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Okay, you’re at the grocery store. The munchies have hit, and you want something quick and simple to take home and toss in the oven. Frozen pizza is an easy no-brainer. You could roll the dice and finish any frozen pizza with a drizzle of olive oil or add some other budget-friendly pizza hacks for extra flavor. But if you want something that’s tasty and bakery-fresh, right out of the box, not just some cracker thin, boring crust? If all you need is pepperoni, cheese, and marinara, what do you choose? It turns out, DiGiorno can deliver us to salvation with a crust that’s quite satisfying.
When it comes to self-rising crusts, DiGiorno is still at the top of the monarchy. In Chowhound’s ranking of the best frozen pepperoni pizzas, we noted that DiGiorno successfully escaped the freezer flavor that so often plagues frozen pizzas — as if they’ve been stored in a deep freeze bomb shelter for future generations. DiGiorno, on the other hand, tastes like, well, pizza, or at least fresh-baked bread, and the toppings aren’t full-on permafrosted, either — they’re quite good. And that may be the beauty of a simple DiGiorno’s Ultimate Pepperoni Rising Crust Pizza: There aren’t too many ingredients to hold down the rise. So, how has DiGiorno conquered the frozen pizza game?
Why DiGiorno’s pepperoni pizza is a solid choice
As Chowhound’s pizza ranking notes, “The crust is the lynchpin for the whole pizza, but the other toppings do well enough to supplement how good this crust is.” The cheese, pepperoni, and sauce mix well together for a solid pizza experience. The pizza cuts easily into individual slices, rather than a mess of crumbs and sauce. And the crust actually rises and browns nicely.
And why is the crust so good? It might just be because it’s made like a real pizza. Before it’s frozen, DiGiorno’s dough rests for 30 to 90 minutes, allowing it to rise and develop, like any restaurant or homemade pizza would. So, it’s not just cheese and sauce on top of a frozen cracker: it’s real dough.
DiGiorno’s rising crust might be too bready for some, as is visible across social media, but it tastes fresh and natural. If you have a little extra crust, you can always heat up some marinara for dipping. And, to avoid a soft and wet or soupy dough, make sure to fully preheat your oven, so the pizza dough will rise hot and fast, as it should.
However, if a soft, bready exterior isn’t your thing, but you like a substantial crust with sauce and cheese all the way to the edge, Motor City Pizza Co.’s pepperoni offering actually came in first place in our ranking. It’s a Detroit-style pizza, heavy on the dough, but fully covered with ingredients. Sort of like a focaccia loaded with pepperoni, cheese, and sauce. And it comes in a pan that goes right in the oven, so the cheese and dough get nice and crispy on the edges. Whatever your frozen pepperoni choice, just know that you have some real options that aren’t just hard crackers topped with inferior ingredients. There’s hope out there.
