Newman’s Own Thin and Crispy Frozen Pizza Review– and a Giveaway! *GIVEAWAY ENTRIES NOW CLOSED*
This is a sponsored review by BlogHer and Newman’s Own.
Pizza is my favorite go-to meal on those days when the innocent question, “What’s for dinner?” makes me slap myself on the forehead because A) I suddenly realize what time it is and B) I have not even thought about starting to cook yet. Since I live with two teenagers and Russ the Pizza Loving Husband, I usually just reach for the phone and call the delivery place. I rarely go to the freezer and take out a frozen one, because… well, frozen pizzas are just not that good. The crusts are either soggy or cardboard-y, the toppings are skimpy, and the whole thing kinda tastes like some cyborg version of a real pizza. Bleh.
When we order a take-out pie, Russ and I prefer the thin crust to the thicker kind that the girls favor, although that can backfire on you when you have to wait 30 minutes for your pizza to come– time is not a friend of the thin crust. Apparently thinner pizzas also have the tendency to slide more in transit, because more than once I’ve opened the cardboard box to discover that all of the cheese and toppings have slid right off the crust and are now all piled up in one corner of the box like some weird pepperoni version of Twister. Not good. But that’s still better than frozen pizza, right?
*holds up hand for a high five*
NOT SO FAST!
OK, seriously? These Newman’s Own Thin and Crispy pizzas are pretty dang good! I can honestly say that based on their taste, the variety of flavors, the quality of their ingredients and how fast and easy it was to make them, when it comes to a quick pizza meal I now might be more inclined to reach for the freezer door instead of the phone. Who knew?!
When I agreed to do this review, I originally planned to have a lovely sit-down family dinner with a fresh green salad and my good dishes so we could thoughtfully savor each bite and then have a round table discussion of the relative merits/shortcomings—like a wine-tasting, but with pizza. Then I remembered whose life I was actually living, so in typical Taff family fashion our taste test looked more like this: Charlotte, Madi, and her friend Kendrick who spent the night came wafting down the stairs at the crack of noon on a Saturday, looking for something to eat. They were very willing subjects for my experiment, because pizza for breakfast = very happy teenagers.
Newman’s Own pizzas are easy to find at retail grocery store chains all over the country, and they are priced at about $6.50, which is comparable to other frozen pizzas I’ve bought. (There are $1 off coupons available at the Newman’s Own website, as well as a list of stores that carry them in your area.) For this review, I chose the Supreme pizza, which has a little bit of everything including pepperoni and sausage, and the White Pizza, which has spinach and feta cheese with a creamy white sauce instead of the traditional red. The other flavors are Four Cheese, Roasted Garlic and Chicken, Uncured Pepperoni, Roasted Vegetable, Margherita and Italian Sausage, which all sound pretty good to me.
Since I possess a keen scientific mind (quit snickering, that’s rude), I decided to start by checking out the side of the box. The Newman’s Own people are touting the quality of their all-natural ingredients as a big selling point, and I have to admit, they do look healthier than most other frozen pizzas– at least I can actually pronounce most of them. The crust is listed as multi-grain, and it’s lower in carbs and calories than the rising-crust kind. There are no trans-fats, modified starches, sodium nitrate or stuff like that, which is good.
The next thing I did was compare the picture on the box to the actual pizza, which didn’t really make sense since the one on the box was already cooked and the frozen one was, well, FROZEN. But I did it anyway.
One of the first things I noticed is that the peppers on the Supreme actually looked like roasted strips of real peppers, not those weird little green and red diced bits that are on some frozen pizzas. And the feta cheese on the White pizza was in clumps, not just little sprinkles. The ingredients on the Supreme pizza were a little smushed up in the middle, so I rearranged them a bit, because I’m detail-oriented like that. Also, I didn’t want anybody hogging all the sausage.
Why hello, Tori’s scary corpse hands– we’ve missed you!
Thea Madea had her paws crossed, reeeeeeally hoping I’d drop some of that pepperoni…
I preheated the oven to 425 degrees and set the pizza directly on the rack without using a cookie sheet, like the instructions said. I almost turned on the convection thingy in my oven, but then I figured since it only takes like, 10-12 minutes for them to cook anyway I wasn’t going to worry about trying to make it go faster! And sure enough, right on time, the pizza started looking like this:
Smelled really good, too… Hungry yet?!
Let’s see how it compares to the box picture now– I think this one actually looks BETTER!
OK, in real life the spinach is not quite as artfully arranged as in the picture, but I’d say it measures up just fine– and check out those lumps of feta cheese!
Now these are not big pizzas, by the way; they are only about 10 inches, and since the crust is so thin, they won’t fill you up like one of those thick doughy-crusted ones. The box lists one serving as 1/3 of the pizza, which was pretty accurate for us but might seem less realistic if you’re feeding the football team, for instance. But if you added a big green salad, maybe some watermelon sliced up… Aw, who are we kidding– on a good day I could probably eat one all by myself!
I cut them into eight slices, about this size:
(I added the Indian to give you a sense of proportion, because why wouldn’t I? Also he just looked so happy about it, he’s all, “TA DA!!! PIZZA!!!!)
Since this was such a special occasion, I set out some of my favorite vintage state plates– Arkansas (where I grew up), Kentucky (since we just had our little vacay there) and South Carolina (in honor of Momma Lloyd.) I, of course, ended up just eating out of my hand.
And now for the moment of truth!
Madi really liked the Supreme. She said she definitely wants to keep these around, and she’d like me to pick up the Roasted Vegetable one, too. She said the crust was just the way she liked it, thin and crispy but not cracker-y. The fact that she could make one in 10 minutes was a big plus. And yes, she is drinking fresh grapefruit juice with her pizza. *shudders*
Charlotte gave the Supreme high marks, though I did catch her picking the peppers off of her slice (she always does that), but she LOVED the White pizza! (I was a little surprised because it has spinach on it, which she heartily dislikes. Maybe she didn’t realize what it was?) She declared it “better than take-out” and said that the sauce “tasted just like Alfredo” which she vastly prefers to marinara. Her only complaint was that she wished it had more cheese on it, which I probably agree with– but remember this is coming from the kid who melts slices of cheese in the microwave and eats them with a spoon, so… you know.
Madi’s friend Kendrick was definitely a fan and agreed with me that under the right conditions she could probably polish one off all by herself as well.
Disclaimer: The face she is making in this picture has nothing to do with the pizza. I can’t remember exactly what prompted it, but I think that she either bit her tongue or she and Madi were talking about some guy on Facebook that they don’t like.
And as for me?
I was really very pleasantly surprised! It helps that this is my favorite kind of crust and that at least three of their flavors are ones that I usually order. The fact that all I had to do was put them in a hot oven and wait 10 minutes is a huge plus. It does matter to me that the ingredients are more natural and that there are less additives than most other kinds of frozen pizza.
This also really matters to me: “All profits go to charity. Newman’s Own Foundation continues Paul Newman’s commitment to donate all profits to charity. Over $300 million has been given to thousands of charities since 1982.”
God rest his gorgeous aquamarine-eyed soul! I mean, come on–good pizza AND altruism? I’d certainly rather support that than just help make some corporation richer!
(I kept the vibe going by recycling the pizza boxes.)
Bottom line : My official Babybloomr.com opinion is that Newman’s Own Thin and Crispy frozen pizzas are a very tasty, health-conscious alternative to delivery pizza at about half the cost, with the added bonus of making you feel a little We Are The World-ish.
I give it three out of four ‘Bloomrs!
FREE STUFF ALERT!
Hold up! THERE’S ONE LAST THING YOU NEED TO KNOW.
I’m hosting a giveaway—one of you, my sweet readers, will win a Newman’s Own Gift Basket, valued at $75!
Leave me a comment about pizza and you will automatically be entered into a random drawing to win. It’s that easy!
Winner will be announced on November 7, 2010. GOOD LUCK!
See the official rules for more details.
Disclosure: I was compensated for this sponsored review.
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These look really good and I may have to stop at the store on the way home. I can’t help wondering what a margherita pizza tastes like though.
I will definately be trying these. Thanks for the review.
Karen
I just came home and saw – a new post! And yes, I’m hungry now :-/
Though it’s not very probable that I can find a “Newman’s” in Germany…
Yay Karen! Thanks so much for being the first commenter on my first review!
I want to try the margherita, too– it has pieces of fresh tomato, basil, mozzarella and parmesan cheese on it. That’s the kind of pizza I always order in restaurants.
(Charlotte just walked by and saw the pictures and said, “Don’t torture me– I want another one of those white pizzas!”)
delightedabroad– I wonder..? I’m gonna go check their website and see if they distribute in Europe!
OK, so tell the company this worked,…I’m definitely trying them!
They look great and I love Pizza particularly Domino’s (Do you get those?) I don’t think we get Newman’s over here across the pond!
Gramma Jac– I promise, you won’t be sorry! Dang, now I’m sitting here with a cup of coffee craving pizza…
bettywoodward– I actually liked these better than Dominos (mainly because I’m a thin and crispy crust lover. And that settles it– I’m gonna email Newman’s Own and tell them they need to distribute to Europe!
Wow! You are really really thorough in your testing! I’m impressed……and hungry.
I’ve never met a frozen pizza or frozen dinner that I didn’t throw in the trash after the first bite! But I’ve never tried Paul Newman’s pizza! It would be nice to have a good-tasting pizza in the freezer for Alanna to eat when we’re gone or something…..or on Tablescape Thursday! I will certainly give his pizza a try. I like it that it’s all natural. And I love thin crust too.
Even when we order delivery pizza, I saute some onions, green peppers, mushrooms, black olives, and garlic together and pile it up on top on a piece of plain pepperoni pizza, with a little extra provolone and/or mozzerella cheese too. They never put enough toppings on it for me. (I like a little pizza on my veggies!) And the kids always want plain pizza anyway. (What can I say—-they’re immature.) Another thing I don’t like about deliver pizza is that there’s so much SUGAR in the sauce!!!! Little Caesar’s is the worst! It’s like dessert! I know that guarantees that the kiddies will like it and cry for more, but really!!!
Tell Char that Betty taught me that you can “fry” cheese and eat it like chips! It gets all crispy and salty! Yum! And if you’re weight conscious, you can blot off the oil with paper towels.
What is that contraption next to Madi’s grapefruit juice? Some kind of industrial stapler? Just curious.
“….all piled up in one corner of the box like some weird pepperoni version of Twister.”
Brilliantly funny! ROFLMBO OVER AND OVER!
LindaB– I wanna have pizza at your house! I’m too lazy to add my own toppings, but you know, that’s not a bad idea… And you’re right, for some reason kids ALWAYS just want cheese pizza– which is why Charlotte’s reaction to the white pizza kinda surprised me.
BTW, what your eagle eye spotted is actually a three-hole puncher. The girls use it for school, to punch holes in printer paper so they can put it in their binder.
(And also– have you checked out ‘Metamorphosis Monday’ on the main tablescape blog? I’m loving it almost as much as Tablescape Thursday!)
I’m really picky about pizza but you have made me want to try the Newmans! My children are less picky so I keep frozen pizza on hand at all times. My daughter will actually eat the cheapest frozen pizza…the kind that is a dollar a box. SHUDDER And she is a grown woman now.
I like to make my own and it’s not hard but is time consuming. I live in the backwoods and can’t get delivery. I’m not even sure that my grocery has Newmans but I’m sure going to look!
Oh! A three hole punch! Gotch ya! We have a similar looking thing called a “pill splitter”. When my mother in law passed away, my father in law gave her pill splitter to us! I’m not sure why.
I HAVE checked out Metamorphosis Monday, but I didn’t include it in my comment ’cause I wasn’t sure how to spell it. Thanks.
My husband LOVES pizza and I like it pretty well myself! We enjoy making our own pizza and actually found a recipe that we like even better than take out! You can find it on my blog, if you are interested. I will have to try Newman’s Own pizza. I know I like their salad dressing…
I know they’ve sold their salad dressing over this side of the pond for quite a long time, and after extensive research (or a quick google) have discovered we can now buy a few other items such as pasta sauce. No sign of the pizzas yet though.
They do look quite tasty, and I do like pizza.
I would try these,although I’m sure it would take several pizzas to fill up the bottomless pit who moonlights as my son.
Are those 3 toes in the first picture?
I drink grapefruit juice with everything. Madi could be my kid…except for not having the ‘snark gene’.
I hope you’ve introduced cheese-lovin’ Char to Rotel dip. I lived on that stuff in college.
The white looks tempting to me!! And of course you would add this review shortly after my return from the states!! Too late, woman!! Oh, and we do get some N.O. products here as well. No pizzas yet, though = /
Welcome back jonny
Thanks Rachel! Oh, and if I win the contest, I’ll have it sent to some friends in the states. I don’t believe they’ll ship the booty overseas…
jonny, is it a coincidence that you ‘reappear’ when it’s all about food and eating???
I am a little distracted by the cuteness of Madi’s hair, BUT…
There are times during the year (May, June…before the Branson shindig…) when we consume more frozen pizza than a bachelor during the playoffs. And, we kinda love it.
That said, I’ve never had a Newman’s product I didn’t like, and I really enjoy the “In Crust We Trust” tagline. And I love thin crust.
So yes… I will pick one up in my grocer’s freezer. Great job on the review!!
Pizza. Good.
We’re not just talkin’ any ol’ food delighted, we’re talkin’ some serious BACHELOR food here, girl!! = )
Generally I don’t care for frozen pizza – it always looks better on the box – but I’d be willing to give the roasted veggie a try (especially if I won your gift basket, hint, hint!) lol
OK Tori………all this talk about Paul Newman and pizza and I’m back in the game. Jim knows about the long time crush on Paul and just smiles.
Today I stopped by Kroger and headed straight for the frozen pizza. I was disappointed to find only “Four Cheese and Uncured Pepperoni” but both are now in my freezer. You have convinced me to try them all so now I’ll be checking the other stores (tomorrow). I’ve got to try “Char’s” white pizza and Madi’s Supreme. Those gals have great taste.
Since this is a holiday weekend I want to be ready for all the grandkids that show up for fun on the lake this weekend.
I don’t buy frozen pizza often but you are quite the pizza/pusher/saleslady. Now I’m on a mission.
Carolyn
Big fan of all the Newman’s products. Will definatley give these a shot.
Hello–this is my first post but your pictures made me soo hungry that I had to stop on the way home the other night and try some. they are delicious. I too am a fan of the thin and crispy crust. I had the pepperoni (my usual favorite).
I must say I enjoy reading the blogs and the comments!
Ok, now things are getting serious. Checked more Kroger stores (only store listed carrying them in our town) today and found the same two kinds of Newman pizza that I bought yesterday. My plans for a pizza tasting party may have to be put off for a few days but I’m not crying uncle yet.
At this very moment 25 years ago, I was working at a little pizza joint – a tiny, tiny building that was across the street from our local university…we were always busy. Go figure.
Because of that life-changing experience, my husband usually prefers my pizzas to anyone else’s. Drat it, anyway. Therefore, I shall endeavor to try these yummy-looking creations on my own at some point.
Oh…and the worst summer ever was working in the kitchen at Tower of Pizza. Never, ever work in a tiny pizza joint in the summer, especially one with a gigantic antique pizza oven that was sent from the bowels of hell.
oh how I wish I would have this review before I did my grocery shopping. As avid consumers of frozen pizza, we would gladly give these a try. I also recommend trying the Home Run Inn brand of frozen pizzas. Those are our family favorite!
MY COMMENT ABOUT PIZZA!!!!!
Tori – i loved your review..am definitely going to try those pizzas! I am usually a deep-dish person..but that spinach pizza looked great..they both actually did! GREAT REVIEW!
lindaB – what are ya trying to do? get your name in the drawing more than once!!!!!!! And, i see jonny has resurfaced! WHAT!!! YOU WERE IN THE STATES, & DIDNT BLOG?
thanks tori!
I’ve been crazy about pizza, any kind of pizza, since I was a kid. I remember having pizza eating contests with my cousins and would usually come in second or third behind two older cousins. A friend’s mom would make a pan of pizza just for me when I stayed over. Believe it nor not, I’m not 200+ lbs from all of that pizza!
Gotta love Newman’s Own….their cereal is awesome! I think i’ll try the pizza someday.
I will try these for sure! I have seen them in the store but hesitated as I don’t usually like frozen pizzas. But I love Newman’s products.
Roasted veggies, yum!! I’d probably move all the meat to the husband’s half & take all his veggies. yeah. half. i’d eat half, at least
-Rrin
I love the photos! It certainly looks like quality pizza from Newman’s Own.
My kids love pizza & I was just scouring the frozen pizzas for one that looked slightly more healthy!
I have never had a pizza I didn’t like, and the Newman combos look fantastic! Have never had a Newman product I didn’t like, also. So Newman’s pizza is a winner!
I am a long time pizza lover, I’m originally from Queens so there was lots and lots of good pizza around. Now I live in Maine and I’ve come to appreciate the frozen pizza for convenience and taste. I usually just make them on those desperate nights where I don’t want to go out or cook. I’m convinced that makes it taste even better.
I love pizza, my favorite topping is olives.
I like onions and peppers on my pizza.
Frozen Pizza is one of the best inventions ever
These look so delicious.
I usually go for pepperoni, but the White pizza with spinish looks delicious too.
Thanks so much.
rickpeggysmith(at)aol(dot)com
seems lately I am kinda partial to the white sauce pizza’s, I think the white sauce with buttery garlic just adds so much more flavor to the rest of the pizza, we have experimented with a few of the pizza places in our area to find a good white sauce and found marco’s has a good one as does Pizza hut, both are so yummy.
thanks for the great giveaway
My grands google up any pizza
tweet http://twitter.com/sodahoney/status/25093728645
I remember how proud I was when i made my first “from scratch” pizza.
Just logged on to your blog and saw the contest for Newman’s Own. After reading it, I went right down stairs to my freezer, took one out and popped it in the oven. It’s baking right now, we can’t wait to eat it. Newman’s Own is our favorite brand and favorite frozen pizza. Can’t wait until it’s done baking, it smells soooo good. Thanks for your blog. Love reading it.
I’ve always been pleased with the Newman’s Own product line. I rarely buy frozen pizza, but your pictures make it look really tasty. Definitely worth a try!
I love a good pizza. My favorite is on a good rising style crust but the rest of the house likes thin crust best so we’d love to try Newman’s Own pizza.
Back in the day I worked with a lot of out-of-towners and they’d make fun of “St. Louis style” (thin crust) pizza. I’m glad to see how popular it’s become. My favorite pizza has sausage, hamburger, onions, green peppers, mushrooms and lots of cheese. It’s one of the very few foods my DH and I agree on.
I’d love to try this thin crust!
Thanks for the giveaway >^..^<
I had Pepperoni pizza for lunch. I would love to try the White pizza.
I love pepperoni, pineapple and green bell peppers!
Pizza is one of my all-time favorite foods, the more unusual the better! The White Pizza sounds amazing!
I love pizza! I have not tried Newman’s Own Pizza, but would like to! I like everything but fish on my pizza!
digicat {AT} sbcglobal {DOT} net
I usually make our pizza using my bread machine to make the crust. I like to make different kinds such as BBQ, Philly Cheese Steak, and Chicken Bacon Ranch. I do really want to try the White Pizza. It looks so good. I would buy it to eat at lunch or to share as a snack.
hafner611{AT}gmail{DOT}com
i love little caesers cheese! love it!
I love pizza–could eat it every day!
I love pizza!!! all those wonderful flavors, and that wonderful melted cheese!!
I could live on it!!
Thanks for the giveaway!
I was catching up on your blogs this morning and read that you were gonna start doing REVIEWS and get paid for it, too. Just being honest here -I though ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ blah, blah, blah. But, being the curious person that I am, I just couldn’t resist opening up your ‘review’ tab.
YEA! GO, TORI! I was so wrong and judgemental of you. *God forgive my little self-righteous spirit* Your writing talent wasn’t lost at all. It had your wonderful touch of humor and honesty. It was thorough, educational and even caused me to start salavating like a Saint Bernard dog!! I loved that you talked about the ingredients, posted pictures, showed where to find coupons, demonstrated the actual size …. goodness, I could go on & on.
It was just as interesting as your regular blogs and you DESERVE to get paid for it! For example: On my next visit to the grocery store I will definately buy several Paul Newman’s pizzas to put in my freezer and it’s all because of your review!
have rarely met a pizza that I didnt like!
I like most anything on pizza (including anchovies). I’d like to try the Roasted Garlic & Chicken pizza. Thanks for the contest.
Pizza is my all-time favorite food.
msurosey@yahoo.com
I love pizza, and always cut it in thinner slices so it seems to last longer – yum!
nblexp at gmail dot com
Pizza is one of our go – to’s as well. I think I like it better than chocolate. I make my (5) dogs eat the veggie with me but buy them a pepperoni to surprise them for being good dogs and eating their veggies. (Yes, I’m sure they know it’s coming by now but I still do it)
I loooove pizza. I especially like veggie pizzas with lots of onions on them!
That supreme pizza looks good!
I love pizza. So many toppings, so few days.
I very seldom buy frozen pizza, but when I do it’s always one from Donato’s ( at Krogers ) I love all of the Newman products that I have tried and will be sure to pick up a couple of the pizzas next time I’m at the grocery store.
I love pizza, I could literally eat it every day. I almost never buy frozen, but now you have made me hungry! Newman’s makes great stuff, and now I have to try this. Thanks for killing my diet! LOL, just kidding.
I love to bake my own thin-crust pizza and am curious to know how this one compares.
I am craving pizza now!! have to hunt these down, that white looks sooo good!
thanks for the chance to win!