The One Frozen Pizza We're Never Buying Again

The best thing about frozen pizza is the price and convenience. The worst thing about frozen pizza is if you grab the wrong one, it's like eating cardboard. Everyone has different taste buds, but flavor, texture, price, quality of ingredients and ratio of cheese to sauce to crust are a great way to measure frozen foods. That's what taste tester Emily Alexander did for Food Republic's ranking of the best and worst frozen pizzas — and the one you never, ever want to chuck into your cart is Totino's Triple Cheese Party Pizza.

"It was the worst frozen pizza I tried by a long shot," Alexander wrote. "Its only saving grace is that it costs about $2 ... [but] if you've never tried it before, don't start now." 

There is a reason it's so cheap: It's much smaller than other pizzas, the quality is low, and it falls flat on taste. On top of that, the cheese dispersal is sparse and the sauce is weirdly sweet. Sure, the crust is crispy, but that's because it's so darn thin. Despite having a flavor, it's overall pretty bland — the top ingredients are just flour, water, tomato puree and imitation mozzarella cheese. Nostalgic appeal may help, but that doesn't make this pie good. You'll definitely want to avoid this one in the freezer section at your local grocery store.

Of course if you want quality ingredients, they will generally cost more. The highest-ranking pizza on Alexander's list is the Rao's Brick Oven Crust Five Cheese Pizza, which comes in at around $10.50 to $13 per pizza. "It's more than worth the elevated price," Alexander wrote. "It's not as good as a fresh pizza, but it's pretty darn close, especially if you take into account how convenient it is to make at home."

When looking for a great pizza, pay attention to bright, complex flavors that taste as fresh as possible — even after being frozen. While you can't taste-test the crust for crispiness or softness, you can check the ingredients list for cheeses to see what's on the pie. For example, the Rao's pizza is made with real mozzarella, provolone, fontina, Romano, and Parmesan cheeses as well as Rao's homemade pizza sauce, made with Italian-grown tomatoes. The ingredients list also has actual spices included, so you know from the get-go that the pizza will bring flavor.

You can also try the Newman's Own Thin & Crispy Crust Four Cheese Pizza, or, if you're looking for Detroit-style pizza, the DiGiorno Detroit-Style Crust Four Cheese Pizza. And don't forget — there are ways to elevate frozen pizzas by adding additional toppings or seasonings, so even if your frozen pizza isn't stellar, you can improve it with some fresh ingredients.