How to Reheat Pizza in a Toaster Oven

Maybe you have seen some street food stalls or snack bars to reheat a pizza slice in a toaster oven. Well, if they can do that, why would you not be able to do so?

A toaster oven is a pretty brilliant idea to reheat baked food, and you will find out why later in this article. If you use some special secrets from this article, you can even make reheated food to taste nearly as delicious as when it was still fresh.

Scroll down to find out exactly what you need to do for the perfect reheating and how you can further improve the taste without much effort.

What Is A Toaster Oven

If you came across this article and are not too familiar with kitchen utilities, you might wonder what a toaster oven is. I bet you do know what a toaster is, and likely as well you are familiar with ovens, but there is a good chance you have never heard these two devices being combined.

But that is precisely what the mystery is. A toaster oven is usually a little smaller than an authentic oven and is ideal for short baking or gratinating smaller dishes, such as one portion.

The heat usually comes from a heating rod placed at the top, similar to the grill function from a regular oven. It is perfect for reheating portions or defrosting them, so perfect for setting a pizza slice in it or a frozen piece of cake.

Why The Toaster Oven Method Works Best

Reheating pizzas in the toaster oven is the best method because it brings the best taste, nearly as good as when it has been fresh. More than that, to understand why you need to realize that pizza dough, like other loaves of bread, contains starches that will make the crust dry and hard.

When reheating the dough to at least 300 degrees, you can temporarily soften the dough again as a slow heat-up process will make the starch crystals deform and set free the moisture inside. This also explains why microwaving pizza is not a good idea as the heating process is not long enough.

When Is A Toaster Oven Not A Good Choice?

As stated above, a toaster oven is relatively small and just large enough for a medium-sized plate. Additionally, they work with much less power than a conventional kitchen oven. Hence, you can only reheat one portion at a time.

If you have an entire pizza left from yesterday and you want to serve it to your family again, then you better use a conventional oven, as you otherwise would need to reheat every single slice separately, and I guess your kids will not be that patient.

The Secrets On How To Reheat Pizza In A Toaster Oven

Check here the simple but successful method to heat your pizza in a toaster oven.

What You Will Need:

• A toaster oven
• A plate (make sure it is oven-safe up to 350ºF) – alternative baking paper
• A spatula

Whether To Use A Plate Or Not

There are two ways to reheat your pizza in a toaster oven. You can either put the slice on an oven-safe plate and place it into the toaster oven or place the pizza directly on the roast without using any extra dish.

Which method to choose depends on your preference as both ways have their good points and disadvantages.

Using a plate is the cleanest method, as now crumbs from the dough, but also no melting cheese or other toppings that may drop from the pizza can fall somewhere into the device. This means that you most likely do not need to clean it once you turn it off afterward.

However, when using a plate, you need to make sure you are using an oven-safe dish. Unlike microwaves, it gets up to 350ºF hot in the oven, and standard containers cannot stand that.

Hence, if you do not have a flat dish to withstand such extreme temperatures, you need to place the pizza directly on the gridiron. If you want to avoid that toppings are falling, you may place them on a sheet of baking paper.

Some people say that heating a pizza directly on the gridiron tastes better as the dough will not be entirely in contact with a hot dish and will keep a little softer. However, be careful when reheating Neapolitan pizza. As the bottom is skinny, it may collapse and break when preheating if the toppings are too heavy.

Step 1: Preheat

Get started with preheating your toaster oven to 350° F or 180° C. Do this right at the beginning, even if you plan to prepare some other dishes as well, as it can take between five to ten minutes until the oven has reached the desired temperature.

Some relatively modern ovens come with a particular “reheat” function. If you see yours has it, you can, of course, set it to that. They are usually programmed to use medium heat (between 300° to 350° F) and warm your food without making it brown.

Step 2: Add Extra Toppings

As leftover pizza is becoming dry and does not have an appealing look anymore from the day before, you can conceal that by adding a few toppings such as small pieces of paprika, a slice of salami, etc., more gratinating cheese.

Also, if the slice is quite large, consider cutting it in half using a pizza cutter to make it easier for the heat to reach the pieces’ center parts.

Step 3: Baking

Make sure that the oven has reached the set temperature. Even if you are starving, avoid placing in the pizza too early, as it will then bake too long and become dry.

Place the pizza either on a plate, directly, or on a baking paper sheet in the toaster oven and heat it. Thin bottom pizzas usually take a few minutes, a maximum of four, while pizzas with a thick dough level can between five and seven minutes to be completely warm.

Step 4: Observing

The great thing with toaster ovens is that you can relatively quickly look inside. Use that advantage and observe your pizza while it is reheating. When you see that the cheese starts to melt and form some slight bubbles, it is perfect for taking it out.

Step 5: Taking It Out

When done, turn off the toaster oven first, then take out the pizza. Be very careful as all parts of the oven and the pizza are extremely hot. If you used a plate, then you should use some protective gloves or kitchen towels. Keep in mind that toaster ovens are small and narrow, so it happens quicker than you think to touch a wall and get injured accidentally.

If you have placed it directly on the gridiron, either with or without baking paper, you ideally use a spatula or a slight pizza peel to take it out. Make slow and careful movements not to tear apart pieces. Sometimes, the dough attaches to the gridiron, and you then have to slightly push the piece first before you can reach below with your spatula and lift it out.

Step 6: Serving

Place the pizza on a dining plate. If you have, you can add some fresh rucola leaves on top or the side of the container as decoration, or even serve it on a pizza stone, and your reheated pizza will look as delicious as it is served in restaurants.

Be advised that melted cheese can be scalding. Hence, let it cool down a little first before eating and make small, careful bites to avoid burning your tongue.

If you are unsure how to set up your toaster oven to reheat pizza, check out this video:

Tips For Reheating Pizza In A Toaster Oven

You should consider a few crucial tips while reheating pizzas to have an excellent and delicious dish.

Using a baking sheet will help you prevent the topping and the dough from falling from the rack. Therefore, you will have a nice-looking pizza after reheating.

Using aluminum foil for folding your pizza will beneficial to avoid burning from the crust.

Before placing the leftover slide into the toaster oven, you may add extra topping to make it more appealing.

Frequently Asked Questions

In case you are still not a hundred percent sure about some things, or something went wrong, you most likely find help in the answers below.

How to avoid that the toppings become brown when reheating?

Make sure your device is preheated, as you then only need the pizza to stay inside for a few minutes. If you have multiple levels, choose the middle one to place the pizza. Finally, you can cover it with aluminum foil which will prevent it from getting brown.

I am in a hurry; can I microwave my pizza instead?

While you can, of course, microwave pizza, I personally never do that because a microwave will destroy both the taste and also consistency. I hence recommend it only as a very last resort.

Are toaster oven dangerous?

Most toaster ovens are tested and complied with safety standards, however. As it is a high voltage device, you should not leave it unattended whenever turned on. In general, most injuries happen when people get in touch with hot components while taking out the food.

What other types of food can I reheat in a toaster oven?

Toaster ovens are great for dishes that have been initially baked, such as pizza, lasagna, roasted chicken, or any gratinated dish. Furthermore, it is a great way to defrost frozen bakery items such as apple pie as you get the effect of a freshly baked cake.

Expectation Vs. Reality

All steps that I have shared with you above are very practical and have been very successful for many people in the past. It does not matter if you have handmade or delivery pizzas; you can use this method to reheat your dish quickly.

Nonetheless, you are free to experiment with other reheating methods such as a pizza pan if you were not satisfied with the toaster oven method. I hope with this method, you not only use it to reheat your pizzas but also use it for other leftovers.

More than that, having a toaster oven in the kitchen room will be more convenient and versatile for you to reheat foods anytime you want. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below. I am happy to hear from you about your experience. Good luck!