Alright ya’ll it’s time to make the perfect large batch of pizza dough! And it’s also freezer friendly. Plus just like most, it’s a naturally dairy free pizza dough recipe.

This pizza dough recipe makes 4 large pizza doughs (I meant to say “pizza crusts” but I can’t English good so…), which is 4 one pound dough balls.

If you’re looking for another recipe that freezes well and makes a large batch, check out my oven baked meatballs.

Making the Best Pizza Crust

Ingredients: Keep it simple, the ingredients are flour, water, oil, yeast, salt and a bit of sugar if you want.

Fermentation: Letting your dough rise in the fridge overnight gives it fermentation time. Which adds more flavour. I’ve left my pizza dough for up to 3 days in the fridge. Let it sit at room temp for 30 minutes before shaping.

Oven Temp: Baking pizza at a higher temperature (450) results in a crisp crust with melty cheese and lightly browned toppings.

Pizza Stone: I have found that preheating my pizza stone makes a perfect crust. Just use parchment paper to make your pizza on and slide it in the oven.

If you don’t have a pizza stove you can also use a large inverted baking sheet.

You can skip refrigeration and move onto making crusts. Shape it into pizza crusts 30-60 minutes after mixing the dough and letting it rise.

How to Make a Large Batch of Pizza Dough

I like to make my pizza dough in my stand mixer. And this recipe actually just barely fits my mixer.

So depending on the size of your mixer you may want to opt for just a large mixing bowl.

Step 1: Proof Yeast & Mix Ingredients

• Combine the water, yeast and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer until bubbly.

• Add in olive oil, salt and 4 cups flour. Mix. Add in 4 more cups of flour, 2 at a time. At this time you will either need to start kneading by hand or use the dough hook of your stand mixer.

Step 3: Knead Dough

• Continue kneading dough while adding flour 1/2 cup at a time until you have added 9 cups total. The dough should be elastic and have a good stretch to it. You may need to add an additional 1/2 cup of flour if it’s really sticky.
• It will be a bit sticky when finished, but you don’t want it to be runny. Otherwise it’s difficult to shape into balls.

Step 3: Shape Into Balls & Let Rise

• Shape the dough into 4 equal balls. Then place each ball into a medium sized greased bowl, and cover with cling wrap.
• Let rise on counter for 30 minutes or place in fridge for 24-48 hours for a nice slow rise.

Step 4: Shape & Bake

• large piece of parchment that’s been lightly dusted with flour, then stretch into a 12- to 14-inch round using your hands and at first and then a rolling pin to finish.
• Slide the parchment with pizza crust onto a thin baking sheet (inverted if necessary) or pizza peel.

How To Freeze Pizza Dough

Literally, one of my favourite things to do, is freeze yeast dough.

Especially if it’s a frozen pizza crust or prepared frozen pizza. Because you can bake it from frozen for a perfect homemade pizza. It tastes 10x better than store bought frozen pizza and is more affordable to make.

Freezer Option 1: Freeze Balls of Dough

This doesn’t make it to much easier, but requires less up front work and eliminates a step to making pizza.

Simply separate and shape the dough into 4 balls. Then wrap it in plastic wrap, place in a ziplock bag and freeze.

When ready to use, remove from the freezer and thaw in the fridge overnight. Then allow it to come to room temperature on your countertop before shaping.

Freezer Option 2: Freeze Whole Pizza

I have done this only twice now but it’s the best thing ever.
The hard part is finding space to freeze them level. All you do is make up you pizza on parchment paper, freeze on a cookie sheet, then wrap in plastic wrap and return to the freezer.

• Shape your crust on a flour lined parchment paper.
• Add pizza sauce, cheese, toppings.
• Then freeze until it’s solid about 6 hours or overnight.
• Remove from freezer, wrap with cling wrap and return to freezer.
• When ready to use, bake directly from frozen.
  

To Bake

To make pizza and bake: 20 minutes before baking, put a pizza stone or large inverted baking sheet on the middle oven rack. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. 

Top as desired, then slide the pizza (on the parchment) onto the hot pizza stone. Bake until the crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbling, 10 to 14 minutes. Slice and serve.

Print Recipe

Large Batch Pizza Dough (Freezer Pizza Dough)

Ingredients

• 3 ½ cups warm water 105-115F
• 1 tsp sugar or honey
• 4 ½ tsp dry active yeast
• 9 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting
• 4 tsp salt
• 4 TBSP olive oil

Instructions

• Add your warm water to a large bowl or a bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugar and yeast and stir to combine. Let the yeast water mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until it starts to bubble. All you are doing here is checking to see if your yeast is active which is referred to as “proofing the yeast”.*
• Add in the olive oil, salt and 4 cups of flour, whisk to combine. Add in 2 more cups and whisk to combine. At this point you will need to switch to a wooden spoon or the dough hook on your stand mixer.

Stand Mixer Instructions:

• With the mixer on low, add in 2 more cups of flour. If you’re not using a mixer you will need to start kneading it by hand.
• Continue to add in flour half a cup at a time until you have added in 9 cups total, at this point it should be forming a slightly sticky looking ball on the dough hook.
• The dough should be very soft and may a little sticky. I actually always do the last cup of flour by hand to make sure I don’t make my dough too tough. It may require an additional cup of flour. But don’t do much more then that.
• Your dough is ready to make into balls.

Kneading by hand:

• Add in two more cups and start kneading by hand. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic.
• Continue to add in flour half a cup at a time until you have added in about 9 cups total, at this point it should be forming a sticky looking ball. It may require an additional cup of flour. But don’t do much more then that.
• Your dough is now ready to form into dough balls.

Making the Pizza Dough Balls

• Transfer the dough to a floured surface and cut the dough into 4 equal parts. Shape each of them into a nice round ball. Use more flour as necessary to prevent sticking. I try to use as little flour as possible when shaping.
• I like to place my shaped dough balls, seam side up, into greased bowls. Then I let them rise in the fridge. Make sure to cover the bowls with a lid or cling wrap.
• Remember dough can more then double in size. It takes about two hours for them to rise. 24-48 hours of time in the fridge makes amazing pizza dough.

Freezing Instructions

• Place the dough balls on a parchment lined cookie sheet and transfer to the freezer. Let them freeze for about 4 hours until they are hard and then transfer them into freezer bags or airtight containers and freeze until you’re ready to use them.
• When you’re ready to use the dough it’s best to remove it the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight to thaw. Or I often get mine out of the freezer the morning of. From frozen, They need 4-6 hours to thaw and rise