Pizza Expert Shares the No. 1 Best Way to Reheat Leftover Slices

There’s an old saying that the only thing better than pizza is getting to have it twice. There’s no denying that the remaining slices in that delivery pie taste great the following day, but it can be hard to recapture that same delicious dining experience you get in the hour or so after your order leaves the pizzeria. Fortunately, a top pizza expert says there is a relatively easy way to ensure you still enjoy every bite when it comes time to reheat leftover slices.

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You’ll need your stovetop for the most common method.

Hoping to turn last night’s delivery into today’s lunch? In a recent video posted to Instagram, Scott Wiener, founder of Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City and all-around pie expert, ran down the best methods to breathe new life into those lingering pieces in your fridge.

He starts off discussing how to handle a traditional New York slice, which he says is best reheated using a frying pan right on your stovetop.

“In my case, I’m using stainless steel just because my stainless steel [pan] is big enough for a real New York slice,” Wiener explains. “You don’t need any oil in the pan. And then once you’ve got it heated up just enough—where it’s at about medium—drop the slice directly onto it.”

The only real technique comes in once the piece begins to get hot again. “I put just a couple of drops of water, tilt it a little bit, and put the lid on there,” he explains, while skillfully using the lid also to carry over the small amount of water he adds to the pan.

“I’m tilting it because I don’t want the water touching the pizza, but I want the steam warming up the top of the pizza and making the cheese soften,” he notes.

He then shows off the quality of the revived slice to the camera. “The top is nicely melted. It’s flexible enough to fold, yet sturdy enough to hold up. And hot enough to burn my fingertips!” he explains, before proving the piece is perfectly crispy by scratching the bottom.

Wiener isn’t the only one who turns to the stove when it’s time to reheat leftover slices. Dax Schaefer, corporate chef of Palermo’s Pizza in Milwaukee, also prefers the method as the “pizza can taste better than the first time. It results in a crisp pizza bottom from the pan with soft gooey cheese from the steam,” he told AllRecipes.

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Your air fryer can come in handy for more traditional styles.

Still, not all types of pizza should be handled the same way. When it comes to Neapolitan-style pies, you’re going to need some help from your air fryer.

“Neapolitan pizza is a little different because you don’t want it to get crispy,” Wiener explains. “The whole point of it is that it’s soft and flexible.”

To get that Naples-style slice back to its best form, all you need to do is set your unit to 400 degrees and let it reheat for about two minutes. “Then, it is good to go,” he says.

…And some are better left as-is.

Anyone who has bitten into a leftover slice straight out of the box knows that it can still taste fantastic even before you try to warm it back up. And according to Wiener, this is how you should treat those thicker, square grandma slices.

“This may sound controversial, but I don’t reheat Sicilian pizza,” he admits. “I prefer it at room temperature or like, right out of the refrigerator.”

Wiener explains that when you reheat a Sicilian pizza, it’s so thick that you’ll often end up drying it out before it’s noticeably warmed through. This way, you can “keep the kind of squish factor of the inside” that is essential for this style.

“And if I need it to be crispy, I can just chuck it onto the top of my pan that I used for the New York slice and give it two seconds,” he says. “But honestly, I just like it right out of the fridge—or if I left it out overnight by accident, I think it’s still good to go.”

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But beware the microwave.

However, you might want to avoid the microwave, which experts say results in a soggy bottom and molten cheese.

But even a traditional oven can be a bad call: “It limits airflow and keeps the pizza from getting crispy—it stays kind of soggy instead,” George Formaro, chef-partner of Orchestrate Hospitality restaurants in Des Moines, Iowa, told AllRecipes.

Still, some hybrid methods can work, too. According to a recent taste test performed by cooking website The Kitchn, pizza warmed up on the bottom rack of the oven in a rimmed baking sheet covered with aluminum foil produced nearly identical results.