So here at amazing homemade pizza we are always striving for that perfect end result. Usually that means using the absolute finest ingredients and techniques that have been perfected by thousands of cooks over hundreds of years. However we all know that life gets busy!
Far be it from us to say you cant have pizza just because you don’t have time to make your pizza dough from scratch. In those situations what are the best ways to shortcut the process and still get a fantastic result?
By far the longest part of making homemade pizzas is making your pizza dough. This can take hours (sometimes days)! Even our fastest dough recipe takes 45 mins. Stands to reason then that if time is short and money is tight then anyway we can shorten this process will make a big difference.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could just go to the shops and buy a fantastic pizza dough? In fact I have lost count of the number of times I have been asked this question.
Well the good news is that you absolutely can use store bought dough. Some are a better than others so we would recommend going for some of the more premium ones out there.
All great news I hear you say but how do I do it? Firstly it is very easy. Here is our step by step guide to exactly how you do it:-
Step by step pizza making with store bought dough
1 purchase some dough from your nearest store (see our reviews here)
2 Take dough out of the fridge as soon as you get in. This will allow it to warm up a little to room temperature.
3 If you are using a conventional oven then we always recommend using a good pizza stone. Place the pizza stone into your oven when it is cold. This helps prevent any cracking of the stone etc click here for our top tips on looking after your pizza stone……. stone care
4 turn on your oven to its highest setting. The higher the better.
5 it is now crucial to let the oven and the pizza stone get as hot as possible
6 Find a flat surface large enough for the size of pizza you are actually making and make sure you sprinkle some flour on it to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface.
7 Get some flour on your hands and then place a ball of dough into the middle of your flat surface. Now sprinkle some four onto the dough itself.
8 We now need to create our pizza base. You can use a rolling pin for this however we for best results we always recommend using your hands. Gently pat the dough down with bottom of your fingers. Gently turn the dough as you do this. As you do this the pizza base will get bigger and bigger.
9 once you get to your desired size and thickness (deep pan or thin crust) then you can move the pizza base aside ready for toppings. Continue to make as many pizza bases as you need.
10 We now need to add a good quality pizza sauce. This is another area where you can save some time by using a good quality store bought pizza sauce (have a look at our store bought pizza sauces here)
11 Time to add your toppings and cheese. Our favorite cheese is your classic mozzarella but you can use whatever one you prefer. Toppings wise the combinations are endless!
12 MAKE SURE YOUR OVEN IS HOT ENOUGH
13 If step 12 is all good then its time to place your pizza in the oven directly onto the pizza stone
14 depending on your oven type and how hot it gets this will vary the amount of time you need to cook the pizza for. In a conventional oven this would normally take around 5-8 minutes. If you are using a proper pizza oven it make take only 3-5 mins ( use a turning peel to ensure it doesn’t burn)
15 Remove the pizza from your oven and cook the rest of the bases if you are doing multiple pizzas
16 ENJOY!!
Using the method above you will get pretty good results but if you want perfect then we would always recommend making everything from scratch.
There are a few alternatives to store bought that are still very quick.
HOMEMADE PIZZA DOUGH HACK
Homemade is always best but if you are too busy (hey who isn’t at times) then you can use this hack. It’s the weekend, you have a little more time. Why not whip up a large batch of pizza dough? Sounds like a lot of work? Well you could spend the whole afternoon making your dough by hand and to be fair in our opinion that would get you the best result but you can also use a bread machine on its dough setting. The difference between the two is fairly marginal. check out this video to see how easy it is!
Once made you can then freeze pizza dough no problem.
Make up a big batch and then separate it out into pizza size portions. Pop them into the freezer for use whenever you like. The dough will last in the freezer for 3-6 months without any problems. Before you leave the house on the day you want to make pizza take enough portions out of the freezer and leave on the kitchen side. When you get home later these will be defrosted and ready to go! All the convenience and you still have a fantastic homemade dough.
Yeah but I don’t want to make my own pizza dough!
No problem! Store bought is ok but if you want the best you can get where you don’t have to actually make it yourself then you can have it delivered to your door. That’s right top quality pizza dough frozen in pizza portions ready to pop straight into your freezer. Have a look here at the one we love the best
That’s all very well but I want to make pizzas tonight!
Ok that’s easy. Pop to the store on the way home and grab the best quality pizza dough you can find. Have a look here for our favorite
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