How to Reheat Pizza Leftovers in 4 Ways

There’s nothing better than a fresh hot slice of pizza after a long day. However, if you don’t have time to cook up some food from scratch, that doesn’t mean it’s time for taking out. You can still enjoy the taste of your last night leftover cold Pizza with these quick and easy reheat pizza methods.

This article will discuss three of the most popular ways to reheat pizza so you’ll never have to feel the disappointment of a cold slice ever again!

Here are 4 Ways of Reheating your Pizza Leftovers;

➊ Reheating Pizza in the Oven

The most apparent and best way to Reheat pizza in oven is by placing the pizza pie in a preheated oven. First, preheating the oven is essential. Make sure that it is at the proper temperature when placing the pizza straight in the baking tray. A pizza in the oven will usually take 12 minutes at 425F for thin crust.

We recommend leaving a few of the sauce packets attached when reheating pizza. When you remove the crust, flip it over so that the bottom is clean and easy to work with the hot pan. Wrap it up in foil and move it to a sheet. Please don’t put the pizza directly on the oven rack because you don’t want to overheat the crust, and the oven rack might not heat evenly. Place the tray into the oven, wait for 30 seconds and flip it.

📌 Procedure

Follow these steps to reheat pizza leftovers to make crust crisp and delicious in the oven:

• Place the cold slices on a rimmed baking paper.
• Cover the sheet tightly with aluminum foil.
• Put it on the lowest rack of a range.
• Set the oven temperature to 270 degrees.
• Wait until the pizza is warm for 20 to 35 minutes.

Add the pizza to an unheated pan and place it in the preheated oven if you like a softer crust. You can also use a pizza stone, but they take a long time to heat up, and the wait may not be worth it for just a few slices.

👍 Pros

• Tasty & crunchy crust pizza
• Suitable for reheating many pizzas at once.

👎 Cons

• Not ideal for reheating small single servings.
• It takes longer and kitchen heat will rise when the oven is turned on

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➋ Reheating Pizza on the Stovetop

The best way than the oven for reheating your pizza is on the stovetop skillet. It can sometimes be a little trickier than simply putting it in the microwave and bake it, but it’s also the fastest way to reheat, and it’s very convenient. Here’s how:

1. Take a pizza piece from the fridge.
2. Heat a little extra olive oil or few deposits of water in a hot skillet.
3. Cover the pan with a lid and cook your pizza.

I like to cook my pizza crust on each side until cheese melts down evenly.

When you have done, you can transfer it to a cookie sheet to cool before topping it off and popping it in the oven. The tomato sauce will have the perfect temperature by the time you get the pizza out.

However, it’s a little bit tougher to get your pizza dough back into that beautiful, soft state. The best method is to microwave the dough. Microwave-dough recipe: Take a bowl and fill it with about 1/2 inch of water. Heat it over medium-high heat on the stovetop.

📌 Procedure

Perhaps there are more methods to make crust crisp and reheating leftover pizza, but also another helpful method we must know of.

• Using a large skillet, heat it over medium heat for 2 minutes.
• Spray it with few deposits of water or oil.
• Once the water/oil starts to sizzle, place your pizza slice next to it, not on it.
• Cover with a lid. Move the pizza in a skillet sideways, away from the flame.
• Observe for a further 5 minutes, and the cheese starts to melt and changes colour. It’s ready to enjoy.

Using a pan is the quickest way to reheat the pizza while keeping the crust and base of the pizza fresh and crunchy. Like the traditional oven method mentioned above, using a frying pan to heat up leftover pizza should stop it from getting mushy.

👍 Pros

• Crunchy, crusty pizza, great for reheating small pizza servings
• Quicker than the oven.

👎 Cons

• Not suitable for reheating large pizzas or slices.

➌ Reheating Pizza in the Microwave

When you toss a slice of cheese or pepperoni into a microwave for a few seconds, it will make the pizza crust taste oh-so-good. But beware, you need to make sure to get the pieces of the pizza coated with the microwaved stuff.

How To Do It: Take your pizza slice, then use one hand to grab your piece and the other to press down firmly on the microwaved cheese stuff. Be prepared for a few seconds of this. If you push too hard, you could end up burning your mouth. Let the microwave do its work. You want the cheese to melt! Put the pizza straight in the container and seal it up. Let it cool and enjoy.

📌 Procedure

It is possibly a lesser popular method of reheating pizza, but occasionally, if pressed for time, if it is the only way available at the moment. It’s an option.

• Place your pizza on a baking paper
• Preheat your oven to 450°.
• Bake it for 20 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven.
• Allow it to rest for five minutes before slicing and eating.

Put the pizza slice on a kitchen towel right on the plate. It will help absorb any extra moisture, oil or drippings and lessen the soaking of the base. Just slide it off the plate and place it directly on the pizza plate. Slice, serve and eat.

👍 Pros

• Quick and convenient.

👎 Cons

• Potentially mushy and tough crust.

➍ Reheating Pizza in the Airfryer

Air fryers are a popular method to reheat pizza and are more expensive, but they work. Are you in search of how to reheat pizza from refrigerated leftovers in an air fryer? There are several methods. But, it is effortless to reheat the remaining pizza in any air fryer to perfection in 5 minutes.

We have tested the standard traditional oven and the air fryer reheating method for the pizza, and the outcomes are outstanding. Air frying leftover pizza’s crust taste is better and faster than the ordinary oven.

So, you don’t need to wait for the large oven to preheat. Secondly, pizza heated in an ordinary oven is not as crunchy as pizza from air frying; moisture goes away due to overheating. In the end, it only takes 3-6 minutes, depending on the number of slices you want to reheat.

📌 Procedure

We give a time frame. Would you please start with the lowest time frame we provide and then check the pizza? Here are our instructions for heating.

• Place foil or perforated parchment paper on the air fryer basket, shelf or tray.
• Put the pizza on top and lightly spray the top to prevent the toppings from scorching or drying out.
• Air fryer lined with perforated parchment paper
• Air fry at 360°F/180°C for 3-6 minutes or until the crispness you want

If you are unsure, start cooking for 3 minutes first. Then check if it meets your preferences. If you want the pizza to be crispier, cook food for another minute or two. Let the pizza slices cool, touch and enjoy!

👍 Pros

• You’ll have to adjust the timing. All air fryers are of different sizes.

👎 Cons

• Recipe timing depends on a non-preheated air fryer.

⭐ The Best Way to Reheat Pizza Leftovers

The Microwave. I have personally perfected a method that involves layering some cheese between two slices of frozen pizza, then rolling them up and microwaving the whole thing. But, depending on how long your leftovers are, it’s almost definitely going to be ideal.

While cooking, you can layer as many different pizza toppings as you’d like, each on a separate slice melted, and hopefully, each will have the right crispiness to be a meal on its own. I’m not going to lie. The microwave does get a bit warm, but it’s tolerable, and the residual heat will keep the cheese from burning off during the reheating process.

Conclusion

Go forth and enjoy pizza to the fullest, in all its glory. Pizza is one of my favourite foods, and it would pain me greatly to throw it away. Knowing how to reheat pizza is the key to never wasting it. Test any of these methods to get your pizza warm again. You can, of course, also eat pizza cold – but warm pizza tastes much better (I think).

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FAQs

Q: How long to reheat pizza slices in the oven?

According to chefs, the ideal time for reheating a slice of pizza in an oven to reach perfection is 10 minutes. Again, as long as the pizza is still hot when you dig in.

Q: How do you heat leftover pizza in the oven? 

Just recently, we found a genuinely effective reheating method: put cold slices on one bordered sheet, tightly cover with aluminum foil, and place it on the lowest rack of a non-heated oven. Calibrate the temperature to 260 degrees and let the pizza heat up for 30 to 35 minutes.

Q: How do you reheat pizza without getting mushy?

What needs to be done is to simply put a glass of microwave-safe water in the microwave next to the pizza. Heat for about 45 seconds, and voila! Your pizza should look and taste the same as the pizza restaurant gave you last night.

Q: How Long Does Leftover Pizza Last?

A day-old pizza will last 2 to 3 days when stored in the fridge.