Frozen pizza. It may not be dine-in or even take-out, but by the pie or the slice, it’s got merit, as my daughter will tell you.
Do you know the kind that comes in a rectangle that you snap into three separate slices at the perforations?
That’s her favorite. It reminds her of elementary school days, when nearly the whole student body bought the “platter” on Fridays, just to savor a slice of tomatoey, cheesy goodness.
Fast forward to today, and pizza has become a blank canvas for an array of toppings that take it ever deeper into gourmet artisan territory.
Read on for seven quick and easy ways to dress up frozen pizza. Here’s the lineup:
7 Easy & Tasty Ways to Improve Frozen Pizza
Is your mouth watering yet? Let’s dive in!
1. Arugula and Chickpeas with Balsamic Vinaigrette
A drained can of soft, nutty chickpeas, a few handfuls of crisp, bitter arugula, and store bought or homemade balsamic vinaigrette make a cool and refreshing contrast to warm cheese and tomato.
Break the chickpeas ever-so-slightly with a fork so they can absorb the dressing.
Toss them with the arugula.
Add a few shakes or drizzles of vinaigrette. Use enough to coat, but not drench, the greens.
When your pie or slice is cooked, remove it from the oven, and make a few shallow slits to allow the vinaigrette to penetrate the cheese.
Place the dressed arugula and chickpeas on top.
Sprinkle grated Romano or parmesan over the salad mixture and enjoy immediately.
2. Cannellini Beans, Bacon, and Greens
For this add-in, you’ll need a can of cooked cannellini beans. They’re the big white ones.
Drain off the excess liquid, and make a single layer of beans over the frozen cheese.
Scatter crumbled bits of leftover or fresh-cooked bacon over the legumes.
Top the beans and bacon with chopped leftover or fresh-cooked greens of any type, like broccolini, collards, escarole, mustard greens, or spinach.
Sprinkle lightly with garlic powder.
Coarsely grate mozzarella, shave Romano, or tear slices of American cheese to scatter over the top. Bake according to the package instructions.
3. Caramelized Apples and Onions
If you have apples and onions on hand, you’re all set for this one. Use our recipe for caramelized apples and onions, and spoon a generous portion over the top of the cheese before baking.
Add another layer of flavor by grating a few coarse bits of Gruyère or Swiss cheese over each slice just before serving.
4. Chopped Egg, Parsley, Pine Nuts, and Golden Raisins
This is a favorite combination at our house, because these are the ingredients we use to fill our braciola, roulades of beef cooked in spaghetti sauce. But that’s a recipe for another day!
(If you’re feeling inspired, it’s similar to what you’ll see in our recipes for chicken roulade or Italian stuffed steak pinwheels.)
Hard boil an egg and chop it as you would for egg salad.
Coarsely chop a few sprigs of fresh parsley, or use a sprinkling of dried parsley.
Mix the parsley with a handful of pine nuts and a handful of sweet golden raisins. Brown raisins will also do.
Saute the mixture in a non-stick pan lightly coated with olive oil for a few minutes, to lightly brown the nuts and give the raisins a chewy bite.
Remove from the heat. Toss the chopped eggs into the pan and stir to coat them.
Spoon the egg, parsley, nut, and raisin mixture over a pizza that’s fresh from the oven.
Top with torn basil leaves just before serving.
A flavorful and protein-rich variation that we also like is to include thin strips of leftover roast beef or steak in the sauteed mixture as well.
5. Pork and Mango
If you’ve had pork roast, pulled pork, pork chops, or breakfast sausage and there are leftovers in the fridge, dice some up and give them a quick saute in olive oil.
Then, cube a ripe, fresh mango.
Dot the frozen pizza with the meat and fruit, and bake it.
6. Broccoli with Black Olives and Ham
This tasty blend works well with cooked broccoli, jarred or canned pitted black olives, and torn bits of sliced deli ham, or diced leftover baked ham or ham steak.
Spread the broccoli florets, olives, and diced ham randomly over the frozen cheese, drizzle with olive oil, and bake.
7. Pears with Walnuts and Blue Cheese
For this sweet, salty, and savory umami blend, use firm pears, like Bosc or d’Anjou.
Cut the pears in thin slices with the skin on.
Cover the cheese surface with a single layer of pear slices.
Sprinkle the pears liberally with chopped walnuts.
Crumble blue cheese sparingly over the pears and walnuts, or dot the top randomly with chunky blue cheese dressing.
Bake and devour.
Experiment and Enjoy
These seven ideas are jumping-off points to guide you and yours as you scour the cupboards and fridge, using your collective imagination to develop new and exciting improvements of your own.
Let’s wrap things up with a couple of useful tips:
Avoid baking directly on an oven rack, as it is very messy. Also, placing foil in the bottom of an oven to catch drips alters the temperature and may in some cases damage the heating elements. Use a baking sheet instead.
To make a crust crisper, brush the sides and bottom lightly with olive oil before baking, and bake on a rack set inside a baking pan.
Now, it’s pizza time!
We hope we’ve sparked your creativity, and can’t wait to hear your ideas in the comments section below.
If you liked these suggestions, here are more ways to jazz up staple freezer foods to try next:
- 5 Tasty Ideas to Liven Up Your Burgers
- 9 Simple Ways to Make Steamed Veggies More Flavorful
- 23 Wild and Crazy Hot Dog Ideas for Grilling Season
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About Nan Schiller
Nan Schiller is a writer from southeastern Pennsylvania. When she’s not in the garden, she’s in the kitchen preparing imaginative gluten- and dairy-free meals. With a background in business, writing, editing, and photography, Nan writes humorous and informative articles on gardening, food, parenting, and real estate topics. Having celiac disease has only served to inspire her to continue to explore creative ways to provide her family with nutritious locally-sourced food.
