You’d think experienced Italian chefs would shun frozen pizzas entirely, right? Well, here’s the thing. When pressed to judge what’s actually sitting in American freezer aisles, these culinary experts had surprisingly strong opinions. Some brands earned genuine respect while others, let’s just say, made them question everything.
The frozen pizza market pulls in billions annually, and for good reason. It’s convenience food at its finest. Yet not all frozen pies deserve that coveted spot in your cart. Some taste like cardboard dressed up with synthetic cheese. Others actually come close to restaurant quality, which honestly shocked me the first time I tried the good ones.
10. Totino’s Party Pizza: The Budget Disappointment
Totino’s Triple Cheese Party Pizza comes in last place and was the worst frozen pizza by a long shot, according to multiple taste tests. Its only saving grace is that it costs about $2. The crust on a Totino’s pizza is cracker thin, and it does get a nice crunch once it comes out of the oven. However, the problems far outweigh any positives. The little pepperoni cubes make everything weird, and though the cube shape does make for a concentrated flavor, they end up tasting a bit more like hot dogs than pepperoni. The ingredient list reveals imitation mozzarella cheese made with vegetable oil, potato starch, modified food starch, and titanium dioxide for artificial color.
9. Jack’s Original: You Get What You Pay For
When you slice up Jack’s pepperoni pizza and give it a taste test, you realize this is just a case of you get what you pay for, as Jack’s is one of the cheapest frozen pizzas on the market. The main issue here was the cheese, as the cheese pattern on the frozen pizza should change at least a little bit upon cooking. With Jack’s, that transformation barely happens. Testers noted the cheese doesn’t melt properly and lacks that satisfying stretch you expect from real mozzarella. The overall quality feels a step below even other budget options, making this a pizza best left on the shelf unless you’re absolutely desperate.
8. Home Run Inn: Chicago Roots Can’t Save It
The restaurant was one of the early pioneers of the frozen pizza concept in the 1960s, leading the brand to expand across Illinois, and today Home Run Inn continues to be a popular selection in the frozen pizza aisle. Despite that legacy, something went wrong here. There appears to be a substantial wad of unbaked dough beneath the crust’s edges, which gave the whole pie a kind of unpleasant sourness that was hard to ignore. The pepperonis were paper thin and didn’t really have much flavor, lacking that spicy, oily kick and having an odd leathery texture that just didn’t quite work. One taster even compared it to feet, which is never a good sign.
7. Trader Joe’s: Disappointing Given the Hype
Trader Joe’s may be a haven for many foods, frozen and fresh, but this pizza doesn’t earn a recommendation. The crust was described as rubber in tasting notes. Trader Joe’s 3 Cheese Pizza has basic and bland sauce that brings you right back to processed pasta. The pre baked crust is a major problem. It turns into something resembling sand after heating, which is pretty much the opposite of what you want in pizza. For a store known for quality products, this one misses the mark completely.
6. California Pizza Kitchen Margherita: Thin Crust Struggles
California Pizza Kitchen is more famous for being a full blown restaurant rather than a frozen pizza brand, so expectations run higher. Testers were particularly impressed with the juicy quality of the tomatoes, not an easy feat for a frozen meal, and the mozzarella cubes bubbled into nice little melty puddles. However, there’s a critical flaw. The thin crust couldn’t necessarily hold up to all the juicy toppings. When reheated the next day, the crust hardened considerably and was slightly tough, even using an air fryer instead of a microwave.
5. DiGiorno Rising Crust: Brand Awareness Over Quality
When one thinks of frozen pizza, it’s inevitable that DiGiorno enters the conversation, as most Millennials can recite the brand’s tagline by nostalgic memory: It’s not delivery, It’s DiGiorno. Despite the marketing power, Italian chefs weren’t impressed. This was a super doughy pizza, easily eclipsing the many ingredients on top, and the sauce was overly sweet, further sinking this pizza. Overall, DiGiorno feels like it’s trading more on brand awareness rather than good quality pie. Multiple testers expected better from such a well known name.
4. Red Baron Classic Crust: The Crowd Pleaser
Red Baron is the crowd pleaser, with a balance of flavors and textures that are just right, giving you the distinct taste of crust, sauce, and cheese in each bite. This pizza was the closest to New York style of all of them with its ooey gooey cheese, moderately thin crust, and expertly seasoned sauce. Red Baron wins because of its incredibly fragrant smell, the kind that fills your kitchen and makes everyone suddenly hungry. At $3.99 per pizza, a big box too, you can’t beat the quality of Red Baron’s flavor, a true classic for all kinds of families.
3. Screamin’ Sicilian: Holy Pepperoni Lives Up
The pizza brand with the most aggressive pizza packaging, Screamin’ Sicilian will grab your attention if nothing else, named after Papa Palermo, an Italian immigrant who landed in Wisconsin and started making authentic pizza. It tasted fantastic, with crispy crust, gooey and fragrant cheese, and manifold pepperoni, offering a true blue nostalgic pepperoni pizza experience that can’t get more traditionally delicious. Screamin’ Sicilian’s Bessie’s Revenge Cheese Pizza was an instant hit, with none of the complaints about lacking cheese, as this one had a ridiculous amount of cheese just as the package stated.
2. Motor City Pizza Co.: Detroit Style Dominance
Detroit style pizza is defined by its thick yet crispy crust that is shaped into a rectangle or square, and Motor City Pizza Co specializes in this revolutionary type of pizza. This is the best pizza you can get at Costco, and it’s also the best frozen pizza you can get from any other store too. Featuring two styles of crispy pepperoni and the best garlic bread meets pizza crust ever tasted, it’s hard to see how any other pizza in the frozen food aisle can compare, as from the crust to the pepperoni, Motor City Pizza Co just can’t be beat.
1. Genio Della Pizza: Italian Excellence in Your Freezer
Italian Genio Della Pizza’s The Bianca won the Best New Frozen Pizza award at the first Freezies Awards, created by famous pizzaiolo Anthony Mangieri from Una Pizza Napoletana in New York. According to Simply Recipes, the U.S. frozen pizza market is valued at over $6 billion and quickly growing. Genio Della Pizzas are not just great frozen pizzas, they’re great pizzas period, as these pies will change what you think you know about frozen pizza, with sourdough crust that’s chewy, puffy, salty, and so delicious. Genio Della Pizza aims to reimagine the frozen food category with high quality ingredients and authentic regional preparation techniques. This is what happens when actual Italian pizza mastery meets modern freezing technology.
