The Best Frozen Pizzas You Can Buy at the Grocery Store

Sales of frozen pizza were up nearly 100 percent from April 2019 to April 2020. The easy-to-stash dinnertime staple made for perfect pandemic food. Just keep one (or three) in your freezer and you always have a dinner option on hand. Of course, frozen pizza is good any time — not just during a pandemic. Take these current days, for example! With more and more Americans vaccinated and ready to get back to busy, many of us are out of the house with a packed social calendar. Once again, frozen pizzas come to the rescue!

And you have lots of options. Freezer aisles are stocked with various styles of crust (thick, thin, and even cheese-stuffed!) and a bounty of meat and veggie toppings. I usually stick to the same brands out of habit (Trader Joe’s and Amy’s), but I was curious if I was missing out on a superior frozen pizza experience. So, I tried a dozen kinds to see how they measured up. Here is a bevy of options to keep an eye out for.

I chose brands you’re likely to encounter at both big-box and specialty stores. I also kept things simple by eschewing toppings and limiting the taste test to cheese pizzas; I figured that’d help level the playing field.

An ideal frozen cheese pizza has a delicious, chewy crust, tangy, bright tomato sauce, and a satisfying amount of gooey cheese. It also has to be easy to prepare. Sure, you can dress up your frozen pizza with an array of custom toppings, but for this test, I wanted the cheese pizza to have enough flavor right out of the box.

It turns out that there are a few great pizzas in your local supermarket freezer, plenty that will get the job done, and a few that you should definitely leave behind. With a little due diligence you can scoop up a truly awesome frozen pie for a price that won’t break the bank. (Note: Prices are what I paid and may vary based on store or location.)

This line of premium pizzas uses a thinner, crispier crust. Robust, tangy tomato sauce is topped with a multitude of cheeses including parmesan, Romano, cheddar, and two kinds of mozzarella. Generous slabs of fresh mozzarella cheese crown the hefty pie. This is one of the better pizzas we tasted (and for the higher price, it better be!).

While this pizza is on the smaller side, it’s a total delight to eat from start to finish. The delicious crust is chewy, the rich tomato sauce is satisfying, and the tasty cheese melted well. My tasters and I loved it.

The first thing you’ll notice when you pop this in the oven is how extraordinarily bread-y the crust is. Taking a bite was like diving into a huge breadstick. The blend of mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano, and asiago cheeses didn’t overwhelm and the tomato sauce was unobtrusive. At 24 minutes, it was the longest cook time of any pizza I tried, so if you’re in a huge rush to get dinner on the table, look elsewhere.

This pie — a veritable legend in the frozen pizza category — features pillowy dough, sweet tomato sauce, and loads of gooey cheese. It’d do great for a quick pizza fix, but it won’t leave a major lasting flavor impression. It’s best eaten hot out of the oven.

This pie has a sweet tomato sauce and an above-average thick crust with terrific chew.

This pizza was a pretty solid contender. It’s got thin crust, diced tomatoes, and cheese with some Very Good flavor. A glass of red wine would complement it nicely.

This pie‘s crispy crust, sweet tomato sauce, and moderate amount of cheese makes for the perfect blank canvas, if you’re the type who likes to dress up your frozen pizzas with fresh toppings. For the price, it’s a good value.

This is a decent, no-frills frozen pizza option. Three slabs of frozen pizza come in each box, so it’s perfect if you’re looking to eat a smaller portion. The crust has a pleasant chew, the tomato sauce is on the sweet side, and the modest cheese distribution won’t drown you in a sea of dairy. It’s a perfectly respectable nostalgia-inducing snack.

Do you agree? What’s your favorite frozen pizza?