Easily Upgrade Frozen Pizza With A Classic Ingredient You Already Have

Ah, the humble frozen pizza. Americans love this convenient meal, with the frozen pizza industry accounting for $7 billion in sales in 2024. While they offer us ease and convenience, they lack the authentic pizzeria quality we sometimes crave. You might have seen our list of 16 store-bought pizzas, ranked worst to best, but even the top frozen pizzas could use a boost, right? The good news is you don't need any fancy ingredients to turn your next pizza into a gourmet meal. The secret ingredient may already be sitting in your fruit basket.

A small squeeze of fresh lemon or a shaving of lemon zest before serving could be all your pizza needs to add some brightness and depth. It should be after the pizza comes out of the oven, as the fresh lemon flavors could get lost as the pizza cooks. However, the heat from the pizza will help meld the flavors together. 

This trick works so well because the acidity cuts right through the heaviness of the cheese and the sweetness of the tomato sauce, while the citrusy flavor brings a certain Mediterranean authenticity that frozen pizzas can lack. Plus, it's an unbelievably cheap trick that will cost you pennies, but make it taste like you're having an expensive gourmet pizza at home. And if you're cooking for one, remember that halving a frozen pizza is the hack for anyone living by themselves — just use half a lemon wedge too.

Frozen pizzas that benefit most from lemon

While this is a brilliant hack, not all frozen pizzas will react to the lemon treatment in the same way. A traditional Margherita could definitely do well with a light dusting of lemon zest or a squeeze of juice, as it would complement the basil and bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes. And if you're partial to white pizza, lemon juice or zest can help cut through the rich density of the creamy sauce. 

More surprisingly, perhaps, is that even the classic pepperoni and cheese pizza gets an upgrade with a little bit of citrus. Pepperoni is spicy and salty, and lemon brings a clean and fresh citrus taste that would balance out the flavors. And of course, any Mediterranean-style frozen pizzas, like those loaded with feta and olives, are going to pair perfectly with the complementary lemon flavor. BBQ chicken pizza could use a spritz of acidity, where the citrus would take the smoky, sweet sauce in a new direction. You might want to skip the citrus on a Hawaiian pizza, as pineapple is already there to bring some acidity to the mix. 

The real beauty of this hack is just how simple it is — you don't need anything other than your bowl of fruit to take you from sad frozen dinner to pizza night magic. This is just one of several budget-friendly hacks to elevate frozen pizza, increasing the flavor without breaking the bank.

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