Say what you will about them, but frozen pizzas are a staple component of many, many kitchens. They take no preparation and heat up wonderfully in the oven in the amount of time that it would take to have a pizza delivered. Well, some of them heat up wonderfully. There are some pizzas that are not even worth turning on the oven for.
In my opinion, the best frozen pizza is a homemade one, but I know that not all people have the time or energy to freeze their own, unbaked pizzas. Fair enough, even though you can buy pre-made, uncooked dough at many supermarkets nowadays. Though certainly not covering all of the possible options for frozen pizza that there are, here is a quick guide to some of the pizza choices that will be waiting at your fingertips when you take a stroll through the freezer section:
-
DiGiorno - 9/10 - Did you know that the pepperoni pizza has little bits of pepperoni in the sauce, too? That's what takes this thick-crusted pizza over the edge, though offering a half-cheese/half-pepperoni option is a great idea. The rising crust is perhaps a little thicker than fresh pizza, but very tasty.
-
California Pizza Kitchen - 10/10 - These pizzas come out of the oven tasting darn close to what you'll get in a restaurant. It's great that they come in more unusual flavors than pepperoni, too. Try the Thai Chicken!
-
Freschetta - 8/10 - Just like the DiGiorno, the crust gets crisp on the outside and relatively chewy overall, without being too dense. They're usually seasoned well, particularly the Tomato, Basil and 3-Cheese
-
Amy's Organics - 7/10 - It's great that these are organic, and they're pretty tasty, too. Fortunately, they are becoming easier to find, though it seems that markets tend to carry only the very basic kinds - more cornmeal crusts, please! All the veggie options are a great change from the meat-laden (if you're lucky) mainstream pizzas.
-
Tombstone - 6/10 - These never seem to have quite enough sauce on them, though the flavor is good and they are usually very cheesy. The crust has a hard time crisping up in the oven, too, and is a bit on the soggy side - possibly from the amount of cheese. Of course, if you like a ton of cheese, you're in luck with this brand.
- Stouffer's French Bread - 6/10 - Not in the same class as the rest of the frozen pizzas because it doesn't have a true pizza crust. Nevertheless, the crust does crisp up well and the toppings are of the usual quality for Stouffer's products - which is to say that it's good. They make a great snack, but are not quite the real thing.
-
Red Baron - 4/10 - The crust on these never really gets crispy, or else it burns, but if you like your crust on the doughy side, they're not that bad. The cheese can definitely get rubbery, something that you can almost tell by looking at the pictures on the package. If they can't make it look tasty, that's not a good sign.
-
Celeste - 1/10 - They taste bad and are much smaller even than you would expect from the size of the box. Don't waste your money even when they are on sale at 10/$10.
