Undeniably, frozen pizza is making its way into our hectic schedule because it is so easy to make- after all, you need to take it out of its package and pop it in the oven. You’ll have a promising dinner in less than a few minutes.
However, frozen pizza is not as great and doesn’t taste as fantastic as regular pizza available in the market. But then again, sometimes, you don’t have the luxury of time to create a homemade pizza in the comfort of your own kitchen.
So, you might be scratching your head and asking, what’s the solution to your dilemma? Well, we got you covered because, in this article, we are going to share four easy ways to elevate your frozen pizza to the next level. With just a few simple upgrades from ingredients in your pantry and refrigerator, you can turn your convenient, frozen pizza having a burst of flavors and texture similar to your local pizzerias!
1. Prepare the Frozen Pizza
One of the best ways to prepare frozen pizza is by using the thawing method. Well, you might be thinking that frozen pizza is just cooking from its frozen state, but if you desire to get the most out of your frozen pizza is to thaw it.
In their research, Mel Magazine said that one of the main reasons why frozen pizza business companies tell their consumers to cook directly from frozen is to minimize food-borne contamination risks that often gets during the thawing process.
However, if you defrost the pizza in the fridge and not in its temperature danger zone, there’s nothing to worry about! Besides reducing the cooking time, thawing the frozen pizza allows you to eliminate the toppings and freely add your own based on your preferences.
Choose a High-Quality Frozen Pizza in the First Place
One of the crucial things you must remember when it comes to frozen pizza is something that’s been baked, which means most of the cooking or baking is almost done before it even reaches you. Therefore, it’s always best to be wise when picking your frozen pizza. This can be done by sticking your options to one of high quality with fresh and authentic ingredients.
Put the Pizza Straight on the Oven Rack
It’s important to know where you must place your frozen pizza inside your home oven before you are done baking or cooking it. An excellent way to cook your frozen pizza is to make sure it only has minimal contact with any surface. Therefore, put the frozen pizza straight on the home oven’s rack to ensure it still gets the most healing while only touching minimal surfaces as much as possible.
Adjust the Oven Settings
Probably, one of the main reasons why it’s difficult to copy the magic of pies found in a local pizzeria can be traced back to the fact that their ovens run at an extremely high temperature.
While it’s true that your home oven may not reach up to 700 degrees Fahrenheit, adjusting the settings by cranking up the heat of your oven will surely help in developing a crispy pizza crust that cooking at a lower temperature won’t be able to reach.
To elevate the frozen pizza to the next level, set your oven to the highest cooking setting and bake your pizza for around five to eight minutes. But, once you try baking your frozen pizza with this method, it’s important to layer all the toppings, like leafy green veggies and herbs, methodically so there won’t be directly exposed to heat.
2. Enhance the Frozen Pizza
Now, here’s where you can truly enhance and improve the frozen pizza by drizzling it with flavorful sauces, experimenting, and adding herbs and spices.
Drizzle Flavorful Sauces All Over
Once your pizza is fresh out of the home oven, it’s high time to go for glam up and razzle-dazzle by adding a swirl of flavorful sauces to your frozen pizza. A drizzle of premium olive oil, balsamic vinegar, homemade or jarred pesto, and spicy honey are all fantastic sauces to bring plenty of flavor to your frozen pizza.
Experiment and Put on Some Herbs and Spices
Of course, don’t forget the power and potency of herbs and spices; a handful of them can boost the flavors and give more depth to your frozen pizza. Chop up some chives, basil, oregano, or chives and sprinkle it on your freshly-baked pizza just before serving it.
On top of everything, you can also blend up the herbs and spices with a bit of olive oil for a quickly infused oil you can readily drizzle on top.
3. Upgrade Your Frozen Pizza
Here’s the part where you can really creative with a flash frozen pizza by adding more cheese, going wild with the toppings, and wrapping it with some veggies and fresh greens. While the frozen pizza might be pre-made, there’s no stopping you from incorporating any toppings of your choice. Whether you like to make it healthier or indulge in a pizza overloaded with toppings, it’s up to you!
Add High-Quality Cheese For a Gourmet Touch
A fantastic way to upgrade your frozen pizza is to add complexity or depth by utilizing different cheeses to offset the extremely sweet taste of the pie. A handful of grated Romano or Parmesan cheese will bring the salty flavor you want. Plus, complex cheeses will give some sour undertones and a burst of nuttiness that will perfectly seep through the overly-sweetened sauce. A mozzarella, farmer’s, or soft feta cheese would also make a great option!
Wrap the Frozen Pizza With Veggies and Fresh Greens
Greens and veggies atop a freshly-baked pizza are indeed a tasty thing. It’s a surefire way to turn your frozen pizza not just into a decent but a flavorful meal for the record. So, never hesitate to toss greens like mesclun, spring, or arugula and lots of black pepper. Add enough greens to every slice just right before you eat, and enjoy!
Mix and Match the Pizza With Other Toppings
Recreate and reinvent your frozen pizza by going wild with the toppings and adding tomato, pepperoni, pineapple, herbs, lean meats, ham, and anchovies. Since frozen pizza is made out of premium, high-quality ingredients, you can freely add wet ingredients such as peas, sardines, peas, mushrooms, olives, corn, capers, and many more.
In addition, you can pick toppings like bell peppers, onions, and different kinds of nuts to give a personal touch to the frozen pizza while upgrading its texture and taste based on your taste preferences.
4. Say Yes to Alternative Cooking Methods for the Frozen Pizza
Finally, enhancing and upgrading your frozen pizza requires you to go the extra mile and try alternative cooking methods. Believe us or not, there are other ways available to bake your frozen pizza, and yes, it’s not just in your homemade oven. You are free to try the grilling method or even make use of outdoor ovens.
Try Grilling the Frozen Pizza
For a better-frozen pizza experience, you can try pulling out your charcoal. Baking frozen pizza on a grill will help develop dark, burnt notes on the crust.
And in case you like an intense burst of flavors, consider adding some herbs and spices to the charcoal before preheating it. Remember that preheating is vital to ensure that the grill is hot enough and that the frozen pizza will be cooked quickly and efficiently.
Utilize Outdoor Ovens
Usually, outdoor pizza ovens are helpful in roasting meats and baking bread, but when it comes to cooking a frozen pizza, utilizing an outdoor pizza oven is an unmatched experience too. Perhaps, the main reason for this is outdoor ovens can reach and hold temperatures that most households cannot get close to.
If you finally decide to bake your frozen pizza in an outdoor oven, it’s best to keep a pizza peel next to you so you can easily pull your pizza out once it starts to burn; remember that outdoor ovens cook way much faster compared to standard ovens.
Make Use of Pizza Stone
Utilizing a steel or pizza stone to cook your pizza is another excellent way to ensure an evenly cooked and perfectly crisp pizza crust. If you’re constantly opening your oven to check for burning or sliding in your frozen pizza, there’s a high chance you’re unleashing too much heat.
However, if there’s a pizza stone that you preheated in the oven prior to placing your frozen pizza on the top, it can perfectly hold in the heat coming from your oven to make sure that the bottom of the crust is well-baked.
The Bottom Line
Whether you’re a busy college student, a corporate employee, or a mother, you may see frozen pizza as a convenient but ultimate meal option. However, the frozen pizza’s taste usually comes off as lacking, resulting in a blah dinner we all want to avoid. However, this dilemma is gone now because, with the few hacks we provided in this article, you can take your frozen pizza to the next level like it’s freshly baked!
Barbara is an enthusiastic food-exploring person that goes through different culinary experiences. She got inspired by creating a pizza blog post after she tasted one of the best-selling pizzas in Toledo.