Sit down with a few dozen freshly-baked pies, and you quickly get a sense of what makes a great frozen pizza vs what's just mushy stuff on bread. A panel of intrepid tasters chomped their way through the excellent, the average, and the downright nauseating, assessing crust, sauce, cheese, toppings and overall appeal in search of the best frozen pizza in all the land. Our findings are divvied into cheese pizzas, topped and specialty pies, ranked from worst to best in every category. Did your favorite make it into the upper crust? Read on.
(Note - in response to some of the comments - none of the pizzas were burnt. We just all happen to like the edges of our cheese a little bit browned. Why didn't we use a pizza stone/pizza oven? Simple -- the vast majority of people cooking pizza at home are going to just use a rack or cookie sheet in their oven, and we wanted to approximate the results. And why didn't we include some brands? Our standard rule of thumb is that if we can't easily find it in our local supermarket, we're not going to include it. We don't want to frustrate all the folks who won't be able to get it in their part of the country.
But that's where the blog comments come in. We may not have access to all these pies, but we love finding out what you all are thinking, and we take your suggestions to heart. Stay tuned, 'cause we'll probably do a Part II within the next couple of months.)
Get the Results of the Frozen Pizza Taste Test
Our friend Casey Fishman reported from the scene:
Nowadays, you can find just about any style of frozen pizza crafted according to your personal preferences. On assignment with the
After blind taste testing 52 varieties, I was left to make decisions without any distraction of persuasive marketing attempts and judge purely on taste. All packaging aside, the winners were not those with the highest dollar signs. In fact, the fancy Frontera Barbeque Chicken Pizza was certainly towards the bottom of my list. The famed
So, what's good about frozen pizza? Aside from conjuring up fond memories of grammar school, the preparation is virtually fool proof. Feel free to ignore the directions on the back of the box. Heat the oven to somewhere around 350 degrees and remove once the cheese is melted.
The lesson I learned from this experiment was that my pizza palate has progressed considerably since second grade. My taste buds now demand more than the frozen pizza served up by lunch ladies with hair nets. Luckily, as a New Yorker, I can roll downstairs and pick up a slice from my local pizzeria. To the rest of the world, California Pizza Kitchen in your grocer's freezer is not a bad alternative!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
3-09-2008 @ 2:30PM
Deborah said...
What about Tostino's?? Me and all my friends say the sauce is CRACK!
**no offense to anyone, calling something Crack is just a silly slang me and my friends use to refer to something that's "addictively delicious"**
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3-09-2008 @ 2:38PM
Kirsten Yates said...
Bagel Bites got a 1! What is that?
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3-09-2008 @ 2:47PM
sarah said...
Who made the pizza's in this test?? i hope the pictures werent the ones they served since they look nothing like any i've seen, mostly overcooked, no wonder the results weren't that great!
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3-09-2008 @ 2:57PM
lgp006 said...
Well first of all, who put together this test and how were the pizzas picked. I live in the pizza captial of America-Chicago (sorry NY). I know my pizzas and especially frozen ones. Why didn't you include two frozen pizzas from the Chicagoland area that are sold nationally, Home Run Inn Pizza and Connie's? I am sure those who have tried these great pies would agree with me that they are the best. Gino's East also make a preety good pies. These pies are very close to the resturants homemade ones. Try them out and judge for yourself.
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3-09-2008 @ 3:05PM
issamitchell said...
should of used a baking stone. that would of improved the taste of pizza's tried. placing a pizza on the rack or on a cookie sheet is just not right. Baking stones = Good pizza
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3-09-2008 @ 3:09PM
Ash said...
I have to agree with Sarah. If someone asked me to taste one of the pizzas in most of those pictures...I would have passed. I like my pizza hot and tasty, not burnt and unnaturally crispy.
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3-09-2008 @ 3:10PM
Poodie Locke said...
What about Totinos pizza. Pre-heat cast iron skillet, with olive oil until bubblie hot add your own extra ingredients, like mushrooms, hamburger, diced onions. Then drop it in that hot skillet until golden, crunchy brown. It's as great as you can make it. Oh! by the way and more shredded mozarella cheese, on top. also.
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3-09-2008 @ 3:10PM
Marsha said...
I agree with Sarah most looked over done or someone tripped over something before putting it on the table because some of the toppings looked a little lop sided
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3-09-2008 @ 3:29PM
Jeff said...
Where is Home Run Inn Pizza? That is the best thin crust frozen pizza I have ever had. Great toppings, great cheese (especially if you like it lightly toasted) and great crust. To answer the above, I believe Jeno's and Totino's are one and the same. I still occasionally pick up the 98 cent Totino's regressing back to the college days.
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3-09-2008 @ 3:34PM
freak out said...
why does frozen pizza have to look so disgusting?
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3-09-2008 @ 4:04PM
mike said...
hello!?...totinos? totinos is the greatest frozen pizza
of all time! Drunk or sober, it's awesome and it's really cheap! how can you beat that!?
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3-09-2008 @ 4:13PM
abuja19 said...
I like the Digorno's supreme pizza - nobody has anything on that - NOBODY!
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3-09-2008 @ 4:14PM
Robert said...
A Pizza test and NO Jack's?????? Jack's naturally rising crust pizza is right up there with ANY Tony's!
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3-09-2008 @ 4:23PM
John L. said...
Typical frozen pizza. Btw...who did the cooking?, about every pizza looked near burnt. Obivously, these pizza's were not made by hand wich explains why all the topping were, mostly slopped in the middle of the pie.
As an owner of two pizziaria's, I wouldn't let my worst foe eat a frozen pizza!. Here's a tip, call your local favroite the next time your in the mood for a pizza, request it un-cooked.
Bring it home, bake it yourself...just a hint. Thanks AOL for doing the taste test!
John L. aka Mr.Pizza
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3-09-2008 @ 4:27PM
Matt said...
What about Palermo's? You're missing out if you don't try one of these. Available at Hy Vee's.
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3-09-2008 @ 4:39PM
Yolanda said...
What about Freshetta?? That's one of the best frozen pizzas in my opinion. Love the Hawaiian one :)
Also, Totino's is the best frozen pizza for a dollar. The mexican one is my favorite!
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3-09-2008 @ 4:48PM
Ben Johnson said...
Totino's > Claims it's the most popular frozen pizza in the land (US) > dollar dor dollar- easily the best- my frozen fave for sure- knock at least a minute off the cooking time and put it on a cookie sheet if you don't like the "heavy cracker" crust.
Just beginning to like their "Mexican Pizza". Must knock 1.5 minutes off proposed cook-time AND cook on un-heated cookie sheet. Add onion rings, green pepper pieces and Jalapeno rings first. No extra cheese needed for this style.
But since the Chainerias have knocked themselves off in the price competition, dead to the last delivery boy, "Papa Murphy's" has risen to the Chain Pizza throne. Order the stuffed pizza- all meat!
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3-09-2008 @ 4:57PM
Dave said...
I agree that the Digiorno supreme rising crust is delicious! but what aboout the Freschetta four cheese pizza? it's the best tasting frozen cheese that I have tasted! Oh! and the new Freschetta "Pizzamore" five cheese is also really good! They didn't even test either of them! The Digiorno cheese pizza has no flavor! just boring!
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3-09-2008 @ 5:13PM
Robyn said...
Yeah....Palermo's is really tasty. I agree, whoever cooked the pizzas in the pics BURNT THEM, hahaha. Good job!!
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3-09-2008 @ 5:16PM
James said...
I was bummed not to see Totino's represented. I've found them to be one of the tastier of the cheap frozen pizza gaggle. Definitely better than Jeno's (yuck).
The Digornio cheese pizza is horrid, I agree.
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