9 Inch Pizza Boxes for Small Pizzas and Sharers

Who sells 9 inch pizzas?

The 9 inch pizza sits at the small end of a takeaway menu. It feeds one person, or two people sharing beside a bigger order.

Takeaways and pizzerias use it for kids' meals and lunch deals. Pubs list it on the bar menu as a sharer. Street food vans and market stalls like it because a small base bakes quickly and is easy to eat standing up.

A box made for this size gives each of those orders a snug home, so the pizza does not slide around on the way out of the door.

• Kids' meals and lunch deals in takeaways and pizzerias
• Sharers and starters on pub bar menus
• Single orders from street food vans and market stalls
• One-person meal deals and dessert pizzas from dark kitchens

If your menu runs from small to large, see the full range of pizza boxes by size.

What size box does a 9 inch pizza need?

A 9 inch pizza (229 mm) goes in a box 9.25 x 9.25 x 1.75 in (235 x 235 x 44 mm). That is the standard UK takeaway size, measured inside.

The extra quarter inch on each side matters. It gives the crust room and lets the pizza leave the peel or screen without the edge folding up against a wall.

Go tighter and the toppings smear on the lid as you close it. Go bigger and the pizza shifts every time the box tilts.

Our guide to pizza box sizes in inches and mm lists every standard size side by side.

Which board suits a 9 inch pizza box?

Most 9 inch boxes are made in E-flute, which is about 1.5 mm thick. A small pizza is light and the lid has a short span, so the thinner wall keeps its shape well.

E-flute also folds with crisp corners and takes print sharply, which helps when a logo has fine lines.

B-flute, about 3 mm, is the board we suggest for 14 and 16 inch delivery boxes. There the lid spans further and a stack in the bag gets heavier.

On a 9 inch box, the thicker B-flute wall keeps heat in a little longer than E-flute does. If your 9 inch pizzas go out on long delivery runs, you can still ask for it.

Our E-flute vs B-flute pizza box guide compares the two boards in more detail.

White or brown kraft for a small box

The board colour you pick is the outer face of the box. White board often has a kraft face inside, as the open box in the first photo shows.

White makes full colour print look bright and gives a logo clean edges. Brown kraft gives a warm, plain look, and one-colour black or red on kraft reads clearly from across a counter.

Many shops use the same board colour for every size. Then a pile of 9, 12 and 14 inch boxes on the pass looks like one matching set.

Printing on the lid and sides of a 9 inch box

The lid of a 9 inch box is small, so keep the design simple. A logo in the centre with a phone number or web address underneath fills it nicely.

You can print on the lid, on the sides and inside the lid. Side print is handy for an order number panel or a tick list of toppings, like the red and black box in the third photo.

Choose plain, one colour, two colours or full colour, with matt or gloss varnish if you want a finish. Small text under about the height of a grain of rice tends to blur on corrugated board, so keep phone numbers bold.

Add your logo on the Design Your Pizza Box page to see how it sits on a small lid.

Does a small pizza box need vents?

Yes, in most cases. A hot pizza gives off steam, and in a small box that steam has less air to spread into.

Vents in the sides or lid let steam escape, so the base stays crisper and the lid does not soften over the toppings.

If you deliver, ask for side vents. If most of your 9 inch pizzas are eaten at a stall or picked up at the counter, the gaps along the folds are usually enough.

Never stack a hot box straight on top of another hot box with no vents. The trapped steam softens both bases.

How the box arrives, folds and locks

Boxes arrive flat in bundles, which keeps them compact on a shelf near the oven. Each small 9 inch box takes only seconds to fold by hand, and it needs no glue or tape.

1. Lay the flat box with the inside face up and the lid furthest from you.
2. Fold up the front wall and the two side walls along the creases.
3. Turn the corner flaps inward so they sit inside the side walls.
4. Raise the back wall and fold the side ears of the lid down.
5. Close the lid and push the front tuck flap into the gap behind the front wall.

Fold a batch before service and keep them stacked closed beside the oven. At this size a stack of folded boxes takes up little room on a busy pass.

How many 9 inch boxes fit in a delivery bag?

Every 9 inch box is 1.75 in deep, the same as the larger sizes, so stack height is easy to work out. A bag with 7 in of inside height takes a stack of four, and one with 10.5 in takes six.

The footprint is where the small box helps. In a bag sized for 16 inch boxes, a stack of 9 inch boxes leaves a gap beside it for garlic bread or dips.

When a 9 inch rides with bigger pizzas, put the larger boxes at the bottom and the small one on top. Keep the stack straight so no lid presses onto the toppings below.

How to cut a 9 inch pizza for the box

Most shops cut a 9 inch pizza into four or six slices. Four suits a kids' meal, and six makes a better sharer for a table.

Slice your 9 inch pizza on a board or the peel first, then slide it into its box. A wheel pressed hard inside the box can score through thin E-flute and leave flecks of board under the base.

If your team prefers to cut in the box, a liner that sits between the base and the board takes the pressure of the wheel. It also takes up oil from a heavily topped pizza.

Mistakes to avoid with 9 inch boxes

Measure a baked pizza, not the dough ball. A base that spreads to nine and a half inches will not sit flat in a 9.25 in box.

Do not pick B-flute by habit. For counter collection, E-flute is usually all a small pizza needs.

Keep print bold and simple on the small lid. Fine lettering and long menus crowd the space and are hard to read.

Order 9 inch boxes alongside your other sizes. That way a shared print run keeps colours matching across the whole set.

How do I order 9 inch pizza boxes?

Tell us the size, board, board colour, print and how many boxes you need. Every order is quoted by email within one working day, and minimums are low and quoted per job.

Prices start from £0.25 a box. We send a free design proof before anything is printed, and nothing goes to print until you approve it.

A 9 inch order is made in 4 to 6 working days from proof approval, and free tracked UK mainland delivery follows in 2 to 3 working days. Misprints or damage reported within 10 days are reprinted or refunded.

Send your details through our pizza box quote request form, or call +44 7578 382054.