16 Frozen Pizzas To Always Avoid At The Grocery Store

Tucked in the freezers of millions of homes across the United States are pizzas of every stripe. From rock-solid margheritas to spicy pepperoni, and even vegan versions with cauliflower crusts, there's a frozen pie to suit every appetite. Frozen pizza is a commercial success story, skyrocketing from its 1950 origins as a brand new American food to a global market estimated to be worth more than $20 billion. 

Brands such as Totino's and Tombstone got in on the ground floor, becoming market leaders alongside 1990s latecomer DiGiorno, whose rising crusts revolutionized frozen pizzas all over again. Today, freezer sections in grocery stores across the country are stacked with pizzas. As well as providing experts a way to assess the state of the U.S. economy, they're also a quick, convenient meal. But are they all worth putting in our carts? Using online reviews, here's our round-up of 16 frozen pizzas you're better off leaving in the freezer aisle.

Nothing beats a home-made pizza, but in 1995, Kraft raised the bar for the frozen kind with the launch of its DiGiorno brand. Its USP was the "rising crust" that gave a whole new dimension to the until-then flat frozen pizza market. According to the company's website, the dough for every pizza is rested for up to 90 minutes.

DiGiorno is the go-to frozen pizza brand for many, but that's certainly not the case for everyone. That carefully rested dough is a problem for lots of consumers rating DiGiorno's Rising Crust Ultimate Pepperoni. Plenty of them insist there is far too much of it, and some found it tricky to cook their pie without it either being burned or – potentially dangerously — undercooked. 

On social media, shoppers took issue with the amount of artificial ingredients that featured in their DiGiorno pizza, including the seasoning. Online video reviewers also gave it the thumbs down, highlighting the flavorless pepperoni and suggesting it was no better than middle school pizza. 

Screamin' Sicilian frozen pizzas are instantly recognizable thanks to unique box designs honoring the brand's much-loved Papa Palermo's mustache and personality. The Wisconsin-based, family owned company's pizzas have a stone-fired butter crust and the tomato sauce remains a closely guarded secret, while the frozen range includes Detroit and Chicago-style tavern pizzas, with cheese, meat, and pepperoni toppings.

Fans of Screamin' Sicilian complained of a drop-off in quality in the last few years, in particular thicker crusts that might benefit from a blast of heat. One social media user, who said they were persuaded to try a Screamin' Sicilian Holy Pepperoni frozen pizza after reading several comments, concluded it had been a waste of their cash.

They weren't alone. Other customers that posted internet reviews also took a dim view of the pie's much-hyped base. One, who admitted they were intrigued by the concept of the rising crust was left underwhelmed, while another likened it to cardboard. 

As one of the oldest frozen pizza brands still on the market, having launched its own line in the 1950s, Totino's is a landmark in the childhoods of millions. Today the range includes triple cheese, triple meat, and hamburger. While many people are nostalgic about Totino's frozen pizzas, there are some who are happy for it to stay in the past.

Cooking it was correctly is a big bone of contention among buyers: Get it wrong and the result can be a soggy mess. For others, the passage of time hasn't been kind, and the Party Pizza of the 2000s is inedible compared to what they remember as a child. 

In 2023, it was voted the "absolute worst frozen pizza brand" by Mike Edmisten of financial site 24/7 Wall St, and he wasn't alone in declaring it a bad investment. Online reviewers were unenthusiastic about Totino's pepperoni pizza's texture and flavor  – or lack of it  – while one, who bought theirs for less than a dollar, told their audience: "I don't even think it tastes like a 99-cent pizza."

The things people can buy at Costco have achieved near-mythical status, whether it's the first time they've visited the store or the 400th. The warehouse club's frozen foods are a big draw for many shoppers, and it's where they'll find the Kirkland Signature pizza. A pack of four costs less than $17, and the box proudly states it's topped with "100% real cheese," though there's no such claim about the meat.

It could be one reason why it's not a favorite among pizza lovers on social media, despite the brand rumored to make them. Using the admittedly low bar of "drunken pizza," a customer said Costco's in-house brand was unable to clear it. Others suggested their cheese pizza tasted as bad as it looked, and lacked both sauce and flavor. 

Asking whether the Kirkland Signature pepperoni pizza was one of the best frozen pizzas a video reviewer had tasted, their answer was: "Not even close." Another was a little more generous, rating it ever-so-slightly above average. 

Fans of this veteran brand have a Wisconsin customer to thank for the creation of Home Run Inn's frozen pizzas. According to the site, they took a partially-baked pie home for the ice box to cook at their leisure, and the rest is history. The brand's range is small, offering cheese, sausage, and pepperoni on thin or ultra-thin bases, and un-topped, frozen crusts.

That may have been a better option for some buyers, who were not fans of Home Run Inn's sausage frozen pizza. Both the meat and the sauce were given the thumbs down on social media, while a strange "off" flavor mentioned more than once. It has been likened to pork that's slightly rotten and, for one unhappy reviewer, Play-Doh. 

Some buyers found the whole thing a bit "meh", but other consumers on social media disliked pretty much everything about Home Run Inn's pie, including one who threw theirs in the trash, saying it was "absolutely the worst I've ever had."

Jarred Rao's sauces have become ubiquitous in home pantries, and it's not hard to see why. The sauces are regularly praised in food magazines and websites. So it's fair to expect that consumers will shower the same amount of affection on Rao's range of frozen pizzas and brick oven crusts, right? Wrong.

This lengthy Reddit post detailed a laundry list of issues with the five cheese pizza, from how it looked straight out of the box, and the strange smell it gave off while cooking, to the lack of seasoning. It concluded: "This is the sad beige baby of the pizza world."

Other buyers had a problem with the balance of crust to toppings — which was very much not in the latter's favor — and the $12 price point was also a bone of contention. Some people had positive things to say about the sauce (it is Rao's after all) and the long list of ingredients was enough to put other fans off, while one online buyer likened their supreme pizza to cardboard. 

All the major brands aren't just competing with each other these days — they also have to compete with store offerings like Member's Mark from Sam's Club. The label covers a variety of items across roughly 600 stores throughout the United States, including frozen pizza. There are seven varieties to choose from, though the Rising Crust Pepperoni Pizza seemed to draw the most ire.

Buyers found the pepperoni pizza to be bland and in need of more traditional seasonings. The thick crust was also unappealing, with customers complaining there was far too much and for some it was little better than eating soft bread. That "breadyness" was a problem for other pizza lovers, who also complained about the lack of flavor.

Some buyers were prepared to admit that, although the Member's Mark pizza was good enough for the price (it costs $12.98 for a pack of three), it just wasn't the cream of the frozen pizza crop, while others were left distinctly underwhelmed. 

With roots stretching back to the 1970s, Tony's is a frozen pizza brand that is fondly remembered by millions of people across the United States. However, if customer ratings are anything to go by, that relationship is becoming increasingly strained.

One video reviewer, who liked the look of Tony's frozen pepperoni pizza after it came out of the oven, but then complained about everything from the lack of flavor to the "weak" pepperoni, eventually concluded that it was, "dog food." The long ingredients list reveals it's not, but it does reveal the pepperoni for Tony's pizza is made from "mechanically separated chicken," pork, and beef.

While buyers on a budget appreciated the low $5 price, it tasted like a cheap pizza too. The dry, hard crust and overly sweet sauce were also issues for some. Compared to the 1970s pizzas, with their curled-up meat and spicy sauce, buyers on social media say 21st-century Tony's frozen pepperoni is "blah."

It's a bit of a stretch to suggest frozen pizza is a healthy food but many brands are trying to improve the marriage of convenience and health consciousness. Among them is California Pizza Kitchen, with its preservative-free crust and all-natural flavors. While that might go down well with some customers, it was the opposite for others.

People who bought the margherita frozen pizza were disappointed by the small amounts of toppings, and the crust could have benefited from a brush of olive oil or melted butter. Shoppers who paid around $10 for a California Kitchen four cheese frozen pizza were also less than impressed with the money they paid.

Despite claiming to be topped with hickory smoked gouda, two types of mozzarella, and fontina cheeses, lack of flavor was a big complaint, while one shopper was shocked at how poor it tasted.  Online reviewers also had the same issue with California Pizza Kitchen's four cheese frozen pie, concluding it was not good value for money at all.

In 1977 in San Jose, California, the first-ever Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theatre opened, which combined a family meal with entertainment and games. Grateful parents and their delighted children flocked to them, becoming icons of American culture in the process. So it was a natural leap to go from selling pizzas at its outlets to placing frozen versions in supermarkets too. Sadly, it's a step too far for some.

In her review for McSweeney's, Amy Barnes said the "ambiance and experience were gone." Many less nostalgic shoppers, who rightly assumed frozen Chuck E. Cheese pizzas were aimed squarely at children, decided they were nothing like the real deal, and urged others to avoid them. 

Curling crusts and cheese that refused to melt were among some of the issues flagged up on social media and one commenter called it "vomit in a box." Grown-up video reviewers did their best to like Chuck E. Cheese's frozen pizza, but one couldn't get through many bites of the pepperoni version without it becoming "obnoxiously disgusting." 

The Market Pantry range is to Target what Kirkland Signature is to Costco offering a variety of affordable, everyday foods that are ideal for people on a budget. Sadly, when it comes to the thin crust pepperoni frozen pizza that's part of Target's low-cost label, although it costs less than $5, plenty of shoppers have got lots to say about it — and not much of it was positive. The base of the pizza was deemed to be anything from dry to doughy, as far as paying customers were concerned, while the few toppings they had lacked flavor. Maybe they could be improved with a hint of lemon?

The same problems cropped up among video reviewers too. Bland flavor and a far-from crispy crust made the eating experience such a disappointing one that viewers were recommended to buy anything else. While other testers didn't mind the sauce or cheese, they concluded that the bad base gave Market Pantry's thin crust frozen pizza an unpleasant bite. 

There is an entire industry that has been built around cooking for one, helping people create cool food without filling the fridge with leftovers. The frozen pizza business has been slower to catch on, but the Celeste brand spotted the gap in the market and filled it with its Pizza for One. 

Turns out the singletons market has other ideas and they don't include Celeste. Online reviews were damning about soggy bread and bland sauce, proving you should never microwave a frozen pizza, while the small amount of topping left some buyers hopping mad. Those who did get cheese on their pie were put off by the amount of grease oozing out of the cooked pizza, which some said actually looked better raw. 

The cheese's flavor was also an issue, while one reviewer, who admitted they ate Celeste Pizzas for One in college because they were cheap, was unimpressed by the pie and the long ingredients list. The most alarming comment — which came up several times — was the pepperoni pizza topping's resemblance to dog food. 

Not only does Sabatasso's cater to the single crowd with its pizza singles, but the pizzas are also gluten-free. The company covers its pizzas in a signature sauce, and offers four cheese and pepperoni options in the same pack. They look cute as a button, but for many buyers looking for a tasty frozen pizza, they're a hard pass.

The base didn't really get crunchy because they were so small. One reviewer described it as a "burnt, oily cracker," and had a big issue with the lack of sauce. Others also wanted more sauce, and rated both the four cheese and pepperoni pizzas as nothing more than average. 

While some suggested they were a great snack for kids, one buyer took issue with the amount of ingredients, as well as the price of around $15 for 12  Customers on social media gave Sabatasso's frozen pizzas a big thumbs down, despite the gluten-free crust, prompting one person to remark that their celiac spouse didn't like them either. 

One of the oldest brands to sell frozen pizza, Tombstone has gained a devoted following since its launch in 1962. The company's original thin pepperoni promises a quarter-pound of cheese and two layers of meat, but does it still deliver? Not everyone thinks so, especially among people who haven't chowed down on a Tombstone pizza in a long while.

The sausage resembled kibble, according to one reviewer, and didn't taste much better than it either. The claim of a quarter-pound of cheese seemed to be an exaggeration too, as the amount of topping came nowhere close.

Elsewhere, some were surprised that Tombstone's frozen pizza wasn't as bad as they were expecting but still concluded that it wasn't worth the $5.49 they paid. Other reviews were more positive about the price tag but the flavor and texture of the crust meant that, for some people, Tombstone's pie was easily overshadowed by other frozen pizza brands. 

Created especially to fit lunchroom trays, millions of kids grew up chowing down on an Ellio's rectangular frozen pizza. The brand offers five flavors, including five cheese and pepperoni, which are also available with the Sicilian-style crust — and 33% more cheese. It's fair to say there are plenty of people who have a place in their heart for these pies, but they don't have the same appeal for everyone.

Ellio's is a cheap-looking frozen pizza according to online reviewers, and aside from being able to taste the sprinkling of herbs in the sauce, some were happy to never have another mouthful. Others said they would be horrified if it was served to them at a pizza restaurant and dubbed it "an approximation" of a pizza. Lots of online buyers complained about what they saw as a drop in quality compared to the Ellio's pizzas they remembered from their youth, with the sauce too sweet for some tastes.  

French bread is used for sandwiches around the world, so it was only a matter of time before it became a pizza base. Though French bread pizza was invented in the 1960s, it took until 1974 for Stouffer's to put out its first product. In the years since, the simple combination of bread, sauce, cheese, and meat has become a staple food in many a household freezer. For others, it's something to be avoided at all costs.

Some online reviewers questioned the combination of pork, chicken, and beef to produce the pepperoni topping, and the orange sauce raised eyebrows too. It looked no more appealing after it had been cooked, with the cheese described as "fake" and the bread "stale." Not even the sauce escaped criticism, which was dubbed "acidic." Another video review compared Stouffer's frozen French bread pie to vending machine pizza, concluding it was "terrible," and admitted they didn't even want to lick their fingers after they'd finished eating a mouthful.