The Easy Chef-Approved Way to Make Frozen Pizza Taste Like It Came From a Fancy Pizza Shop

I've been known to upgrade boxed brownies with red wine and make the fanciest iced coffees with just a splash of vanilla extract. As someone who loves to eat well on a budget (and also save time), I'm always on the hunt to find easy ways to make store-bought food better.

But I must admit, not all grocery store items are capable of a complete transformation. One prime example? Frozen pizza. I've tried adding a mountain of cheese and layering on the freshest vegetables and gourmet cured meats, but at its heart, it was still a frozen pizza.

Sure, it's convenient and makes an ok dinner with a side salad, but frozen could never taste like it came from a local pizza restaurant—or so I thought. I recently came upon a chef-approved trick that turns frozen pizza into a fancy pizzeria pie with the stroke of a brush: homemade garlic butter.

Related: The 5 Best Frozen Cauliflower Crust Pizzas You Can Find At the Grocery Store

How to Make Pizza With A Garlic Butter Crust

I learned of this clever trick from chef Max Hardy, the owner of Jed's Pizza in Detroit, and from pizza pros over at Ooni Pizza Oven. Instead of popping a frozen pizza in the oven, untouched, make a simple homemade garlic butter and brush it around the crust.

How do I make garlic butter, you ask? I follow the lead of this copycat Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuit recipe and make a simple mixture of melted butter, garlic powder, onion powder and dried parsley. You can brush the crust with the butter before or after it comes out of the oven, but I prefer the garlic bread method, which means the crust gets a buttery brushing both before and after baking for maximum flavor.

If you're the type of person who leaves crusts uneaten on your plate, prepare to have your frozen pizza life changed for the better.

Related: 7 Fan-Favorite Aldi Pizza Hacks to Upgrade Pizza Night

Other Chef-Approved  Tricks for Better Frozen Pizza

In case the garlic butter trick got you inspired, here are a few more easy, chef-approved ways to upgrade your frozen pizza.

1. Follow the lead of Top Chef Kristen Kish and salt fresh mozzarella before adding it to your pizza.

2. Crank up the heat. The intense temperature of the oven's highest setting will perfectly melt the cheese and produce the crispiest garlic butter crust.

Up next: Martha Stewart Just Cracked the Code to Making the Perfect Garlic Bread