You Can (And Should) Be Freezing Those Costco Pizza Leftovers

Everything's bigger at Costco. Known for over-the-top containers like 60-pound tubs of honey and 30-pound buckets of macaroni and cheese, it's probably no surprise that the warehouse's food court serves up super large portions, too, including quarter-pound hot dogs (one of Julia Child's favorite foods from Costco), and pizza slices that take up almost an entire paper plate. There's only so much 'za one person can eat in a single sitting, of course, but don't toss any leftovers in the trash because you can (and should) be freezing all the pizza all the time. Costco's food court pies freeze and reheat amazingly well, and at just $9.95 for an 18-inch pizza or $1.99 by the slice, you can have hot, fresh pizza any day of the week for a warehouse price. Take that, expensive delivery pizza.

There is no magic to freezing and reheating Costco pizza. Just order up a fresh pie (look for long lines at the food court; the food will be fresher), take it home, and let it cool. Once the pizza is at room temperature, wrap it in airtight packaging and place it in the freezer until it's frozen solid. The low-moisture, part skim mozzarella cheese that the Costco food court uses will freeze easily. If you go for a whole pie, break it up into individual slices or portions before you freeze it. That way you can take out only as much pizza as you need, which is perfect for weeknight meals and after school snacks.

In addition to having pizza around at all times, a nice perk that comes with freezing Costco pizza is that you can customize your slices before they go in the freezer, which is a lifesaver if you have picky eaters at home. All you have to do is order up a plain cheese pizza, add toppings to individual slices when you get home, and then freeze them. There'll be no more arguments about pizza toppings, and it only takes a few minutes to heat the frozen slices up.

When the time comes to reheat the frozen pizza, you can use a couple of different methods. A conventional oven, toaster oven, or air fryer will reheat the slices perfectly without needing to thaw them first, while also crisping up the crust. For a conventional oven, reheat the pizza at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 to 10 minutes. For toaster ovens, go for 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and start checking the pizza in 5 to 8 minutes for doneness. As for the air fryer, which can work quite a bit faster, set the heat to 380 degrees so that the crust heats up without burning the cheese, and check your slices at 3 to 5 minutes (although it can take a little longer). Once the cheese is looking brown and bubbly, your leftover Costco pizza will be as good as new.