I Tried the 8 Most Popular Frozen Pizzas & The Winner Was Cheesy & Crispy
Out of all the dishes that Americans dine on, few seem to be quite as iconic and universally adored as pizza. After all, those round, savory pies boast some of the best qualities that you can find in any type of food. They're savory, cheesy, saucy, perfectly shareable, and customizable with all sorts of toppings. Plenty of places across the country have put their own unique spins on the dish, from the thin, foldable slices popular in New York City to the super-filling deep dish pies Chicago is known for.
Whenever you're craving a slice, there are plenty of different restaurants across the United States slinging pizzas every day. In fact, industry research firm IBISWorld reports that there were a whopping 77,459 pizza restaurants in the United States as of 2022. But, at least in my experience, there are just some days when ordering pizza from your local shop is either too time-consuming or pricey. And, if you want a pie that's both convenient and won't break the bank, that's when the frozen varieties get their time to shine.
Sure, many agree that frozen pizza isn't quite as good as the fresh pies you can get from a real pizzeria. However, I'd argue that frozen pizzas deserve to be their very own pizza category, considering that they're super convenient for a lazy weeknight dinner and can actually be pretty tasty for what they are. So, in order to pinpoint the absolute best frozen pizza available to Americans right now, I tried eight of the most popular brands: Tony's, DiGiorno, Ellio's, Red Baron, Newman's Own, Rao's, California Pizza Kitchen, and Freschetta.
I cooked all of the pizzas in a conventional oven, following the directions on the package, and judged them on taste, texture, and appearance. After sampling all of the options, I discovered a brand that's so tasty that it completely changed my perception on how good a frozen pizza can be.
Here's what I thought of each option, starting with my least favorite and ending with my absolute favorite!
Tony's Cheese Pizza
Tony's Cheese Pizza features real mozzarella cheese on a very thin crust. I paid $4.19 for a 18.90-ounce pie.
The look: Very light on the cheese and very thin. Cooking this pizza was a bit of a struggle because the cheese appeared somewhat unmelted even after I left it in the oven for a few extra minutes. I ended up having to pull it out before the cheese got as melty as I wanted, so I wouldn't accidentally burn the crust.
The taste: Bland and sad. There was not nearly enough cheese and the sauce was way too sweet and watery—so much so that it barely tasted like tomato. I didn't really have any complaints about the crust, which was pleasantly crunchy, but the overall flavor was very disappointing. A friend who was tasting the pizzas with me compared it to "roller rink pizza," but I think even that's a stretch for how bad this was.
Ellio's Five Cheese Pizza
Ellio's Five Cheese Pizza features mozzarella, parmesan, romano, fontina, and asiago cheeses. A box of Ellio's, which cost me $3.99, came with three smaller, rectangular pizzas that collectively weighed in at 18.30 ounces.
The look: From the look alone, calling this a "pizza" is a stretch. There was no discernible crust around the outside and the layer of cheese on the frozen pie was very light, though I appreciated that it browned up nicely in the oven.
The taste: If I was served this pizza as a kid, I probably would have considered it a delicacy. But, trying it for the first time as a grown-up, it tasted super cheap and unnatural. There was far from enough cheese or sauce for my preferences. And even though the crust was decently crispy, it was a little tough to bite through. I wouldn't be surprised if these are popular among children, but as an adult, I think this is a sorry excuse for pizza.
DiGiorno Four Cheese Rising Crust Pizza
DiGiorno's Four Cheese Rising Crust Pizza features mozzarella, parmesan, asiago, and romano cheeses on a thick crust. I paid $7.99 for a 28.2-ounce pie.
The look: Thick, heavy, and absolutely loaded with cheese and sauce. If you couldn't tell from the photo, this pizza cooked very unevenly for me. The cheese closer to the middle of the pizza was barely melted, while the outer edges looked minutes away from burning. It's very possible that my oven was to blame instead of DiGiorno, but I still think it's important to note.
The taste: Growing up, DiGiorno was my family's go-to brand—at least in the rare instances when we ate frozen pizza—so I have a bit of a soft spot for the brand. Even so, I can admit that there are just as many things to dislike about DiGiorno as there are to like. On the positive side, I thought the sauce was super bold and flavorful, the cheese was plentiful, and the ring of caramelized cheese around the outside was super tasty. On the negative side, the overly generous portions of cheese and sauce made this exceedingly messy to eat. And while I thought the crust tasted fine, I wish it was 15% thinner. It made the pizza way too bready.
Red Baron Brick Oven Crust Cheese Trio Pizza
Red Baron's Brick Oven Crust Cheese Trio Pizza features a blend of mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, and parsley on a thin crust. A 17.82-ounce pie cost me $5.99.
The look: Not mind-blowing, but definitely a step above all of the pizzas I had tried thus far. The pizza was covered with a sprinkling of green herbs and lots of thick cheese shreds that browned up beautifully in the oven. The crust was pretty thin, but not quite as thin as the Tony's pizza.
The taste: Pretty solid for a frozen pizza, but not good enough to earn it a higher ranking. I thought that the portions of sauce and cheese were pretty perfect, plus the sauce had a concentrated, herby tomato flavor that I really appreciated. My only real complaint was that the crust was a little too soft for my preferences, but I could easily fix that with a couple extra minutes of oven time in the future. This is a perfectly satisfying frozen pizza if you're ever in a pinch, but I think you can still do better.
Freschetta Naturally Rising Crust Four Cheese Pizza
Freschetta's Naturally Rising Crust Four Cheese Pizza features mozzarella, white cheddar, provolone, and parmesan cheeses on an extra thick crust. A 26.11-ounce pie cost me $6.79.
The look: Very thick and heavy, but a little less hefty than the Digiorno pizza. Before I cooked the Freschetta pie, I could see that it was covered with both very finely ground cheese and thick cheese shreds. But the two types of cheeses were very unevenly distributed, giving it a mottled and irregular look after it baked.
The taste: Very similar to DiGiorno, but about 20% better. The thick crust baked up crispy on the outside while staying perfectly fluffy in the middle. The cheese and sauce were flavorful and came in generous portions, but they weren't so heavy that they made the pizza too messy. Digiorno has long been my go-to when I'm craving a frozen pizza with a super thick crust, but this experience has officially converted me to a Freschetta fan.
Newman's Own Thin & Crispy Crust Four Cheese Pizza
Newman's Own Thin & Crispy Crust Four Cheese Pizza features mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan, and asiago cheeses on a super thin crust. A 16 ounce pie cost me $7.29.
The look: Not the most exciting, but still pretty enticing. The frozen Newman's pie was covered in super thick shreds of cheese that melted nicely and browned up beautifully in the oven. There wasn't much crust to survey around the outside, but the parts I could see were an attractive golden brown.
The taste: Pretty tasty, which came as a surprise to me since I've never tried or given much thought to the Newman's brand before. The layer of cheese was super flavorful, well seasoned, and funky, but the super crispy crust was the real star of the show. My only complaint about this option is that it needed more sauce, but I liked the cheese and crust so much that I didn't really care.
California Pizza Kitchen Crispy Thin Crust Four Cheese Pizza
California Pizza Kitchen's Crispy Thin Crust Four Cheese Pizza features two types of mozzarella, plus fontina and hickory smoked gouda cheeses, all combined with an herby tomato sauce on a thin crust. A 13.5-ounce pie cost me $6.49.
The look: Immediately after pulling this pizza out of the box, I could tell that it was a higher-end frozen pizza than what I'm used to. The top was covered in both shredded cheese and white hunks of what looked like mozzarella, all of which melted beautifully together and browned up nicely in the oven.
The taste: This is truly one of the better frozen pizzas I've had in my life. While some of the other pizzas I tried lacked the cheesy stretch factor you usually get from a fresh pizza, CPK's frozen pie delivered on that tasty criteria. The sauce was herby, well seasoned, and flavorful, and all the different types of cheeses added a flavor nuance that I've rarely ever found in a frozen pizza. My one qualm is that the crust could have been crispier, but a few extra minutes in the oven next time would easily solve that issue.
Rao's Five Cheese Pizza
Rao's Five Cheese Pizza features whole milk mozzarella, provolone, fontina, romano, and parmesan cheese on the famed brand's own signature pizza sauce. A 19-ounce pie cost me $10.99. It's the most expensive pizza in this entire survey, but as you'll see, it's totally worth it!
The look: This was undeniably the prettiest pizza from the taste test. The cheese was beautifully distributed and dotted with lots of green herbs. It baked super evenly and developed a tantalizing ring of caramelized cheese around the outside. The crust was puffy and thick on the outside but thin in the middle, making it the best of both worlds for people who are torn between thick and thin crusts.
The taste: The Rao's brand already has quite the stellar reputation for its fan-favorite jarred pasta sauces, and I think it deserves more attention for its frozen pizzas as well. This pizza hit the bullseye on every key element, from the flavors to the textures. The sauce was savory, herby, and a little sweet. The layer of cheese was flavorful, rich, and perfectly portioned. The crust somehow managed to get beautifully crisp on the outside while staying soft and fluffy in the middle.
To me, this tasted the closest to a bonafide fresh pizza, especially compared to all the options I sampled. And while some of the other pizzas were pretty tasty, I can't imagine picking another brand in the future whenever Rao's is available.
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