Are you a connoisseur of all things meaty and cheesy, with a taste for a spicy kick? Then strap in for a delightful journey to flavor town, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Trader Joe’s. Introducing the Italian-made Spicy Meat Pizza, a new pizza in the freezer section that might just redefine your pizza nights. Crafted by hand and expertise in the heart of Italy, this pizza is a melange of textures and tastes, starting from its 24-hour proofed, hand-stretched dough, to the sizzling trio of spicy sausage, savory pork meatballs, and sweet grilled red bell peppers. With each bite, you’re transported to a quaint Italian pizzeria, except you don’t need to pack your bags; you just reach into your freezer. Let’s dive into what makes Trader Joe’s Spicy Meat Pizza a frozen aisle treasure!
According to the official Trader Joe’s podcast, there was a change in American federal regulations and for some reason, Italy was not allowed to import meat on their pizzas. I have no idea, this makes no sense but whatever, now they can and this is the first pizza they imported from Italy that has meat on it. The even better news is that in the future there will be more pizzas with meat on them coming from their Italian supplier. I wouldn’t be surprised if you see some of the other pizzas in the freezer section go away as they bring in more Italian-made pizzas. Yum for all of us!
I recently bought and reviewed the Trader Joe’s Pizza Margherita, a long time product that they have been carrying for years. I rated it pretty highly because the flavors were excellent, but especially the crust. Whatever company makes these pizzas for Trader Joe’s seems to have really nailed down the crust. It could be that they are just using high quality ingredients and flash freezing a par baked pizza crust to preserve the quality of the crust.
If you look at the pictures of the Margherita pizza and this Spicy Meat Pizza, you can see the telltale traits of a high quality crust. The edge of the pizza has something called “leopard spotting” which happens in high temperature, high quality ovens with high quality ingredients. I was actually impressed when I slipped the Trader Joe’s Spicy Meat Pizza out of the box and the plastic wrapper and how well shaped the pizza is and how much it looks like something you would get from a high pizzeria here in the USA, or Italy.
The only thing that seems out of place is the brightly colored red chunks of meat, which I found out as I was reading the box are a type of Italian sausage that is very closely related to Chirizo, a smoked sausage with some heat. The rest of the toppings are meatballs and red bell peppers. Either way it looks gorgeous even before it goes into the oven.
Like the rest of their Italian frozen pizzas, just turn on the oven to 425 degrees and when it warms up, put the pizza straight on the rack for about 15 minutes and then pull it out. I suggest using a pizza peel
Final Thoughts
Trader Joe’s is the king of high quality frozen pizza at a great price. Nobody is doing what they are doing at that price point and especially with their imported Italian frozen pizzas. This pizza for the price is hard to beat and if you want meat on your pizza, there is a lot here. A whole pizza is around 1200 calories and is enough for two normal adults, especially if you have a side salad or something. The crust on the pizza just blows the competition away. It is the best crust I have ever had on a frozen pizza. Bravo!
Where Trader Joe’s went a little wrong is with the weird “sausage”. I hate to say it but it has the texture of cat food. But once you eat it, the smoky flavor comes through and I really appreciate it. The peppers are not hot if that is what you were expecting. Actually, the whole pizza is medium hot and I am not a chili heat and shy away from really hot foods. If you want hot, try the Trader Joe’s Fiery Chicken Curry. Also if you want to kick it up a notch, try putting the Trader Joe’s Spicy hot honey sauce on it and that should kick it up a notch too!
You can see my ratings below but it adds up to about an 8.5 out of 10!
Trader Joe's Spicy Meat Pizza
Pros
Easy to make
Good price
Finally a meat pizza
Best frozen pizza crust
Cons
Not very spicy
Sausage has a weird texture
Ingredients
WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, LOW-MOISTURE PART-SKIM MOZZARELLA CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK, SALT, CHEESE CULTURES, MICROBIAL ENZYME), CALABRIAN RECIPE SMOKED SAUSAGE (PORK, PORK FAT, SALT, SEASONING BLEND [PAPRIKA, RED CHILI PEPPER, ONION, BLACK PEPPER, GARLIC, CILANTRO], ACEROLA CHERRY POWDER, LEEK POWDER, NATURAL FLAVORS), GRILLED RED BELL PEPPERS, TOMATO PUREE, COOKED MEATBALLS (PORK, WATER, SALT, DEXTROSE [CORN, WHEAT], SEASONING BLEND [ANISE, CARAWAY, BLACK PEPPER, FENNEL, GINGER, CUMIN, PAPRIKA, PARSNIP, GARLIC], ONION, GLUCOSE SYRUP [CORN, WHEAT]), NATURAL FLAVORING), PEPPER SAUCE (RED BELL PEPPERS, SUGAR, WATER, SPICES [RED CHILI PEPPER, SMOKED PAPRIKA], MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, SALT), TOMATO PASTE, SUNFLOWER OIL, SALT, ONIONS, EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, YEAST, CORNSTARCH, GROUND FENNEL SEED POWDER, GARLIC, PARSLEY, BASIL, RED CHILI PEPPER, BALSAMIC VINEGAR (WINE VINEGAR, CONCENTRATED GRAPE MUST), BLACK PEPPER, DRIED OREGANO, DILL.
- CONTAINS MILK, WHEAT.
- MAY CONTAIN SOY.
I love so many Trader Joe’s products so I’m really surprised but this was a fail for me. Crust too thick, sauce too sweet, pieces of sausages good but scant and cheese virtually undetectable. I’ve never had a pizza, frozen or fresh, with so little cheese. I ate about half of it and tossed the rest of it away. Will not buy again.
Pizza is definitely a individual preference. Trader Joe’s has not made a lot of meat pizzas as I mentioned because most are made in another country and there are were some requirements about importing meat that have been swept away. My kids love it though!
I agree with Jon on this. The crust was very good, and the meat had an odd texture. But I simply could not get over the cloying sweetness of the sauce/peppers. Turn down the sweetness and this would be a keeper.
I agree. It’s an OK pizza, but this odd sweetness isn’t something I liked either.
Horrible. So sweet it was like eating a donut, if a donut was topped with spicy meat and cheese. The crust is too thick on the sides and too thin on the bottom. So thin, the pie developed a sinkhole and leaked all over the bottom of my oven. That one is on me though, on closer examination the box does say “place on a baking sheet.” If TJ’s retires the uncured pepperoni pizza in favor of more like this, I’ll have to look elsewhere for my pizza fix.
I don’t know why I didn’t get the sweetness when I had mine but it is a common complaint for this pizza.
Way, way, way too sweet. It was like eating a donut pizza. Not sure if it’s the crust or the sauce, but not good. I’ve eaten enough frozen pizzas and this is a one time try. If you like this, you don’t like good pizza.
I think something changed from when I first reviewed it to now, but I hate sweet pizza and I would definitely have rated it lower. You are not the first person to tell me this so I will have to pick up another pizza soon.