How to Reheat Pizza in a Toaster Oven
A microwave heats a slice from the inside out, which is why the crust ends up soft and chewy no matter how carefully you time it. A toaster oven fixes that the same way a full-size oven does — dry heat circulating around the slice — but it gets there in a fraction of the preheat time, which matters most when you only want one or two slices hot.
The method below works directly on the oven rack for most slices, with a tray-and-foil approach for thin or floppy slices, plus a broil-finish trick and a note for reheating straight from frozen.
Why a toaster oven works better than a microwave here
A microwave's moisture-heavy heat turns a crisp crust soggy by the time the cheese is hot. A toaster oven instead surrounds the slice with dry, circulating heat, so the crust re-crisps on the outside at the same time the center warms through — closer to a fresh slice than a microwave gets.
Compared to a full-size oven, a toaster oven's smaller cavity reaches temperature in roughly a third of the time, which is the real advantage for reheating just one or two slices instead of a whole pie.
Temperature, rack position, and timing
375°F for 6-8 minutes on the middle rack is the right range for most refrigerated slices. Thin crust slices are usually done around the 6-minute mark; thick crust or deep dish slices need closer to 8 minutes to heat through without burning the edges first.
Set a slice directly on the oven rack whenever your toaster oven's rack spacing allows it — direct contact with the rack crisps the crust bottom the same way a pizza stone would. If the slice is thin or floppy enough to sag through the rack, set it on the included tray lined with foil instead, accepting a slightly less crisp bottom in exchange for not losing toppings through the rack.
Step-by-step
1. Preheat the toaster oven to 375°F — most toaster ovens hit temperature in 2-3 minutes, well before a full-size oven would. 2. Place the slice (or slices, with space between them) directly on the middle rack, or on a foil-lined tray if the rack spacing is too wide. 3. Bake for 5 minutes, then check: the cheese should be mostly re-melted and the crust should feel firm when you lift an edge. 4. If the crust needs more color than the cheese does, switch to broil for the final 60-90 seconds and watch it closely — broil elements run hot enough to go from golden to burnt in under a minute.
Getting a crispy crust without drying out the toppings
Don't tent the slice with foil — that traps steam against the crust the same way a microwave does, which defeats the point of using the toaster oven at all. Foil under the slice is fine; foil over it isn't.
If you're reheating more than will fit on the rack in a single layer, do it in batches rather than stacking slices. A stacked slice steams the one underneath it, so you end up with one good slice and one soggy one instead of two decent ones.
Reheating pizza straight from frozen
A slice frozen flat can go straight onto the rack or tray without thawing — add roughly 3-4 extra minutes at the same 375°F, checking at the original 6-8 minute mark and then in 1-minute increments after that.
Frozen slices benefit from starting on the tray rather than the open rack, since a fully frozen slice is more likely to droop or lose toppings through the rack bars before it's warmed through enough to firm up.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What temperature should I use to reheat pizza in a toaster oven?
- 375°F for 6-8 minutes works for most refrigerated slices — thin crust toward the shorter end, thick crust or deep dish toward the longer end. A 60-90 second broil at the end crisps the crust further if the cheese finished melting before the top browned.
- Should I put the pizza directly on the rack or use the tray?
- Use the rack directly when the slice is sturdy enough to sit flat across the bars — it crisps the bottom crust better than a tray does. Use a foil-lined tray for thin, floppy, or frozen slices that would sag or lose toppings through the rack.
- Is a toaster oven better than an air fryer for reheating pizza?
- Both avoid the soggy-crust problem a microwave causes. A toaster oven fits more slices at once in a single layer and doesn't require a basket, while an air fryer's smaller, more enclosed space typically reheats a single slice a couple of minutes faster. If you're reheating for more than one person, the toaster oven's larger rack is the more convenient choice.