The Best Frozen Pizzas to Fill Your Freezer
Updated: Apr. 18, 2024
When that next craving hits, make sure your freezer is filled with the best frozen pizzas. We found the best options no matter what kind of pie you like—from thin crust to pan-style.
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Searching for the Best Frozen Pizzas
There’s no replacing a pie from your favorite pizzeria, but when you’re tight on time or just want to stay in, a few of the best frozen pizzas can hit the spot. Here are some awesome ways to make frozen pizza better.
But is your go-to brand really the one that suits your pizza preferences best? Our Test Kitchen team wanted to find pies with perfectly crisp crusts, ooey-gooey cheese and plenty of toppings.
How We Tested Frozen Pizzas
Our Test Kitchen team sampled 10 different frozen pizza brands in this taste test. These brands included thick- and thin-crust varieties. While our team would have loved to sample dozens of pizzas topped with everything from sausage to veggies to multiple kinds of cheese, we narrowed in on the most popular variety of frozen pizza: pepperoni.
Each pizza was prepped in a standard oven and judged according to these major categories:
- Appearance: No one should be able to resist a good pizza! Before you even slice, you should want to dive into pie with plenty of cheese, a golden crust and evenly distributed pepperoni (though we have a trick on how to arrange toppings for optimal enjoyment!).
- Toppings: Our team judged the quality of the cheese and pepperoni as well as the distribution of these toppings. Generous amounts of pepperoni are always appreciated!
- Crust: So often frozen pizzas have crusts that, well, taste like cardboard. We wanted to find flavorful and satisfying crusts—thick or thin.
- Overall flavor: The crust, sauce, cheese and pepperoni should all work together to make a satisfying pizza to eat on a Friday night in. It’s that simple!
Check out which brands rose to the top and can be called Test Kitchen-Preferred.
Pizza with the Best Toppings
Palermo's Neighborhood Pizzeria Pepperoni Pizza
While you can doctor up a frozen pizza with extras, there’s nothing like popping a pizza out of the box and being happy with the heaps of topping already scattered across the pie. That’s what you can expect with a Palermo’s Neighborhood Pizzeria Pepperoni Pizza.
“There’s a healthy amount of pepperoni on top of this one,” explains the Test Kitchen’s Mark Neufang. And it’s not just traditional pepperoni slices piled on top of this top pizza pick, you’ll also find chopped bits of spicy pepperoni as well for even more flavor and texture.
The pepperoni is just the start with this top pick. The crust on this ‘za is best described as hand-tossed—not thin by any means but without the bulk of a deep dish pizza. “It’s thin in the center with a bit of a thicker edge,” describes Mark. And that very edge of the pizza? It’s sprinkled with parmesan for a bit of salt and cheesiness—perfect additions to this pizza.
Combine all those toppings with a cheese-sprinkled crust and a tomato-forward sauce and you’ve got a favorite in our Test Kitchen.
Best Thick Crust Frozen Pizza
DiGiorno Rising Crust Pepperoni Pizza
Frozen pizza often gets a bad rap since so many options are flat in appearance and flavor. That’s not the case with DiGiorno Rising Crust Pepperoni Pizza.
DiGiorno’s pepperoni pizza has a lofty pan-style crust. “This one has a thick crust with great color,” explains Ellie Crowley in the Test Kitchen. “The bottom of the pie is crisp but the crust has a nice, soft and chewy interior—nicer than most frozen pizzas.”
A splash of tomato sauce tops the plush crust. Some folks may crave a little more with the bready crust, but our team enjoyed the flavor nonetheless. What makes this pie really stand out (besides that top-notch thick crust) is the crispy pepperoni. “There’s something smoky, hearty and fun about this pizza,” says Mark. Who can resist that?
Best Thin Crust Frozen Pizza
Connie's Classic Thin Crust Pepperoni Pizza
Are you looking for pizza with a cracker-thin crust? Try Connie’s Classic Thin Crust Pizza.
Connie’s pizza has a perfectly crisp crust that’s finished with a bit of semolina on the bottom. That touch of coarse cornmeal adds a bit of crunch and flavor that our team found so appealing.
This pizza is so much more than that crispy crust, though. Connie’s frozen pizza is piled with plenty of toppings including a tester-favorite pepperoni. “This pepperoni tastes fresh and a bit spicy—yum!” says Ellie. No need to upgrade this pie with extras, though we do have some frozen pizza upgrades if you’re interested in more!
Also worth noting is the tomato sauce on this pizza. It’s seasoned well with plenty of Italian herbs and a good amount of ripe tomato flavor—nothing tinned or artificial here!
Best Unexpected Crust
Home Run Inn Classic Pepperoni Pizza
Frozen pizzas typically fall into two camps: thick crust or thin crust. Home Run Inn defies those expectations with a totally different kind of frozen pizza crust—one that our Test Kitchen team enjoyed and had testers going back for more.
“The crust here isn’t too thick or too thin,” says Ellie. Home Run Inn’s frozen pizza crust falls in the middle and has a texture that our team found downright crave-able. “It’s a flaky crust—almost like a croissant,” says the Test Kitchen’s Maggie Knoebel. This unique and tempting texture makes it easy to want to go back for another slice.
Of course, the plentiful and gooey cheese also makes this pie a winner. “This one has the best cheese by far,” says Maggie. It pairs well with that rich crispy crust and perfectly spiced (though not spicy) pepperoni.
While our team doesn’t think you’ll have any leftovers, they do have some tips on how to reheat pizza so it’s just as good the next day.
Check Out More Test Kitchen-Preferred Products
Our Test Kitchen is constantly testing food, kitchen gadgets and cleaning gear looking for brands that deserve the right to be called Test Kitchen-Preferred.
If you want to fill your pantry and fridge with the best products, check out these tests:
Originally Published: December 09, 2022
