Over the last few weeks, I’ve been working to uncover a massive conspiracy in the frozen food industry. I’m almost ready to blow the cover off this whole thing.
Between you and me, I think DiGiorno is a front for the Italian mafia.
What’s the evidence, you ask? First, obviously, the name. “DiGiorno” clearly sounds like a nephew of Vito Corleone. Second, the entire concept of DiGiorno pizza is that you can toss it in the oven and fuhgeddaboudit!
Now, here’s the last piece of the puzzle: the name of DiGiorno’s latest product, the Crispy Pan Pizza. I’ve got to figure out whether the “Crispy” title is authentic, or just one of those ironic gang nicknames, like when a tall guy goes by “Shorty,” or that hefty member of the crew who’s known as “Slim.”
In related news, I just realized why my college Chemistry professor always called me Einstein.
DiGiorno’s new Crispy Pan Pizza comes in four varieties: Pepperoni, Four Cheese, Supreme, and Three Meat. I’m telling you, this mob rolls deep. But I don’t have the time (or room in my stomach) to investigate all four members of the Crispy Pan Pizza gang, so I’ll just go with Pepperoni.
The Crispy Pan Pizza features DiGiorno’s usual mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and preservative free crust, but what makes this product different is the included single-use baking pan. It’s designed to make the edges of the pizza brown and crisp while leaving the rest of the crust soft and fluffy. After 22-24 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees, it’s time to see if that baking pan is the real deal, or just a cheap marketing scheme created by some wiseguy.
Well, what do you know? The pizza emerged from the oven perfectly golden brown with a crispy, caramelized layer of cheese stretching to the edges of the crust. The good news: this baking pan works as advertised. The bad news: “Crispy” isn’t just an ironic nickname, and my entire conspiracy theory is sunk.
As for the rest of the Crispy Pan Pizza, it’s pretty much standard DiGiorno fare. The sauce is plentiful, sweet, and slightly zesty. The cheese is relatively lacking and doesn’t have that authentic fresh cheese “pull,” but hey, it’s a frozen pizza. DiGiorno’s pepperoni is par for the course when it comes to frozen pizza toppings —- meaty, pretty salty, and somewhat spicy, too. All of these toppings rest nicely atop the thick and pillowy pan crust, which is buttery in flavor without being too oily or greasy.
I bought the DiGiorno Crispy Pan Pizza to expose a modern day Italian mafia, and all I got was a delicious frozen pizza. The toppings are all DiGiorno’s above average quality, and the pan crust is impressive by frozen pizza standards. It’s a little on the pricey side, but I’d say it’s one of the better frozen pizzas you’ll find.
Oh, and that conspiracy I mentioned earlier? Let’s just fuhgeddaboudit.
(Nutrition Facts – 1/5 Pizza – 430 calories, 200 calories from fat, 22 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 620 milligrams of sodium, 39 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 2 grams of sugar, 18 grams of protein..)
Purchased Price: $8.49
Size: 1 lb. 10 oz.
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Baking pan works as advertised. Tasty crust and flavorful sauce. Watching “The Godfather” to do research for a junk food review.
Cons: Not enough cheese covering the pizza. A little pricey. That moment when you realize being called Einstein wasn’t a compliment.
Great review Ben! Fun and informative.
Thanks, Sean!
Preciate the review Ben
delicious
Would be better if sauce wasn’t so damn hot can’t even serve this to my grandchildren it’s too spicy
I bought the 4 cheese kind on sale for.. somewhere around the $5-6 mark, and finding coupons for $1-2 off means this is my new favorite pizza, after my store took out the Reggio’s I loved. :'(
Nice! Getting this pizza for $4-5 would be a steal. I do think the quality justifies the higher price, but always good to find sales/coupons too. 🙂
Thanks for the review! Gonna try it.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy as much as I did.
Kroger has $2 digital coupons out for it now.
That’s a sweet deal! $6-7 is a great price for a pizza this size.
Dump the pan and cook it on a pizza stone and it’s even better. Our new favorite.
Have you tried Screamin Sicilian brand? Much better than Digorno imo.
Ridiculous price when you can get a cooked one at Little Caesar’s for a lower cost with more cheese.
The only thing that we liked about this pizza was the crust. And even that was a bit bland and screamed for garlic butter. The pepperoni and sausage had no spice or real flavor. My husband complained that it needed more sauce and cheese. A real disappointment for $8.99.
Love, love the pan pizza! Great job creating this pizza!
Wow… your pizza must have come from a different plant. Our crust felt and tasted like cardboard, and there wasn’t enough topping on there to worry about! What there was had very little flavor. Ick.
Tried the 3-meat Crispy. Tasteless and doughy. Digiorno can do better.
right on
Which current grocery stores carry DiGiorno Crispy Pan Pizza?
This review was very informative – and a hilarious read! Thank you! 😉
Just had a the pan pizza it was the thee meat pan pizza .and it was not a three meat pizza when looked at it I only saw two meat pizza square and pepperoni no hamburger .I would call it two meat half cheese pizza because there was only meat only half of the pizza so I give it ??down
Horrible. The only thing good was the extra toppings we added. Buy a Heggies or Lotta a Motta you will not be disappointed. Threw over 1 half away.
Agree–horrible 3-meat pizza. Can’t see this as a winner for Digiorno. Tasteless and doughy. Perhaps
Digiorno should try making the pizza with “plain flour” instead of “self-rising flour.” Tossed over half the pizza into trash can.
I tried the four cheese crispy pan pizxa. Good flavor but how can it be called pizza when there is NO SAUCE! For $8.99 at Fred Meyers could get one cheaper WITH SAUCE.
Ok was looking for a place to share my ideas on the pan pizza/ I so agree with the above comment. It was good crust. BUT ALL CRUST. I mean no sauce and the smallest amount of toppings I have ever seen on a pizza in all my years. Pizza is to be delicious ingredients. I could put a french bread in the oven with some v 8 on it and have the same thing I paid 9 bucks for. SUCH A DISAPPOINTMENT. Generally I like the brand.
If you like bread, this is good, otherwise not good pizza.
Your pan,pan,pan,pan pizza sucks,sucks,sucks sucks. There is nothing to it but dough. You should spend more money on your product and less on your ads. This is the first time I have posted anything about your pan of dough.
You review is spot on. I actually bought it because my regular frozen pizza was sold out. (Snow was coming the next day.) but for the first time, I actually uttered the phrase, “it’s not delivery, it’s Digiorno!”