Can Trader Joe's Pizza Dough Be Frozen For Later?

Making your own pizza dough isn't necessarily a difficult task, but it does take some time and a keen eye to make sure all the steps are coming along as they should. The other option is to simply buy ready-made pizza dough from Trader Joe's. All the work has been done for you, it's affordable, and you can buy it in bulk because it freezes beautifully.

Once frozen and thawed again for use, Trader Joe's pizza dough retains its structure as if you just brought it home from the store (unlike other foods you should never freeze lest they lose their texture). TJ's pizza dough comes wrapped in a plastic bag which you can put directly into the freezer. However, for best results, remove the dough from the packaging, coat it lightly in oil (to discourage freezer burn), and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap to minimize air exposure. You can then place the wrapped ball of dough back into its original bag and place it in the freezer. 

To thaw the dough, place it in your refrigerator. When you're ready to use it, bring the dough to room temperature before rolling it out or shaping it. Frozen pizza dough is an excellent ingredient to have on hand because it's so versatile — way beyond just pizza pies.

A ball of Trader Joe's pizza dough can be used to make one large or several mini pizzas, but this stretchy dough can be used to make other delicious dishes. As mentioned above, pizza dough at room temperature is going to be the easiest to work with since it'll stretch and hold its shape better than cold dough. Use the dough to make strombolis or calzones, both of which are similar in flavor to pizza.

You can easily shape the dough to make garlic knots and breadsticks. Brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic powder, dried herbs, parmesan cheese, or other flavorful ingredients. You can make dinner rolls out of pizza dough in a pinch, although they might be a little chewier than traditional rolls. You can use it to make pizza sliders by topping it with some marinara or pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and bell peppers. For an appetizer, wrap tiny sausages in small pieces of pizza dough, brush with oil, and sprinkle with everything bagel seasoning. Once baked, you've got pigs in a blanket for a crowd.

Trader Joe's pizza dough also transitions into dessert with ease. For a spin on homemade donuts, my son likes to tear off bite-sized chunks of raw dough and fry them in oil for a few minutes. Once they're golden brown, he tosses them in cinnamon-sugar and we feast on them. Alternatively, you could roll the dough into a rectangular shape, spread with soft butter, cinnamon, and sugar, roll the dough up lengthwise, slice into 1-inch pieces, and bake for quick, easy cinnamon rolls.