11 Of The Best Uses For Store-Bought Pizza Dough Beyond Pizza

Without a doubt about it, store-bought pizza dough is a time saver. It manages to hit the sweet spot between still allowing cooks to enjoy the pizza-making experience, but giving them a boost so they don't have to start from square one. The convenience of not having to mix the ingredients or work with yeast is certainly a perk. Especially if you have a busy evening planned and lack the time required for the dough-making process. The thing is, though, that often these packages provide more dough than you will need for one meal. When you consider that half of a one-pound dough ball can be made into a medium pizza, it is likely you might be left with remaining dough after pizza night is over. 

Pizza dough, even if it is store-bought, also has a firm expiry date. This is because the cold of the fridge is actually contributing to the fermentation process of the dough. Too much fermentation leaves your yeast, sugar, and gluten levels imbalanced. After about 3 to 5 days, you may start to see signs of the dough no longer being safe for consumption, such as mold spots, the smell of nail varnish, or liquid separating from the dough. 

These factors combined certainly put pressure on what you are going to do with the dough before time runs out. Unless you want copious amounts of pizza gracing your meals (no judgment if you do), then you may want some other ideas. Otherwise, your leftover dough is in serious danger of being turned into waste.

The history of the garlic knot actually seems to come full circle when considering the context of this article. It was first invented in 1973 when a pizzeria located in Queens, New York, realized it was a great way to use up leftover pizza dough. This means that historically, this food item has been saving leftover pizza dough from the trash disposal for over 50 years. An impressive feat for this crunchy and buttery masterpiece. If you love garlic, butter, and history, then going the garlic knot route with your spare pizza dough seems like a no-brainer. 

Now, if you are wondering how one would go about making garlic knots with store-bought pizza dough, rest assured, the recipe is just about as simple as it gets. All you really need additionally to get started, is butter and garlic, though you can always add additional spices like salt and pepper. Simply cut the dough into strips and tie them into a knot before baking. Once baked, spreading a mixture of garlic and butter on the knots will have them ready for plating.

To keep the knots soft inside, try spreading a mixture of olive oil and butter onto them. This coating protects the interior, avoiding an overly crunchy result. However, be warned: do not try adding the garlic to the butter and oil mixture before cooking. This might cause the garlic to overcook before the dough has a chance to cook properly, leaving you with disappointing garlic knots.

Focaccia might seem very similar to a regular pizza when looking side by side, but this food is actually considered a type of Italian flatbread. The focaccia dough typically has a higher amount of yeast added into it, causing the dough to rise higher during the baking process and leading to a thicker piece. As far as the differences between focaccia and pizza go, focaccia making also involves heavy amounts of olive oil, and the finished product is fluffy, a far different texture than one would expect the average pizza to have. 

For this simple transformation, all you need is pizza dough, olive oil, and whatever additional toppings you would like to pop on top. Toppings-wise, you can opt for something simple like thyme or more robust, such as red peppers and olives. The trick with choosing toppings, though, is that you will want to select dry toppings. Otherwise, the juices from the topping of choice will cover the focaccia bread and leave you with a sad, soggy batch of focaccia.

The process itself is about as simple as baking can get. As one TikToker describes it, the process of focaccia making only requires a good dough, mixed with lots of olive oil and neglect. After thawing your dough and allowing it time to rise, simply place it in a liberally olive oil-covered pan and dimple it. Finally, after a generous drizzle of more olive oil and a sprinkle of toppings, it should be oven-ready.

There's no question that soft pretzels paired with a beer, and/or the right dipping sauce can be a truly delightful snack option. First brought to the U.S. in 1710, this crunchy and salty treat has managed to hold its own impressively in the snack industry ever since. With one survey reporting that the U.S. consumes almost 80% of the soft pretzels sold globally, far more than even the country where soft pretzels were invented (Germany), it's clear that it has remained a favorite of the masses. If you're planning to attend a get-together, soft pretzels can also be an easily transported treat to share with friends.

With the dough already waiting to be used, the hardest part of the pretzel-making process will simply be shaping them (unless you want to count the time spent eagerly awaiting them to cook). After shaping the pretzels, the key is to place them into a pot of boiling water mixed with baking soda. This might sound like an odd step, but rest assured its an integral part of the process. 

In Germany, an ingredient called lye is used to affect the alkalinity during the baking process. This helps to achieve the browned coloring and springy texture that pretzels are known for. Due to lye being a corrosive product, though, baking soda offers a safer alternative. Combining baking soda with water and boiling will affect the alkalinity in a similar way when the heat of the oven is added to the equation. 

If you're craving something sweet, having leftover pizza dough is a great opportunity (or excuse, however you would like to spin it) for making a little sweet treat. And when considering sweet treats to make, what better choice than one that can also be eaten for breakfast? That's right, if you're wondering if pizza dough will work for cinnamon rolls, the answer is resoundingly yes. If you're also wondering when cinnamon rolls became a socially acceptable breakfast food, as opposed to solely a dessert item, you can thank diners across the U.S. who added them to their breakfast menus. This led them to become a staple in the 20th century. 

You're going to need a few extra ingredients for this, then some of the other options, because of the filling and also the glaze. However, in return, you can also be as heavy-handed as you want with the icing, so really, when you think about it, you're still ahead in the long run. Once you mix up the filling with your recipe of choice, you're going to want to roll out the dough and cover it in the filling. Then, roll it up (from the longest edge), and cut it into equal portions. At this point your going to need to place the pieces into a pan and leave them to rise. After that, simply bake them, pour the glaze on, and enjoy!

If you're a fan of cinnamon but not quite enticed by the sound of glaze-drenched cinnamon rolls, churros are another great option for a sweet treat. Typically, anything deep-fried can be hard to resist, but when it's also doused in cinnamon sugar or drizzled with melted chocolate, the result is hard to resist. What's also great about this type of dessert is that it is highly modifiable. For example, you can create churro bites instead and use cookie cutters to create bites in fun shapes. Or you can add a dipping sauce to customize your churro, such as melted chocolate or even nacho cheese.

To create churros, you're going to need your leftover pizza dough rolled out and cut into strips. You will also need some sort of oil to deep fry them in, unless you opt to use the air fryer. You will also need cinnamon sugar to coat the churros in. Simply fry the strips in either the hot oil or the air fryer, coat them in the sugar, and serve! Plating with a scoop of ice cream or Nutella can also add some pizazz to the final product if you feel the churros are lacking. There's no wrong way to eat a churro, so don't be shy and try out different flavor combinations.

If you're seeking something with a bit more nutritional sustenance than dessert items, stuffed chicken buns might be right up your alley. These are mainly made from shredded chicken, provolone cheese, and pizza dough, though other ingredients can be added to taste. They can be used as an appetizer or an excellent snack item, giving you both a small boost of protein and gooey cheese in a bite.

As far as fillings go for these stuffed buns, you don't have to be restricted only to chicken and cheese. Redditors mention using ground pork as an option, for example, or even ground chicken instead of shredded. Other additions like onion, herbs, soy sauce, ginger, or garlic can be added to the filling based on individual preferences. 

With the leftover pizza dough available, most of the work is done here, other than mixing up your filling for the buns. You will need to break the dough into pieces, pulling them until they are a flat circle. Next, place a scoop of filling in the middle of each and crimp the sides together to cover the toppings, before flipping it upside-down and arranging it on a baking sheet. Spreading an egg wash on the buns to finish will help brown the top, while sprinkling sesame seeds can add some flavor and crunch. 

Bread is one of the main staples in kitchens everywhere. Even Jack Nicholson is fixated on the joys of bread, preferring to purchase his bread from a family-owned bakery in New York. At least part of this love for bread could be because of the flexibility it has when it comes to cooking. From bread pudding to sandwiches to being added to Thanksgiving stuffing recipes everywhere, bread seems to save the day every time. If no other options on this list interest you in using up your leftover store-bought pizza dough, surely bread will do the trick.  

This is an especially great hack if you have a fair amount of leftover dough (or else your loaf will be quite small). Even so, a small loaf of bread is far better than allowing your pizza dough to go to waste. To create this transformation, firstly, allow your dough to come to room temperature and rise outside of the refrigerator for about half an hour to an hour. 

Next, you're going to need to knead the dough using the base of your palm, to push any air trapped inside out of the mixture. After that, you will simply grease the pan, shape the dough into the type of loaf you're aiming for (such as round or square), and allow it to rise for around an hour. Next, pop it in the oven, kick back, and bask in the delicious aroma of freshly baked bread.

If you cut a strudel in half and look at the swirling bits of pastry and filling, it might not shock you to learn that the name of this food translates from German as whirlpool. If what you're craving is a delicious fruit-filled whirlpool in your kitchen, then you likely won't need any additional convincing to use some of your leftover pizza dough to create a batch. There are tons of different fillings to choose from when making strudel, like apples, blueberries, cherries, or even apricots. If you have some leftover fruit hanging around in the crisper, now is the time to use it up along with your dough.

To create a strudel, you will first need to create your filling of choice. Once that's underway, you will need to roll out the dough and expand it into your preferred shape. This could be either a circle or a square, but the shape is the dealer's choice. Once complete, spread your filling in the middle of the dough and fold the sides over the top, similar to what you would do with a burrito. Lastly, cutting some slits in the top of the dough will allow an escape hatch for the resulting steam during the cooking process. To finish them off, consider whipping up some icing to pour over the top once finished cooking or adding a scoop of ice cream on the side.

You might be wondering what you could possibly make with your leftover pizza dough that is heavy enough to be a main course. Well, chicken pot pie, of course. That's right, you don't need to spend your time researching the 11 ways to easily upgrade a store-bought chicken pot pie when you already have pizza dough sitting in your fridge. Plus, during the frigid months of the winter and fall seasons, there's nothing like a good chicken pot pie to warm the soul.

To create your chicken pot pie, you will first need to make the filling. If you're looking for some ways to spruce up your usual filling recipe, there are certainly some options found on social media. For one, Ree Drummond adds white wine to her chicken pot pie. There are also non alcoholic options such as Swiss cheese, spinach, carrots, corn, or even French onion soup mix. There are plenty of ways to add in some new flavors. 

When it comes to creating the actual chicken pot pie itself, this is the easiest process of all. First, place your filling into your pan or casserole dish. Then roll the room temperature pizza dough out, place overtop of the filling, ensuring the edges reach the rim of the pan/dish. After that, toss it into the oven, and kick back as you wait for dinner to finish cooking and wow your family. 

If you enjoy trying food from different ethnicities, you have likely learned that it seems all cultures have something in common. Nearly every culture out there has a hand pie, and the empanada is the Spanish version. It only makes sense that people would want the handheld version of this savory dish. It is also convenient in the way that they can be created from your leftover pizza dough. 

You're going to want to create the filling for the empanadas first, as well as allow the dough to reach room temperature. If you're struggling to come up with filling ideas for your empanadas, Reddit has you covered. On a recent post where a Redditor asked for filling suggestions, ideas like chorizo, chicken pesto, ground beef, or even ham were mentioned. 

The next step will be to cut the dough into identically sized pieces and roll it into round discs. Scoops of the filling are then placed in the middle, and the dough is folded in half to appear like a miniature calzone. While the empanadas are cooking, you can decide on a dipping sauce. They go well with anything from chimichurri sauce to the more spice-filled options like jalapeño cilantro salsa. If you just want simple flavors, even a squirt of honey mustard sauce will work well.

The last suggestion for your leftover pizza dough journey is meant to end with something sweet. If you are looking for an alternative dessert option, or the thought of cinnamon or fruity treats doesn't excite you, the almighty donut can come to your rescue. You certainly don't need to worry about procuring a list of the best donuts ever, just to get your fix when you have leftover pizza dough lying around in the fridge. The best part is that you can make large, rounded donuts, or you can make small donut holes. You could even make both if you want to (and have enough dough).

Either way, to do this, you are going to need your dough at room temperature and some sort of oil for frying. If you have opted to make the donut holes, you can use a shot glass to cut out the round pieces of dough. If you are making the full-sized, then you will need to portion your dough into pieces, roll them out, and then break a hole in the middle with your finger. Then just plop them into the oil to fry. Once finished cooking, you can sprinkle icing sugar on them for an extra touch of sweetness.