TEST

Frozen PIZZA on the rise Oven-rising crusts have helped boost the quality of frozen . The best are on a par with pizzeria-chain pizzas.

hen we last tested frozen pizzas in 1997, only a few exhibited the kind of quality that would make them acceptable substi- W tutes for the real thing. Since then, manufac- turers have introduced more products with innovations such as crusts that rise and bake in the oven serving, too. and novel toppings such as chicken. These For nicely cooked days, you’ll find a number of frozen pizzas crusts, forget the pan. that are more than decent in quality— We often got better results indeed, some are comparable to pizzas with oven-rising-crust pizzas offered by the national chains. when we baked them directly on That’s what we concluded after taste- the oven rack, as called for by the testing more than 30 frozen pizzas (, “crisper-crust” directions noted on most , and “gourmet” chicken versions) packages. When we baked some of the piz- plus seven pies from four leading national zas on a cookie sheet or foil—or when we to ones resembling white bread, pastry pizza chains. We also tested another super- placed foil on the oven bottom to catch (think biscuit or pie crust), or crackers; market route to pizza, using a Boboli non- dripping cheese—the crust was often par- some crusts were stuffed with cheese or frozen, ready-made crust and Boboli sauce tially undercooked, even if we kept the pizza sauce. We tested one pizza whose label states plus packaged cheese. in longer than the time specified on the box. that it is made with organic ingredients and Some highlights of our findings: The “diet” pepperoni pizzas we tested two that market themselves as diet food. If you want very good frozen pizza, save you some calories and , but they The panel conducted a less formal evalua- reach for the rising crusts. When we rated didn’t taste as good and were more expen- tion of five frozen pizzas with unusual pizzas in 1997, the only brand of rising- sive than most. Opting for one of the very chicken toppings (see “Going Gourmet” on crust pizza included was DiGiorno, which good nondiet pepperoni pizzas and shaving page 42). In addition, we sent an expert con- was introduced by Kraft in 1995. It topped calories elsewhere from your diet might be sultant to evaluate pepperoni pizzas from our Ratings of supermarket pizzas in that a more-appealing alternative. Or skip the four national chains: Domino’s, Little Cae- report. This time, we tested eight kinds of pepperoni pizzas and choose a cheese or sars, Papa John’s, and . frozen cheese and pepperoni pizzas with chicken version instead; on average, they Whether it comes from a supermarket crusts that rise and bake in the oven; all were had fewer calories and less fat than the or pizzeria, pizza should taste freshly made. judged very good and finished at or near the nondiet pepperoni pizzas. We looked for pizzas with a high-quality top of the Ratings. Most tested brands were consistent crust; a flavorful, well-balanced sauce; fresh- Freschetta Bakes & Rises pizzas led both across categories. If you like a brand’s tasting herbs and spices; and cheese that’s the cheese and pepperoni categories, closely cheese pizza, you can generally expect the mild and a little stretchy, with a distinct followed by DiGiorno Rising Crust. Both same quality in its pepperoni counterpart. mozzarella flavor and perhaps a touch of a brands had a traditional Italian-style crust sharper cheese such as cheddar, Parmesan, (similar to good, slightly chewy Italian PROBING THE PIES or Romano (often found in “four-cheese” bread) and a nice balance of crust, cheese, Trained panelists sampled 17 cheese and 12 pizzas). On a pepperoni pizza, the meat and sauce flavors. The Freschetta pepperoni pepperoni supermarket pizzas (all frozen should be slightly chewy and not overly pie was deemed comparable in quality to except for the Boboli crust and sauce). The greasy and have slight to moderate heat. the best of the chain pepperoni pizzas we lineup included pizzas with various types of Almost half of the supermarket pizzas tested. It worked out to be a bit cheaper per crusts, from traditional Italian-style versions were rated very good. Although the oven-

JANUARY 2002 Z CONSUMER REPORTS 39 TEST rising-crust products mostly led the pack, higher than three oven-rising-crust pizzas sauce was a strong point. Stuffed

some pizzas with conventional crusts also (Safeway Select Verdi Quattro Formaggio Self Crust was judged very good in its cheese and did well. Amy’s Organic Crust & Tomatoes Rising Crust, Tony’s Super Rise Crust Four- pepperoni incarnations—both had white- Cheese Pizza, which is labeled as being made Cheese, and Kroger Self Rising Crust Four bread-type crusts loaded with flavorful with organic flour and tomatoes, scored Cheese). Its hearty, fresh-tasting tomato cheese, and the pepperoni version had PIZZA Pizza

Supermarket pizza

Overall Ratings Within types, in order of quality PRODUCT OVERALL SCORE PER 5-OZ. SLICE COMMENTS

COST CALORIES FAT (G) 0 100 PF G VGE CHEESE PIZZA Very good and fresh-tasting, with flavorful cheese and sauce on a slightly Freschetta Bakes & Rises 4-Cheese Pizza (27 oz.) 90 $0.98 364 15 chewy Italian-style crust. Slight heat from spices. Freschetta Bakes & Rises Sauce Stuffed Crust Very good. Similar to Freschetta 4-Cheese but with extra sauce stuffed in 87 1.23 334 11 4-Cheese Pizza (24 oz.) crust rim. Very good, with flavorful cheese and sauce on a yeasty, slightly chewy DiGiorno Rising Crust Pizza Four Cheese (29 oz.) 86 O.94 332 12 (but sometimes slightly doughy) Italian-style crust.

Amy’s Organic Crust & Tomatoes Cheese Pizza (13 oz.) 82 1.92 341 14 Very good, with flavorful cheese and a hearty sauce on an Italian-style crust. Safeway Select Verdi Quattro Formaggio Self Rising Well priced for very good quality. Flavorful cheese and a yeasty, slightly Crust Pizza (29 oz.) 80 0.84 307 9 chewy Italian-style crust. Very good, with flavorful cheese and spicy sauce on a slightly chewy Italian- Super Rise Crust Four-Cheese Pizza (20 oz.) 78 0.96 335 12 Tony’s style crust. Well priced for very good quality. Less cheese than most, but the cheese Kroger Self Rising Crust Four Cheese Pizza (30 oz.) 76 0.80 292 9 is flavorful. Yeasty, slightly chewy Italian-style crust. Very good, with lots of flavorful cheese and a white-bread, cheese-stuffed Tombstone Stuffed Crust Cheese Pizza (27 oz.) 76 0.96 364 18 crust that tastes like a grilled-cheese sandwich. Slight heat from spices.

Red Baron Classic 4 Cheese Pizza (22 oz.) 74 0.91 384 20 Very good, with flavorful sauce and cheese on a soft, pastrylike crust. Boboli Original Pizza Crust made with Boboli Sauce Very good, with a slightly chewy, Italian-style crust. But the sweet, and mozzarella cheese (27 oz.) 68 0.89 333 12 ketchuplike sauce detracts. Try it with your favorite tomato sauce instead.

Tombstone Original Extra Cheese Pizza (21 oz.) 60 0.94 328 14 Good, but unremarkable. Pastrylike crust. Slight heat from spices.

Reggio’s Chicago Style Cheese Pizza (18 oz.) 56 1.02 367 13 Good, with lots of flavorful cheese. But scant sauce on a doughy, soggy crust. Good, but low-flavor cheese and a thin, crackerlike crust that’s somewhat Jack’s Original Cheese Pizza (15 oz.) 52 0.92 325 13 tough. Good, with a thin, crispy pastry crust, but somewhat stale seasonings. Pizza for One Cheese Pizza (6 oz.) 50 1.17 346 17 Strong green-pepper flavor. Mediocre. Scant cheese and thick sauce with a harsh oregano flavor on a McCain Ellio’s Cheese Pizza (24 oz.) 46 0.54 299 9 white-bread crust. Mediocre. Mild cheese and sauce on a flaky, soggy, somewhat tough Michelina’s Zap ‘ems That’za Pizza! Cheese (5 oz.) 45 1.28 394 19 pastry crust. Must be made in microwave oven. Totino’s The Original Crisp Crust Party Fair, with bland cheese that doesn’t melt in the mouth, a gellike sauce, (10 oz.) 25 0.67 322 14 and a greasy fried crust. PEPPERONI PIZZA Very good, fresh-tasting, and hearty, with flavorful pepperoni, cheese, and Freschetta Bakes & Rises Pepperoni Pizza (28 oz.) 90 0.96 385 18 sauce (with pepperoni bits) on a yeasty, slightly chewy Italian-style crust. Very good and fresh-tasting, with flavorful pepperoni, cheese, and sauce DiGiorno Rising Crust Pizza Pepperoni (31 oz.) 86 0.88 369 16 (with pepperoni bits) on a yeasty but sometimes slightly doughy crust. Very good, with ample, meaty, flavorful pepperoni and sauce (with Tombstone Stuffed Crust Pepperoni Pizza (28 oz.) 81 0.90 400 22 pepperoni bits) on a white-bread, cheese-stuffed crust that tastes like a grilled-cheese sandwich. Very good, with meaty, flavorful pepperoni and sauce (with pepperoni Tombstone Original Pepperoni Pizza (22 oz.) 74 0.88 378 20 bits) on a crisp pastry crust.

The tests behind the Ratings The product column includes total weight of the tested pizza, rounded to the nearest pizzas were given a quality rating and are listed in quality order (from high to low). For whole ounce. Overall score for supermarket pizzas reflects flavor and texture as evalu- all pizzas, we used the Food and Drug Administration reference amount for pizza of 140 ated by trained panelists. Each chain pizza was tasted by a sensory expert five times. grams (about 5 ounces) to calculate per-slice cost, calories, and fat. Per-slice cost is Chains were visited in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The chain derived from the price of the whole pizza. For supermarket pizzas, we used a national

40 CONSUMER REPORTS Z JANUARY 2002 ample, meaty, flavorful pepperoni. but just barely. Its sweet, ketchuplike sauce tions Pepperoni and Healthy Choice Solos The one nonfrozen supermarket pizza was a major drawback. Pepperoni French Bread. They suffered from we tested—a packaged, ready-to-heat Boboli Among the pizzas falling into the fair harsh seasonings, dried-out pepperoni, and crust that we topped with Boboli sauce and category were the two “diet” products: bland cheese that didn’t melt in the mouth. mozzarella cheese—was rated very good, Weight Watchers Smart Ones Bistro Selec- As for the chains, all but Little Caesars

PRODUCT OVERALL SCORE PER 5-OZ. SLICE COMMENTS

COST CALORIES FAT (G) 0 100 PF G VGE PEPPERONI PIZZA continued

Red Baron Classic Pepperoni Pizza (22 oz.) 64 $0.89 400 23 Good, but nothing special. Decent ingredients on a slightly soggy pastry crust.

Tony’s Original Crust Pepperoni Pizza (16 oz.) 60 0.87 410 26 Good, with a crisp pastry crust, but seasonings are somewhat stale. Red Baron Deep Dish Singles 2 Pepperoni Pizzas Good, with pepperoni bits (not rounds) and decent cheese on a doughy (12 oz.) 55 1.28 412 25 pastry crust.

Stouffer’s French Bread Pizza 2 Pepperoni (11 oz.) 34 1.26 343 14 Fair, with mushy cheese, a slightly soggy, stale-tasting crust, and off-flavors. Weight Watchers Smart Ones Bistro Selections Fair, with bland, plasticlike cheese, harsh seasonings, and dried-out Pepperoni Pizza (7 oz.) 33 1.51 283 6 pepperoni on a thin, tough crust. Fair, with scant, mushy cheese, pepperoni bits, and a gellike sauce on a Crisp’n Tasty Pizza Pepperoni (7 oz.) 23 0.74 372 20 Jeno’s pastry crust with fried bottom. Overused-oil flavor. Totino’s The Original Crisp Crust Party Pizza Fair, with soft, bland cheese, a gellike sauce, and pepperoni bits on a Pepperoni (10 oz.) 21 0.64 367 20 greasy fried crust. Healthy Choice Solos Pepperoni French Bread Pizza Fair, with bland, plasticlike cheese, harsh seasonings, and dry pepperoni (6 oz.) 15 1.62 280 4 on a stale-tasting crust.

Chain pizza Overall Ratings In order of quality PRODUCT PER 5-OZ. SLICE COMMENTS COST CALORIES FAT (G) VERY GOOD Papa John’s Original Crust $1.26 321 13 Very good, with an Italian-style crust and sauce that has notably fresh Pepperoni Pizza (37 oz.) tomato flavor. Milder pepperoni flavor than most. Papa John’s Thin Crust Similar to Papa John’s Original, but crust is thinner, slightly crisp, and Pepperoni Pizza (28 oz.) 1.70 380 23 less chewy. Pizza Hut Thin & Crispy Very good, with a thin Italian-style crust and lots of spicy pepperoni Pepperoni Pizza (32 oz.) 1.73 350 16 flavor. Less sauce than most. Fairly oily and quite salty. Domino’s Hand Tossed Pepperoni Pizza (34 oz.) 1.46 358 14 Very good, with an Italian-style crust. But slightly less flavorful than some. Pizza Hut Very good, with a thick Italian-style crust with a crispy fried bottom. Lots of Pepperoni (42 oz.) 1.33 378 19 spicy pepperoni flavor and strong bread flavor. Very oily and quite salty. Very good, with a thick Italian-style crust with a crispy fried bottom spiked Domino’s Deep Dish 1.26 391 19 with garlic seasoning. Strong bread flavor, but overall less flavorful than Pepperoni Pizza (39 oz.) some. GOOD Little Caesars Round 1.42 321 13 Good, but sometimes doughy crust and overall less flavorful than most. Pepperoni Pizza (31 oz.) Tastes more of bread and cheese than sauce or pepperoni.

average based on prices paid in supermarkets; for chain pizzas, we used the approxi- supermarket and chain pizzas were moderately salty and had slightly crispy crusts, mild mate retail price for a large pizza (note that chain prices may vary based on region cheese (usually mozzarella) that was slightly stretchy/stringy and melted fairly easily in and special promotions). Nutrition information comes from labels and from pizza-chain the mouth, and sauce with moderate tomato flavor and Italian seasonings. Pepperoni data. Comments note special characteristics of each pizza. Unless otherwise noted, the was generally cut into rounds, was slightly chewy, and had slight to moderate heat.

JANUARY 2002 Z CONSUMER REPORTS 41 served very good pepperoni pizza, but there Pepperoni, which had 14 grams of fat (but it cost a bit less: about $1 per serving vs. $1.45. were marked differences among their prod- didn’t taste very good). The oven-rising-crust pizzas in general ucts. Papa John’s Original Crust and Thin The best chain pepperoni pizza, Papa and the Freschetta and DiGiorno brands in Crust pizzas had balanced flavors in addi- John’s Original Crust Pepperoni, had only 13 particular—both cheese and pepperoni ver- tion to having sauce that was fresher and grams of fat per serving. However, Papa sions—were among the highest in quality. more tomato-y than the others. But they John’s Thin Crust Pepperoni provides 23 Two very good choices that were also cheap- also had less flavorful pepperoni. Pizza Hut grams of fat per serving. While this pizza er than most: Safeway Select Verdi Quattro Thin & Crispy and Pizza Hut Pan pizzas has a thinner crust than its brandmate, it Formaggio Self Rising Crust Pizza, 84 cents had strong pepperoni flavor, but they were likely has more cheese and pepperoni on an per serving, and Kroger Self Rising Crust saltier and oilier than most. Domino’s Hand equal-weight basis, hence more fat. In gen- Four Cheese Pizza, 80 cents per serving. Tossed pizza was not as intense in flavor, and eral, the best nutritional bets offered by the They also had fewer calories and fat per the crust of Domino’s Deep Dish pizza tast- chains were pizzas with a traditional crust. serving than most. ed of garlic powder or garlic salt. Little Cae- As you might expect, the diet pepperoni Some other frozen pizzas also did very sars Round pizza, though rated good, did pizzas came up lowest in calories (about well: Amy’s Organic Crust & Tomatoes Cheese not have much pepperoni and sauce flavor. 280) and fat (4 to 6 grams) per serving. But Pizza outscored three oven-rising-crust It tasted mostly of bread and cheese and the they also came up low on flavor and rela- products, and Tombstone Stuffed Crust crust was sometimes doughy. tively high in price: $1.51 and $1.62 per pizzas followed just behind the oven-rising- serving, rather than about $1 for the other crust products in both its cheese and pep- FACING THE FAT FACTS supermarket pizzas. peroni versions. But Amy’s was one of the Pizza is typically not a low-fat food. On The frozen chicken-topped pizzas we most expensive pizzas, at $1.92 per serving. average, the cheese pizzas had about 340 tested were generally lower in per-serving The Tombstone Stuffed Crust Cheese Pizza calories and 14 grams of fat per approxi- fat and calories than even the cheese pizzas, cost 96 cents per serving while its pepperoni mately 5-ounce serving. The pepperoni averaging 320 calories and 11 grams of fat. counterpart was a bit less expensive at 90 pizzas, excluding the diet products, were However, they cost a bit more: about $1.30 cents per serving. However, those Tombstone slightly higher, averaging 383 calories and to $2 per serving for pizzas weighing from 6 Stuffed Crust pizzas were relatively high in 20 grams of fat per 5-ounce serving. Five to about 14 ounces. calories and fat per serving. ounces is about equal to 140 grams, the Most of the chain pizzas we tested were Food and Drug Administration’s reference RECOMMENDATIONS very good, led by Papa John’s Original Crust serving size for pizza. That’s the serving size Served by the slice, many of the frozen piz- Pepperoni and Thin Crust Pepperoni pizzas we used to calculate nutrition and cost fig- zas we tested would make an easy, tasty, and and Pizza Hut Thin & Crispy Pepperoni ures for this report. Bear in mind that the relatively healthful meal, especially if paired Pizza. The Papa John’s pizzas were balanced slices you may be served in a pizzeria, or that with a salad. You might find the best of in flavor and had a fresher-tasting sauce; the you cut yourself, may be heavier than that, them to be acceptable alternatives to your Pizza Hut pizza had a more intense pepper- so adjust nutrition figures accordingly. favorite pizza from a chain. And they tend to oni flavor but was oilier and saltier. CR Pizza also tends to be high in sodium, averaging about 731 milligrams per serving for cheese versions, 815 milligrams for pep- peroni. That’s about one-third of the gov- Going gourmet ernment’s recommended daily limit of Move over cheese and pepperoni—ingredients DiGiorno Rising Crust 2,400 milligrams for adults. such as Asian vegetables, pesto, and bar- Pizza Spicy Chicken Still, pizza does have a lot going for it becue sauce are showing up on frozen pizzas. Supreme was also very nutritionally. Tomato sauce provides vita- Our trained panelists informally evaluated good. Zesty and fresh mins A and C, and cheese is high in calci- five kinds of pizzas with unconventional top- tasting, with a yeasty, Italian- um. Of course, cheese can be high in fat pings. Though different in seasonings and style crust and flavorful cheese, it was the and sodium, and some pizzas have it style, ranging from Thai to Southwestern, all most similar to traditional pizza in that it had stuffed into the crust as well as sprinkled included chicken as a topping ingredient. We tomato sauce and typical pizza vegetables on top. But if it’s kept to a reasonable judged them by the same general standards (onions, red and green peppers) along with amount—ditto meat toppings—pizza can used for the other frozen supermarket pizzas, chunks of spicy chicken. Another very good be a comparatively healthful alternative to looking for quality ingredients and a good choice: Freschetta Bakes & Rises Southwest other types of fast food. blend of flavors and textures. Style Chicken Supreme with Roasted Red Happily, some of the higher-rated pizzas Four of the pizzas were very good, includ- Peppers. Its Italian-style crust was topped were among the better choices from a nutri- ing two from California Pizza Kitchen: BBQ with roasted peppers and onions, a flavorful tion standpoint. The Safeway and Kroger Recipe Chicken and Thai Recipe Chicken. Both blend of , barbecued chicken chunks, pies were among the lowest in per-serving had Italian-style crusts. The BBQ Recipe pizza and a smoky, spicy sauce. calories (about 300) and fat (9 grams) of the was topped with a sweet and smoky barbecue Celeste Pizza for One Zesty Chicken cheese pizzas. The best frozen pepperoni sauce, chicken, cheese, and onions; the Thai Supreme was less impressive. It had a thin pizzas, from Freschetta and DiGiorno, had Recipe version had a sweet peanut sauce, pastry crust topped with scant sauce and 18 and 16 grams of fat, respectively, fewer bean sprouts and other vegetables, a touch of cheese, nondescript poultry chunks, and than all the other nondiet frozen pepperoni cheese, plus chicken. waterlogged vegetables. pizzas except for Stouffer’s French Bread 2

42 CONSUMER REPORTS Z JANUARY 2002