How to Reheat Pie: 3 Simple Methods

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You lucky duck. You have had a windfall. Someone was generous enough to provide you with at least one slice of pie, more if you’re fortunate. 

Maybe it’s homemade – a delicious caramel apple pie with sweet and crunchy streusel delicately perched atop it.

Perhaps you bought a chicken pot pie from that restaurant that only serves pie, and now your mouth is watering in anticipation of that delicious filling. Yummy chicken, vegetables cooked perfectly, and that creamy, cheesy sauce.

Or maybe you lucked into the last slice from your favorite bakery fruit pie. However you got here, you now have an important task. You need to know how to reheat pie to the perfect temperature without burning those delicate ingredients. 

We’d like to take just a moment to remind you to be careful. If you’re a youngster, ask an adult for help. You’re going to be using heating implements, so yes: your pie will be hot!

Take appropriate caution, including oven mitts if necessary and a prudent wait for your pie to cool to a palatable temperature. 

How to Reheat Pie

For an entire pie, the oven method is recommended. For a single slice or smaller amounts, you can carefully use your microwave (hint: heat in short increments and rotate regularly for even heating) or air fryer. Keep reading for the full details! 

Some methods of reheating are going to be better than others for pie, just because of what it’s made of.

You’ve got delicate pastry. Depending on the filling, you could have hearty meat and vegetables, or fruit enveloped in sugary deliciousness.

And depending on who made it, some pies can be pretty thick and dense! While this provides some challenges, we will provide some options to get you to the best conclusion.

Of course, you want your pie to be hot, but you want it to be warmed evenly through. Nobody likes one lava-hot bite and one that’s still fridge temperature.

And you want all of the ingredients, from the flaky crust to the lattice on top, to maintain the lovely texture they had when they first came out of the oven. It would be tragic to reheat your pie only for it to be burned, hard, or soggy from the manner of reheating. 

We will walk you through all of the steps to ensure your pie is reheated to absolute perfection. 

What to Consider 

Let’s get into some of the important things that will affect how you reheat your pie. The method for pie reheating will be affected by what kind of pie you’re looking to warm up. Whether it’s one slice or an entire pie, and whether you’re using a microwave, an oven, or an air fryer.

Is it refrigerated or room temperature? This will affect how long you keep it in the heating implement of your choice. 

Type of Pie

Many things can affect the best method for reheating your pie. Does it have one crust, or two? What are the contents? If it’s a dense filling, like thinly layered apples or potatoes (quiche counts as pie, okay?!), it may be prone to reheating unevenly. 

Is it already sliced? You may need to cover any cut edges in aluminum foil (NOT in the microwave!) to prevent the delicious contents of your pie from spilling out everywhere. 

Amount of Pie 

If you’re reheating an entire pie, you’re going to want to use a longer, slower cooking method, to ensure that all of the pie is heated evenly without scorching any part of it.

Just one slice can probably be popped into the microwave for a few seconds at a time – just be careful not to overcook it, because the method of heating microwaves use tend to turn pastry dough hard or gummy. 

Tool You’re Using 

There are a vast number of kitchen gadgets you can use to reheat a pie or slice of pie. You can even throw a slice in the skillet if you’re feeling quirky about it.

The most common and effective ways include the oven, an air fryer, or the microwave. 

How to Reheat Pie Using An Oven 

Most pie enthusiasts recommend this method for warming your leftover cold pie. The oven evenly warms your midnight snack, whether it’s a single slice or a whole pie, and preserves the texture of the filling and pastry alike. 

Directions: Preheat your oven to 350 F or about 180 C. Put down foil or parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Place your pie on the sheet, and lightly cover it with foil.

You can also use the foil to hold in contents if the pie is sliced. For a 9-inch pie, cook for 15-20 minutes. A 5-inch pie will take about 12-15 minutes and a single slice will take about 10-12 minutes. 

How to Reheat Pie Using an Airfryer 

Air fryers can do just about anything, can’t they? Everything from veggies to main dishes to desserts can be cooked to perfection in these trendy contraptions.

Air fryers are known to give their ingredients a nice, crispy texture, therefore that can be an advantage when re-heating pie. 

Directions: Preheat your air fryer to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line your fryer basket with foil or parchment paper. Place your pie pieces in the air fryer basket, leaving enough room around each one. Cook the pie for 4-5 minutes, or until it is well warmed. 

Serve the slices hot from the air fryer. A word of caution: Your pastry may rapidly dry out if you use an air fryer. Keep a watch on the air fryer and don’t leave it unattended for the best results.

How to Reheat Pie Using a Microwave 

While it is possible to use a microwave to reheat a pie or a slice of pie, it is not the preferred method, because the rapid reheating doesn’t do any favors for the pastry.

This is a fine method if you’re not in the mood to wait for your oven or air fryer to preheat, therefore keep in mind that you may sacrifice some delicious pie texture for convenience.

Your pastry may be soggy or alternately, unpleasantly chewy if you cook it a bit too long. 

Admittedly, this is the way that I personally tend to reheat pie when it’s just a slice for myself. It’s quick and easy. A reheated slice of apple pie with a scoop of ice cream is heaven for a late-night snack.

To reheat one piece of pie, place it on a microwave-safe plate and heat in 15-second increments. If you find you are nearing your desired pie temperature, decrease it to 10-second increments. If your microwave doesn’t have a rotating plate, you will want to turn your pie around every interval to cook it evenly. 

To reheat a larger amount of pie, place it on a microwave-safe plate and heat it at 50% power for 2-4 minutes, depending on size.

It is not recommended to reheat a whole pie in the microwave, however, because it is likely to heat unevenly, leaving you with cold spots and other bites that will scald your tastebuds. 

How to Avoid Burning Pie 

The best way to avoid burning the fragile pastry of your pie crust is to keep your heating low and slow and check on the progress at regular intervals. 

It might take a little bit longer, however using the oven or air fryer to reheat the pie will have the best results: crisp, flaky crust, and delectably warm filling upon which ice cream will melt just right. 

You could also eat your leftover pie cold, but what would be the fun in that? 

We hope this information will help you to be able to preserve the pie’s intended textures and enjoy it at the temperature you hoped for! 

Heating Up Frozen Pie

Let’s say that you have frozen apple pie or even leftover apple pie that you froze in a freezer bag. In order to avoid a soggy pie and to achieve even heat, you will want to use a conventional oven to heat it up.

A microwave just doesn’t have the right and even amount of heat to achieve what you want.

Just place the pie in a preheated oven and you’ll get a nice crispy crust with warm and gooey pie filling.

Place an oven tray under the bottom of the pie, place an oven tray about 10-15 minutes before it’s cooked to avoid burning the bottom crust, or just halfway through the cooking time.

Final Thoughts

Pie is one of my all-time favorite foods, both fresh and reheated. I’ve been known to request an apple pie slice for my birthday instead of a birthday cake.

The simple steps listed above will help you to reheat your leftover pie without it turning into a soggy mess.

Just remember that using a regular oven is likely to be your best bet for achieving the best result. This is true for baked frozen pies too.

Otherwise, there’s the risk of a soggy crust.

If that’s not a bother for you then try the other different methods, but the oven is generally the best option if you have the patience for it.

Alternatively, cold apple pie is pretty delicious too!