Canada’s Best Grocery-Store Frozen Pizzas: A Definitive Ranking

Whether or not Mel Brooks actually came up with that saying about sex and pizza (you know, the one about it still being pretty good when it’s bad) we respectfully and very strongly disagree. Have some standards! Both sex and pizza should be a pleasure. Even when it’s the kind of evening when you just want to pop something out of the freezer straight into the oven, with the right frozen pizza—and maybe a little arugula, grated parm and drizzle of olive oil on the side—it’s entirely possible to have a pretty great pizza night that feels nothing like giving up.

We tried out 12 widely available grocery store brands to find the absolute best frozen pizza. (We stuck with either margherita or pepperoni options to keep things simple.) Getting the Chatelaine team into the test kitchen to try each one still piping hot out of the oven was a bit of a logistical challenge: each pizza had different cook times, some with pre-thawing or post-broiling notes as well. But we were diligent about using timers and following instructions to the letter to make sure each pie got its fair shot. Given that everyone had their own pre-test loyalties to a specific brand, there were a lot of heated opinions—and a few surprises, as well.

Did we miss any must-try pies? Let us know!

Great Value Thin and Crispy Pepperoni

This Walmart brand offering was scant on the cheese, and everyone noticed a strong sugary taste to the sauce. “I think this is fine for very basic children,” wrote one editor.

Red Baron Thin and Crispy Pepperoni

After a couple of minutes of Internet-sleuthing on exactly who the Red Baron was (A real person? A war criminal? A fictional food mascot, like the Highline fisherman guy?), editors found themselves divided over this pepperoni-and-cheese pie. Most thought the crust was too dense and the sauce too salty, but a few were very enthusiastic about the pepperoni’s peppery, spicy kick.

Dr. Oetker Casa Di Mama Pepperoni

A lot of tasters really liked the bouncy, bready crust on this Dr. Oetker pizza. If you grew up with fond memories of ’90s-era Delissio (which, sadly, is being discontinued in Canada as of September) you may like this option. The pepperoni curls into little cups not unlike a Little Caesar’s pie, but some editors found the sauce too sweet.

Dr. Oetker Ristorante Margherita

Multiple Chatelaine editors were really gunning for Dr. Oetker’s Ristorante line —there are a lot of fond memories of the mushroom and spinach pie, and we still stock up on them when they go on sale. But the margherita version, with the addition of chopped tomatoes as a topping, came out soggy, and some of the tasters didn’t love the pesto drizzled overtop.

Rustica Pizza

Of all the frozen pizzas, Rustica’s had the highest-rise crust—almost garlic bread-like in loft and texture. We liked this one! But at a 22- to 24-minute bake time, it was also the most time-consuming of the bunch.

Dr. Oetker The Good Baker Margherita

This pie was another pass from the team. The multigrain crust was described by a couple of tasters as “like eating cardboard.”

Farmboy Gluten-Free Margherita

Everyone was pleasantly surprised at the taste and texture of the crust in this gluten-free option— crispy with a slight chewiness to it—but no one was a fan of the toppings, which many noted were under-seasoned.

Pizza Oggi Gluten-Free Margherita

Some tasters were impressed with the toppings and quality of the mozzarella, which had a great, stringy pull to it. But the crust, which turned out a little soggy and flat, not so much.

Compliments Stone-Baked Cauliflower Crust Margherita

Sadly, no one had any compliments about this cruciferous pizza’s dry crust and flavourless toppings.

Pizza Libretto Margherita

While a number of specialty pizza restaurants have started offering frozen pies for retail sale, we included Libretto as it has the widest availability—currently Ontario-wide through Voilà. Everyone loved the sauce and generous amount of cheese on this blistery pie, but when cooked directly to instructions it didn’t turn out quite as crisp as we hoped. Our suggestion: A quick finish under the broiler.

PC Organics Margherita and PC Black Label Margherita

We’re giving a tie to these two pies, in part because they were both hands-down favourites among every taster and also because they have very different crusts. PC Organics boasted the best thin-crust texture among all the pizzas we tried, cooked up in just 12 minutes, and managed to stay crispy despite being topped with sauce, cheese and chopped tomatoes.

PC's Black Label recently-released pizza, meanwhile, leaned closer to a Neapolitan-style pie, one with a bready crust, and ultra-thin centre; it also boasted the most even and generous distribution of cheese and sauce without sogging things down. “Delicious,” wrote one editor, “but I object to the carbon footprint.” It’s true: both of these pizzas are labelled as products of Italy, with the Black Label’s packaging notes the pizzas are hand-tossed there, and presumably flown in. “This tastes like a pizza I’d pay $20 for at a restaurant,” wrote another. Our advice? Libretto is an excellent runner-up if this aspect of PC’s production is concerning for you—or simply to treat these pizzas as a once-in-a-while, totally pizza-night-worthy treat.