10 Frozen Margherita Pizzas, Ranked

Last autumn, I found myself in a pizzeria with my best friend, after cycling over 70 miles together through the Spanish countryside. He ordered a Margherita pizza, while I ordered a pear and Gorgonzola pizza. My pie was cheesy and funky in all the right ways — but I found myself, as always, regretting not ordering the Margherita pizza.

Margherita pizzas are humble, yet powerful. In their traditional Neapolitan form, they feature San Marzano tomatoes, gooey slices of mozzarella, basil, and a crust that is simultaneously crispy and pillowy soft. Margherita pizzas are best had fresh, straight out of a wood-burning oven; indeed, pizza ovens really are necessary to make authentic Neapolitan pizzas. But approximations can still be made in home ovens and in commercial facilities. I set out to find which ones in the frozen aisle are worthy of your freezer space.

First, I selected a handful of the most commonly available frozen Margherita pizzas from different grocery stores. I baked each pie according to package directions, cut myself a slice, and sat down with a notepad and pen. Each pizza received a score from one to 10 based on several criteria, including the sauce-to-cheese ratio, how distinct and memorable the flavors were, and the crust texture. You can find more information on my methodology at the end of this article.

In terms of size, Lowes Foods Thin Crust Margherita Pizza is larger than most frozen pizzas, weighing in at 21.25 ounces per pie. That's five servings, whereas most other frozen pizzas feed three. However, when it comes to what's on the pie, this pizza has a much smaller list of ingredients than most other products in this review.

Given the simple list of ingredients, I was surprised that this pie tasted so ... frozen. In fact, everything about it screamed "frozen pizza," from its cardboard-like smell to the doughy texture of its wheat flour crust to the lackluster flavor of its mozzarella cheese and vine-ripened tomato sauce. I yearned for more basil to mask all this frozen-ness, but I was in no such luck. Instead, each bite suffused my mouth with an overdose of oregano.

I almost appreciated the chunky, juicy tomatoes that garnished this pizza because they were the only component that didn't strike me as having once been frozen. But even they lacked flavor and tasted a bit too raw. There was no question in my mind that this pizza deserved the lowest rank.

I wasn't fond of frozen pizzas as a child, finding them all too often freezer-burnt and gummy. DiGiorno was one of the brands that regularly filled our freezer, so I was excited to see if the brand had improved since I last ate it. Unfortunately, nearly 20 years apart, I couldn't make my taste buds forget the overt oregano flavor in DiGiorno's tomato sauce. This herbaceousness makes all its pizzas taste the same to me, and it also precluded this product from even coming close to doing its Margherita namesake justice. After all, basil is the name of the game when it comes to this iconic recipe.

Although Margherita pizzas are remarkably simple, each 15.3-ounce DiGiorno Thin Crust Margherita Pizza contains a legion of ingredients. Of course, there's a wheat flour crust, alongside low-moisture part-skim mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil. There's also fontina, Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano cheeses (none of which are present in traditional Margherita pizzas). Ingredients like natural flavor and palm oil may turn you off this product, as may the high sodium content.

The crust was the only part of this pizza that I found impressive. It blackened slightly in the oven, giving it a smoky flavor and pleasantly chewy texture. Each edge was satisfyingly crunchy and well-suited for a dipping sauce, too.

At 16.3 ounces, Urban Pie's Roman Style Crust Margherita pizza with San Marzano sauce was one of the larger pizzas in this review. It was also one of the most expensive. Peering at the list of gourmet ingredients, I was curious whether the higher price tag would be worth it. Sadly, everyone at the table agreed that it wasn't.

This pizza is unique from its competition in that it features provolone, Parmesan, Romano, and stracciatella cheeses, in addition to the more standard low-moisture whole milk mozzarella. Nevertheless, I didn't feel that those cheeses added much to the experience, even when ignoring the fact that they're not traditional Margherita pizza ingredients. Sure, the cheese was creamy and had a fantastic pull, but there was also quite a bit of grease accompanied by not a ton of flavor. Furthermore, the cheese covered the entire pizza once baked, which was extremely disappointing; before I baked the pie, the mozzarella rounds were gorgeous, and you could still see sauce between each circle. Even worse, you could tell by its flavor that the cheese had been in the freezer, even though it wasn't exactly freezer-burnt.

On a brighter note, I liked the texture of this pizza's Roman-style crust. Roman pizzas have several unique attributes, and this one lived up to the promise of being soft on the inside while crunchy on the outside. That's largely a result of the dough having been fermented for 24 hours.

It's been a decade since I last ate at California Pizza Kitchen, but it hasn't been that long since I've had one of the brand's cheesy pies. In fact, it was just last year that I reviewed the innovative dill pickle pizza. Certainly, California Pizza Kitchen's Margherita Pizza is slightly more traditional than several of the other palm tree-emblazoned products neighboring it in the freezer aisle. Each 15.5-ounce pie has three servings, and it's a safe bet for pleasing adults and children alike.

This pizza starts with a thin, crispy crust that I quite enjoyed, especially when I reached each slice's crunchy "bone" (what my family likes to call the edge). The bottom of the pie developed lovely brown bubbles when cooked directly on a rack. However, I'll admit the crust's flavor was somewhat overpowered by that of the toppings. It would have helped if there was more distinction between the sauce and the fontina and low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheeses; where there should have been blobs of cheese, there was uniformity. The chunky vine-ripened tomato garnish helped ameliorate this slightly, providing bursts of tangy flavor.

On a related note, while the cheeses had a pleasant chew, they didn't offer enough pull. And although I was impressed by the nuttier flavor offered by fontina cheese, I had to knock off points because it's not used in traditional Neapolitan Margherita pizza recipes.

A Tasting Table writer ranked a large handful of bettergoods pizzas and found that its Italian Wood-Fired Margherita Pizza fell somewhat behind the rest of the pack. I set out to see if I agreed. Immediately, I noticed that this pizza's sauce was bright, but lacked the necessary tanginess to be truly memorable. Even so, I appreciated that it was infused with garlic, basil, oregano, and black pepper, none of which were overpowering. Atop this sauce was not only Parmesan Reggiano cheese, but also low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese. These cheeses were flavorful and offered a noteworthy pull, but they didn't contrast well enough with the sauce; the cheese needed to be placed in more distinct blobs. I was, however, pleased that this pizza wasn't weighed down with too much cheese. Meanwhile, the basil leaves lent a great flavor, but the pizza needed more of them.

Like every other component of bettergoods' Margherita pizza, the crust had a few things going for it and a few things going against it. Namely, I enjoyed how the crust graduated from thin in the middle to thick on the rim, where a thin, crunchy outer layer encased each edge. Nevertheless, this crust was a tad too chewy. That was my final thought as I concluded that this Margherita pizza was average in every sense of the word.

Although it's not the most affordable product on this list, I felt that the 10.2-ounce 365 Thin Crust Margherita Pizza struck one of the best balances between price and quality. This pie stars a crispy crust, low-moisture whole milk mozzarella, shredded Parmesan cheese, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and basil, among other ingredients. Right away, I noticed that I could actually differentiate the sauce from the cheese. While the islands of mozzarella could have done with more sauce swimming between them, they were still helpful on the aesthetic and textural fronts.

The sauce was flavorful, without being overly reliant on herbs. In other words, I could taste the other elements of this pie. Meanwhile, the cheese offered a lovely chewiness that contrasted well with the juicy, tangy, and bright tomato garnish. The crust browned nicely on the bottom and was thin and crispy, as intended.

Where this product especially fell short, though, was its texture. It needed to be saucier to approach true Margherita territory. Other opportunities for improvement include adding more basil and developing a more complex flavor in the crust.

Compared to several other pies on this list, the 15.5-ounce Good & Gather Signature Wood-Fired Crust Margherita Pizza contains a streamlined ingredient list with no artificial flavors. The medium-thick crust was topped with a generous amount of an herbaceous crushed tomato sauce that left nothing to be desired in terms of quantity, but could have certainly given more room for the basil to shine rather than oregano. The large basil leaves garnishing the pizza helped, but I would have preferred more of them with a more even distribution. Instead of a bright and tangy pie, this was a bit too dark and moody for a Margherita pizza.

The low-moisture part-skim mozzarella rounds had a spectacular pull, though they were bland and less savory than the cheese found on other pizzas in this review. The crust didn't have mind-blowing flavor, though its crispiness was satisfactory. When I first unboxed this pizza, I was excited to see that its shreds and large round slices of mozzarella were distinct from the sauce. When baked, I appreciated that the cheese didn't entirely cover the pie, though the blobs should have remained a bit more distinct.

This pizza was undeniably moist, and its saucy (even messy) nature sealed the deal; it certainly deserved a top four ranking. Though its flavors could be improved, it was still a good attempt at a Margherita pizza.

I can't count how many times I ate Newman's Own pizzas as a child. At a young age, I didn't appreciate the quality difference between brands, but now that I'm older, I can easily see that Newman's Own Margherita pizza with a stone-fired crust is a step above most of its competitors.

For starters, the ingredients list is small and traditional. The pleasantly chewy wheat flour crust is topped with a simple tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, extra virgin olive oil, and basil leaves. That's it. There aren't any anti-caking agents or preservatives in this pie. It's 13.1 ounces and more expensive than most of its 15+ ounce competitors, but the higher price is worth it.

This pie contained a pretty mixture of mozzarella rounds and crumbles that didn't completely smother the sauce, even after baking. The cheese was a tad too rubbery, but it had some pull and boasted a spectacular flavor that made me forgive this shortcoming. Meanwhile, I loved the bright, herbaceous, tangy tomato sauce, but wanted about 20% more of it. Similarly, I found the basil garnish very flavorful, but yearned for more.

Simplicity made this pizza shine. It deserved a very high ranking for staying true to what a Margherita pizza is supposed to taste like, though its areas for improvement made it miss out on the top two rankings.

If price were the only factor, I wouldn't buy Amy's Margherita pizza often. I found it for well over $10, and it was only 13 ounces. However, I was more than happy to sample this largely organic product and see how it stacked up against its competition. Clearly, it performed well — so well, that I could justify buying it again.

This was one of only a few frozen pizzas that almost lived up to their Margherita namesake. Amy's version of Margherita pizza contains a relatively simple, yet effective, list of ingredients. The wheat-based crust reminded me of an authentic Neapolitan pizza with its medium thickness, soft interior, and chewy exterior. Atop this crust was an organic tomato puree that allowed the naturally rich, yet bright flavors of tomatoes to sing. Though herbaceous, this pizza tasted light and refreshing, unlike several other products in this review. The organic basil was easily discernible.

Amy's version of Margherita contains some Parmesan, but the organic whole milk mozzarella stole the show. It had a gratifying chew and didn't leave the pizza feeling greasy. Furthermore, there was plenty of distinction between the sauce and the cheese. This pizza easily secured the runner-up position on the basis of authenticity and flavor — it was also the first-place Amy's pizza flavor.

Though folks have derided the previous version of Trader Joe's Margherita Pizza, a new recipe has won the approval of some (but not all) of the detractors. Such ambiguity was the perfect reason to taste test it for myself — and obviously, the risk paid off! Without a doubt, this pie blew away its competition — and for a fantastic price, too.

Each of Trader Joe's Margherita pizzas is made in Modena, Italy, where the crust is hand-stretched and prepared in the Amalfi style (meaning you can count on it being soft and airy). I loved that the crust's circumference was substantially thicker than its interior, making it easier to hold each slice in my hands. The thinness of the inner crust also allowed the toppings to shine without any distractions. And yet, the crust itself was flavorful, too, since it was cooked in a wood-burning oven in Italy.

Instead of regular tomato sauce, this pizza stars a bright passata (an uncooked, puréed, and strained tomato sauce that's unburdened by spices like oregano). This sauce was tangy and thick, but not distractingly so. Atop the passata were slices of mozzarella, shredded Grana Padano PDO cheese (which, vegetarians should note, does contain animal rennet), and plenty of basil leaves. The cheese wasn't at all rubbery, offered a lovely pull, and stood in obvious contrast to the sauce. I had no complaints about this pizza, which surprised even myself.

This review includes some of the most commonly available Margherita pizzas found in the frozen aisle of several grocery stores. To rank these pies, I focused entirely on quality (price, though sometimes noted, was not a factor). I first baked these pizzas directly on my oven rack according to their unique package directions (temperatures and baking times varied between brands). I then assigned them scores from one to 10 based on the following criteria.

First, a good Margherita pizza needs to have plenty of sauce that is easily distinguishable from the flavorful rounds of mozzarella cheese sitting on top. Ideally, there's a healthy scattering of basil, without darker herbs to weigh down the sauce's bright, tangy flavor. The crust should be Neapolitan-style, with a pliable, soft interior and thin, crunchy edge.

Authenticity was a major factor in this review, and frozen Margherita pizzas often fail to use the right type of mozzarella. Using low-moisture mozzarella is a standard practice in the pizza industry; it boasts a unique melting capacity and flavor that unprocessed mozzarella doesn't. Even so, low-moisture mozzarella is not traditionally added to Neapolitan pizzas, and that includes Margherita pizzas. Besides, those products that starred mozzarella and fior di latte tended to taste better anyways.