14 Surprising Foods to Cook on Your Pizza Stone

If you have a pizza stone, then you know what a game changer it can be when making pizza at home. The crust crisps up so nicely, everything cooks evenly (so there aren’t parts of the crust that are burnt while the other side is still barely cooked), and the taste just can’t be beat. Once you’ve started cooking your pizza on a stone, it’s hard to imagine going back to using an aluminum baking sheet. Did you know that your pizza stone can be a similar game-changer for so much more than just pizza?

Stoneware heats evenly and does a much better job at retaining that heat than metal baking dishes. It is also non-porous, so it doesn’t absorb odors or transfer flavors between different food items. These properties make it an exceptional cooking surface for more than just pizza. Below, we’ll share some of these unexpected foods you’ll want to start cooking on your pizza stone. Get ready to revolutionize your results and experiences in the kitchen.

When you want the best roast chicken thighs, break out that pizza stone. With its cooking properties, a pizza stone is the ideal surface for preparing chicken thighs. Because of its ability to retain heat — and evenly distribute it — you’ll find that your thighs cook much more evenly than they would on a metal baking pan. The other benefit of using a pizza stone for your chicken thighs is how perfectly browned and crispy the skin will turn out. With their porous surface, more steam and moisture evaporate when you cook on a stone. Conversely, with a metal pan, this excess moisture will remain on both the surface of the pan and the chicken thighs themselves. Too much moisture will interfere with the skin crisping up.

You can use your favorite chicken thighs recipe and simply cook it on stoneware instead of the pan you regularly use. Depending on the additional ingredients you add to your chicken — and how brothy or saucy they are — you might want to consider a stoneware baking pan with edges. This way, the excess liquid won’t run off the side of the pan as your recipe is cooking in the oven.

Cookies and pizza may seem like two very different foods, so it may seem like a bit of a stretch to cook them on the same type of baking pan. However, when you think about it, they actually share several similarities. We want our cookies to come out of the oven baked to perfection — not to have a burnt bottom with a top that is still undercooked. If you’ve ever baked cookies on a metal baking dish, then you know that this happens sometimes. Metal pans don’t conduct heat or distribute it evenly, which can lead to that sad, unevenly-baked cookie. Pizza stones, on the other hand, do distribute heat evenly. This means that the top and the bottom of each cookie will also bake evenly, making it much easier to remove them when they are browned to match your preferences.

If you like your cookies on the crispier side, you’ll find that much easier to achieve with a pizza stone as well. Between the even heat distribution and the fact that more steam and moisture evaporate, the cookies will become perfectly crisp with just a few additional minutes in the oven. Suddenly those cookies that are the perfect mix of crispy and chewy are a reality, not some fantasy that you’re never able to achieve.On the other hand, if you try to leave a metal baking pan in for a few more minutes that the recipe calls for, they’ll be crisp too — but, more like burnt to a crisp. Yuck.

Bread is another food that can taste incredible or just blah depending on how it comes out of the oven. There is something to be said about a loaf of bread with a crusty exterior and a warm, soft interior. Unfortunately, metal baking pans — particularly dark metal pans — can stand in the way of achieving such perfection. Dark metal pans absorb a lot of heat. This can cause the crust of the bread to bake more quickly than the center. You’re likely to end up with a crispy (or even burnt crust), while the middle of the loaf isn’t cooked.

Instead, turn to the baking tool that will give you crispier bread crust without sacrificing the taste of the loaf as a whole — your pizza stone. You can also use it for other bread-like items, such as rolls and biscuits, for similar benefits. The even heat distribution and heat retention will mimic the results of a brick oven. The entire loaf will bake evenly, leaving you with that desirable combination of crispy crust with a soft inside. You can stick with your favorite recipe for bread or rolls and simply cook it on the pizza stone for about the same amount of time as you would on a metal pan.

Believe it or not, a pizza stone is also the unlikely key to ultra crisp chips — made right in your own oven. That even heat distribution of a pizza stone once again comes into play here. Each of those thin potato slices will bake evenly. And, with the reduced moisture around the baking sheet and the potato slices, they’ll also turn out crispy — not soggy — which is precisely what you want when making homemade chips.

Making your own chips offers a healthier alternative to buying them at the store. You’re in control of how much oil, salt, and other ingredients you add. It also opens up the door to creativity, allowing you to experiment with different seasonings and flavor combinations. If you don’t have one already, consider investing in a mandoline — like this handheld mandoline from OXO Good Grips — to make sure you have thin and evenly-sliced potatoes for the best results.

If you haven’t roasted vegetables on a stone, have you really ever roasted them at all? If you think about what defines a “good” roasted vegetable, then it should be pretty clear why pizza stones are one of the best cooking surfaces for them. Most of us are looking for our roasted veggies to offer the ideal mix of a soft and flavorful inside with a slightly crispy and crunchy exterior. Sounds about right? Well, the cooking properties of a stone can help make this dream a reality. The veggies cook evenly, ensuring that their insides are soft, without being complete mush. Moreover, since the excess moisture evaporates from the non-porous surface, the outsides are simultaneously able to brown and crisp up beautifully.

Roasting veggies on a stone is also easy. All you need to do is wash and trim them as you would for other roasting methods. Then, drizzle a little olive oil and your favorite seasonings over the veggies. Toss them to coat and spread them out over the surface (make sure they have ample space around them to ensure they cook properly and are able to develop that crispy exterior). Finally, put them in a preheated oven, typically between 425 F and 450 F, and roast for about 25 to 45 minutes. Harder vegetables, such as carrots or butternut squash, will need to cook longer than mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and other softer veggies.

Have you noticed that refrigerated biscuits, crescent rolls, and cinnamon rolls don’t always turn out right when you bake them on a metal pan? Sometimes, the bottoms are burnt. Other times, the center is still doughy and undercooked. Still other times, they are overly dry and very unappetizing. If you’ve experienced any of these refrigerated dough woes, it is time to swap out your metal baking sheet for a pizza stone.

The even heating properties of a stone are just what these quick baked goods need to turn out just how you’re expecting them too. No more burnt bottoms and undercooked centers, instead the entire cinnamon roll, biscuit, or crescent roll will come out of the oven with a consistent temperature. If you’ve explored other ways to use canned crescent rolls — such as making pigs in a blanket, taco rings, or even DIY hot pockets — all of those recipe ideals will also turn out better when they’re cooked on a pizza stone.

Sure, you can always cook a quesadilla on the stovetop. However, sometimes you might not feel like standing over the burner. Other times, you may need that skillet to prepare a side dish. Instead, pull out that pizza stone and put it to good use. Not only will the quesadilla bake evenly, it will also come out of the oven with a crispy exterior. Excess moisture won’t collect on the base of the pizza stone as it cooks — no soggy and disappointing quesadillas here.

Preheating the stone is one key to ensuring the quesadilla is cooked just right. Quesadillas are relatively thin, so they don’t need the longer cook times that other items do. If the stone is already hot when you put the cheese-filled tortillas on it, it will be able to deliver those crispy edges that you crave. Plus, the whole thing should cook more quickly and be ready for you to enjoy sooner.

Frozen chicken nuggets allow you to cook up a hot meal quickly and with no pre-planning. You don’t have to thaw them or do anything to get them into the oven. However, as quick and easy as they are to make, frozen nuggets often emerge from the oven soggy and not as appetizing as you were hoping. As the ice crystals start to melt, the breading on the nuggets gets moist. This excess moisture prevents the breading from getting crispy. Sad.

Once you try cooking your frozen nuggets on a pizza stone, you’ll never go back. Remember how the porous nature of a pizza stone causes excess steam and moisture to evaporate? Well, that’s precisely what is needed to prevent it from accumulating on the breading of the nuggets. As a result, the nuggets will be able to brown evenly and develop a crispy exterior to go with their soft and delicious interior. The even cooking of the stone also means that you won’t have to remember to flip the nuggets half-way through the cooking time, as you would when cooking on a metal pan.

Frozen nuggets aren’t the only frozen food you should be cooking on your pizza stone. It can also help you make the most incredible fries out of a bag from the freezer. As with nuggets, anytime you cook frozen fries on a metal baking sheet, you run the risk of them turning out soggy. They just absorb too much of the moisture that is released as the ice crystals melt. And, on those occasions when frozen fries don’t come out of the oven overly soggy, some often emerge overcooked. The pans don’t heat evenly, so there are often hot spots that cause a few fries to become burnt to a crisp.

Trust us, and try cooking frozen fries on your pizza stone from now on. The excess moisture will evaporate and there won’t be those random hot spots all over the pan. Instead, each fry will be cooked just right. If you prefer your fries to be extra crispy, you can even leave the pizza stone in the oven for a few additional minutes to get the outside crunchier, without the imminent threat of the entire tray coming out burnt. One quick note: Any time you cook fries or other frozen foods on your stone, you’ll want to be sure to evenly distribute them over the entire surface. Not only will this give them plenty of space to crisp up, but it will also protect the stone from going through extreme temperature changes if the frozen items are concentrated over a smaller section of it.

What’s your definition of the perfect grilled cheese sandwich? Does it have beautifully-browned slices of bread? What about an ooey and gooey cheesy center? If this sounds like the ideal grilled cheese sandwich to you, then it is probably time that you try cooking the sandwich on a pizza stone — especially when you want to make more than one or two sandwiches at a time. Cooking grilled cheese on the stovetop can work, but you are limited by the number of pieces of bread that will fit in your frying pan. Not to mention how quickly the crust can turn from “not quite done yet,” to “woops, I burnt it!”

Cooking your grilled cheese on a pizza stone eliminates both of these problems. You’ll have adequate space to cook several sandwiches at the same time. And, since the stone heats evenly, you won’t have the same concerns of the bread coming out burnt to a crisp. If you’re going to try cooking grilled cheese on a stone, start by brushing some melted butter on both sides of each slice of bread. Then, layer a few of your favorite slices of cheese in between them, and bake in a 400 F oven for several minutes.

Pizza isn’t only for lunch or dinner. You can make some pretty incredible dessert pizzas on your pizza stone. Instead of the traditional doughy crust, opt for something sweeter, such as cookie dough or crushed graham crackers or Oreos mixed with melted butter (like you would do to make a homemade pie crust). In the same way that the stone helps ensure regular pizza dough bakes evenly, without any burnt or undercooked portions, the stone will help the sweeter crust cook to perfection.

The ideal “sauce” and toppings for a dessert pizza will also look different, obviously. Consider making a cream cheese icing, whipped cream frosting, or rich chocolate ganache as a sauce for the pizza. Then, you can top it with chopped cookies, chocolate pieces, or fresh fruit. There is one key difference to keep in mind when baking a dessert pizza on a stone. While you add the sauce and toppings to standard pizzas before baking them, you’ll want to wait to top your dessert pizza (in most cases) until the crust bakes. Many of the sauces and toppings for dessert pizza are already cooked and will melt, burn, or spread out too much if baked on the crust.

If you like ordering chicken Parmesan from an Italian restaurant, but always end up disappointed when you try to make it at home, your recipe may not be to blame. Instead, it could be the cooking pan that you’re using. It’s easy to burn chicken Parmesan when you cook it on a metal pan. Especially right at the base, where the melting cheese and hot sauce always seem to get stuck to the pan, leaving that unsightly burn ring when you remove the chicken breast.

Stones, once again, will be a much friendlier option to ensure your chicken Parmesan turns out as desired. With the even heating, the sauce and cheese are less likely to get burnt and stuck on the pan. Plus, as the excess moisture absorbs, you’ll find that the crispy coating that your chicken started with actually stays crispy. If you’ve attempted this recipe at home before, chances are that the breading turned out pretty soggy.

Sometimes you want something sweet for dessert, but also don’t want to over-indulge. Let a pizza stone help you bake some pears or apples for a satisfying, yet healthy treat. You’ll find that the fruit comes out soft (no pesky hard sections mixed in) and flavorful thanks to the even heat distribution of stoneware.

Ready to give this recipe idea a try? There are a few different options you might want to try. One is to peel and then cut the apples or pears into chunks. After baking them at 375 F for 35 to 40 minutes, remove them from the stone and (if desired) sprinkle them with a mixture of cinnamon sugar. This baking method will create a mock apple-pie filling. Another option is to leave the apples or pears whole when baking them. Carefully remove most of the core and fill the resulting hole with some cinnamon and sugar (or even raisins or nuts). Be sure to leave the bottom portion of the core in tack so that the sugary goodness stays in place to infuse flavor throughout the apple or pear. Since these are whole, they’ll take a bit longer to bake. Aim to check them after about 45 minutes.

Many people make mistakes when reheating their leftovers. One of the biggest mistakes is using the wrong types of cooking tools or appliances to reheat them. When reheating many types of leftovers, a pizza will likely become your new best friend. Think about some of your common complaints about reheated food. It either turns out soggy, isn’t as crispy as it was when it was fresh, or dries out and ends up lacking flavor.

Now do you see how a pizza stone can help? For those crispy foods — such as fried chicken, french fries, roasted vegetables, and (of course) pizza — the stone can help prevent them from a soggy fate. The evaporation of the excess moisture and steam will leave the breading and crusts of these items dry, letting them redevelop that crunch that made them so good in the first place. If you’re worried about a chicken breast or the meat in your hot Italian sandwich drying out in the microwave, a pizza stone can also help. Their even heat distribution will prevent those hot spots and uneven cooking that microwaves are notoriously guilty of. Give your pizza stone a try the next time you want to heat up leftovers and actually enjoy eating them for the second time.