The New $8 Frozen Pizza I’ll Be Stocking in My Freezer from Here on Out (It Tastes So Gourmet!)

Raise your hand if you’ve got a pizza stashed in your freezer right now. Me too. And as someone who lives in “the best pizza neighborhood in New York,” that’s saying a lot. I mean I could easily pick up a fresh slice (or have one delivered) faster than I could preheat my oven.

So believe me when I say, you might want to make some room for the newest Genio Della Pizza. Yes, that’s right: Just over a year after acclaimed chef and owner of Una Pizza Napoletana, Anthony Mangieri, brought his signature — and world-renowned — Neapolitan-style pizzas to the freezer aisle, he’s back with what could arguably be the best seller of all. 

I got a chance to try the latest offering (and chat with Mangieri) ahead of the launch. Here’s why a freezer cleanout could very well be in your near future.

Believe it or not, this pizza has “been in the works since the beginning” (aka before any Genio Della Pizzas launched). But, as it turns out, finding the best version of one of the most popular toppings takes time. Under Mangieri’s leadership, the team spent two years “trying to find a pepperoni that was the right thickness, the right diameter, and had the right flavor.” (It was, in his words, “a big time suck.”) “Five or six varieties” later, he landed on uncured salami rounds sourced from Southern Italy. 

The Uncured Pepperoni Pizza is now available exclusively at select GoPuff locations (and will expand to new regions in the coming weeks. It will be sold at select retailers, including Whole Foods (in the Northeast and North Atlantic) and GoldBelly (shipping nationwide).  

I unboxed this pizza with the fervor of a kid on Christmas morning (in part because I was in a meeting until 1:30 p.m. and very hungry). Even through the plastic wrap, I could see Mangieri’s attention to quality — from the lightly charred asymmetrical crust to the verdant basil. 

I popped it in the oven, and a mere nine minutes and 450°F later, my partner, a Brooklyn-native and self-described “pizza snob,” and I were ready to slice and eat. (Spoiler: He called it his “new favorite frozen pizza.”)

We waited a very long and precise five minutes (yes, I timed it), to avoid scorching the roofs of our mouths. After the chimes rang out, like the most delightful lunch bell, we dug in. 

There are doughs that are simply just the base for a melange of toppings. This crust is decidedly not that. The sourdough is tender, light, and airy with a subtle tang, thanks to the dough’s day-long rise and its 70% hydration level, which as Mangieri points out “is a lot for a frozen pizza.” It crisps up beautifully in the oven and I found myself dipping the last pieces of it in some taste-test approved extra-virgin olive oil. It very easily could have come from the bakery down the street.

The sauce isn’t bogged down by unnecessary spices or seasonings, either. It’s bright with a natural sweetness from the tomatoes, and the perfect backdrop to the eye-poppingly fresh basil and milky buffalo mozzarella. (“It’s the best cheese on pizza,” says Mangieri and the only one he’s used at Una Pizza Napoletana for 30 years.) 

As for the pepperoni? Well, it was absolutely worth the two-year wait. It’s meaty, slightly salty, and a little greasy. I wouldn’t mind if one (or two) more slices magically appeared on the pizzas in the future. At the same time, I appreciate the restraint and balance between all five ingredients. 

Buy: Genio Della Pizza Pepperoni Pizza, $9.99 for 15 ounces at GoPuff

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: The New $8 Frozen Pizza I’ll Be Stocking in My Freezer from Here on Out (It Tastes So Gourmet!)