The Trader Joe's Frozen Pizza Reddit Says Is Unpleasantly Sweet

Trader Joe's gets a lot of praise from customers and our own reviews alike. But the popular grocery chain's in-house brand doesn't always hit the ball out of the park with its products. A case in point is Trader Joe's frozen spicy meat pizza. Not only do we deem it one of 17 frozen pizzas to avoid at all costs, but numerous Reddit threads gave scathing reviews about an unpleasant sweetness that cannot be ignored.

A Reddit thread entitled "Spicy Meat Pizza: Horrific! The worst pizza they have " sums it up perfectly. Responses backed the claim, and sweetness was the common denominator. One user called the pizza "sweet and tasty," but many others described the sweetness as "off-putting" and unusual. Considering the adjective printed in the title of the pizza is "spicy," the overriding sweetness is false advertising at its most offensive. 

Redditors on this thread noted that corn syrup is on the ingredients. Others try to find the culprit of the sweetness, settling on the pizza sauce itself; one customer stated, "I think it uses TJ's calabrian chili sauce as a base, which ... is by far the worst TJ item." Yet another thread suggested that the sweet sauce made the spicy pizza inedible, with various others agreeing that they didn't finish a slice and had to throw the whole pizza away.  Not only was the pizza decidedly not spicy, but Redditors also complained about a soggy crust and gloopy slices; this review called the texture "a big wet mess."

While you should leave the spicy meat pizza on the shelves at Trader Joe's, there are plenty of other frozen pizzas that both we and Redditors recommend. We ranked every Trader Joe's frozen pizza and found that the Roasted Garlic & Pesto Pizza with Deep Fried Crust is an unexpected masterpiece. Again, Reddit responses back up our claim, with one Redditor saying, "The only frozen TJ's pizza I enjoy is the deep fried garlic one. It's magical." Yet another Redditor agreed, writing, "Does anything compare to the pesto pizza?"

A tasty runner-up for both Redditors and our taste test is the Parlano pizza, with a balanced combination of veggies and meat. Sausage and pepperoni on the Parlano pizza will certainly satisfy the meat lovers who probably gravitated towards the spicy meat pizza in the first place. If you're willing to put a little more effort into your pizza night, Redditors also suggest making your own pies with Trader Joe's dough ball, pizza sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni. While we can't say we're a fan of Trader Joe's store-brand pizza sauce, you can make a white pizza with the store's garlic spread-dip, which we ranked as the best Trader Joe's dip.