Frozen Pizza...do you 'Doctor' yours up?

[Beach Chick]

I find that adding some fresh garlic, serrano chiles and extra jack cheese and cook that bad boy up, my blah frozen pizza turns into a thing of beauty..
What do you add to your frozen pizza?

[tommy]

I like to put frozen White Castle cheeseburgers on mine. TRUST ME: you won't be disappointed.

[Bob W]

Capers!

[pie22]

i just made one for lunch and to a frozen celeste's veggie pizza and topped it with some left over breakfast bacon, fresh parm and mozz cheese, olive oil, jalapenos, black pepper, and garlic...it was pretty amazing! i also cook it well done then broil for a min.
i refuse to buy the more expensive frozen pizzas i prefer to just doctor up the cheapies.

[colleenm100]

I like to put ham and sliced jalapenos on mine. I have also tried to imitate CPK's Tostada Pizza by adding chopped chicken breast, chopped scallions, and cilantro then some shredded lettuce and tortilla strips just out of the oven. Served with a side of ranch dressing and salsa... YUMO!

[natewrites]

I add garlic salt, red pepper flake and GOBS of cheese, whatever is in my fridge.

Ever notice that even when you DO spend a few extra dollars on a supposedly better quality frozen pizza, it's not really that much better?

[SpacieSiren]

I just added some sun-dried tomato pesto, korean squash and corn we'll see how that pans out!

[alkapal]

i will never buy frozen pizza again since finding pillsbury THIN CRUST pizza dough in the refrigerated cases. see this: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/5763...

i just bought some trader joe's pizza dough, but haven't baked it as a pizza yet. it is about half the price of the pillsbury's!

ps, don't get the "classic" pizza dough from pillsbury -- it tastes like their regular dough....sort of sweet. not so great!

[kchurchill5]

I like the boboli crust for making pizza, some good sauce and toppings, but I do keep some few small frozen cheese pizzas my local grocery store makes. Publix. Then if I really want to I add sausage, veggies mostly, peppers, garlic, whatever is in the refrigerator.

I've tried the pillsbury too not bad at all, also I have a pizza place very close and I can buy premade crust which is about the same price and very good.

I take advantage of some short cuts when I can.

I had a pizza party where I made 4 large square pizzas, cut the idea from Jamie at Home Food Network. Fun idea. Made 4 different squares. It was fun. Everyone got to make their own 16 different ones and a couple of extras. I used fresh dough for that and fresh sauces and cheese, but it was cool

[Whinerdiner]

I use the Boboli as well. I always have a "pizza kit" in the freezer. It consists of Boboli crusts, sauce, cheese, pepperoni & hot Italian sausage. When we assemble the pizza we add olive oil, Parmesan, fresh herbs, and whatever tasty goodies we have on hand.

[Whinerdiner]

Forgot to mention that in a pinch, if the freezer is empty, round flour tortillas work great for a thin crust pizza. I usually put two together. They cook up nice and crispy.

[alkapal]

actually, now i'm "off" the thin crust dough as well. why can't pillsbury do something that doesn't taste "sweet" in some respect? if they did it right, it would be a big seller.

[malibumike]

I usually add some sauce and grated cheese, sometimes I add anchovies. One time my son and I thin sliced some (I know I'm going to get it for this!) Spam, It was actually very tasty.

[Davwud]

You almost have to dontcha??

DT

[tracylee]

We always doctor up a frozen cheese pizza. These are some of our usual items that we mix and match:
Sliced Black olives
pitted and sliced kalamata olives
feta cheese
sun-dried tomatoes
turkey pepperoni
salami
extra cheese
italian seasoning
chopped bell peppers
chopped onions
artichoke hearts
fresh basil

[James Cristinian]

I haven't had a frozen pizza since I was around, say, sixteen, and I now am around fifty. We used to eat Totinos. Are there any that are any good?

[tracylee]

We like thin crust, but I'm not willing to spend an arm and a leg, so when they go on sale, I get Freschetta's Pizza D'amore. They're thin and pre-cut. After doctoring up, they're really pretty good.

[Beach Chick]

What about pineapple with jalapenos and added mozzarella cheese?

[alkapal]

i like the vinegary bite of sliced yellow banana peppers, or the pickled giardiniera peppers, sliced up.....

[ciaogal]

I add fresh sliced jalapeno's!

[alkapal]

ciao ciaogal! your post made me think of this chow recipe for pickled red onions, which too would be fantastic to give a vinegar-y crunch kick to a nice pepperoni pizza -- maybe with marinated artichokes and chunks of roasted eggplant, too. pickled red onions recipe: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10839

[Firegoat]

Embarrassing but true .... in college we'd buy the 79 cent Tostino Party Pizzas...... and add barbecue sauce as the "secret ingredient"

And no, I haven't done that in years..... seems like it tasted good at the time, but that might have been the beer talking.

[stricken]

I usually buy a cheese or veggie pizza and top with better cheese or veggie pepperoni. Top Amy's Pesto pizza w/shrimp and olive oil. It is divine.

[cstr]

I generally don't like frozen pizza but, when I'm in a pinch I usually get one from Costco and add herbs, imported parm cheese and maybe mushies or sausage.

[Beach Chick]

just had a frozen cheese pizza that I 'Doctor' up with a leftover chicken breast, BBQ sauce, garlic, serrano chiles and extra cheese...dang, it was so good!

[jodymaryk]

I can buy these small, individual pizzas with only cheese/pepperoni on them at my discount grocery for $1 each. I will keep a few in the freezer and when a craving hits, I add whatever is in the fridge, mushrooms, onions, pickled jalapenos, thinly sliced garlic, extra cheese. Isn't half bad! I try to stick with vegis to keep the calories down a bit and not to much cheese.

[HillJ]

My kids take a frozen pizza and add browned ground chuck, cheddar cheese and some bread crumbs and turn that plain dull pizza wheel into a cheese burger pie.

As for J & I we prefer the real thing!

[Dax]

I typically use sriracha in place of my old red pepper flakes. love it.

[Chew on That]

Oooh...I just added red chili pepper flakes but some of these suggestions sound better!

[joshlane4]

extra cheese (if I have it), pepper (chipotle, paprika, ground pepper), fresh garlic, & olive oil

[Richard 16]

My previous response never showed, so here's another try:

EVOO, and variations on fresh mozzarella, fresh bail, chopped garlic, diced Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes, and a refrigerator/pantry raid.

Edit: Basil!

[virtualguthrie]

I can't eat a frozen pizza without "customization." I always add some extra sauce (there's just not enough sauce on pizza, I don't understand), then just a small amount of mozzarella or cheddar cheese, some finely minced fresh garlic (sometimes I mix the garlic with olive oil), some high grade salami and then I cook it well done. I used to finish it under the broiler to get the cheese to really bubble and scorch the salami and garlic, now I just preheat the oven very hot to get the desired effect. I add dried oregano and basil when it comes out. It always comes out great!

[im_nomad]

olives....always olives. and sometimes pepperoncini.

the final product also usually gets a splash or two of hot sauce or sriracha.

[cycloneillini]

I college my ex and I used to stock up on Totino's pizzas whenever they were on sale and also buy the big jars of "salad olives" which we used to doctor up the pizzas. I think it's how I survived living off campus.

[jgg13]

Back in the day when I also lived off of Totino's pizzas, I basically just used it as a delivery platform for spices, herbs and such :)

[KevinB]

Boy, I'm not near as fancy as most of you. Extra sauce, pepperoni, salami, and hot pepper rings, and then a handful of extra cheese for the last five minutes. Turns mundane pizza into a loaded supreme.

[dpan]

Good topic. We brush olive oil under the crust and around the edge to get a nice golden and crispy crust out of the oven. We also love to put on olives, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, and sardines to top them off.

[lekkercraft]

i almost always add artichoke hearts to any frozen pizza, and sometimes some goat cheese or feta, pesto, and chili flakes. Other times I'll add on some anchovies, depending on what I'm starting out with...

[fern]

My 2 most recent frozen pizza fix-ups have been adding leftover italian sausage and peppers in red sauce that I chopped up. This one was delicious.
The second involved adding chopped roasted red pepper from a jar, shredded cooked chicken, and cheddar & fontina. This all involved using what we had and they were both delicious.

Also, I now use Chef Chicklet's trick of oiling and salting the edges for tastier crust bites. Love that.

Fennel seed goes a long way toward making a frozen pizza tastier,too.

[cheflolo]

butter garlic on the crust and EXTRA EXTRA CHEEESE!!

[givemecarbs]

I'm practically compulsive about this. I always add fresh mushrooms unless life is truly crazy at my house. And ideally some leftover sausage or homemade meatballs. I have been known to bust out some ripe olives as well.

[danhole]

I add this wonderful seasoning called Garli Garni, which is a sort of spicy garlic blend, so first I sprinkle that on. Then I add some black olives, real bacon bits, some garlic butter sauce, and extra cheese. If I am sharing with my DH I leave off the olives and add pepperoni slices. Oh, and if I have some fresh basil I like to finely chop that and sprinkle all over, under the cheese. That $1 pizza turns into a worthy pizza to eat!

If you are curious about the garli garni here is a link. I get the low sodium type.

http://www.garlicfestival.com/index.php

[gordeaux]

I'll drizzle some evoo over the whole thing, and especially the edges. Also, hot giardiniera is a must along with fresh ground black pepper.

[at24]

To a plain cheese pizza I add oregano, sometimes, yellow banna peppers, mushrooms, green peppers.