The 'Instant' Frozen Pizza '80s Kids Ate After School — And Still Want Back

Frozen pizza fans all have a favorite pie, but woe to pizza-lovers for whom that most-beloved frozen pizza has been discontinued. Today, we're shining the spotlight on one long-retired frozen pie with a low-key cult following amongst foodies who were kids during the 1980s. Forty-plus years after its peak, Buitoni's frozen "instant" pizza still boasts an enduring fanbase.

Buitoni Instant Pizza (aka "Tosterinos") hit the market during the late 1970s, available in cheese, sausage, and pepperoni flavors. What made this toaster pizza special was its unique toppings-catching design. Buitoni's wrapped its cheese and toppings in a protective sheath of dough, like a calzone or a foldover, thereby preventing the gooey accouterment from sliding off during while being heated in a toaster. This PopTart-esque structure made the pie round, flat, and (apparently) unforgettable. As one foodie fondly recounts in the nostalgia-centric community forum In the '80s, "This was my favorite thing as a teen. It was a pocket, round flour crust with pizza filling YUMMY! All you did was pop it in the toaster and when it popped up, it was done." Elsewhere online, a Facebook group titled "Please bring back Buitoni's Instant Pizza" boasts 6.6K followers. Members share, "I miss them so! I emailed them and they wrote back with a coupon hoping I would enjoy one of their other products *crying face emoji.*" 

A change.org petition titled "Bring back Buitoni Instant Cheese Pizza from the 80s" similarly calls the company to action: "This pizza was my FAVORITE after school snack growing up in NYC in the 80s. I loved the flavor, consistency and the steam coming out after that first delicious bite." It's unclear exactly when Buitoni Instant Pizza was pulled from stores, but online fans mention enjoying the snack into the 1990s. Today, Buitoni's has yet to announce any plans to revive its pie of yore, and the company has totally switched gears, focusing on artisanally-crafted pastas and sauces. Decades after its Instant Pizza became a bittersweet icon of days past, the official Buitoni website currently bears no mention of its frozen pizza offerings. All that remains is the memory ... and a quirky retro commercial. 

The ad depicts a gaggle of enthused, Italian-speaking children slamming Buitoni Instant Pizzas into a toaster under the guidance of an adult pizzaiolo clad in full chef's whites, who shouts phrases like "Don't eat too fast!" and "One at a time, wait your turn." The chef explains to an apparent father of one of the children that, with Buitoni's Instant Pizzas, kids can heat pizza and feed themselves without enlisting any grown-up help. At least for now, it looks like foodies will have to satisfy any decades-old cravings with offerings like Tombstone Roadhouse Loaded Double Down Deluxe — our all-time favorite frozen pizza here at Tasting Table.