We Style-Examined 17 Frozen Pizzas—Right here Are the Winners

I’ll prepare dinner and write about meals for a dwelling, however there are numerous evenings when I’m just too exhausted to arrange a meal from scratch. Generally dinner is a snacking affair of greens and dip or cheese and crackers, and generally dinner is…a frozen cheese pizza stashed away in my freezer for a wet day. It’s a handy and reasonably priced meal, and relying on the pizza you purchase, it may be ok to scratch that pizza itch in a pinch.

With many manufacturers accessible within the freezer aisle, it may be laborious to know that are value stocking in your freezer. Given the much more dizzying variety of topping choices on frozen pies, we restricted this check to basic tomato-and-cheese pizzas (or “margherita” pies as they’re generally marketed), pulling collectively 17 completely different frozen pies you’re prone to discover in your native grocery store and placing them to the check.

After slicing and tasting our approach by means of the contenders, we discovered an total winner we’d be comfortable to pop into the oven a couple of times every week. We’ve additionally compiled a listing of another very strong pies we heartily advocate, together with pies for lovers of cheese, sauce, and extra.

The Standards

As with recent pizzeria pies, the standards for what makes an incredible pizza is deeply private. Some folks love a skinny crust, some love New York-style pies, and a few favor Neapolitan pizzas. Some need a good coating of cheese, whereas others are proud of islands of gooey melted mozzarella floating in a skinny slick of tomato sauce.

Although our editors all have completely different opinions on what makes a wonderful pizza, all of us agree that pizza crust shouldn’t be soggy or limp, nor robust or overly chewy, and there ought to be an applicable ratio of sauce and cheese to pizza. There’s no supreme ratio, nevertheless it’s clear when some pies lack sauce, cheese, or each. The sauce, in the meantime, ought to be tomato-forward, well-seasoned, and have a delicate sweetness and tang.

Total Winner: Kirkland Signature Cheese Pizza

Costco’s Kirkland Signature Cheese Pizza ticked all of the containers: It had sufficient sauce, plentiful cheese, and a crust with good spring. Of the 17 pizzas we tasted, it was the one one which glad virtually all of our choosy editors who all had very particular pizza preferences. Nearly everybody commented on how thick and bready the pizza dough was: Each Amanda Suarez, our affiliate visuals director, and Sabrina Tan, our artwork director, thought it was the proper mixture of crisp and doughy. Others, nonetheless, thought it was a contact too bready and verged on the dry aspect. Nonetheless, this pizza was appropriately tacky and had a sauce that reminded our editorial director Daniel Gritzer of a “basic” New York slice, which is the most effective sort of praise.

A four-pack of this pizza price us simply $14.42 from Costco; at simply $3.60 per pie, our winner additionally occurs to be essentially the most reasonably priced of all of the pizzas we tried.

Runners Up: Our Favourite Frozen Pizzas

The Finest Pizza for Cheese Lovers: Newman’s Personal Skinny & Crispy 4 Cheese Pizza

“Very tacky,” “fairly tacky,” and “a lot cheese” are simply a few of the evaluations Newman’s Personal Skinny & Crispy 4 Cheese Pizza obtained from our editors. Whereas there was loads of good cheese protection right here, some tasters thought it was a contact too salty, and Daniel thought the cheese tasted a little bit aged…which doesn’t need to be a nasty factor, in order for you a little bit funk in your pizza.

The Finest Pizza for Sauce Aficionados: Screamin’ Sicilian Skinny & Crispy Cheese Pizza

This pizza reminded our govt editorial director Tess Koman of Chuck-E Cheese pizza in the easiest way doable: It was saucy and had sufficient cheese to make her go “heck yeah” within the feedback (the remainder of us aren’t positive we have ever stated “heck yeah” about one thing that reminds us of Chuck-E Cheese pizza, however we get what she meant). Our social media editor Kelli Solomon thought the sauce was “plentiful,” and Sabrina thought this had an incredible sauce to cheese ratio. Whereas this pizza didn’t skimp on the sauce, it was a little bit missing within the dough division, and a few of our editors complained that the dough was “barely current” and barely chalky in texture.

The Finest Pizza for Dough Lovers: DiGiorno’s 4 Cheese Pizza

DiGiorno, it appears like you may have followers: Our editors all thought this pizza had sufficient sauce and cheese, and Tess thought this was “FAR AND AWAY essentially the most substantive and satisfying” crust. Based mostly on our editors’ evaluations, this pizza tasted the way in which we thought a frozen pizza ought to: “That is what I count on from a frozen pizza conceptually,” Amanda wrote, and Sabrina raved that it had an “iconic frozen pizza taste” and “scrumptious” crust.

The Finest Margherita Pizza: Roberta’s Margherita

“This cheese is the actual deal!” Kelli exclaimed. “Not homogeneously distributed, however that offers it a Neapolitan-style vibe.” A number of folks complimented the pizza on its nice chewiness and delicate tang, and our affiliate editorial director Megan O. Steintrager preferred that the sauce was “tomato ahead” with a “good tart edge.”

The Finest Pizza If You Need Tons and A number of Herbs: Dr. Oetker 4 Cheese Pizza

Our editors loved the flavour of this pizza, although everybody thought Dr. Oetker was a little bit heavy handed with the herbs. Tess thought it tasted “extra herb than the rest,” whereas Daniel discovered it “oregano-y.” Whereas this wasn’t the precise pie for all of our editors, it could be for you—particularly when you admire an herbaceous kick.

The Contenders

• Amy’s Kitchen Margherita Pizza
• California Pizza Kitchen Skinny Crust 4 Cheese Pizza
• DiGiorno Conventional Crust 4 Cheese Pizza
• Dr. Oetker 4 Cheese Pizza
• Ellio’s Cheese Pizza
• Kirkland Signature Cheese Pizza
• La Rossi Margherita Pizza
• Lean Delicacies Protein Kick 4 Cheese Pizza
• Newman’s Personal Skinny & Crispy 4 Cheese Pizza
• Porta Margherita Pizza
• Rao’s Brick Oven Crust 5 Cheese Pizza
• Crimson Baron Basic Crust 4 Cheese Pizza
• Roberta’s Margherita Wooden Fired Pizza
• Screamin’ Sicilian Skinny & Crispy Cheese Pizza
• Goal’s Good & Collect Signature Wooden-Fired Margherita Pizza
• Dealer Joe’s Natural Three Cheese Pizza
• City Pie Pizza Co. Frozen Eight Cheeses Skinny Artisan Crust Pizza

In Conclusion

Going by means of the style check outcomes, it was very apparent that everybody had very completely different pizza preferences. Some tasters sought out pronounced herbs of their sauce, whereas others didn’t take pleasure in that in any respect. Some liked a nostalgic tasting slice that reminded them of the pizza bagels they loved as youngsters, whereas others detested something that might have handed for a center schooler’s lunch.

Total, nonetheless, our editors most well-liked pies with easy, tomato-forward sauces that weren’t too candy and had been gentle on basil and oregano. Aside from Roberta’s margherita pizza, our favorites had been all “4 cheese” pizzas. Whereas the sorts of cheeses included various, all of them contained mozzarella—some full-fat, some skim.

In the end, all the highest frozen pizzas are ones most of us could be comfortable to maintain within the freezer for a fast, simple meal, able to reheat at a second’s discover.

Our Testing Methodology

All style exams are carried out with manufacturers utterly hidden and with out dialogue. Tasters style samples in random order. For instance, taster A might style pattern 1 first, whereas taster B will style pattern 6 first. That is to stop palate fatigue from unfairly giving anybody pattern a bonus. Tasters are requested to fill out tasting sheets rating the samples for varied standards. All information is tabulated and outcomes are calculated with no editorial enter with the intention to give us essentially the most neutral illustration of precise outcomes doable.