Forum: cooking.stackexchange.com
Tags: <pizza>
Title: How to make frozen pizza taste good?
Question: As a college student, I eat a lot of frozen pizza. Unfortunately,  the brand of frozen pizza that I eat has very little taste.   Recently, I started adding Parmesan cheese, basil and garlic powered to the pizza before putting it in the toaster oven.  Can I do better than that? What can be done with frozen pizza to make it taste better?

Answers:
sents: text: We have a pizza stone that makes the finished pizza taste so much better.
text: In addition we add more toppings to the pizza.
text: For instance sliced mushrooms, pineapple, olives, peppers and cheese.
text: The sky is the limit.
text: And this way you can have a 5 topping pizza for the price of the toppings and a cheap frozen pizza.
text: For the pizza stone you don't want it to make a drastic change in temperature otherwise the stone would break.
text: So for the oven I put the stone in the oven then preheat it.
text: So the stone heats up with the oven.
text: During this time I prepare the toppings.
text: When the oven is hot enough you take out the stone, careful it is hot, put the pizza on, throw the toppings on then put back in oven and cook.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/27/Kyra
score: 11
sents: text: Domenico DeMarco might be the best pizzaiolo alive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAolCtDMTu4 Just watching that my pizzas improved considerably: parmesan, fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil after baking the pizza.
text: He puts some oil before baking
text: and I think it's a good thing, but most people disagree on that.
text: Frozen pizzas have two problems: Bad crust
text: You can improve it baking in a pizza stone or, if that's not an option, putting some olive oil in the tray
text: you put the pizza.
text: Bad ingredients
text: It's always a matter of taste, I suggest keeping it simple.
text: Mozzarella and any other cheese that melts should help.
text: By the way, making pizza at home, from scratch, couldn't be cheaper.
text: Believe it or not, you're overpaying for the frozen stuff.
text: Also, you are grating your parmesan, right?
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/1546/Julio
score: 8
sents: text: If you're a person who likes spicy as a compensation for other flavor deficiencies - try adding red pepper and/or Tabasco.
text: My favorite is actually Tony's Creole seasoning.
text: The stone idea sounds like it would help a lot for texture, too :)
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/3489/zanlok
score: 6
sents: text: While not relating to taste directly, I find cooking the pizza directly on the rack instead of in a pan makes it quite crispy
text: and I enjoy that texture more than the soft dough texture you'll get from cooking it in a pan.
text: You may want to place the pan you would have used on the lower rack to catch any cheese or crumbs that might fall.
text: Other than that I've usually used various spices to kick up the flavor (garlic powder, crushed red peppers, etc).
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/123/Ryan Elkins
score: 4
sents: text: I'm sorry, but I honestly don't think there's anything that can make frozen pizza better.
text: All you can accomplish by adding fresh ingredients is to make THEM taste worse.
text: That's not a way to have a meal.
text: Instead of eating frozen pizza, order pizza if you don't have time to prepare your own.
text: And pizza is really easy to prepare - if you're adding all those ingredients to frozen pizza
text: you're already half way there.
text: You don't even need to make your own dough, you can usually buy it in the local bakery and then either freeze it or keep in a fridge for a day or two.
text: Please don't eat frozen pizza.
text: Every time you eat a frozen pizza, an Italian fairy dies. :(
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/5767/Domchi
score: 4
sents: text: Add some fresh ingredients: basil and/or oregano chopped up ripe tomato fresh garlic sundried tomoato
text: You'll find after dressing up a pizza, you can just start making your own from scratch.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/201/Bruce Alderson
score: 2
sents: text: add extra ingredients and another layer of sauce and cheese.
text: You can make the sauce by taking a can of tomato sauce (not a jar of spaghetti sauce) and add Italian seasoning to it.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/7787/Anonymous
score: 1
sents: text: I will swear blind that the only thing it really needs is olive-oil.
text: A light drizzle of olive oil.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/9836/Ian Webster
score: 1
sents: text: I just got /ate a walmart pizza as featured in their "deli" section.
text: The directions said to put it directly on the oven grate
text: but I ignored that as I tried it before and it drooped and melted between the wire rack .. what I did was added a slew of ingredients and boosted the temp from a terrible 35o to a better 450
text: Also i use a pan nut put a grate under it with small spaces and sprayed the underside with olive oil spray ..
text: It was the best store bought crust I ever tried ..
text: I cooked it the same time they suggested about 16 minutes ..
text: bear in mind
text: this was not a frozen pizza
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/39753/Ellis
score: 1
sents: text: In my family, we add more ingredients to improve frozen pizza.
text: Also, I lower the heat.
text: I always "build up" the pizza by starting with the spices and olive oil (the spray will work as well).
text: We use mainly: tumeric,cumin,cinnamon and sage, Italian spices are good too.
text: Add a dash of curry if you like it spicier.
text: Don't over spice
text: it, rather drizzle olive oil.
text: Crush the spices in your palm to help bring out their flavor.
text: Thinly sliced onions go next.
text: My personal favorite is to tear up some deli honey ham,then lightly whisk an egg and drizzle.
text: This helps the cooking process and gives an almost quiche taste.
text: Then we use deli cheese.
text: Tear or crumble the cheeses
text: so they're even,then top with chives and sliced tomatoes.
text: I give a quick dust of butter or olive oil spray to crisp the cheese.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/67043/user67043
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
You can use a pizza stone to improve the crust or use red pepper, Tabasco, garlic powder, Italian herbs etc., or add fresh ingredients like fresh, canned or sundried tomato, basil, oregano, garlic and mozzarella.
You can try adding some extra toppings like tomato sauce and cheese, along with more spices. You can also try cooking it on a pizza stone to make it more crispy.