It’s pizza o’clock! Time to take out that leftover pizza. Have you figured out the trick as to the best way to reheat pizza? The ultimate challenge, how do you reheat it without it either drying up or having to fight with a rubbery dough? I have nothing against those who eat cold pizza. But I like my pizza crust crunchy with gooey cheese.
Let’s go back a little bit. It starts with how you store your leftover pizza.
DO NOT store it in the fridge in the box it came with. You’ll end up with a dry or stale pizza the next day.
DO wrap each slice in a paper towel, put it on a plate and cover the plate in cling wrap. Or cover it in a paper towel then put them inside a resealable storage bag. This is to help retain their freshness.
Now, what are things you should and should not do when reheating leftover pizza?
DO NOT microwave it. I know it’s the easiest way of doing it, but that will make the crust rubbery. Plus, if it’s a thick pizza, there’s a high chance it will only be partially warm at best.
DO NOT reheat it in the box. Not only are you risking chemicals leaking on your food, but it is also a fire hazard.
DO lightly spray a little water on it before reheating to keep it from drying out.
DO recreate it. Don’t be afraid to touch up and add cheese, toppings, and sauce. Do you want to know if there is such a thing as the best consistency of pizza sauce? And if this has an effect on the quality of your leftover pizza.
So, how should you really reheat pizza?
If you’re just left with a few slices, here’s what you can do:
Skillet. Preheat a nonstick skillet on medium heat. Once it’s heated up, put the pizza slice on it and reduce to medium-low heat. After two minutes, add a few drops of water around the slice and cover the pan. Wait for another 2-3 minutes to let the steam heat up the top of the pizza and melt the cheese. The result is as mouthwatering as it was when I first opened the box!
Toaster Oven. Turn the oven on 350°F and preheat for a few minutes. Put the pizza slice on a foil-lined oven tray and let toast for 3-4 minutes depending on the thickness of the pizza. Then take it out and let it cool down a little for 2 to 3 minutes. It turned out okay, I’d say a strong 6 out of 10. The crisp returned a little on the crust, but the cheese is not as gooey as it was.
If you’re working on at least half a pizza box, here are THE BEST way to do it:
Grill. Preheat your grill to medium-high heat for a few minutes. Put the pizza directly on the grill, no plate or foil etcetera. Reduce to medium-low heat then let it grill for 6 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. It took me a few tries to perfect this trick but after 3+ slices, I was able to take it out just in time before I end up with a burnt crust. 😉
And last but not least:
Oven. Line up your baking tray with foil, then preheat until the oven reaches 450°F. Take the baking tray out, line up your pizza slices then tightly cover the tray with foil. Put it back in the lowest rack of your oven and let it heat up for 10 minutes. This restored my faith in humanity! Kidding aside, this is where I got like-new pizza. It brought my pizza back to life! Crispy crust, gooey cheese, and all. It’s the most tedious one to do, but it is definitely worth it! 😊
So, next time you have leftover pizza, you already know what to do! And always remember, if at first, you don’t succeed, your options are to order a new pizza or create your own. Like what my grandma used to say, “Practice makes perfect.” Let me know which one you tried, and how it turned out. 😊
Useful TIP: If you want to up your game on creating the best homemade pizza there is, it may good to start to understand is marinara sauce the same as pizza sauce? And are you using it interchangeably wrong?
