Are expired Pizza Rolls ok to eat?
Pizza Rolls are a great late-night snack or a fun kid’s treat. Occasionally pizza rolls go on sale for a really good deal, and it’s hard not to stock up!
There are some nights when I cook something super spicy that I know the kids won’t like, so we will bake some pizza rolls for the kids to have for dinner. Sometimes our stash of pizza rolls gets close to their expiration dates, so I wanted to learn everything I could about when pizza rolls go bad, how to tell, and if they are safe to eat if they are expired.
Are pizza rolls precooked?
Pizza rolls are technically precooked because they are made with already cooked meats. Most flavors of pizza rolls include pepperoni, sausage, and cheese.
The meats and cheese are baked with a tomato sauce inside a thin pizza crust shell. The rolls are then deep fried in oil for approximately 1 minute.
At home, you will put the pizza rolls on a sheet pan and cook in an oven or toaster oven for about 10-15 minutes. Pizza rolls can also be cooked in the microwave or an air fryer.
It’s so nice that there are so many different ways to bake and eat frozen pizza rolls. So even if you don’t want to turn on the oven or toaster oven in summer, you can still cook them in the microwave and an air fryer.
How long do Totino’s pizza rolls last in the freezer?
Totino’s Pizza Rolls are typically sold in boxes or bags and are to be stored in the freezer. If you store them in a regular freezer like the one attached to your refrigerator, you can safely store them for roughly a year.
The optimal place to store them is in a deep freezer or chest freezer. A chest freezer typically maintains a temperature colder than a regular freezer and is not opened up as often.
Frozen items like Totino’s pizza rolls have a shelf life of indefinitely in a deep freezer or chest freezer. As long as the items are not fully defrosted and refrozen, the taste and quality will last as well.
Most pizza rolls have a “Best if Used By Date” and not a true expiration date. This means the company thinks that pizza rolls taste best before the date, but the pizza rolls don’t go bad after the best by date.
How can you tell if a pizza roll is freezer-burned?
Freezer burn is a common scenario with frozen foods. Pizza Rolls can get freezer burn and it will look like tiny ice crystals around the pizza rolls.
Freezer burn is a layer of ice crystals that is attached to food and slowly sucks out the moisture within the food. It can occur on pretty much any food and the longer the item is frozen the more likely it is to happen.
Over time all frozen foods will get freezer burn. If you defrost a food and try refreezing it, the food is even more likely to develop ice crystals.
Most pizza rolls that come in a box, also have a plastic bag surrounding the pizza rolls. As long as this bag is not punctured or damaged, it is less likely to develop freezer burn.
If you get your pizza rolls in a bag and only use some of them, you will need to secure the bag in order to prevent freezer burn from occurring. You can use a twist tie to secure the bag, or you can store the pizza rolls in a Ziploc style bag.
Is it okay to eat freezer burnt pizza rolls?
Eating foods like pizza rolls with freezer burn will not hurt you. Freezer burn makes foods taste drier and less tasty, but it is perfectly safe to eat.
Most people have the urge to throw out foods with freezer burn but this is not necessary. You can eat foods with freezer burn without any adverse side effects.
Worst case scenario the pizza rolls will taste slightly off and have a dry and chewy texture. They are perfectly fine to eat, but if you can avoid the freezer burn that will be best.
Make sure that any frozen item is stored in an airtight container or is securely wrapped in plastic. Freezer burn can still occur if the food is left for years in a freezer, but a good container can keep it at bay for a while.
Can pizza rolls go in the fridge?
Most pizza rolls are cooked in a frozen state, so there is no need to defrost them first. Defrosted pizza rolls will taste very chewy and not achieve that nice crunch when cooked.
If you have leftover cooked pizza rolls, these can be stored in the fridge for a few days. You will want to store them in an airtight container or plastic Ziploc bag.
To reheat already baked or air fried pizza rolls, the best option is to bake them in the oven or toaster oven. The pizza rolls will absorb moisture in the fridge, so by baking them you can cook off that moisture.
Pizza Rolls that have been cooked twice are less likely to be crunchy, but they can still be tasty!
Can you eat expired pizza rolls?
Pizza rolls that are stored well in a deep freezer or chest freezer can last for years and years. Expired pizza rolls don’t go bad unless they are prematurely defrosted or damaged.
Even pizza rolls that have freezer burn can still be safely consumed. Expiration dates listed on pizza rolls are based more on quality and taste and not based on when the product will go bad and be unsafe to eat.
When you eat pizza rolls that are weeks or months past their date, you really have no worries except there is a possibility that the taste will not be as high of quality.
For more information on common expired foods, check out “Can I use expired French Fried Onions?” and “What happens if you eat expired rice?“
