I Tried 6 Store-Bought Take And Bake Pizzas And Ranked Them

Americans love pizza. But sometimes you don't feel like making it. That's fair, since even the most basic homemade pizza involves kneading dough, making sauce, and shredding cheese before trying to fight an edible frisbee into an oven. Pizza is a dish best made by the professionals, which leaves the pizza lover with a few options. You can get it at a restaurant or order delivery, but these options get expensive quickly. Frozen pizzas are a more affordable and convenient choice, but what if you want the freshness of a delivered pizza with the convenience of a frozen one?

Enter the take-and-bake pizza, usually located near the deli or prepared food sections of the grocery store. These refrigerated pizzas are a godsend on days when you can't bear to cook but can't bring yourself to eat a freezer-burned slice.

Of course, like all pizzas, take-and-bakes are not created equal. Sure, they are all convenient, but are they all delicious? There is only one way to find out. I tried six grocery store pizzas in search of the flavor, chew, and melty-cheesiness of the ideal takeout pie. Which would nail the sauce-to-cheese ratio? Which crusts would be tender, not tough? Ultimately, some were better than delivery — but some should stay out of your shopping basket.

Where other grocery chains fall short with uninspiring deli counters and underwhelming bakeries, Wegmans excels with a globetrotting selection of meals, sides, and baked goods. Wegmans has a reputation for well-made, elevated prepared foods. That's why my first thought upon seeing its take-and-bake pizza was: That's it?

The cheese and sauce were piled up high in some places, absent in others. The shredded mozzarella looked waxy and coagulated. But I didn't want to make any judgments about the uncooked pizza. Except for one: This was not 16 inches. It looked so not-16-inches that I got out a measuring tape after I pulled the pizza from the oven. Folks, the Wegmans 16-inch pizza is 12 inches at best. I wouldn't have minded much, except that at $14.99, this is the most expensive pizza I tried.

It was also my least favorite. As suggested by the appearance of the uncooked version, the cheese was laid on way too thick towards the center of the pie, while the outer few inches had almost none. The flavor of the mozzarella was unsurprisingly mild and one-note, and the clumpiness and coagulation weren't resolved by the bake. This pizza reminded me of cafeteria pizza (not a compliment). The bright note here was the crust; I enjoyed the end of my slices the most, as the crust had a good flavor and chew.

Mama Cozzi's Pizza Kitchen is a private Aldi brand with a variety of pizza products, like frozen French bread pizza and Texas toast. Among its offerings is a small lineup of refrigerated take-and-bake pizzas in flavors like cheese and Mega Meat. The pepperoni pizza was the only one in stock at my Aldi, so I grabbed it while I could.

I was excited for this one, and it did some things really well. The spread of cheese and toppings was well-balanced. The crust had a good texture and was decently thin without being either soggy or cracker-like. But there was one thing I couldn't really move past: This pizza didn't have much flavor. The pepperoni had a pleasant smoky sweetness, but it was quite light and only noticeable due to the lack of any other notes from the pepperoni — or any other element of the pie. I'm not expecting a flavor rainbow from a pepperoni pizza, but simple doesn't have to mean bland, and this was pretty bland. Still, it checks so many boxes on paper that I can't bring myself to say I dislike it, unlike the Wegmans pizza. I liked it enough that I would definitely try other Aldi pizzas.

Target wasn't always a hotspot, but over the past few years, its food and beverage sales have grown significantly: 55% of Target shoppers purchase a food or beverage product. One of its store-brand groceries is a take-and-bake pizza, sold under its Market Pantry line. Unlike its more premium food brand, Good & Gather, Market Pantry aims for affordability. As such, my pepperoni pizza was $6.99. Before baking, I noted that the cheese and pepperoni were spread evenly all the way to the crust — a good sign for me, since I love a crispy cheese edge on a pizza. 

As I had hoped, cheese bubbled around the edges of this pizza when I pulled it out of the oven, and the pepperoni slices glistened with greasy splendor. I liked the amount of cheese on this one, and the thinly sliced pepperoni crisped up in places to create a pleasant crunch. The sauce was unremarkable, which I think is a good thing; no weird "what is that taste?" moments here. However, I was thrown off by the crust. It was quite thick and dimpled, almost like focaccia, and had a cornmeal dusting that felt out of place. It's the reason this pizza didn't get a higher ranking. Still, this was a solid pizza that I ate happily.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up a 7-Eleven take-and-bake pizza. The convenience store chain is chock-full of drinks and snacks, but certainly isn't known for food meant to be prepared or even eaten at home; its perpetually rolling hot dogs, bite-sized taquitos, and Slurpees are best enjoyed when barely out the door. But the sandwiches from 7-Eleven aren't too shabby, so I was curious about this option. 

The Ultimate Pepperoni Pizza looked a lot like the other pizzas I tried, but with a lot of pepperoni. 7-Eleven was not kidding around with the "ultimate pepperoni" title. And since it was Pi Day when I purchased it, it was only $3.14, though it would have been $9.99 on any other day.

This pizza was a sleeper hit. It wasn't the greatest looking when it came out of the oven, partly because it was seriously piled with a tangle of pepperoni (both rounds and chopped pieces). But the pepperoni was tasty, and the two types each had their own distinct flavor. One brought heat, while the other was slightly sweeter. The crust was thicker than I would normally want, but it was structurally necessary to hold up the toppings, and less doughy than the Target crust. The cheese was a little one-note, but with an ultimate pepperoni pizza, the cheese isn't exactly the point, and the ratio of cheese to sauce was ideal. I would get this one again, and not just on Pi Day.

The Lidl near me is across the street from Aldi, which felt fitting; the two German discount grocery chains are natural competitors. But this wasn't about Lidl versus Aldi, so I tried to keep any direct comparisons out of my mind and let both pizzas stand on their own.

I brought home the Lidl 5-Cheese for $6.95, and I was excited from the get-go. The five cheeses —mozzarella, provolone, Monterey Jack, Parmesan, and Romano— were spread evenly across the large pizza, and I even detected a light sprinkling of parsley on top. Classy!

When it came out of the oven, its look was... interesting. The crust had almost no color on the top or bottom, while the cheese had an uneven toasted look. But on taste alone, this pizza was far and away my favorite. The five cheeses offered a more complex flavor than the other pizzas, with some funkiness and saltiness breaking up the mild creamy taste of mozzarella. The sauce base had the slight sweetness of a classic pizza sauce. But there were some textural issues with this one. The cheeses had hardened slightly, resulting in a distinctive lack of melty goodness. And while the crust held up nicely, it had the taste and chew of a soft pita. Still, I kept wanting more of this pizza.

There's an old piece of advice regarding self-restraint that most people have heard: Never go grocery shopping when you are hungry. But when you are shopping at Whole Foods, you'd have to be without your wallet entirely to avoid the temptations of the prepared food section. So I grabbed a large take-and-bake cheese pizza for $10.49 and got out of there before I ended up with a 10-pound container from the salad bar.

This pizza seemed pretty straightforward, but I gasped when I opened the oven near the end of the cooking time. I had underestimated the amount of cheese on this thing. Now that it had melted, it completely blanketed the pizza, and there was no speck of sauce to be seen. But I am a cheese lover, so I wasn't too upset. 

When I pulled out the pizza, it was really something to admire — bubbly cheese and crust, tasty-looking brown spots, and crispy edges. It was surprisingly flavorful, considering that mozzarella was the only cheese on the pizza. The crust had a nice flavor and chew, and was thin but sturdy. 

There was just one problem: The sauce was subtle, at best. If I hadn't seen the pizza before I baked it, I would have thought this was a white pizza. It was almost undetectable. But, even if it was basically a white pizza, it was also delicious. This pie was the whole package, without the delivery.

I selected these pizzas based not only on their availability in my area, but also on their general availability; they are all from grocery chains with numerous locations across the country. When tasting these pizzas, I took note of key elements like crust texture and browning while also accounting for the limitations of a home oven. I prepared these pizzas according to the packaging instructions when applicable. I also tried each pizza the day after baking it, reheated in the microwave, to have a second taste and make any additional notes. I did not evaluate the texture of the crust and cheese on the second tasting, as the reheating method could have a profound effect.

I ranked these take-and-bake pizzas based on flavor, appearance, and texture of each ingredient and of the overall product. While local stock availability prevented me from sticking with just cheese pizzas, I limited my choices to cheese and pepperoni to prevent additional variables. Price was considered in relation to the size and overall quality of each pizza.