
Modern recipes call for simply yeast because pretty much all of the varieties of yeast you can buy nowadays produces about the same result. Technically active dry yeast should be added to warm water first, and instant can just be mixed in with the flour, but in the end the way yeast is produced and sold today the result will be the same. Rapid rise or quick rise will just cut your rising time. In the end, almost any kind of modern yeast you use will be fine.
My experience was the opposite. Made the dough first time with breadmaker yeast and it turned out great. Second time was with active yeast and it was a disaster.
Do you use regular all purpose flour? Have you tried with whole wheat?
I usually use all purpose flour because I like it that way. I've tried half all purpose, half wheat which is good, though it does change the texture. I have done all whole wheat and I can tell you it kind of ends up like cardboard. So, I'd say that if you were going to add whole wheat, make it half and half.
Can you put the ingredients list in metric units? I don't have a cup to measure with. Thanks!
Your question is actually really hard because there is no true conversion calculation for items measured by weight. You may find a website like this helpful:
http://www.jsward.com/cooking/conversion.shtml
For this particular recipe the conversions appear to be as such:
2 3/4 cup water = 660 mL
1/3 cup olive oil = 80 mL
1/4 cup brown sugar = 60g
1 1/2 tablespoons salt = 30g
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast = 22.5 mL
6 1/2 cups flour = 780 g
OK, thanks, i didn't knew how to convert the flour from cups (volume) to grams.
My new favorite recipe. My family demanded pizza night. We like ours thin so we cook crust 10 minutes then put toppings on and cook another 8. Perfect crust!
Does the water have to be hot or cold for the yeast,
Do you think that this dough could be frozen for later use? Thank you for the easy recipe!
No problem! Yes, the dough can be frozen. I recommend checking out my perfect frozen pizza post for some great tips for freezing pizza dough.
https://thestayathomechef.com/2012/02/perfect-frozen-pizzas.html
I am so excited to try this, but I don't have a pizza stone.. if you were to make this on a regular pizza pan, how long and at what temp would you recommend baking this? Thanks!
Thanks for stopping by! Without a pizza stone you won't that wonderful crispy crust. If you are just using a regular baking pan I'd still recommend backing it at 500 degrees (or the hottest your oven will go. Keep the crust thin and it will bake better. Because you don't have the additional heat source from the pizza stone, you'll be more towards the 10-12 minute area.
I use a cast iron skillet instead of a pizza stone
Should work!
I cook my pizzas in a cast iron pan. Deep dish, Chicago style (except I do add cheese to the top) and they always turn out wonderfully.
I cook my pizzas in a cast iron pan. Deep dish, Chicago style (except I do add cheese to the top) and they always turn out wonderfully.
I made the dough yesterday and pizza today. WOW! This is amazing!! So easy! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for stopping by and I'm so glad you liked it! I actually had one tonight myself. I really shouldn't admit how often we have it because it is embarrassingly frequent. I can't help it! I'm a pizza-holic!
This looks like a great recipe! One that I will definitely be trying. Have to be honest though…kind of scares me that you say it can be kept in your fridge for up to 2 weeks. I never eat any food that has been in my fridge for longer than 6 days. I grew up with a mother who worked in the food service department of our local hospital and I learned alot about food and bacteria from her. I would caution anyone who plans to keep the dough raw in their fridge for that long.
Thanks for stopping by!
If you look at the ingredient list you'll see that there really isn't anything in it that will produce the kind of bacteria or mold growth that would happen with others foods over 2 weeks. It works on the same principle as sourdough bread. In fact, after two weeks the yeast will begin to ferment and there might be a slight sourdough taste which I absolutely love.
I kept it for 2 weeks and was good to eat, tasted a bit like sourdough which was greatx.