There’s no denying that pizza is one of the best foods in the world, especially when it comes warm and fresh out of the oven with ooey gooey cheese and flavorful toppings. But few people eat a whole pizza in a day, so it’s good to know the best ways to reheat pizza.
While it’s easy to just toss the pizza in the microwave and call it a day, don’t you want your reheated pizza to taste as fresh as it did when it came out of the oven? While, of course, your pizza may not ever regain that freshness, with some of these methods you can get very close.
Top 5 Ways to Reheat Pizza
Slow Oven Heating + Aluminum Foil Method
This technique of reheating pizza involves the combination of a low heat applied to the pizza from the oven (so you don’t dry out the crust), as well as aluminum foil over the top of the pizza to trap moisture.
To use this method, first locate a baking sheet and put your leftover pizza on the sheet. Then, cover the sheet (and the pizza) tightly with aluminum foil, and put the baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven.
After introducing the pizza to the oven, then turn the oven on! The oven should be heated to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. When the oven has preheated, allow the pizza to warm in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
This is one of the best ways to rewarm pizza because it’s relatively simple and fast, but it also has the added advantage of bringing back delicious cheesiness and enhances the moisture of the crust without making it soggy or dry!
Microwave Reheating
This is definitely one of the fastest and easiest ways to rewarm pizza. Obviously, it’s required that you have a microwave available to use for this method, whether the microwave is at your workplace or at home, but the overall accessibility of this method is quite high.
But don’t just toss your pizza on a plate and stick it in the microwave! Obviously, you can do that… but it has much better results with a little care and technique. Chances are your pizza won’t turn out as good as oven reheating, but it will still be decent.
To use a microwave to reheat pizza, it’s important to keep the microwave power at about 50%. Then, make sure that you put a layer of paper towels between the pizza and the plate so as to absorb and moisture or oils. Finally, because you’re reheating at half power, reheat for 1 minute.
As a good rule of thumb, it’s better to reheat pizza at a lower temperature. This helps bring out the flavors and freshness without completely drying out the crust. And, if you’re warming a really amazing pizza, it’s good to do it justice.
Fast Oven Reheating
Here comes another way of reheating pizza that uses the oven! Although the rule of thumb is to reheat pizza slowly and at a lower temperature, this technique defies this rule and still continues to produce excellent reheating results.
In this technique, start with a thin baking sheet coated in a thin layer of oil, or simply a very clean oven surface. Unlike the first oven reheating method, this method requires preheating. So, preheat your oven to a (comparatively) high 350 degrees Fahrenheit!
After preheating, put the pizza in the oven (either straight on the oven grill or with the baking sheet underneath it). Leave the pizza to reheat for approximately 5 minutes, and then remove and allow it to cool before eating.
Reheating on the Grill
Some people might see this pizza reheating method and be surprised, but the reality is that when you reheat pizza on a grill, you get loads of tasty benefits! While this method may not be as fast for people who don’t use their grill regularly, if you love grilling, this is fantastic.
To start, as with the previous pizza reheating technique, you must warm up the grill before tossing on the pizza. Consider a medium-high heat as a decent place to start to strike a balance between speed and effectiveness.
After the grill has warmed up well enough, just throw the pizza straight onto the grate! Let the pizza reheat there for 5-6 minutes (without oil) and then, when the cheese appears bubbly and the crust looks good (lift the pizza to check it), take the pizza off and serve.
Reheating Pizza with a Skillet
Surprisingly, this is one of the best ways to reheat pizza. Super quick as well as highly effective and simple, using a skillet to warm your pizza is the most likely option for obtaining delicious and “fresh out of the oven” results from your leftover pizza.
The most important part of this pizza reheating technique is that your skillet has a lid or some kind of covering that will trap the heat. Without this, you risk halfway warmed pizza and mediocre leftovers to serve. If you don’t have a lid, use aluminum foil instead.
Keep in mind that it doesn’t matter what kind of stovetop you have, but rather the heat you set the stovetop to when reheating the pizza. Let your skillet preheat on a medium heat before adding the pizza and putting on the lid; let the pizza reheat for 6-8 minutes.
Conclusion
Whether you’re planning to have fresh pizza or leftover pizza is of absolutely no matter when it comes to pizza. This tasty and fast meal is perfect for cooks who like a challenge (think deep dish pizza loaded with veggies), or even for busy college students (think pizza takeout).
So, no matter why you’re planning to reheat pizza or where the pizza came from, you deserve to have the most delicious rewarmed leftovers! Try out these best ways to reheat pizza to get started and quickly stave off your hunger with one of the most scrumptious foods known to man.