Leftovers are an excellent way to extend your meals across several days and maximize your food budget. Unfortunately, microwaving leftovers often results in food that’s overcooked, limp or just plain off. Fortunately, there are other fast and simple ways to warm up your food — you just need to match the method to what you’re reheating.
I gave up microwave reheating a while back and never regretted it. Yes, microwaves are quick, but they typically rob food of its flavor and texture. These days, I rely on an air fryer or skillet to reheat meals, and the results are significantly better.
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I’m in good company. In an email exchange, Guy Fieri tells me that the air fryer is his go-to method for reheating last night’s leftovers, including fried foods like egg rolls and wings. “With an air fryer,” Fieri says, “you can reheat and still get that pro-level finish every time.”
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If you’re ready to ditch the microwave for crispier chicken and springier noodles the next day, here are the best ways to reheat every type of leftovers.
Pizza and flatbread
Why so sad, cold pizza?
Best way to reheat: Air fryer or toaster oven
There are a handful of reasons I love my air fryer, but none more notable than reheating leftovers. Microwaves destroy pizza, so let’s cross that one off. A toaster and convection oven do better, but they still take longer to heat and can dry the pizza out by the time it’s heated through.
The quick blast of an air fryer’s superconvection will reheat your pizza to crispy perfection in about two minutes at 400°F, depending on its size and thickness. Be sure to use the basket or grate; otherwise, the hot, flat bottom of the air fryer basket could burn the bottom of your slice. I won’t heat leftover pizza any other way. If you didn’t have enough reasons to spring for one, air fryers use less energy than a big oven.
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Two minutes in the air fryer. Now, that’s more like it.
Fried food
If you thought it was impossible to revive leftover fried foods such as chicken and crinkle fries, think again.
Best way to reheat: Air fryer
Leftover fried foods have historically been among the most challenging to revive. Enter the air fryer, which can revive fried chicken, fried dumplings, mozzarella sticks, egg rolls and even French fries like nothing else in the kitchen. Like pizza, it’ll take only a few minutes to heat through, and you should have a crispy outer shell, just like when the food was initially cooked.
For thicker pieces of chicken, cook at a lower temperature of 325 to 350 degrees F for three minutes or so to ensure the outside doesn’t burn before the center has time to warm through.
Side note: Beyond reheating fried chicken, a good air fryer makes delicious “fried” chicken and other foods with less oil than traditional methods.
Noodles, pasta and rice dishes
A quick spin in a nonstick skillet is the best way to reheat pasta, noodles and rice dishes.
Best way to reheat: Nonstick skillet
This wide-ranging category of classic takeout includes Italian pasta dishes, Indian curries served with rice, Thai, Vietnamese, and Korean noodles, as well as Chinese stir-fries. We’re discussing any dish featuring starch, such as rice or noodles, diced vegetables, meat or plant-based protein, and a sauce. The one thing they all have in common is that they’re best reheated in a nonstick skillet or wok.
While you can probably get away with nuking simple fried rice, a microwave tends to overcook pasta and noodles, and will likely turn your chicken, shrimp, or sliced beef into rubber. Instead, simply throw it all into a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Toss intermittently, and in a few minutes, you’ll have something nearly as good as when it first arrived at your table or door the night before. Nonstick pans typically take all of 15 seconds to rinse clean.
Consider a stainless-steel, carbon-steel, or cast-iron skillet for rice dishes to get crispy rice.
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Steak, pork chops, burgers and grilled chicken
Often, the way food was cooked is also the best way to reheat it. For steaks, pork and burgers, be sure to cover the skillet so the meat heats through faster.
Best way to reheat: Cast-iron or nonstick skillet
Cuts of meat, including steak and pork chops, are another food that can be tough to resuscitate. Fear not, because there is a way. While reheating grilled steak or fish in an air fryer or oven isn’t impossible, you’ll likely dry out the meat. Instead, I suggest re-searing it quickly in a covered hot cast-iron skillet or nonstick pan for no more than a minute on each side. The hot surface of the skillet should revive the crust. Keeping it covered will help warm it through before the pan heat has time to overcook it. You might want to use a nonstick skillet for delicate fish to keep the flesh from sticking or falling apart.
Fair warning: These types of reheated foods will never be as good as when you first pulled them from the grill, pan, or plancha, but this method should leave them more than edible.
Braised, roasted or slow-cooked meat
A covered skillet with a splash of stock is the best way to reheat leftover braised food.
Best way to reheat: Covered skillet with a splash of liquid
Braised dishes, such as chicken in wine sauce or short ribs, should be reheated to replicate their original cooking method. Heat them gently for a few minutes in a covered nonstick or stainless steel pan with a small amount of water or chicken stock. The hot liquid will revive the braised or slow-roasted meat, returning its juicy tenderness.
For more tasty tips, see how to find cheap wine at the grocery store and how to cook a perfect whole chicken in the air fryer.
The microwave is rarely the best way to reheat leftovers
Move away from the microwave and toward better leftovers.
The microwave is the appliance most commonly employed to reheat leftovers, and it may be the fastest, but I’d also contend that it’s the worst. Most reheated food from the microwave has a degree of rubberiness, dryness, or mushiness that it didn’t have when it was originally cooked.
Microwaves don’t typically heat food evenly, resulting in areas that are either too hot or too cold in places — sometimes both. Plus, microwaves are prone to messy explosions. If you have to clean your microwave after reheating food, it’s not a time-saver.
“But it’s so much faster!” you say, but is it? Most of the methods outlined below can be completed in under five minutes. The air fryer cooks almost as fast as a microwave and, in my opinion, much better. Adding an air fryer to your kitchen may be an up-front cost, but these budget-friendly super convection ovens are the best first step toward better leftovers. Plus, they’ll save money on your energy bill over time.
Is there any food you should reheat in the microwave?
The microwave is a good place to poach an egg.
Although most dense foods shrivel up or dry out in a microwave, some softer foods handle the microwave heat better. Items such as soup (covered), sauce, plain rice, or mashed potatoes won’t lose too much oomph if you nuke them.
The microwave is also a great place to quickly soften butter, make popcorn, or warm water, baby formula and other liquids. It’s even one of my favorite ways to poach an egg, so it’s far from a useless appliance.