How to Keep Pizza Warm at Home, at Parties and on Delivery

The easiest way to keep pizza warm is to take it out of the box and hold it in the oven at its lowest setting, about 170 to 200°F, on a baking sheet or the rack. For a short wait, keep it in the box with the lid cracked and a towel on top. Keep hot pizza at 140°F or above, and never leave it out more than 2 hours.

Ways to keep pizza warm, compared

Method	Best for	How long it works	Effect on the crust
Oven on lowest setting	Whole pies at home	Up to about an hour before it starts to dry out	Stays crisp
Pizza stone or cast iron in a low oven	Keeping the bottom crisp	Up to about an hour	Crispest option
Box with the lid cracked, towel on top	Short waits and short trips	Short waits only	Softens gradually
Insulated bag or empty cooler	Car trips, picnics, game day	Longer than a bare box	Softens if steam is trapped
Chafing dish or warming tray	Parties and catered events	Through a serving window	Can soften if covered

The oven method

This is the most reliable way to keep a pizza hot and crisp at home.

1. Set the oven to its lowest temperature. Most ovens go down to about 170 to 200°F, and many have a "warm" setting.
2. Take the pizza out of the box. Cardboard does not belong in the oven. It is a fire risk and adds nothing to the pizza.
3. Use a baking sheet or the rack. A sheet pan or a piece of foil is easiest to handle. Setting the pizza directly on the rack lets air reach the bottom and keeps it crisper.
4. Leave it uncovered for a crisp crust. If the edges start to dry, tent loose foil over the top, but do not seal it in, which traps steam.

Low heat still slowly dries pizza out, so this works best for holds of up to about an hour. If you need longer, refrigerate the pizza within 2 hours and reheat it later instead. Our guide on how to reheat pizza covers the best methods for bringing it back.

Pizza stone or cast iron

A preheated pizza stone or steel holds a lot of heat and keeps the bottom crust crisp. Heat it in the oven, set the pizza on it, then turn the oven down to its lowest setting. For a few slices, a cast-iron skillet over low heat, uncovered, keeps the bottom warm and crisp. Keep an eye on it, since the skillet can scorch the crust if the heat is too high.

Keep it in the box for short waits

If dinner is minutes away, the delivery box is fine. A few tweaks help:

• Crack the lid or open the vents. A fully closed box traps steam, which condenses and soaks into the crust. Letting some steam out keeps it from going soggy.
• Cover it with a towel. A thick kitchen towel or blanket over the box slows heat loss for short trips or short waits.
• Keep boxes together. Several boxes stacked side by side or two high lose heat more slowly than boxes spread out across a counter.
• Keep it off cold surfaces. A stone counter or a car floor in winter pulls heat out through the bottom. Set the box on a towel or wooden board.

Insulated bags and coolers

An insulated food bag holds heat much longer than a bare box, which makes it useful for pizza picked up on the way to a game or a picnic. An empty cooler works too: line it with a towel, put the boxes in flat, and close it. Coolers keep hot food hot as well as cold food cold.

The trade-off is steam. A sealed bag or cooler keeps the heat in but also keeps moisture in, so the crust softens the longer it sits. Vent the boxes inside, and get the pizza out and onto plates soon after you arrive.

Food safety: hot means 140°F or above

USDA guidance is to keep hot food at 140°F or above. Between 40°F and 140°F, bacteria can multiply quickly. A pizza that is only "warm" in a box or on a table is sitting in that range, and the time counts toward the 2-hour rule:

• Do not leave pizza at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour if it is above 90°F, such as outdoors in summer.
• If you are holding pizza in a low oven or warmer, an instant-read thermometer tells you whether it is actually at 140°F or above.
• Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours in shallow containers or wrapped slices. Our guide on how long pizza is good in the fridge covers storage times.

Keeping pizza warm at parties and catered events

For a crowd, the goal is to put out hot pizza in batches instead of all at once.

• Stagger delivery. Ask the pizzeria to send pies in two or three waves, or place separate orders timed to the event, so the later pies arrive fresh.
• Hold reserves in a low oven. Keep extra pies in the oven at its lowest setting and swap in a new one when a tray empties.
• Use chafing dishes or warming trays. These keep slices hot on a buffet line. Leave lids off or ajar to let steam escape, and check that food stays at 140°F or above.
• Serve on a schedule. Pizza that has sat out for 2 hours should be discarded or refrigerated, not topped up with fresh slices.

Planning quantities? Our guide to how many slices are in a pizza helps you work out how many pies each wave needs.

For pizzerias: keeping pizza hot on the way to the customer

Most of what decides whether a pie arrives hot happens before it leaves your counter.

• Use insulated delivery bags. A bare box loses heat fast in a car. A good insulated bag keeps the pie hot between your oven and the customer's door.
• Use vented boxes. Vents let steam out so the pizza stays hot without the crust turning soggy.
• Pick B flute for long runs. B flute corrugated is about 1/8 inch thick and holds heat and shape better than E flute, about 1/16 inch, which prints smoother but is better suited to short trips and carryout.
• Keep the crust off the box floor. Our Krispy Crust pizza liners are corrugated inserts that hold the crust up off the damp box floor and keep it crisp. They come 40 to a bundle for $16.95.
• Do not stack too high. A tall stack crushes the bottom boxes, pushes the lids into the cheese and traps steam. Keep stacks to what your bags and boxes can handle.

Our custom pizza boxes come in 14 sizes from 7x7 to 24x24, plus 12x17 and 18x26, in white or kraft and B or E flute, made in the USA. Pricing starts at $32.50 per bundle of 50 with a 5-bundle minimum, and every order starts with a free digital proof.