13 Ways To Upgrade Your Little Caesars Pizza At Home

Just because you buy a cheap Little Caesars pizza, doesn't mean you have to eat a cheap Little Caesars pizza. These basic, affordable pies might make sense money-wise, but they can be disappointing when it comes to finding fantastic flavor inside the box. The good news is Little Caesars standard selections can be the springboard for add-on toppings that lift a simple starter pizza into the realm of gourmet magic. All it takes is a bit of creativity and a few extra tidbits to get the pizza party rolling in the right direction.

We've put together a primer of premium possibilities for upgrading your Little Caesars pizza with thoughtful topping combinations that put flavor back on the menu. Some take no more trouble than opening your refrigerator or pantry, while others require a stop at the grocery store and a little extra kitchen labor. If you're looking to take your bargain pie into bougie territory, these creative blends just might be the thing you need to turn your Little Caesars pizza into a big deal of an affordable meal.

There's no rule that says you have to settle for the cheese that Little Caesars puts on your pizza. If you're a fromage connoisseur who loves flavors beyond the basics, or just a cheese fiend who needs their pie to be extra-extra, you have the freedom to fine-tune your final pie by piling on more of the shredded stuff. And no cheeses bring a basic pie closer to the heart of the Italian legacy of fantastic pizza than a mix of mozzarella and parmesan.

Fresh mozzarella in whatever form Little Caesars opts for may be what comes as standard with your order, but adding even more wouldn't be a mistake if you're looking for bigger flavor. Not only does it up the cheese factor exponentially, it may refresh a pizza that's been sitting in the shop, in the car, and on the counter while making its way to the dinner table. And springing for fresh parmesan rather than the shakable green Kraft will show you the difference having real parmesan on your pizza can make. In fact, once you do this fresh-cheese double, you have the fixings for a full-bore culinary celebration. Add your desired quantities of each to your pizza and apply extra heat in a 250 degree oven for a few minutes to make it melt.

Little Caesars isn't the first place that springs to mind when you're thinking about elegant pizza creations. This means you'll have to take matters into your own hands if you want something a little more upmarket when it's pizza time. It's a relief to have easy-to-reach options like artichoke hearts and spinach to add an exquisite stroke to an ordinary pie without having to consult a YouTube DIY or apply for culinary school. All you need is a few store bought items and an extra minute or two before serving your sneaky upgraded preparation.

Spruce up a simple pie with a can of artichoke hearts that can be had for less than $3.00. Fresh spinach is best for the purpose of pizza-primping, but you can go with canned or frozen if you prefer a more kitchen-handy version of this sturdy green. Create an even distribution of both elements over your chosen pizza to allow the whole pie a chance at glory. If your finished creation seems to need a little more oomph, try a light drizzle of olive oil to make things glossier or a few spoonfuls of jarred garlic for a powerful punch that melds perfectly with the other ingredients.

A pizza can never be too Italian, especially one from a chain named for one of the world's best-known Roman emperors. Choosing optional toppings to take your Little Caesars selection into more Mediterranean territory is as easy as grabbing bottles of sun-dried tomatoes and green olives. These natural wonders will bring sunshine flavors to an otherwise ordinary dough-sauce-and-cheese combo and help it better represent its proud heritage.

You probably won't have sun-dried tomatoes just sitting around the house with your usual grocery fare (though if you do, good on ya!), so you'll want to pick up a package for the occasion. Walmart has a can of julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes that are ready to go for just over the $3.00 mark. Green olives are usually about $2.00 a jar wherever you can find them, though if you have them in your fridge already, you're ahead of the game. Spread out as much or as little of each as your taste buds tell you to. Whatever concentration you choose, you'll have a sprightly pie that'll do its regional forebears proud.

Few ingredients offer as bright a blast of flavor as roasted red peppers and pesto. The exciting dance between smoky sweet and zesty zing is a party for pizza lovers who need a slice that turns up the volume on the basic track with a few power players who know how to hit the high notes. Strike the snooze factor from your assembly-line pies with strips of roasted red peppers and a few spoonfuls of vivacious pesto, and this should wake up your sleeping pizza with minimal fuss. You can find jarred red peppers in chain stores or specialty shops, though they may exceed your pizza build-out budget. Instead, pick up a few whole red peppers, slice them up and lay them on a baking sheet brushed with oil. Stick them in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until they soften and the skin starts to char. Take them out, let them cool a bit, and pop them on your pizza.

Pesto is an easy homemade mash, too. All you need is a green like cilantro or basil, a bit of olive oil, garlic, and pine nuts (though almonds or walnuts substitute nicely), plus some parmesan and salt. Blitz everything in the blender until it turns into a paste, then spoon it over your pie strategically so every slice gets a generous portion, and it's ready to go. 

Sometimes, your pizza just needs a little more of the flavors that are already present in a Little Caesars value pie. An easy way to light a fire under a pitifully plain pizza is to add fun fire-roasted flavor to the top. Fire-roasted tomatoes and basil form a loving partnership that's sure to turn a bland bit of pizza into a festival of phenomenal flavor that suits the theme of properly-prepared Italian fare — even if that fare began as a Little Caesars discount dinner.

You'll find cans of fire-roasted tomatoes at most major grocery chains for around $1.00 a pop, which will provide you with plenty for topping a few pies. If you're feeling ambitious, you can roast fresh tomatoes by brushing the tops with a little olive oil, giving them a sprinkle of salt and sliding them onto the grill or into a 450 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until you see the skins have browned to your liking. You may have a basil plant at home that can share a handful of leaves for the cause. If not, you'll find packets in the produce section with enough basil to supply vibrant flavor to your Little Caesars starter pie. Lay them on whole or snip them into ribbons to make them go further.

Veggie pizza usually shows up with fresh vegetables sliced up and tossed on top to cook with the pizza itself, resulting in soggy bits that don't have as much flavor as they could. If your Little Caesars order needs a big step-up in the taste department, sizzling up some sautéed mushrooms and caramelized onions will best the usual veggie selections by a country mile. Even better, this topping trick fills your house with the fragrance of a luxury pizzeria, which may fool your family into thinking you've become a gourmet chef in your free time.

A carton of fresh mushrooms will run you between $3.00 and $5.00 at most major stores, though you may already have some on hand from your previous culinary adventures. A large yellow onion is best for getting the right flavor for your pizza. Add a bit of oil to a frying pan and add the onions, heating them on medium until they turn transparent. Then, toss in your sliced mushrooms and continue cooking until they soften and the onions reach the sweet caramelized stage. A sprinkle of salt or garlic powder will only make matters more flavorful. Spread the finished blend over your pizza as desired and watch your dining life change for the better.

Turning a cut-rate pie into a heartier dish can be as simple as recreating a pizzeria-style barbecue chicken pizza with your own home-based components. If you have a bottle of your preferred barbecue sauce in the fridge, give your Little Caesars a swipe of satisfying sweet hickory smoke right over the cheese. It'll complement the tomato sauce and cheese blend deliciously without requiring any specialized culinary artistry. And with roasted chicken showing up to lend its voice to the flavor choir, you'll have a pizza that makes sweet supper harmony for you and your family.

You already know you can find rotisserie chickens waiting to fly the coop at Costco, Walmart and grocery stores in your area for around the $5.00 mark. Grab one of those on your way home from Little Caesars and shred it into bite-sized pieces to distribute over your pie. Make sure each bite has its own unique blend of your additional topping array and reheat the pie in a 250 degree oven for a few minutes to freshen it up. Then, dig into a slice and watch — or taste — the sparks fly.

Let's be real: Not everyone wants to spend extra to get their pizza up to speed. You're already eating cheap and easy with a pie from a discount chain as it is. Any extra cash doled out to dress it up could end up netting you in the negative. But you may have a few possibilities in your fridge and freezer already — staple items that give you options for bringing your pie up a notch or two. And since ranch dressing is a kitchen staple and bacon may be a part of your usual cache, you have a dynamic duo that's ready to go at a moment's notice without having to spend another cent.

You already know how delicious a ranch dressing is for pizza, no matter which chain you grab it from. So jazzing up Little Caesars simplicity with a blast of buttermilk-based bliss is a no-brainer. Squeeze your desired quantity in a pleasing pattern right on top of the cheese. Fry a little bacon in a pan or zap it in the microwave and break it into whatever size pieces you like best; this is your culinary art project, after all, and you make the rules. If you're a super ranch rider, drop a little dressing in a dish to dip your finished pizza project in for even more flavorful fun.

Maybe you have a little Little Caesars left over from the night before that's calling your name by the dawn's early light. Turning it into a breakfast pizza lets you devour it before it sits too long in the fridge and gives you a chance to reinvent a supper standard as a morning morsel with just a little extra fuss in the kitchen.

You're likely to have eggs in your fridge door already, but if you need to swing by the store to grab some for the occasion, you'll find six-packs at prices that may vary due to the ever-erratic egg market. A bag of frozen shredded hash browns can be had for as little as $3.50 or so at Walmart and can stick around after the pizza party for future breakfasts. Fry up the hash browns per the package instructions first, then use the same pan to sizzle up a scrambled egg accent for your pie. Don't forget to sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper to put on the full flavor spectacle.

Once they're ready, scatter the hash and eggs over your pizza as you see fit and take a slice or two for the ride to work. Best of all, it works as a breakfast-for-supper situation if you prefer that instead.

Surely the flavors of the Southwest belong on a Little Caesars pizza as much as any other ingredients; the savory mix of cheese and tomato sauce are just the basics of taco culture laid out on a chewy crust instead of folded into a crunchy shell. All it takes to turn your pie into a giant open-face taco is a bit of kitchen time, a few extra ingredients, and a sense of curiosity for the flavorful heights a mid-level pizza can achieve.

You can use leftover ground beef from a previous meal spiced up with a bit of cumin, onion and garlic powders, and a little chili powder for super spiciness. If you're starting from scratch, brown a package of ground beef or beef substitute and flavor it with the same seasonings. Spread the beef crumbles over your pizza, then apply grated cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and a few dollops of sour cream to replicate the tried-and-true taco team-up. You can even crumble a handful of tortilla chips to give the scenario a bit of welcome crunch. And voilà, your Little Caesars gets a creative spin everyone will love.

Consider this: You've lined up a party menu where chain-bought pizza shares the countertop spread with crock-pot classics. The aromas merge to entice your guests to the layout, but they arrive to find that it's just a naked Little Caesars pizza, its box resting near the real source of the flavor, succulent shreds of slow-cooker pork infused with the earthy oomph of green chiles. Luckily, there's no law stopping you from moving the contents of the crock-pot to the top of your pizza for a blend destined to bend minds and win hearts.

Maybe the best part of this Little Caesars lifter is dropping a pork roast into your slow cooker and letting it cook all on its own. You can add the green chiles to the pot to flavor the whole recipe or offer them separately to give guests control of the combination. Either way, be sure your elements are shredded and cut into bite-size morsels to make for easy assembly and clean consumption of this customizable pizza creation. You might also provide a dish of Monterey Jack nearby to offer the option of a final cheese topper that matches the mode of the pork and chiles. You'll have your party-goers eating out of the palm of your hand — better yet, you'll have them eating out of the Little Caesars box.

Eaters who aren't easily excited by simple upgrades may need to go further out on a limb to get their Little Caesars lively enough to enjoy. Picky pizza lovers like this are the reason cilantro and Thai chilis exist as an unexpectedly powerful topping duo that gets your pie fired up phenomenally. A bit of leafy green herbal freshness sharing the surface with a perky pepper popping with personality is the flavor friendship that turns a typical pizza into a premium pie topped in tempting Thai-style.

This may be one of the least expensive upgrades, too. Thai chilis cost around $3.00 for a four-ounce clamshell at Walmart, and cilantro is usually about 50 cents a bunch at most grocery stores with a fleshed-out produce section. Since both of these ingredients can be acquired tastes, be judicious when doling them out over your Little Caesars pie. They're both fresh toppings that don't require cooking, so it's easy enough to provide small ramekins with each selection to allow your friends and family to decide the right amount for their sensibilities. If you're a heat-and-herb lover, though? Go wild and pile on as much as you like.

Looking for an even bolder way to capture true Thai flavor? Heat up some creamy peanut butter with soy sauce and garlic powder for a peanut sauce that'll level up the authenticity.

Artisan pizza shops don't have a lock on upscale flavor combinations, you know. You can create an inspired pie out of a lowly Little Caesars order using options inspired by more high-end sensibilities. Seafood pizza is a coastal creation that captures the spirit of artisan pizza craft you can recreate in your own kitchen for a fraction of the cost. Plus, you'll have extras left over to make multiple meals.

This one may take a little more effort to pull off, but it's an exceptional combination that gives your simple pie a restaurant-level makeover delicious enough to fool even the most discerning diners. At around $8.00 a pound, you can pick up fresh shrimp for the occasion; if you prefer frozen, you can find bags of pre-cooked, deveined shrimp for a few dollars more that make the preparation quicker and easier. Roast a bulb of garlic drizzled with olive oil and wrapped in foil in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes to get the flesh perfectly tender and supremely smoky. Add your accoutrements to your pizza in quantities that make you happy, pour a glass of your favorite wine, and toast your pizza upgrade triumph.