It’s so quick and easy to make pizza in your air fryer, and using a premade crust makes it all the more simple! This recipe covers two styles of pizza : margherita style with fresh mozzarella, or a pizza with toppings and pre-shredded mozzarella. Once you get the knack of it, you will have the perfect go-to weeknight dinner that you can customize to your family’s tastes!

So this was one of the reasons I ended up purchasing a newer, larger air fryer recently. Pizza! Air fryers are perfect for making small / individual sized pizzas. They preheat fast, cook the pizza in a matter of minutes, and you can make it exactly how you like it.

You’ll note my photos show two pizzas, a margherita style pizza with fresh mozzarella and a loaded veggie pizza with crispier cheese. These are different styles of pizza, with different cook temperatures and times, but they both work great here.

By keeping the right ingredients in the house at all times, you can conjure up pizzas whenever you need to. And they can reflect the other contents of your fridge too – if you have a few vegetables that need using up, a different cheese you like to add, a little pesto left in the jar, whatever it might be that day.

The Pizza Bases need to be ready baked

When I talk premade pizza crust, I am referring to the shelf stable packed pre-baked crusts. They look kind of similar to naan bread. These tend to be the right size to fit into a larger air fryer (5 liters plus) which is why they are so perfect.

You can find these in supermarkets across the UK, and a little sleuth work makes it look like they’re easy enough to find in the US and Canada (Costco, Walmart etc), as well as Australia and New Zealand (Woolworths and its owned stores).

They’re thinner crust (but not the super thin style you get from restaurants)

The mozzarella you choose will determine the cook time and temperature

  • To make a margherita style pizza (pictured on the left) with fresh, high moisture mozzarella (the stuff you get as a ball packed in water) you will need to cook your pizza longer, at a higher temperature.
  • Using shredded mozzarella for that crispy super stretchy cheese, you need a really short cooking time because that cheese browns really fast.

Toppings can be a flight risk in the air fryer

The strong fans of the air fryer can send shredded cheese, toppings and anything lightweight flying around your air fryer and burning into the elements. I have noticed this less with my larger air fryer than my older smaller one. But it’s worth being prepared and trying to stop it from happening just in case:

  • If using shredded mozzarella, I like to hide my toppings under the cheese in small pieces, and then kind of press the cheese down as much as possible to make it stick to the sauce and to the other pieces.
  • If you have large, light objects such as pepperoni on top, you might use toothpicks to stake them down.
  • If your air fryer is particularly blowy, you’re probably better off using fresh mozzarella which is added in large slices and too heavy to blow away.

Do you need to precook the base?

It’s optional. These bases are already precooked to a degree, and they taste great even if you just assemble the pizzas and cook them all in one go.

But if you like a more crispy crust, precooking for a few minutes can be nice. Especially if you’re using shredded cheese which has a lower cook time. The cheese browns really fast, so you may be taking it out quicker than is optimal for the crust. It may then be a little more “bready” than you like.

Sometimes your workflow just doesn’t allow for the extra step. If you’re making more than one pizza and want to keep them coming while you eat, you don’t need to be dealing with the precooking which stops you prepping them all in advance. So try it, and see what you think. Different brands will come out different too.

Pizza Inspo

We love pizza around here! Playing with different types of cheese and toppings is so much fun. All of these recipes can be adapted to the air fryer, taking note of the type of cheese and guiding your cook time accordingly.

Air Fryer Pizza with Premade Crust

It's so quick and easy to make pizza in your air fryer, and using a premade crust makes it all the more simple! This recipe covers two styles of pizza : margherita style with fresh mozzarella, or a pizza with toppings and pre-shredded mozzarella. Once you get the knack of it, you will have the perfect go-to weeknight dinner that you can customize to your family's tastes!
5 from 1 rating

Ingredients

  • 1 pizza base
  • pizza sauce, to taste
  • 1-2 handfuls mozzarella cheese, or 1 ball of fresh mozzarella
  • chopped veggies or other optional toppings
  • optional fresh basil leaves

Instructions 

  • Optional but recommended: Preheat your base. Cook the base for 3 minutes at 190C / 375F, flipping it once in the middle of the cook time.
  • Spread sauce across the base.
  • If you're using shredded cheese: Add the toppings and cheese, and press everything into the sauce as best you can. Cook at 180C / 355F for 4-5 minutes, until the cheese is browned to your liking.
  • If you're using fresh mozzarella: arrange your mozzarella slices on top of the pizza. It is likely you won't use the whole ball, so you may have a couple slices left over. Cook at 190C / 375F for 9 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling and starting to brown.
  • Use a spatula to lift the pizza out of the air fryer. Add fresh basil leaves to the top, slice and serve.

Notes

Nutritional information is based on 1 pizza with sauce and fresh mozzarella only.
Calories: 607kcal, Carbohydrates: 57g, Protein: 33g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 16g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 79mg, Sodium: 1353mg, Potassium: 165mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 806IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 609mg, Iron: 4mg