The Best Way To Cook Frozen Pizza, According to Experts

Whether it be at midnight, dinnertime, or 2 p.m., one of my favorite indulgences is frozen pizza. Heating up a pie with gooey cheese, chewy crust, and savory sauce in my own home in minutes feels like I’m getting away with something. And I am! I’m getting away with a delicious slice without having to pick up the phone, drive to the pizza shop, or make it from scratch. 

Not every frozen pizza comes out of the oven with the same crisp crust and cheesy top; some are soggy or overbaked. Surely there must be some trick that consistently provides perfectly cooked frozen pizza, regardless of the brand.

In chatting with three trusty chefs, I learned that there is one simple trick that makes any frozen pizza turn out the very best. 

The Frozen Pizza Lovers I Asked

• Frank Bonanno: Chef and co-owner of the restaurant group Bonanno Concepts in Denver
• Erin Clarke: Creator of Well Plated and author of two bestselling cookbooks
• Stephen Ingber: Denver-based private chef 

The Trick for Perfect Frozen Pizza Every Time

The key to consistently delicious frozen pizza lies in the cooking method. While many of us toss a frozen pie on a cookie sheet or pop it directly on the oven rack, there’s a better way to heat up frozen pizza. “Using a preheated surface is the best way to get a crisp crust on frozen pizza,” says Clarke. 

The chefs differed on exactly which preheated surface is best, but the consensus was the same: “If you put frozen pizza straight onto a baking sheet, it’ll just insulate the crust,” says Ingber. In other words, you’ll end up with a soggy bottom.

Where Clarke recommends a preheated pizza stone or steel, Bonanno and Ingber rely on cast iron. “Cast iron will give you a great crumbly, caramelized crisp [crust],” says Bonnano. Whether you go for a pizza stone or a cast iron skillet or griddle, you'll end up with perfectly crisp frozen pizza.

Other Chef Tips for Cooking Frozen Pizza

While the preheated surface is the main trick the three chefs shared, they also had slightly different ideas when it came to the actual cooking of the ‘za. While Clarke and Ingber bake their pizza in the oven, Bonanno likes to heat his on the stovetop: “Cook the frozen pizza in your cast iron on medium-low, covered. It’s a slow-build technique that yields restaurant-quality finish.” 

If you opt for the traditional oven route, let the oven “preheat to 450°F or higher before adding the pizza,” says Clarke. You can add your baking surface to the oven during this preheat period or simply warm it on the stove.

Either way, the preheated surface-preheated oven combo “helps replicate the hot, direct heat of a pizza oven and gives you that golden, crunchy bottom instead of the pale, soggy crust that can plague frozen pizzas,” Clarke adds. Ingber agrees, explaining, “the skillet crisps up the bottom like a pizza and the oven melts and browns the cheese properly from the top. You’ll get that golden, crunchy undercarriage with a bubbly top.”