I love pizza. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t love pizza. But I can’t eat a whole one, except on very rare occasions. So when my family has pizza for dinner, there are always some slices of pie leftover.
Over the years, I’ve tried lots of ways of reheating pizza, with varying success. And that got me wondering what the absolute best ways were to reheat my pizza. Ideally, you want to reheat your pizza so it has a crispy base and delicious melted cheese topping, just like it was fresh baked.
I’ve done lots of research and testing (and lots of pizza eating!), and I’m excited to share with you the best 6 ways to reheat pizza.
Table of Contents
1. Reheat Pizza In The Oven
Since your pizza was baked in an oven, it makes sense to reheat it in an oven. Even though traditional brick pizza ovens cook at much higher temperatures than your home oven, the technique is the same. So if you can spare the time, you can get great results reheating pizza in the oven using the method detailed below.
How to Reheat Pizza in the Oven
- Cover a baking sheet with foil
- Put the baking sheet into your oven and preheat it to 350°F
- Carefully remove the baking sheet and add your slices of pizza
- Place the pizza in the oven and cook for around five minutes
- Remove and serve
This oven reheating system gets the best results because you pre-heat the baking sheet. This means that you’re putting the cold pizza base straight onto a hot surface and instantly starting to crisp it up again. So when your pizza reheats in the oven, the cheese becomes deliciously melted again while the base stays firm and crisp.
2. Reheat Pizza On The Stovetop
You would think that reheating pizza in a skillet wouldn’t work because all that would happen is that the base would burn while the top stayed cold. Well, here’s an ingenious technique that gives you fabulous results by using steam to heat and remelt the top of the pizza.
How to reheat pizza on the stovetop
- Turn on the stovetop and heat a skillet
- After one minute, add your pizza to one side of the skillet
- Immediately add a few drops of water to the other side of the skillet
- Cover the skillet with a lid and steam for three minutes
- Remove pizza and serve
The key to this cooking technique is the water. By putting a lid over your skillet, when the water turns to steam, it is trapped and circulated back over your pizza slices, heating the top, re-melting the cheese, and preventing dryness.
Then, while this is happening, the pizza base receives heat directly from the bottom of the skillet, making it super crispy again.
This clever two-way cooking system is a super-fast and effective way to revitalize your cold pizza so that it tastes just made.
3. Reheat Pizza In An Air Fryer
Have you ever thought about reheating your pizza in an air fryer? Air fryers, including Dome Air Fryer, are a healthy way to give your food a delicious crispy texture without adding all the deep-frying oil. And it turns out that this interesting way of reheating pizza produces excellent results. Here’s how you do it.
How to reheat pizza in an air fryer
- Preheat your air fryer to 400°F
- Remove the cooking tray and place your pizza slices inside. Note: the pizza must be laid out flat in the tray and not layered, otherwise the results are more likely to be soggy than crispy.
- Air fry the pizza for four minutes
- Remove and serve
The air fryer is good at remelting the cheese, and since you get a frying effect, the pizza base stays relatively crispy. However, while the result is tasty, you end up with something a bit more fried tasting than the original fresh pizza.
4. Reheat Pizza On The Grill
If you have access to a charcoal grill, then you’re in luck – because this is an excellent way to reheat pizza. Of course, the big drawback is time and effort since nobody is likely to go to all the trouble of getting a grill going just to reheat cold pizza. But if you have the grill on for a barbecue or something, you can get great results throwing on some old pizza slices.
How to reheat pizza on the grill
- Put pizza on the grill for around five minutes or until done
- Remove and serve
So grilling cold pizza is a super quick and easy way to reheat it. You might even end up with something more interesting than the original fresh-baked pizza since the smoky grill adds extra taste and flavor.
5. Reheat Pizza In The Microwave
If you’re looking to recreate the crispy base of a fresh pizza, then your microwave isn’t the solution.
A microwave works by agitating water molecules in your food, making them vibrate and heat the food. Since there’s no external heat source, there’s nothing to keep the base of your pizza crispy, and this is the major problem. It’s all too easy to turn a slice of cold pizza into a soggy mess.
You’re never going to get a perfectly reheated slice of pizza from a microwave, but you can do a little bit to improve the results.
If you put some absorbent kitchen paper on a plate and then put your cold pizza on top of that, the paper will absorb some of the moisture that would otherwise go back into the pizza base, making it soggy. This technique will produce better results than just plonking your pizza straight onto the plate.
How to reheat pizza in the microwave
- Put a couple of layers of kitchen paper onto a plate
- Put pizza slices on top of the kitchen paper
- Put the pan late in the microwave and heat on high for one or two minutes
- Remove and serve
Using your microwave is the quickest way to reheat pizza; it just isn’t the best.
6. Don’t Reheat The Pizza At All
This idea might be a little controversial because there are many people out there that absolutely hate cold pizza. But, what can I say? I’m a fan.
Cold pizza has plenty going for it. Firstly it doesn’t require any preparation, so it is the ultimate fast food. All you need to do is grab a slice out of the fridge and eat it.
Sometimes a few drops of hot sauce are a nice addition, but that’s about it. It’s a love it or hate it thing, but it’s one of my go-to options for a quick and indulgent snack.
The Final Verdict
Below I’ve summarised the advantages and disadvantages of the various methods of reheating pizza. I’ve also ranked them.
|
Rank |
Technique | Pros |
Cons |
|
#1 |
Reheat on the stovetop
Total time = 6 Mins |
|
|
|
#2 |
Reheat in the oven
Total time = 10 Mins |
|
|
|
#3 |
Reheat in an air frier
Total time = 6 Mins |
|
|
|
#4 |
Reheat on the grill
Total time = 5 Mins |
|
|
|
#5 |
Don’t Reheat
Total time = None |
|
|
|
#6 |
Reheat in the microwave
Total time = 1-2 Mins |
|
|
Summary
So, it’s official, the best way to reheat a cold pizza is on the stovetop. Make sure, though, that you use the system where a little water steam heats the top of the pizza while the base is gloriously re-crisped on the bottom of the pan. In just a few minutes, this will give you reheated pizza that is just as good as fresh-made.
You can also get great results by reheating pizza in the oven or using an air fryer. If you have a grill available, then that’s definitely the way to go, giving you lovely smoky, crispy pizza in minutes.
And as for the microwave? Even using techniques to keep the base dry and microwave still doesn’t give you the best results. I’d eat cold pizza any day before reheating it this way, but if you just want a warmed-up slice of pizza fast, then your microwave is always there as a fallback option.
What do you think about reheating pizza? If you have any comments or questions on the best 6 ways to re-heat pizza, please share them with us.