Best Gluten Free Grocery Store: Frozen Pizza
Gluten-free pizza has come a long way. Not long ago, the most popular description of a wheat-free crust was “tastes like cardboard.” Not exactly appetizing. But now there are several brands offering fully assembled frozen pizzas, and guess what? They’re fucking gorgeous. Seriously.
Gluten-free pizza crusts are not like packaging material, but can achieve various qualities of a wheat crust: crispy, soft, chewy, thick or thin. If you have a gluten sensitivity or are just looking for a new pizza you’ll love, try one of these great gluten-free options available in supermarkets.
The best gluten-free pizzas
I found this frozen pizza selection at my local ShopRite and can be delivered from Amazon Fresh or a nearby Whole Foods. Since I was primarily interested in the taste and texture of a gluten-free crust, I opted for plain cheese pizza whenever I could. If it wasn’t available, I chose one with filling. All of the crust ingredients I mentioned were listed on the ingredient list on the package. The best pizzas are listed in alphabetical order, with a small section at the end for an honorable mention.
Banza
I first discovered Banza products as pasta (another traditional wheat princess), but instead of wheat, Banza uses beans. More precisely, chickpeas and tapioca. Banza pizza dough is medium thick, airy and light in taste. In fact, this is one of the few crusts in the group that is not very thin. Since it’s garbanzo based, I was expecting a bean flavor, but there was nothing weird about it. The crust was crispy and the entire pizza was flavorful and delicious.
California Pizza Cuisine
Another stellar choice is the gluten-free pizza from the ever-popular California Pizza Kitchen brand. I didn’t have any plain cheese near me, so I opted for raw pepperoni, mushrooms and sausage. (Alas. How sad I am.) This crust is made primarily from cauliflower, as you can see very clearly on the front of the package. The crust is ultra-thin, crispy with a few soft spots, and not chewy at all. Overall a great frozen pizza. And the filling doesn’t hurt either.
Color power
This is the first time I’ve had Caulipower’s gluten-free crust. They sell their freezer crust as an ingredient for pizza, which is great. The crust, sold separately, is very crisp, almost cracker-like. I was surprised that their fully frozen pizza had a much softer crust. As you may have guessed, it’s mostly cauliflower. Like Banza, I initially wondered if this meant it would taste “off” (farty) – after all, cruciferous vegetables and legumes have a good reputation. Caulipower’s plain cheese pizza doesn’t taste weird at all. The strength of the crust holds up well and is ideal for someone who likes a crust that is easy to bite through. There is no chewing, crunching or fighting on this base. I suggest adding your own toppings or perhaps going for the veggie or meat option they offer as the plain was a bit bland.
Daya
The brand initially gained popularity as one of the best dairy-free cheese makers, and they have since moved into producing gluten-free frozen pizzas. They did an excellent job with this task. This is another stuffed pizza since there was no plain “cheese”. I have to say, the toppings had a nice smokiness to them and improved the flavor significantly.
Anyway, back to the crust. It is made from a mixture of starch and flour, including tapioca starch, rice flour and potato starch. The result is a thin, crispy crust with a light, chewy filling. Overall, I liked this one the most.
Feel good
This is the only Detroit-style square pan pizza on the list. If you like deep crust pizza, this is for you. Using primarily cornstarch, rice flour, and potato starch, this pizza has a thick, strong crust that tastes great. Of course, it doesn’t quite mimic the gluten-heavy traditional Detroit-style pizza to substitute if you don’t have a gluten allergy, but those who do have a gluten allergy will get the comforting sensation of a big, savory square cut. The crust is not chewy, but has a nice flavor and is a nice change from other brands’ crusts, which tend to be paper thin.
Frechette
Frechetta’s gluten-free pizza was the first pizza I tried with a chewy crust. This is a quality I have resigned myself to never experiencing, as gluten-free flours generally lack the binding power that gluten provides. Freschetta uses tapioca starch and rice flour as crust components, and these starches create a very noticeable chewy texture. I like. I wasn’t sure at first because it borders on sticky, however the texture is similar to melted mozzarella. It’s like eating a cheese-filled crust.
Artisan Bakers of Milton
Cauliflower is probably the most popular pizza crust ingredient, and I understand its appeal. The flavor is neutral and you can get a decent gluten-free crust that will hold together. Milton’s actually includes cheese in their crust, so unlike Frechette’s appearance of being cheesy, this crust actually uses cheese to add chewiness. A simple pizza isn’t complete without cheese, but Milton’s also offers margherita and pepperoni flavors.
Udi
Udi has gained popularity as a gluten-free bread option, so it is expected that they will move to frozen pizza. Unlike almost every other pizza on this list, I appreciated that Udi’s offers a large pizza. Mine was only 12 inches in diameter, while most on this list average 9 to 10. The pizza crust is crispy, light, and very thin. It’s made with brown rice flour, tapioca flour, and egg whites that hold up well and form a crust that won’t crumble. Udi’s offers pepperoni pie and an excellent pie that I’m looking forward to trying one day.
Honorable Mention: Cappello’s
Cappello dabbles in a few gluten-free products, including cookie dough and pasta. This is the only pizza that uses eggs and almond flour as the main ingredients. The crust had a soft, flaky texture with crispy edges. Overall this is fine, especially if you like to fold the piece. Unfortunately, this pizza was the only one of the group that gave me a bad taste. When I tasted just the crust, it had a distinct saltiness to it. There’s nothing wrong with that and the pizza wasn’t bad at all, but the weird taste along with the salt didn’t do it for me. However, you may find the flavor pleasant and the flexibility of the crust a plus.