The best California Pizza Kitchen products taste like the real thing you’d get at the restaurant. I find that there are a lot of CPK haters out there and I do not understand why. Their crust is great. They make the best restaurant ranch in the business. Their pizzas are cooked in a big oven in front of your eyes! That’s really artisan stuff right there. I love California Pizza Kitchen as a restaurant.
Prior to this taste test, I’d tried one or two of the California Pizza Kitchen products you can buy at the grocery store. I liked them! I did a little research and discovered that they have a ton of pizzas and salad dressings at the grocery store. We tried every single one of the California Pizza Kitchen products we could get our hands on and ranked them from best to worst. See where your favorite CPK product lands!
- Ranch Dressing
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This was the biggest disappointment. If you’re a CPK lover like myself, you know that they have some of the best ranch dressing on planet Earth. Sadly, this tastes absolutely nothing like the truly euphoric ranch you get in the restaurant. This tastes bland and weird and chemical-y. These CPK dressings are a collab with Litehouse salad dressing, which we love! I am so confused by this bad ranch. Do not buy this; buy one of the best ranch dressings instead.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Italian Dressing
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CPK’s Italian salad dressing is too bland and oily. If you’re in the mood for an Italian dressing from a chain restaurant, buy Olive Garden’s (one of our favorite store-bought salad dressings in general).
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- BBQ Ranch Dressing
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Adding BBQ sauce to their bad ranch dressing does not make it good. It does, however, make it better. I still wouldn’t recommend buying it, though.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Buffalo Chicken Crispy Thin Crust Pizza
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I wasn’t getting buffalo or chicken, so I’m not sure why this pizza exists. That being said, it is still pizza. It can’t be that bad. If someone made this I would happily eat it, but I wouldn’t buy it over the other California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzas.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Four Cheese Crispy Thin Crust Pizza
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This pizza is boring. Not bad! Just boring. I want more sauce and more flavor from the cheese. This could use some goat cheese or basil or something. It is very forgettable.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Margherita Crispy Thin Crust Pizza
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While the flavor is there, this California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizza is skin city. There are so many tomato skins on this pizza. It looks and feels like there are little pieces of paper all over this pie. If they swapped out the tiny, skin-covered chunks of tomatoes for larger pieces of halved cherry tomatoes, we’d be in business. Until then, I will not buy it.
Credit: Merc / Target
- BBQ Chicken Crispy Thin Crust Pizza
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I don’t like the chicken on the California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzas. It kind of tastes like canned chicken. Luckily, this has a good amount of cheese, onions, and BBQ sauce to make up for flavorless poultry!
Credit: Merc / Target
- Plant Based BBQ Chicken Pizza
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CPK is onto something with this plant-based chicken. I like it more than their actual chicken! I need them to start making vegetarian versions of all their chicken-topped pizzas.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Roasted Garlic Chicken Crispy Thin Crust Pizza
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This is the best chicken-covered California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizza by far. The sauce is unbelievably flavorful and so garlicky. This is the first item on the list that I would actually buy again with my own money. If they upped the quality of their chicken, I would buy one of these every time I went to the grocery store.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Sicilian Recipe Crispy Thin Crust Pizza
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This pizza has sausage, ham, and salami. Sometimes the flavor gets lost in the sauce (literally and figuratively) when there are that many types of meat in a product. CPK has managed to avoid that pitfall. All these meats are beautifully harmonious.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Signature Uncured Pepperoni Crispy Thin Crust Pizza
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This California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizza is one of the zestiest options they make. The sauce is zippy and the pepperoni is a little spicy. Plus, there’s plenty of pepperoni, which is exactly what you want from a pepperoni pizza. The crust is fine, but the toppings really shine and earn this a spot high on our list of California Pizza Kitchen products.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Caesar Dressing
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CPK’s bottled Caesar dressing is where it’s at. It’s cheesy and creamy and tangy. I would definitely buy it. I have no clue why they are able to make such a good Caesar dressing but not a good ranch dressing, so please do not ask me to explain that.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Pepperoni & Hot Honey Frozen Pizza Croissant Crust Pizza
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All hail croissant crust! It is so delicious and flaky and perfect. Not only is the crust delicious, but the toppings are also perfect as well. The side of hot honey that you add after cooking is really *chef’s kiss*. Buy this pizza!
Credit: Merc / Target
- Thai Dressing
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This is the best California Pizza Kitchen salad dressing at the grocery store. No doubt about it. I would buy this! It’s really balanced. This would be great over a bag of cabbage slaw or used as a marinade for chicken. We love a multipurpose product!
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- White Crispy Thin Crust Pizza
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This is the meatless California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizza to buy at the grocery store. It is so creamy and cheesy. The kale isn’t watery. The crust is crunchy. This reminds me more of a flatbread than a pizza. I love it!
Credit: Merc / Target
- Bacon & Caramelized Onion Croissant Crust Pizza
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Unreal. This is unreal. That’s the one word I’d use to describe this pizza. The white sauce and the cheese come together to make this incredible creamy goo that coats the pizza. The caramelized onions are sweet. The bacon is smoky. This is an A+ frozen pizza.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Uncured Pepperoni, Mushroom & Sausage Cauliflower Crust Pizza
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CPK needs to stick with alternative crusts. The croissant crust is incredible, but the cauliflower crust is the best. It is such a good frozen pizza crust! This would win for crust alone, but luckily the toppings are delish, too. The pepperoni gets crispy, the sausage is meaty, and the mushrooms are nice and juicy. This pizza is a dream come true.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
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We were unable to acquire: Cauliflower Crust BBQ Chicken Pizza, Gluten Free BBQ Chicken Pizza
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