SAN ANTONIO – Your family might have a favorite frozen pizza that you eat as-is or even add some toppings to, but maybe there’s a pizza in the store that’s even healthier and tastier than your go-to. Consumer Reports food experts evaluated 26 different frozen vegetable and cheese pies for taste, nutrition and price.
"We consider the nutrition profile and also evaluate for taste. Ideally, a store-bought frozen pizza should taste like it was just put together with fresh ingredients. And it’s a high bar, but Consumer Reports found some pies that came close," said Amy Keating, with Consumer Reports.
Vegetable pizzas are your best bet nutritionally, and they have some of the highest marks for taste. California Pizza Kitchen Spinach and Artichoke Crispy Thin Crust Pizza has chunky artichokes in a white cream sauce. It packs a garlicky punch and has less fat and sodium than most of the pizzas tested. Trader Joe’s Organic Roasted Vegetable Pizza has a variety of chunky veggies, such as peppers, zucchini and eggplant, and it has five grams of fiber per serving. And Dr. Oetker Virtuoso Thin and Crispy Crust Pizza Vegetable Medley has fresh-tasting cherry tomatoes, peppers and red onion. Pepperoncini peppers add a little tang.
The top-ranked cheese pizzas earned good marks overall. American Flatbread Tomato Sauce and Three Cheese Pizza has an interesting blend of flavorful cheese on a thin, whole grain style crust. Amy’s Cheese Pizza is a combination of tender, yeasty crust topped with mozzarella and a fresh tasting tomato sauce.
The American Flatbread costs about $4 a slice and Amy's Cheese Pizza is about $2.67 a slice.
DiGiorno Original also rates good and costs $1.17 a slice.