When you want crispy, cheesy perfection and will accept no substitutes.
I have no interest in eating a slice or two of cold cheese pizza for breakfast the next morning. What I want is a slice of leftover pizza that tastes as good as it did the night before. Tall ask? Not really. Knowing the best way to reheat pizza makes all the difference. Over the years, I’ve warmed one too many slices in the microwave out of convenience but have been disappointed by the results. The crust is always soggy and the cheese never quite melts evenly. “A microwave will have textural problems. The pizza will have no crisp whatsoever and be super chewy in places that used to be light and crispy,” says Chris Ancona, former head pizzaiolo for Roberta’s. And even though I believe even bad pizza is still good (because, hey, it’s pizza!), I figured there had to be a better way to reheat a leftover pie. It turns out that there are three methods for reheating pizza that yield pizza that is not just better than what you get from a microwave, but almost as good as the original. Here’s how to do it.
MATT TAYLOR-GROSS
Put it in your air fryer
This appliance is popular for cooking fried foods because you don’t need to use a ton of oil, but turns out, it’s just as useful for reheating leftover pizza. Set the air fryer to 350°F and cook the pizza for just two to four minutes. “The air fryer provides consistent and even heat from all directions maintaining the integrity of the taste, texture, and flavor of the pizza,” says Alan Rodriguez, regional operations director for Emmy Squared. Because of the way an air fryer circulates heat, it keeps the crust crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, so you can say goodbye to soggy pizza bottoms.
Heat up your oven
If you’re reheating multiple slices of leftover pizza, warming them up in the oven is the way to go. Think about when you’ve picked up pizza from a slice shop — usually they’ll reheat the slices in their own wood-fired or brick oven, which you can also do at home. To mimic that style, preheat the oven to 475℉ and place a cast-iron skillet or pizza stone in the lower or middle rack of the oven. Once the oven has fully preheated, add the slices and cook for four to five minutes for a square slice and about 2 minutes for a traditional thin-crust slice. This method works well for a few reasons: “The surface that’s preheating in your oven will crisp up and heat the bottom of the pizza, while the convection or broiler will re-melt the cheese, heat up the toppings, and bring your slice back to life,” says Frank Tuttolomondo, owner of Mama’s TOO!. Ancona recommends placing a pan of water on the bottom of the oven to keep the interior humid and prevent the slices from drying out.
Grab a skillet
I recently attended a wedding where the father of the bride shared that his new son-in-law taught him that the best way to reheat pizza was in a skillet on the stovetop. The bride’s father was so mesmerized by this technique that he felt confident his daughter had chosen an intelligent man to be her betrothed. Seems like I might be the only person who was oblivious to this brilliant technique.
“When I’m really trying to get it right, I put a slice into a nonstick skillet that I have a tight lid for,” says Ancona. “Let the pan get hot enough that water droplets sizzle when you flick them into the pan. Add your slice, along with about eight droplets of water, and then put a lid on it. The water turns to steam pretty quickly and gently heats your toppings without drying them out.” Within one to two minutes, the cheese should melt, the crust will crisp up, and any other toppings will be brought back to life.
