We Asked 3 Chefs to Name the Best Frozen Pizza and They All Said the Same One

Good taste in frozen pizza is so important to me that one time I thought I found “the one” when the guy I was dating started picking apart why a particularly well-known brand of frozen pizza he had made for us just wasn’t as good as it used to be. Unfortunately the relationship ended, but the love of picking apart frozen pizzas did not. In the years since, I have eaten and critiqued my way through plenty of frozen pizzas.

So it should come as no surprise that it really makes my heart soar when chefs — three, in fact! — espouse equally strong feelings about my favorite frozen ‘za. It’s almost as incredible (and rare!) as seeing an actual bald eagle, a double-rainbow, or the phenomenon in which I renew my car registration on time. So even if Frozen Pizza Guy and I didn’t work out, knowing that the chef of a Michelin-starred restaurant agrees with my pizza taste makes it all worth it in the end.

The instant favorite amongst the chefs I interviewed is none other than “Stouffer’s French Bread Pizza, 100%” says Chef Jeff Strauss of OyBar in Los Angeles. “As a child, as a stoned teenager, in college [I’d eat it] frozen, like not even cooked, eating it like pizza ice cream.”

Chef Wylie Dufresne of Stretch Pizza in New York (and the now-closed Michelin-starred wd~50) says he’s been a forever fan of Stouffer’s French bread pizza, long before he got into the game himself. “There’s a lot of work that goes into crafting great frozen food,” says Dufresne. “It’s just so impressive how crispy and crunchy the pizza is when it comes out of the oven.”

The distinct crunch of the French bread crust that gives way to an airy center is also what sticks out to America’s Test Kitchen cast member, food stylist, and author of the forthcoming cookbook Food Gifts, Elle Simone Scott. “This is the OG pizza in my life,” says Scott. “My uncle Pierre used to make them for me and my cousins as an after-school snack. We would scour the pantry for other fun items we could add as toppings. The flaky airiness of French bread is one of my favorite food sensations, even now.” 

Each of the chefs say that, even though they more than have the capability to make a great pizza from scratch, they still will pick up a box of Stouffer’s French bread pizza from time to time. Some add a few flourishes, naturally.

“I didn’t do this when I was a kid,” says Dufresne. “But if I made one these days, I’d church it up with some lightly dressed arugula and red onion. [And] well, everything is better with fried egg on top.”