At any given time, you’re likely to spot multiple types of frozen pizzas in the Aldi Find freezers at Aldi. It’s an indication of how popular pizza is among Americans that the German grocer keeps a constant supply of various specialty pizzas rotating through it’s freezer aisle. Our favorite limited-time frozen pizzas include pan pizza, artisan style pizza, cauliflower pizza, broccoli cheddar pizza, and macaroni and cheese pizza.
Last spring, Aldi sold some name-brand frozen Gino’s East deep dish pizzas, which are associated with a restaurant chain by the same name in Chicago. This winter, Aldi sold deep dish pizzas under its Mama Cozzi’s private label. The Mama Cozzi’s deep dish pizzas were sold in cheese or uncured pepperoni and sausage varieties. I bought a pepperoni and sausage pizza to try.
Mama Cozzi’s Chicago Recipe Deep Dish Pizza cost $4.99 at the time of publication. The cheese pizza is 26.3 ounces, while the uncured pepperoni and sausage pizza is 26.1 ounces. While they’re in stock, they can be found in the chest freezers where Aldi keeps its specials.
The deep dish pizza is an Aldi Find, which means it’s only in stores for a short time. Aldi won’t ship specials to you after they sell out at your local store.
Deep dish pizzas take a classic pie to a whole new level. They’re baked in a pan that has high sides, and they’re filled with tomato sauce, cheese, and other toppings, making them almost like a savory single-crust pie. Ingredients are usually added in reverse order to a deep dish pizza, with cheese on the bottom and sauce on top, because these pizzas bake for a longer time and you want to avoid burning the cheese.
The uncured pepperoni and sausage deep dish pizza I bought is advertised as “crumbled Italian sausage & zesty pepperoni with a golden crust.” It contains no nitrates or nitrites except for the naturally occurring nitrites found in celery powder.
Mama Cozzi’s Chicago Recipe Deep Dish Pizza with Uncured Pepperoni and Sausage ingredients and nutrition information. (Click to enlarge.)
Needless to say, this pizza is terrible for you. It’s loaded with saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, so it’s something to enjoy just once in a while. One pizza has five servings, and a single serving of the pepperoni and sausage deep dish pizza has 410 calories, 22 grams of total fat (29% DV), 7 grams of saturated fat (36% DV), 30 mg of cholesterol (10% DV), 600 mg of sodium (26% DV), 39 grams of total carbohydrates (14% DV), 3 grams of dietary fiber (11% DV), 5 grams of total sugars, 2 grams of added sugars (3% DV), and 16 grams of protein.
If you’re watching out for allergens, this contains milk, wheat, and soy.
To bake the pizza, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and remove the frozen pizza from all packaging. Place the pizza on the upper baking rack in the center of the oven. (I baked mine on a pizza pan with holes.) Bake for 38-40 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Bake an additional 5 minutes for a crispier crust. Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes before cutting.
Our pizza after baking.
This deep dish pizza baked in about 35 minutes in my oven, which is slightly less than the directions indicate, so you’ll want to keep an eye on your pizza to avoid overbaking. We had to unstack and rearrange some of the pepperoni prior to baking so they were more evenly spread around the pizza. One of the pepperoni pieces got a little overcooked, but it wasn’t bad. Otherwise, baking this was a cinch.
Unlike traditional deep dish pizzas, this one actually has the cheese on top and sauce underneath. The sauce was less chunky than some other deep dish pizzas I’ve had; it was smoother and more like regular pizza sauce. Still, this is a good pizza overall. If you want a classic deep dish pizza, I’d probably still recommend the name brand Gino’s East, but this one is good on its own merits.
The Verdict:
Mama Cozzi’s Chicago Recipe Deep Dish Pizza comes in cheese or uncured pepperoni and sausage varieties. My family tried the pepperoni and sausage one. It has plenty of cheese, a good amount of toppings, and a crisp crust. It’s not made in reverse order (with cheese on the bottom and tomato sauce on top) like traditional deep dish pizzas, and the sauce is less chunky than some other deep pizza sauces I’ve had. It’s still a good pizza, though.
My husband’s a huge pizza fan, so I’ll have to look for these the next time I’m shopping at Aldi. I’d probably get the plain cheese and buy a package of pepperoni separately, though — UNLESS I were to buy 2 of the sausage/pepperoni (or 1 combination + 1 plain cheese), and put all of the pepperoni on 1 pizza and all of the sausage on the other pizza. (Because the hubby won’t eat sausage pizza, while I love sausage (but don’t eat pizza as often as the hubby does).)
I really love the Mama Cozzi macaroni and cheese pizza! I buy eight or so at a time and freeze them so I never run out! I definitely will try the deep dish pizza when it arrives in our store.
This pizza is the best frozen pizza I ever had! I’m a chef, and a very picky one! I suggest you let the pizza thaw overnight before you cook it! Perfect every time! Superb!
By far, the best frozen pizza at Aldi is Home Run Inn, which is available occasionally. Baked correctly (about one or two minutes over the recommended time on the box) it is the true Chicago pizza. My parents frequented the original Home Run Inn pizzeria beginning pre-World War 2 and afterwards for decades. The frozen pizzas are close to those made to order. DEEP DISH IS A MARKETING PLOY….Home Run Inn-style and thin crust with a medley of wonderful cheese and Italian sausage with fennel is the go to pizza for old school Chicagoans.
The Chicago Deep Dish is hands down better than Gino’s East! My family and I are anxiously awaiting its return!! Please hurry!!