DIY Frozen Pizzas

Being a couple of employed, full-time college students trying to plan a wedding and buy a house, we tend to eat a lot of frozen pizza. If you have bought frozen pizza recently, you know how expensive these convenience foods have gotten, and for that simple reason...convenience. Finding coupons for frozen pizzas is not hard, but the cost of a frozen pizza after coupons still tends to be anywhere from $4-$10 each. When you eat frozen pizza at least once a week, that tends to add up pretty quickly. 

I came across this article that teaches you how to make your own homemade frozen pizzas! This is my kind of article! I will definitely be doing this from now on. 


You'll Need:

1lb of pizza dough, either store bought or homemade
1/2- 1 cup of pizza sauce
Desired toppings
Shredded cheese
Rolling pin
Parchment paper
Baking sheet or pizza stone
Plastic wrap 
Aluminum Foil


Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the pizza stone or baking sheet in the middle of the oven while it is preheating. Divide pizza dough and roll it into desired size on pieces of parchment paper. One pound of pizza dough typically makes four frozen pizzas for me. If the dough starts to shrink back when you roll it out, let it rest for a little bit and try again. 
Par-bake the pizza rounds. Using the parchment paper, slide the dough rounds onto the baking sheet. Bake for 2-3 minutes, just until the dough is puffy and dry on the top, but still light in color. The point of this is to make the dough firm enough to top with all of your pizza toppings and to avoid soggy pizza when it comes time for baking. 
Let the pizza rounds cool completely on a wire rack. Remove the parchment paper form underneath each round. 
When the pizza dough is completely cooled, top the pizza with your desired toppings. Pizza rounds can also be frozen un-topped. 
Wrap the pizzas in plastic wrap, and then aluminum foil. Place a label on the top of the pizzas so you know which ones are which. These pizzas can be frozen for up to three months. 
When you're ready to bake the pizzas, preheat the oven to 450 degrees and bake for 8-12 minutes or until the crusts are golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly. 

This is a great way to use the homemade pizza sauce recipe I posted earlier on this blog. 

Here are some topping ideas that we enjoy in our home if you're looking for ideas:

Taco:
* Ground beef or turkey (browned and seasoned with cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and cayenne pepper)
* Cheddar cheese
* Tomatoes
* Jalapeno peppers

Hawaiian:
* Canadian Bacon
* Pineapple

BBQ Chicken:
* BBQ sauce
* Red pepper
* Chicken 

Fajita:
* Chicken or steak (cooked with cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and cayenne pepper)
* Corn kernals
* Black beans
* Green pepper

Chicken Alfredo:
* Chicken (cooked in Italian seasoning and minced garlic)
* Alfredo sauce
* Spinach
* Mushrooms
* Mozzarella Cheese

Philly Cheese Steak:
* Ground beef (browned with onion powder and garlic)
* Provel or Provelone cheese
* Red and green bell peppers
* Onion

Meat Lovers:
* Pepperoni
* Sausage
* Hamburger
* Bacon

Veggie:
* Mushroom
* Green pepper
* Red pepper
* Onion
* Tomato

Ham and Broccoli:
* Cheddar cheese
* Ham 
* Broccoli

Buffalo Chicken Pizza:
* Chicken
* Buffalo sauce
* Ranch
* Cheese