We Tried DiGiorno's Thanksgiving Pizza And Were Pleasantly Surprised
Thanksgiving day is closer than we realize. Whether you're stressing about planning the big meal, looking to add something new to the table this year, or ready to celebrate early, the fine folks at DiGiorno have you covered. This November, the brand is using a Detroit-style crust as a canvas to build a unique pizza to capture the essence of the holiday in a single pie. That's right, DiGiorno's new Thanksgiving pizza features turkey, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberries, and crispy onions. Oh my!
In a press release, Kimberly Holowiak, senior brand manager for DiGiorno, said, "...we're thrilled to provide a bold new way to appreciate the traditional Thanksgiving spread." She added, "Our passion is pizza, and we are always looking for unique ways to infuse the fresh-baked taste of DiGiorno into moments of celebration – even the most traditional holiday dinners."
Thanksgiving pizza isn't a new invention. As far back as 1955, even the great Chicago deep dish pizzaiolo Lou Malnati was serving a stuffed-up version, and ever since, turkey day leftovers have found their way onto triangular slices. So, how does DiGiorno's take on a budding autumn classic taste? Does its Thanksgiving pizza rise to the occasion, or does it fall flat? I gobbled this one up, and am here to present my chew and review.
Some recommendations are based on first-hand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.
What does DiGiorno's Thanksgiving pizza taste like?
Fresh out of the oven, the orange and yellow cheeses on the Thanksgiving pizza had fully melted into swirls that flowed in and around the toppings and masked the light gravy found below. There's a lot to look at here, and even more to taste.
The diced sweet potatoes were mildly firm on the outside and squishy on the inside. The oven gave the green beans a nice crispness that paired well with the awesome crispy fried onions, which were so plentiful that some were even baked into the bottom crust of my pie. Speaking of, the crust was at its best on the top and corners, which were buttery and super crunchy. The middle and bottom of the crust weren't quite on par. Even though I baked the pie a little longer to combat its doughiness, I was never able to get it to the same crunch level.
The white meat turkey was fine, but stop me if you've heard this one before around Thanksgiving time... it was a little dry. The cranberries resembled hot raisins and were tasty, but too few and far between. Every time I encountered one, it reminded me that this was a Thanksgiving pizza and not just an everyday solid pizza.
What is DiGiorno's Thanksgiving pizza made of?
The ingredients for the DiGiorno Thanksgiving Pizza are as follows: water, enriched wheat flour, low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese, sweet potatoes, cooked turkey tenderloins, vegetable oil, cheddar cheese, green beans, onion, turkey gravy concentrate, modified corn starch, palm oil, enriched wheat flour, turkey meat, whey, salt, water, carrots, autolyzed yeast extract, and hydrolyzed corn proteins. It also includes 2% or less of maltodextrin, natural flavors, onion powder, dried chicken broth, spices, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate, dried turkey broth, garlic powder, lactic acid, calcium lactate, 2% or less of sugar, yeast, dried cranberries, vital wheat gluten, natural flavor, salt, nonfat dry milk, palm oil, modified food starch, a seasoning partially made of turkey flavor and turkey stock, spices, sodium phosphate, ascorbic acid, dextrose, and potassium salt. The pizza contains a bioengineered food ingredient, and allergens wheat and milk.
The DiGiorno Thanksgiving Pizza includes five servings with each containing 330 calories, 17 grams of total fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol, 400 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of total carbohydrates, with no dietary fiber, and 5 grams of total sugar, and 12 grams of protein. A slice also has 130 milligrams of calcium, 1.6 milligrams of iron, and 120 milligrams of potassium.
How, when, and where to purchase DiGiorno Thanksgiving pizza
The DiGiorno Thanksgiving pizza is a limited-time item that can only be purchased online. Each Wednesday at 12 p.m. EST, new batches of the pizza go up for sale on the company's site. The final Wednesday to order is the 22nd, aka Thanksgiving Eve, ensuring that celebrating the holiday can extend beyond its slot on the calendar.
The pizza retails for $11.23, which is also the date of the big day. It ships for free, and buyers should expect them to arrive in approximately 1 to 2 weeks. They are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
How to prepare DiGiorno Thanksgiving pizza
The DiGiorno Thanksgiving Pizza should be kept frozen until you're ready to cook it. The pizza comes in a pan, so there's no need to grab a cookie sheet or pizza stone to put it on top of for cooking.
It bakes in a 400-degree Fahrenheit oven for about 24 minutes, so dinner is ready much more quickly than your typical Thanksgiving dinner. While baking it melts the cheese nicely and gives it a golden brown, it doesn't hurt to finish it off under the broiler to fully crisp it up.
The final verdict
With hues of brown, white, green, and autumn orange, DiGiorno's Thanksgiving pizza looks more like a casserole and gives off all the vibes of a Thanksgiving dinner. As it baked, the smells emitting from the kitchen gave off a familiar sense of being home for the holidays. Once cooked, it does in fact look like a pizza, but one like no other.
When one hears the words "Thanksgiving pizza," ludicrous ideas form in the mind of how bad it might taste. Well, a funny thing happened with this pie when it floated from the preconceived notions of my mind and into my mouth — I found out that this is a darn good pizza! Sure, it might have a gimmicky theme of Thanksgiving dinner, and the ingredients, look, and taste back it up, but in the end, it's a pizza. And who doesn't love pizza? Especially when it tastes like Thanksgiving!