10 Store-Bought Frozen Cheese Pizzas Ranked Worst To Best

Frozen foods get some shade, but they can be great timesavers. Frozen fruit is great for smoothies, frozen desserts are great to keep handy for impromptu company, and frozen appetizers are a great addition if you are hosting. But the frozen pizza category is tricky. There are many factors that can make frozen pizzas hit or miss. There's the crust texture, the meltiness of the cheese, the flavor of the sauce, and that's just to name a few.

Growing up, frozen cheese pizza — specifically Ellio's — always had a permanent spot in our freezer. It made for a quick dinner before extracurricular activities and was an easy option if my mom did not feel like making dinner. As a teenager, they also became a staple after hanging out with friends and wanting a late-night snack.

There is an entire hierarchy of frozen cheese pizzas. The options have definitely expanded over the years, and it shows in the grocery store freezer cases. Obviously, a frozen pizza is never going to stack up to a fresh, hot slice from a legit pizza place. We just have to accept that they are two totally different experiences and can't really be compared. Let's just see frozen pizza for exactly what it is, because comparison is the thief of joy. I picked up 10 different frozen cheese pizzas to cook up at home and rank from worst to best, so let's get into it.

I shopped at Target for an array of frozen cheese pizzas for this ranking. I tried to get a diverse mix of brands and styles based on what the store had available. I cooked all of the frozen pies exactly according to their respective directions.

The criteria I used to develop a ranking of all 10 pizzas included crust crispiness and texture, cheese and sauce quality, and overall taste. While there are plenty of ways to elevate frozen pizza, we ate it as it comes in the box. Every first bite was taken a few minutes after removing the frozen pizza from the oven to capitalize on the fresh, hot slice. You only get one chance to make a first impression.

To be blunt, Newman's Own Thin & Crispy Crust Four Cheese is an abomination and just thinking about it makes me involuntarily scrunch up my face in disdain. The box says it's thin and crispy, but I can assure you it's neither of those things. Instead, it's thin-ish, and the only part that comes out a little bit crispy is the outer edge of the crust.

Newman's Own Thin & Crispy Crust Four Cheese includes mozzarella, cheddar, Parmesan, and Asiago. The main thing the four cheeses have in common here is that none of them melt properly to provide the quintessential pizza pie experience. It's too salty, and the sauce is awful. The lack of a melty cheese pull isn't the only problem. Even if you follow the preparation rules, the middle just does not cook as fast as the edges.

When you cut it or pull a slice from the pie, the cheese comes off in big sections. There are no artificial flavors, dyes, or preservatives, which is great. However, it's not enough to make Newman's Own Thin & Crispy Crust Four Cheese pie palatable. The worst part is the center of the pizza. The entire middle sags down well below the crust. It's like your grandfather's old recliner that has become completely concave from years of his weight in the same spot. The crispy edge and the droopy center make for a really weird experience, and it felt like I was eating two different pizzas at the same time.

This one is rough. Visually, the Good & Gather Margherita has the most potential. The picture on the box teases a poster child for exactly what a pizza of this kind should look like. But the reality is very different.

Good & Gather Margherita comes with a wood-fired crust. While there are some tricks to creating the wood-fired pizza feel at home, it's not so simple to achieve with a frozen pizza. Good & Gather's (an in-house Target brand) frozen pizza deviates from plain red sauce and instead uses crushed tomato sauce, mozzarella, grilled tomatoes, and basil leaves. The pie gives off a rustic style with chunky ingredients that differentiate it from a regular cheese pizza. In theory, this frozen pizza had everything going for it.

A good Margherita pie is savory, comforting, and offers a nice little departure from a traditional cheese pizza. The mix of ingredients is both satisfying and yummy. Unfortunately, I'm sorry to report that Good & Gather did not deliver on the Margherita image plastered on the box. As far as I'm concerned, it's false advertising. The whole thing is overly salty and tastes just plain odd. This one hurt because, at first glance, the frozen Margherita pizza seems really encouraging. There is nothing redeeming about it — but my dog liked it.

I don't understand how the Market Pantry (another in-house Target brand) frozen cheese pizza has the audacity to call itself thin and crispy. With mozzarella, cheddar, Parmesan, and Romano, it's almost as if the crust is screaming that it can't handle the dairy overload before tapping out.

While some people have their own tried-and-true hacks to elevate a frozen pizza, the body of the one from Market Pantry cooks up floppy and totally unappealing. Also, maybe I'm in the minority, but cheddar cheese does not belong here. Save it for an omelet. The cheddar notes make the pizza way too salty and don't meld well with the other cheese flavors. The picture on the box shows a nice cheese pull, but it's all smoke and mirrors, because in real life, the cheese doesn't do that.

The subpar cheese combo and ridiculously limp crust are a recipe for disaster in a frozen cheese pizza. Even with the inherent issues that plague frozen pizza in general, this one does not belong in anyone's shopping cart. However, if you are big into self-loathing activities, this is a good fit because you will hate yourself for eating it. You are better off spending a little more for a brand name. It will still be mediocre, but that's got to be better than this complete travesty of a frozen cheese pizza.

Jack's Original Thin Crust Cheese has decent reviews, so I thought maybe it would break the frozen pizza disappointment cycle and come out a winner. It looks almost identical to the Market Pantry Thin Crust Four Cheese, but I'll give Jack's credit for a slightly better flavor than its Market Pantry doppelganger. Just to be clear, that's not exactly a compliment. Once again, there's a sogginess issue. The center of the pie is far slouchier than any pizza is meant to be. It's a big miss, and someone needs to crack the code on this systemic frozen pizza problem.

The label brags about being made with "100% real cheese," but don't get too excited. It's clumpy and does not cook evenly at all. Some patches are melted, and some still have chunks of the previously frozen cheese. There are some pizza people who make a case for defrosting frozen pizza before cooking, but I followed the directions to cook from frozen as intended.

Unfortunately, this pie leaves a lot to be desired. This was the only pie to come with cooking directions that said you could grill the frozen pizza. Who knew? Maybe that would help, since the standard oven didn't do it any favors. Better luck next time, Jack.

DiGiorno has an illustrious history in the frozen pizza world. It's been an industry darling for years, offering an impressive variety of frozen pies and appearing in the freezer section at almost every grocery store. You want stuffed crust? Rising crust? Thin crust? No toppings? All the toppings? It's highly unlikely that DiGiorno doesn't have something sitting in a grocer's freezer to appeal to any frozen pizza preference.

Despite its prevalence, I have shockingly never tasted a DiGiorno frozen pizza and was intrigued to finally give it a try. Is the flavor good? I guess, relatively speaking, you could say that. When I hear the words "wood-fired," I expect a respectable crisp factor. Sadly, the DiGiorno Wood Fired Four Cheese did not deliver.

Another frozen pizza, another offensively listless crust. On top of the crust drama, the pizza sauce has a weird tanginess and the cheese is chewy. DiGiorno uses a mix of mozzarella, Parmesan, Asiago and Romano cheeses. It's kind of like chewing a piece of cheese-flavored bubble gum before it eventually gives up and disintegrates in your mouth, forcing you to choke it down. I'm not sure what I am missing when so many people like DiGiorno, but it's not good, and I don't get the hype.

After the first DiGiorno fail, I was not excited about this one. I cleansed my palate and got ready to dig into a different variety, hoping and praying it would redeem itself. It didn't. All of the things wrong with the DiGiorno Wood Fired Four Cheese is also echoed in its rising crust cousin, but there's just more of it to deal with.

The rising crust of the DiGiorno Rising Crust Four Cheese is not as dramatic as I expected, which was a letdown in itself. This DiGiorno frozen pizza contains the same exact four cheese combo of mozzarella, Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano, and the same awkward chewy finish as the other one included in this ranking.

I have a question for the DiGiorno fans and that question is, why? What is it about this brand? I need to know what keeps you all loyal and coming back. You are better than this, and your pizza should be as well — frozen or not.

Not to be outdone by the rest of its frozen pizza peer group, this Freschetta pie boasts five types of cheese. The Freschetta Brick Oven Crust Five Cheese uses mozzarella, provolone, fontina, Asiago and Parmesan. This is the only frozen cheese pizza that has some form of the highly sought-after cheese pull that a good, respectable pizza is known for.

With that in mind, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that this one tasted better than many others. That's relatively speaking, of course, because the frozen pizza bar is low among this group. The square-shaped pie's brick oven crust is substantial enough to hold all the cheeses without dropping the ball.

Overall, the Freschetta Brick Oven Crust Five Cheese is not that bad. The texture is far better than the several pizza predecessors on this list. The good news is that it certainly did not collapse into a lifeless pile of mush and sorrow like some of the other frozen pizza contenders. The sauce isn't completely awful, so that's a plus too. The biggest flex of the Freschetta Brick Oven Crust Five Cheese is that the crust has an enjoyable texture and a buttery, rich flavor. I'm not saying I would run out to buy it again, but if someone put a piping hot Freschetta on a table in front of me, I'd probably snack on it.

Cappello's Classic Crispy Crust Five Cheese intrigued me from the get-go. The simple packaging with the very obvious Italian name definitely made it stand out and feel more legit as far as pizza goes. It has a five cheese combo including mozzarella, white cheddar, fontina, Asiago, and Parmesan.

Despite the abundance of cheese, Cappello's main selling point is its crust. The brand uses European, gluten-free wheat. Gluten-free items may have a reputation for tasting inferior to their gluten-filled counterparts, but I had no idea I was even eating a gluten-free pizza until I saw it on the box.

Admittedly, the dough has a slightly different texture than you'd expect. It's a little gummy with a slight spongy feel, but it finishes with a decent crisp and cooks more evenly. The flavor is significantly better than most of the other frozen cheese pies. Cappello's is also one of the only pies on this list to provide a somewhat decent cheese pull. I know I keep harping on that, but it's important — and not just for a solid Instagram story. Melty, pull-worthy cheese is far better than the clumpy mass of cheese presented by other frozen cheese pizza brands.

Having been to a brick and mortar California Pizza Kitchen more than once in my lifetime, I felt like I was walking into this tasting with open eyes and realistic expectations. California Pizza Kitchen's claim of a crispy thin crust is not entirely false. It is much more crisp than the other frozen pizzas for sure. The blend of four cheeses includes two kinds of mozzarella, fontina, and hickory smoked gouda.

The latter is where it goes a little off the rails for me. Listen, I am not anti-gouda at all. But smoked gouda, or anything smoked, has a very intense flavor. Putting it on the California Pizza Kitchen frozen pie is a huge miss because the pungent taste completely overpowers everything else. I had to deduct points for the inclusion of smoked gouda — but it wasn't all bad news.

Its herbed tomato sauce made with olive oil is a nice touch and better than other frozen cheese pies, even though it's tough to come through the dominant gouda flavor. Without the smoked gouda, the California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizza would be a real contender for the top spot.

In my gut, before even heading into the pizza tasting, I had a feeling that Rao's would sweep the whole competition, but you never know until that first bite. Rao's frozen pizza touts a brick oven crust and a five cheese blend that includes whole milk mozzarella, provolone, fontina, Romano, and Parmesan.

The very first bite was a reminder of why we are a Rao's family. The brand's jarred marinara is hands down the best quality and flavor you will ever get from a jarred sauce. Rao's marinara sauce is on heavy rotation in my kitchen. There is an abundance in my pantry because everyone loves it.

Its crust came out much crispier than any of the other frozen pizzas. The bottom of the pie could potentially use a little more crisp, but overall it was fine. Maybe it's the vine ripened Italian grown tomatoes. Maybe it's the hand shredded whole milk mozz. Whatever Rao's is doing works for its frozen pizza. Rao's Brick Oven Five Cheese's ranking as the best frozen cheese pizza is unanimous among everyone in my house who tried it. Does it still taste like a frozen cheese pizza? Well, yes, it does. The quality and flavors are noticeably better than the rest of the bunch though. If I were to purchase any frozen cheese pizza again, it would be Rao's.