10 Gluten-Free Frozen Pizzas, Ranked

You don't have to be gluten-tolerant to enjoy a frozen pizza. While popular convenience foods may traditionally be bread based in every sense of the word, there are plenty of delicious gluten-free options on the market. However, as anyone who has operated with dietary restrictions knows, gluten-free products can be very hit-and-miss. Frozen pizzas are also notorious for their drastic variation in quality. So how do you spot the difference between a satisfying, easy dinner and a poor-quality pie destined for the trash can? Well, we're here to help you out.

We've gathered some popular gluten-free frozen pizzas from a wide range of manufacturers. We also aimed for a diverse range of toppings, so if you want a vegan option, a very plain cheese pie, or a full-blown meat feast, we have an option for you. Most of the pizzas we tested use a cauliflower base, as that seems to be the go-to for many gluten-free pizza makers. It isn't the only option, as a wide range of gluten-free flour is available. As a result, there's at least one chickpea-based pizza and one with a tapioca crust in there. 

Pics is a store brand found in Price Chopper supermarkets. If you're living in the North Eastern United States, you may be able to get your hands on the brand's attempt at gluten-free pizza. As the old saying goes, you take the first bite with your eyes. Unfortunately, if the Pics Cauliflower Crust Cheese Pizza we got is anything to go by, that bite is going to be unpleasant — and it's all downhill from there. When you remove the packaging, you'll be greeted with a sight not too dissimilar to cat vomit smeared unevenly across an asymmetrical cauliflower base. Its looks don't really improve after a quarter of an hour in the oven.

While looks can be deceiving, Pics' pizza's appearance is the most honest thing about it. The first bite was terrible. The crust is closer to damp cardboard than the box would be if we ran it under the tap. The cheese does have a flavor, but it was pretty unpleasant, and nobody could work out what that flavor was. The sauce was tangy, but not in a nice way. While this pizza wasn't spat out, two bites were the most any human with functioning tastebuds could manage before it ended up in the bin. The Pics pizza is one of the cheapest options, but it certainly isn't a bargain.

Daiya's products aren't just gluten-free. Many of them are vegan. The company offers meatless pepperoni and dairy-free cheese among its topping options. So if your dietary requirements go beyond a gluten intolerance, this may be the best brand for you. Unfortunately, it's not a great option, and you should avoid it if possible.

One early red flag popped up when looking at the pizza box. The cheese didn't look properly melted on the example pizza printed on the front of the box itself. This is a common issue with vegan cheese, and to be fair to Daiya, the end product looked just like the promotional image. The cheese wasn't melted there, either. The pizza had a definite cheesy smell, which other examples lacked. But unfortunately, that didn't carry over into the taste test.

When biting into it, the textural issues are immediately apparent. The crust is incredibly dry, chewy, and grainy — almost like a cracker. The vegan cheese compounds the textural issues. It clings to your teeth and coats your mouth. If you enjoyed eating paste or PVA glue as a child, this one might bring back memories. If your early diet was adhesive free, it's just unpleasant. Beyond the textural problems, there was a distinct lack of flavor. The sauce tasted very weak, and the "non-dairy" component had a vague hint of "mac and cheese" about it — but not much flavor beyond that.

Coming in at number eight is Tattooed Chef's "Cauliflower Crust Cheese Pizza," which didn't taste bad at all. It didn't taste good, either. It didn't really taste anything. The cheese, sauce, and base had no discernable flavor whatsoever. If you know someone who enjoys incredibly bland food, this is the one for them. Everyone else will need a liberal amount of hot sauce or ranch to make this more palatable. In terms of texture, the crust was very thin. It was also crunchy but not entirely crackerish. All in all, it was a very good cauliflower base. It's a shame the company didn't go with a better selection of toppings.

There were also some quality control issues. There was a noticeable hole in the toppings right in the center of the pizza. This filled up when everything melted in the oven, but the overall distribution was uneven. You couldn't even move some cheese around to even things out as the sauce and other toppings had frozen together into a couple of plates.

Caulipower's Buffa-Whoa is probably the most crushing disappointment on the list. Many brands, including Caulipower, have cheese options, a veggie selection, and pepperoni — but buffalo chicken pizza is a chance to really stand out. It's not the only company that offers this option, but it is a pretty rare pizza type. Caulipower also boasts about being "America's #1 Gluten-Free Pizza Brand," so expectations were pretty high here.

It's a real shame that this pizza is a dry, hard, and under-flavored waste of time. There's no buffalo chicken on it, which may be because gluten-free breading would have been one step too many. Instead, you'll get a scattering of small, dry chicken breast chunks. There doesn't appear to be any Buffalo sauce, either. Just a vague hint of what might be Frank's Red Hot sauce hiding amongst the sauce. You get a mild hint of spice in the back of your mouth and a vinegary aftertaste chasing the slice down your throat. There are also onions on the pizza, but if you were eating it blindfolded, you would have no idea. 

There was a lot of potentials here. Some more substantial chicken, a better base, a touch more pizza sauce, and a noticeable drizzle of what would unmistakably be Buffalo sauce over the whole thing, and we'd probably have a winner. Instead, when you bite this, your dreams will shatter just as the rock-hard crust cracks between your teeth.

Like all other "Great Value" items, Walmart's "Margherita Cauliflower Crust Pizza" is pretty cheap — coming in at close to half the price of the other gluten-free options. However, unlike other budget picks, it's actually pretty good. The crust was reasonable, with a very firm, crispy bottom, though the toppings seem to have made the top of the crust slightly soggy. It also features one of the better sauces we sampled on this journey. It was incredibly flavorful and not overly sweet. 

The toppings seem a bit "budget," though. There appears to be a lot of basil on the Great Value cauliflower crust pizza, but you won't taste any of it. That's a shame because that little herbaceous hint would have made what is a good sauce far better. Equally, you're not getting proper mozzarella on this. You're getting the most generic of frozen pizza changes. Again, you can only expect so much at the price point, but the mozzarella's texture and flavor are really one of the key things that makes a margherita pizza a margherita and not just another generic cheese pizza. All in all tough; it's a solid effort from Walmart, especially considering the price. The whole pie is only 740 calories, making it one of the better options for pizza lovers looking to lower their calories.

If you're morally opposed to cauliflower crust but can't get down with gluten, you do have other options. One of them is Banza's selection of pizzas, which use a crust made from chickpea flour. The base itself comes out pretty unique. It's not like frozen pizza dough in terms of taste or texture. Instead, it's oddly similar to the hardened, crumbly pastry you usually find at the bottom of a quiche. It's not bad, but it will be pretty obvious to anyone eating it that this isn't a traditional frozen pizza. 

In terms of toppings, Banza nailed it with its margherita pizza. The mozzarella was chewy and stretchy, behaving very much like the bubbly, fresh mozzarella that every good margherita pizzas features. The sauce was tangy and slightly sweet. Tomato chunks were sprinkled on top, and there was a noticeable hint of basil amongst it all. The crust was hit-and-miss, but the quality of the toppings made this the best margherita on the list.

Number four is the best option for cheese pizza fans on this list. Freschetta's four-cheese za' features a generous topping of mozzarella, asiago, Fontina, and parmesan. Unlike many other gluten-free and non-gluten-free pizzas, the cheese blend has a strong yet not overpowering flavor. It's a great option for plain and basic frozen pizza, whether you're cutting gluten out of your diet or not. Oddly enough, despite having the most potent flavor, the cheesy topping didn't have a particularly strong smell.

Beyond the cheese, the tomato sauce Freschetta uses is on the sweeter side. This pairs well with the savory flavors produced by the other ingredients. The crust is pleasantly chewy, avoiding the dry, cracker-like texture lower-quality cauliflower crust pizzas often have.

In terms of pricing, the gluten-free four cheese is firmly in the midrange. We spent around $10.99 on it. You do get plenty for the money, though, as it is one of the larger pizzas we tried. It could easily feed two, three, or even four people.

Against the Grain has a basic line of gluten-free pizza available, but for the purposes of this test, we selected one from the company's more expensive "gourmet" line. Priced at $14.99, it's the most expensive pizza on this list and, in terms of cost, is close to competing with the takeout gluten-free pizzas available at many pizzerias these days. It also has a unique crust. Instead of common cauliflower or one made from something like chickpeas, Against the Grain opted to use tapioca for its product. This gives the customer options. You can cook it on a baking tray if you like a soft crust or throw it directly on the rack for a little longer if you want a harder crust. 

We went for the hard option, and it wasn't bad at all. There was still plenty of softness there, but cooking on the rack gave the slices rigidity. The crust was very hard directly on the bottom but had a noticeable and thick doughy layer to it. The cheese was mild, but the sauce Against the Grain uses had a distinct taste, light in acidity but full of taste. It had a deep, almost fruity, flavor that lingered in the mouth afterward. The uncured pepperoni was also decent, though we think there isn't enough of it. The pizza is quite large, and if you cut it into eight slices, you end up with fewer than two pieces of pepperoni per slice.

The test with things like gluten-free products is how they stand up to the standard options. If you arrived at someone's house and they handed you a slice of California Pizza Kitchen's uncured pepperoni, mushroom, and sausage pizza, you would likely struggle to tell that it was a gluten-free option. The crust itself is made from cauliflower, but California Pizza Kitchen has done an outstanding job with it. It's very thin, very crispy, and ever so slightly chewy. Further masking the gluten-freeness is the choice of sauce and toppings. The sauce itself is tangy, tomatoey, and delicious — while the sausage crumbles have a distinct, noticeable flavor. 

As with many frozen pizzas, the pepperoni is sort of just there. It doesn't really stand out. Similarly, the cheese provides a nice texture, but it's a passenger on this ride. Despite these shortcomings, it's still a very pleasant bite and only just missed out on the top spot.

Udis offers a fairly large, gluten-free, frozen pizza at a mid-range price point. Expect to pay around $10 in many stores. But it's not the size or price that put Udis' "Gluten-Free Crispy Thin Crust Uncured Pepperoni Pizza" on top of the pile. The crust was thin and crispy, with just the right amount of chew to fool you into thinking it wasn't gluten-free. The sauce goes above and beyond what you expect on a frozen pizza. There's definitely a noticeable flavor of oregano in there, and it is incredibly well-balanced. This contrasts with many of the pizza's lower down the list, which had either vaguely sweet or entirely flavorless sauces. 

The cheese isn't as strongly flavored as an option like a four-cheese blend, but it does taste something distinct rather than just being there for textural reasons. There is also a reasonable amount of pepperoni, and those spicy sausage slices are actually of reasonable quality. They add a nice texture and a welcome salty kick to every other bite. If you're on a gluten-free diet but want to please everyone at a gathering, this is your best option. As far as frozen pizzas go, it's up there with the best of them — gluten-free or not.