Next to ramen, frozen pizza wins the title of best quick, cheap and maintenance-free meal. But which frozen pizza is the best of the best? To save college students everywhere time and stress, we took it upon ourselves to rate the best—and the worst—frozen pizza has to offer.
9. American Flatbread: Tomato Sauce and Three Cheeses
Photo by Amy Yi
Crust: (2.5/10) With a name like American Flatbread I expected this pizza to be all about the crust. And it was. It was about the fact that the crust was soggy, difficult to bite through and not something I really ever want to eat again.
Sauce: (1.5/10) Honestly, I can’t really judge the sauce as it was not there at all.
Toppings/Cheese: (5.5/10) If I were solely rating pizza on the cheese, this one would actually do pretty well. The compilation of the 3 different cheeses created a flavorful topping that I only wish was sitting on top of a different base.
Overall Rating: (3/10) Good cheese, but not good enough to make up for little-to-no sauce and a crust I wouldn’t force on my worst enemy.
8. Palermo’s Ultra Thin Crust
Photo by Amy Yi
Crust: (2/10) The crust to this pizza had almost no flavor and was extremely crunchy.
Sauce: (3/10) The makers of this pizza must have thought adding an overwhelming amount of salt to this sauce would transform a normal and boring tomato sauce into something better. They were wrong.
Toppings/Cheese: (5/10) Cheese is my favorite part of pizza and so I expect it to have flavor. This cheese, while not bad, did not live up to my standards. However, the extra bit of tomato and sausage on the pizza were good quality and added flavor to an overall bland pizza
Overall Rating: (3.3/10) The toppings rescue this pizza from being too bland but the crust and tomato sauce where epic fails. This pizza is not recommended.
7. DiGiorno’s Original Rising Crust: Supreme
Photo by Amy Yi
Crust: (5/10) If you like thin crust pizza don’t get this one. The crust on this pizza was soft and fluffy—more like bread.
Sauce: (3/10) Not very present.
Toppings/Cheese: (3.5/10) I never thought I would say it…but there may have been a bit too much cheese on this pizza. It also featured a good amount of toppings but the mix of everything was too salty.
Overall Rating: (3.8/10): Although I gave this pizza a pretty low rating, I can see why it’s popular. To be honest, if I wanted to feed a crowd or was really hungry I would get it. While not what I really want from a pizza, it’s filling and generous with toppings.
6. Amy’s Pizza: Cheese
Photo by Amy Yi
Crust: (4/10) The crust was in between bready and crunchy and couldn’t seem to make up it’s mind.
Sauce: (6/10) I liked this sauce, as it had a very fresh tomato flavor with just the right amount of sweetness to make it an above average sauce.
Toppings/Cheese: (2/10) There was almost no cheese to judge and when I get a pizza with the tiny amount of cheese this one has to offer I feel cheated and lied to.
Overall Rating: (4/10) When this pizza came out of the oven I knew both the sauce and crust would have to be amazing to make up for pathetic amount of cheese on the pizza, but neither were good enough to make me want to buy this pizza ever again.
5. Pizza 4 Formaggi: Trader Joe’s Handmade 4 Cheese Pizza
Photo by Amy Yi
Crust: (7/10) The crust of this pizza delivers everything a crust should be: crispy, but not to the point where the crunch distracts from the other components, with just a hint of a nice doughy flavor and solid enough to hold the toppings it carries.
Sauce: (3.5/10) Nothing very interesting here but nothing bad either.
Toppings/Cheese: (6/10) The 4 cheeses in this pizza lead to one thing: deliciousness.
Overall Rating: (5.5/10) This pizza was one of the last pizzas I tried (after more than 10), so I think the fact that I enjoyed it even at that point must mean something.
4. California Pizza Kitchen: BBQ Chicken Pizza
Photo by Amy Yi
Crust: (4/10) Two words describe this crust: flavorless cracker.
Sauce: (7/10) This barbecue sauce was delicious, but honestly it’s pretty hard to mess up on barbecue sauce.
Toppings/Cheese: (6/10) The cheese was pretty flavorless, but with the barbecue chicken flavor I think that was a smart choice so that the two did not compete. The rest of the toppings on the pizza were delicious. Frozen chicken can get pretty gross, but the chicken in the pizza was tender, juicy and everything chicken is meant to be.
Overall Rating: (6/10) This pizza was basically a cracker with barbecue sauce and chicken. After eating it, I’ve discovered that I really like crackers with barbecue sauce and chicken. While definitely not a traditional pizza, it’s something I would get again.
3. Freshchetta Naturally Rising Crust: Signature Pepperoni Pizza
Photo by Amy Yi
Crust: (7/10) This pizza was huge. When I first saw it, I thought the crust would taste like a spongy mess. That was not the case. Yes, the crust was huge, but it was flavorful and bready and the bottom had a nice crisp to it that made it better than most.
Sauce: (6/10) Sweet, tangy, tomato goodness.
Toppings/Cheese: (6/10) The pepperoni was on the salty side, but the cheese on this pizza was gooey and delicious— everything I want when I’m craving pizza.
Overall Rating: (6.3/10) This pizza isn’t for everyone, but I would definitely recommend giving it a chance. If I were in the mood for a filling piece of pizza, this is what I would go for.
2. Connie’s Pizza Naturals: Special (Pork Italian Sausage, Oven Roasted Green Peppers, Onions, Mushrooms)
Photo by Amy Yi
Crust: (6.5/10) The crust was good, but could have been more crispy.
Sauce: (6/10) There was not a huge amount of sauce present, but what was there had enough flavor to make me happy without distracting from all the other elements of the pizza.
Toppings/Cheese: (7/10) This pizza had the perfect amount of cheese that was neither too bland nor too salty. The toppings, while not beautiful, were delicious.
Overall Rating: (6.5/10) This was definitely a solid frozen pizza that could possibly become one of my go-to buys.
1. Bon Appétit Thin Crust Roasted Vegetable
Photo by Amy Yi
Crust: (7.5/10) The crust was thin, but still managed to combine the perfect amount of softness and crunchiness I think every crust should have.
Sauce: (5/10 ) Very little sauce, but what was there was good.
Toppings/Cheese: (9/10) The toppings on this pizza really made up for the lack of sauce. The cheese was delicious and the vegetables tasted very fresh, giving it another dimension many of the other pizzas were lacking.
Overall Rating: (7/10) I tried enough frozen pizza to make anyone give it up for a lifetime. Despite this, and the fact that my kitchen smelled like pizza for a week after, I would definitely be willing to eat this pizza for dinner anytime. The toppings of this pizza tasted fresh, delicious and almost made me forget that it came out of a freezer.