New York chef rated 7 frozen pizzas: which one was the best

“As a chef, I don't often get frozen pizza, but I was determined to find out which was the best,” shared Lisey Briskin on insider.com.

Let's start with a classic: the original DiGiorno pizza with four cheeses.

This style has a “rising crust” but that was not a big advantage because I am a fan of thin crust. This pizza was noticeably thicker and heavier than other pizza brands. And it also has a longer baking time of 20 minutes at 240 degrees.

Despite my preference for a thin crust, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this cake. The crust did rise in the oven, resulting in a soft, delicious bready texture. Fortunately, the fluffy bread did not deprive the fragrant filling. The main thing is that the amount of sauce and cheese should correspond to the thickness of the crust. This DiGiorno pizza proves how important the ratio of crust and toppings is. I also appreciated that the cheese extended all the way to the edges of the crust, so that every bite was cheesy.

Gluten free Cappello pizza with almond flour crust.

Then I went from thick and fluffy to thin, dense and grain-free. Cappello pizza is made with an almond flour crust that defines the words "thin" and "crispy". The pizza is shaped like a cookie with cute scalloped edges that look almost perfect. This gluten-free pizza is supposed to be cooked at a slightly higher oven temperature of 255 degrees for 11-16 minutes.

After 12 minutes, the pizza was browned and crispy. Almonds and other nuts can toast very quickly, so I was worried I overdid it. However, my first bite showed that the dark golden brown color was not a sign of a burn. Just like before cooking, this pizza was crispy and tough just out of the oven. Each bite didn't sag or sag (thanks to the lack of stretchy gluten), which can rob you of your pizza pleasure. However, the taste was good and the mozzarella cheese seemed to be of better quality than the other options. The almond crust makes the pizza more satisfying than others.

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Then I tried the California Pizza Kitchen pizza with a crispy thin crust made from four types of cheese.

This pie is from California Pizza Kitchen, a restaurant chain with nearly 200 locations in the US and several other countries. All four types of cheese are seen on a frozen pie with a mixture of pieces and cubes of two types of mozzarella, fontina and hickory-smoked gouda. This dairy mix gave the pizza a more distinct flavor than others I've tried. In particular, gouda cheese, when baked, gives a specific flavor that may not be for everyone. Despite the many types of cheese, the filling melted evenly and had a fairly good coating, extending to the very edge of the crust. The edges also took on a nice crispy toasted texture which was a nice contrast to the softer center of the pizza. Personally, I wanted a little more crispy crust all over the pizza. The middle of the pizza remained pale and the texture seemed slightly undercooked.

Next up was the classic Red Baron pizza with a crust and four cheeses.

This pie is topped with mozzarella, cheddar, provolone and parmesan. This time, all four cheeses were shredded, and the orange cheddar stood out from the sea of ​​white. It's actually impossible to quantify each cheese, but I didn't notice almost hard or grainy parmesan shavings. I guess mozzarella and cheddar dominate this four-cheese pie. This pizza is larger than some others and offers four servings instead of three. Baking at 240 degrees takes up to 21 minutes, although mine was ready in about 19. The crust was thicker than I expected, but this pizza was tasty and cheesy. The four cheeses melted together into a homogeneous filling with very little rind. For this reason, you need a sharp knife to cut your pizza, or you risk removing the entire top layer of cheese in one wrong move. In terms of taste, it was definitely cheese pizza. There was also a lot of sauce underneath all that cheese, which may be one of the reasons the crust didn't crunch as much as I would have liked.

Then I gave my stomach a little break with Celeste's miniature pizza.

Although the box advertises that your food is “microwavable in minutes,” I decided to follow the oven instructions in hopes of optimizing the crispiness. This pizza for one person was in my oven for 14 minutes at 240 degrees. It was the driest pizza I've ever had. I think more cheese could help her. Upon further examination of the list of ingredients on the box, it turned out that the filling was made from “Imitation Mozzarella Blend” – and to be honest, that’s how it tasted to me. Since you can cook it in the microwave, it can be a convenient option for office lunches. But it won't be on my shopping list anytime soon.

I also tried Amy's Vegan Margherita Pizza.

I wanted to try this cake because there was no milk in it. And I was curious how it would be different from other species. This pizza had a thin crust, diced tomatoes, grated mozzarella-style “cheese” made with sunflower seed kernels, potato starch, and coconut oil. The plant-based pie took about 15 minutes to cook at 245 degrees. Much to my surprise, Amy's pizza turned out to be one of my favorites. The vegan “cheese” melted pretty well and tasted good. Of course, not the same as mozzarella, but also excellent. The crust became crispy all over the pizza and tasted good. I loved the tomato slices in the sauce, which added texture and a nice, fresh flavor. The sauce also has a lot of basil, which is a refreshing addition. My biggest complaint was that I wanted a supplement.

Finally, I made a classic American Flatbread pizza with tomato sauce and three cheeses.

This thin crust pizza is topped with mozzarella, Asiago and Grana Padano cheese. The instruction instructed me to “cook thoroughly”, which I did. I preheated the oven to 245 degrees and then baked the pizza for five to eight minutes. The oven at my pizzeria may have been too hot by this point, but everything looked burnt after six minutes. The top of the pizza browned much faster than I expected. So while this pie was promising, with its thin, crispy crust and fresh herb filling, unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations. The most surprising thing was that the bottom crust was still a little loose. However, I liked the edges of the crust that didn't burn too badly. They were crispy and tasted great. This was one of the times I was glad the cheese and sauce didn't go all the way to the outer edge of the pie.

As a result, Digiorno's pizza has become my favorite. The filling to crust ratio was perfect.

I also definitely liked the frozen pizza from Amy's, Red Baron and Capello's. But I am not sure if I will buy other brands from the list.