How long does pizza dough keep in the fridge?

Fridge storage times at a glance

Keep your fridge at 5°C or below, which is the standard UK food safety advice. Store dough in an airtight container or wrapped well, on a shelf away from raw meat. These are typical, conservative windows for homemade yeast dough.

Cold proving: the useful window

Many pizza recipes deliberately prove the dough in the fridge for 24 to 72 hours. The cold slows the yeast, so flavour develops slowly and the gluten relaxes, giving a dough that stretches easily and bakes with a lighter crust. Our Neapolitan-style pizza dough uses this method with a small amount of yeast, about 0.2 % of the flour weight, so it does not over-prove.

Dough made with more yeast moves faster and is best used sooner, often within a day or two. If you plan to keep dough for the full three days, use less yeast. The dough calculator lets you set the yeast percentage for your batch.

Freezing dough balls

Freezing pauses the yeast rather than killing all of it, though some activity is lost. Dough frozen for a long time may rise less and taste flatter. Thaw it in the fridge, not on the worktop, and do not refreeze dough that has thawed.

1. 1

   Make and knead the dough as normal, and give it its first rest.

2. 2

   Divide and shape into balls at the weight you need; see pizza dough ball sizes.

3. 3

   Lightly oil each ball and wrap it individually, or place it in a freezer bag with the air pressed out.

4. 4

   Label with the date and weight, and freeze flat so they freeze quickly.

5. 5

   To use, thaw in the fridge overnight, still wrapped.

6. 6

   Bring to room temperature for two to four hours before stretching.

Signs dough is past its best

Some changes are only about quality. A slight beery or alcoholic smell is normal for dough after a long cold prove. If the dough is very slack, sticky, collapses when you lift it or has large bubbles all over, it is over-proved. It may still bake, but expect a flat, dense crust with poor colour.

Other signs mean it should go in the bin. Throw dough away if you see mould of any colour, if it has a strong sour or unpleasant smell, if it has turned grey and slimy, or if it has been left at room temperature for many hours. If in doubt, throw it out. Do not cut mould off and use the rest.

• Normal: mild yeasty or beery smell, a few small grey patches where the surface dried
• Over-proved: very slack, sticky, collapses, large bubbles
• Discard: mould, strong sour or off smell, slimy texture, past the use-by date

Getting the best from stored dough

Use containers with room for the dough to rise, and a lid to stop the surface drying into a skin. A light coat of oil helps too. Take the dough out of the fridge a few hours before cooking so it relaxes; cold dough fights back when stretched and tears easily. See pizza dough tearing or sticky if you have trouble.

Well-rested dough cooks best on a properly hot stone. Our pizza oven temperature guide covers the right heat for each style, and the best outdoor pizza ovens and best electric pizza ovens for indoors guides list current ovens.

Frequently asked questions

Can pizza dough stay in the fridge for a week? It is not a good idea. Most homemade dough is best used within about 2 to 3 days. After that, quality drops and the risk of it spoiling increases.

Can I leave pizza dough out overnight? Not for storage. Leave dough at room temperature only for proving or warming up before use, then cook it or refrigerate it.

How do I defrost frozen pizza dough? Thaw it overnight in the fridge, still wrapped, then let it come up to room temperature for a few hours before stretching.

Why does my dough smell of alcohol? Yeast produces a little alcohol as it ferments. A mild beery smell is normal after cold proving. A strong sour or unpleasant smell is a sign to throw it away.