*The following is purely my opinion – I purchased this product for my family. It is in no way sponsored or endorsed by Tofurky or Daiya*
I picked this up on our shopping trip the other day at Whole Foods. It sure looks good, and it’s made with
Daiya Vegan Mozzarella Style Shreds, which is supposedly the best in the vegan market for cheese-replacement. I haven’t had a chance to try it up until now. I tried the Tofurky brand “turkey” lunch meat… and let me just say – not a fan, not the smell, not the texture, not the taste! So, I’m hoping that this not having ‘meat’ on it will be OK.
We’re “cheese people”, while we’re not from Wisconsin, we love our cheese. When I was thinking about following a vegan diet, that was the one thing that I thought would be the hardest to give up… especially pizza! I could give up the slice of cheese on a veggie burger or sandwich, the cheese on my tacos, the cheese on salad and even, dare I say it, mac and cheese (I bought something else to replace that, but that’s a post for another day!) But pizza, no way! I would be willing to add lots of veggies to it and ask for ‘light cheese’ when we ordered one, but I just did not think I would be able to give up my pizza. I’m a fan of a good frozen pizza for a weekend lunch – like today, or quick weeknight dinner with some salad. But, there aren’t many/any options at our regular grocery store (Jewel and Target). I would imagine that this frozen pizza won’t be a ‘staple’ in our freezer – but if it’s good, I’ll be much more likely to make my own pizza with the Daiya shreds at home! It sure does smell like the frozen pizza that we know and love!
The instructions say to bake it for 10-12 minutes… I went about 15, and still think it could have used maybe 5 more minutes. It’s pretty ‘melty’, but the middle of the cheeze has a strange pasty consistency in your mouth, but as you get further towards the crust it’s more like a ‘regular’ frozen pizza. So, I think an extra 5 minutes in the oven would have made the middle better too. It could also be a ‘side effect’ of having frozen the shreds.
The boy liked it, but not enough to eat more than one slice – and he would eat pizza for every meal every day if he could. The girl didn’t really like it, but I think it was more the texture that was her issue. The husband liked it – he actually said “that was pretty good”. I liked it, the crust and flavor of the sauce and shreds were all good – with the benefit of a few more minutes in the oven, it could definitely compete for space in our freezer!
Overall, I would rate this a B. It’s not amazing and it’s pricey for the size of the pizza. But, for me it was proof that Daiya is a good cheese replacement. I will try making my own pizza at home with it next time around. I will probably try ordering a delivery veggie pizza with no cheese and add my own at home!
Food, Yarn, & Stuff 