‘Near restaurant-quality’: the best supermarket margherita pizzas, tasted and rated

‘Kor-nee-CHO-nay,” my friend Matt Comley exclaims, and repeats several times as he pads out some pizza dough with his fingers and palm to make what is known in Naples as the cornicione. That is, the perfect puffy outer edge of a pizza.

Matt is the co-founder of School of Dough, a wonderful initiative that teaches children in some of Cornwall’s least prosperous communities how to cook; he also runs a stall called Salt Yard Pizza at the Boathouse on Newquay harbour. His pizza is some of the best in the country, not just because he’s mastered traditional techniques, but because he grows his own tomatoes and basil, and even rears his own mangalitza pigs to turn into charcuterie.

I love making pizza in my portable pizza oven, but it does involve a fair amount of work, from the preparation of the dough to the pressure of cooking several pizzas in quick succession. Even so, I can’t remember the last time I bought a supermarket pizza, and my only real memories of them are of those ultra-processed cardboard discs from the 1980s. Sadly, as a result of this tasting, I’ve discovered that those still exist (I don’t know what that says about British food culture), but I’m also happy to report that there are now some genuinely delicious options out there, too, with a few real standouts of near restaurant quality.

I focused on lower- to mid-range margheritas, and excluded premium pizzas that stray from the classic bread-tomato-cheese formula by adding extras such as sun-blushed tomatoes. To test each product fairly, I cooked each pizza according to the manufacturer’s instructions, then tasted it with my family. The worst examples felt like 80s industrial “food” throwbacks, all bland and joyless, save for the hit of salt, sugar and fat.

For such a processed-looking product, however, most supermarket margheritas actually contain relatively few ultra-processed ingredients. The main recurring additives were calcium carbonate (a flour improver and calcium fortifier) and niacin (vitamin B3), both of which are harmless in small amounts and are more often found in the lowest-quality pizzas with dense, flavourless bases. Ultra-processed foods, however, aren’t defined purely by additives. According to the Nova classification, which links levels of food processing with health outcomes, ready-to-eat convenience foods such as pizza still sit firmly in the ultra-processed category.

Although the best pizzas I tried were made with better, more chewy dough, really good cheese and plenty of well-balanced tomato sauce, it’s worth remembering that even the most basic oven pizza can be transformed with a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of salt, a sprinkle of dried herbs and a few choice fresh toppings.

The best supermarket margherita pizzas

Best all-rounder:
Doughboys classic margherita pizza

★★★★☆

A large, classic Italian-style pizza with a nicely puffed cornicione (crust) and just the right amount of cheese. The delicious base is topped with a balanced tomato sauce that’s sweet and acidic. The texture is really good, and very close to fresh pizza. Hand-stretched and stone baked in Italy, made with 100% Emilia Romagna tomato pulp. This independent British brand creates professional-standard pizzas with minimal processing. Disappointingly little information online about their sustainability practices, however.

Best bargain:
Tesco Finest margherita wood-fired pizza

★★★☆☆

A really nice-looking, Neapolitan-style pizza with a puffy crust, balls of mozzarella and fresh basil. The mix of cheese gives this a satisfying, gooey, varied topping, and the basil is wonderful. Slightly disappointing texture to the dough, though, especially considering how good it looks before baking; a higher baking temperature might improve this. Contains niacin, among other additives, but very good value.

And the rest …

Crosta Mollica margherita pizza

★★★★☆

In my top three, made on sourdough with a neat, slightly puffed crust. The traditional tomato sauce and mozzarella with PDO parmesan bring great flavour. It didn’t quite make best all-rounder, though, because it could really do with a touch more cheese.

Picard margherita pizza

★★★★☆

My daughter’s favourite, and a close second for best all-rounder. An interesting style with mostly precooked grated cheese, plus some mozzarella balls. Thin, crunchy crust with a lovely, generous amount of tomato sauce that packs heaps of flavour. One of the saltiest and fattiest, which is probably why it’s one of the tastiest.

Goodfella’s margherita stone baked thin

★★☆☆☆

A great name and a classic 1990s brand, with a thickish (about 10mm) bready, tasteless base topped with mozzarella, emmental and red cheddar. A nice amount of cheese and tomato gives this a little more flavour, lifted by herbs (basil, oregano, marjoram and thyme). Nice stringy cheese and a light crunch, but not much else going on. Contains artificial flavouring. Goodfella’s has signed the UK Plastics Pact, reduced the thickness of its pizza wrap and is working towards 100% recyclable packaging.

Lidl Chef Select stone-baked margherita pizza

★☆☆☆☆

A good-looking pizza for the price, but sadly it’s incredibly bland. A bit like eating cardboard with scant tomato sauce and a mere scattering of mozzarella and cheddar. Contains calcium carbonate.

Asda stone-baked margherita pizza

★☆☆☆☆

An 80s-style pizza with a nostalgic, if ironic appeal: this is an industrial impression of a pizza covered in an even layer of mozzarella and no crust to speak of. Contains calcium carbonate, too. Avoid at all costs: this tastes of nothing.

Sainsbury’s stone-baked margherita pizza

★☆☆☆☆

A thin, bready crust without any chew and an even layer of grated cheddar. One-dimensional and lacking any real flavour beyond the plastic cheese and thin layer of acidic tomato sauce. Contains calcium carbonate.

M&S classic margherita pizza

★☆☆☆☆

A small, thin pizza with a generous grating of neutral-flavoured cheese and acidic tomato sauce. It’s marginally better than the worst of this bunch, but oddly expensive for what it is. The wheat contains additives, too.

Pizza Express margherita pizza

★☆☆☆☆

Oh dear: a small, overpriced pizza with little appeal, other than a generous grating of cheese. Industrial junk food with a lacklustre base and flavour. Contains calcium carbonate.