DiGiorno Pizza & Wyngz [Kicking Back with Jersey Joe]

Can a frozen pizza and chicken wings from the same box be as good as advertised?  DiGiorno has a new line of pizza combos in your grocer’s freezer and I put it to the test.

It’s the next evolution of frozen pizza.  DiGiorno has added an assortment of side dishes and packaged them into a combo as part of their frozen pizza line.  I thought pizza and wings would be an excellent combination to try, so with box in hand, to the checkout counter I went!

DiGiorno, owned by the Nestle Corporation, have been selling frozen pizzas in the United States since 1996.  Known for their signature line of fast cook frozen pizzas and their commercial tagline (delivered for years by veteran game show host Wink Martindale), “It’s not delivery, it’s DiGiorno!”

The DiGiorno line is a step up from the traditional frozen pizzas sold in stores.  The product line tries to closely rival what you would have delivered from your local pizza shop.

Nestle purchased the brand from Kraft foods in 2010.  Since acquiring the line, the company has rolled out a new combo of DiGiorno pizzas with a side dish and they hit stores earlier this year.

Initial offerings are Pepperoni, Cheese, or Supreme pizza with Toll House cookies, Four Cheese, Supreme, or Pepperoni pizza with bread sticks, and Pepperoni, Three Meat, and Supreme with boneless chicken wings.

The Three Meat and Supreme pizzas come with boneless BBQ wings while the Pepperoni pizza comes with spicy boneless Buffalo wings.

For me, pizza and chicken wings are the perfect combination.  I chose the supreme pizza with Honey BBQ wings.  For a cost of $6.54 (at my North Jersey Target store), I thought that wasn’t a bad deal and cheaper than the pizza shops in my area.

Upon opening the package, all of the products — the pizza, a bag of frozen chicken pieces, and a packet of BBQ sauce were all stuffed into a giant bag.  I had to cut open the bag to remove each individual piece, which again were covered in another layer of plastic.  The packaging is a little much.

The preparation and cooking for the combo is a bit odd, but not too hard.  First, you preheat the oven to 400°.  Next, place the frozen chicken pieces onto a cookie sheet and cook for 4 minutes on the top rack.  Then, place the frozen pizza on the middle or lower rack (off to the side and not directly under the wings) and cook them both for 20 minutes.

After the oven bell goes off, the food is ready to go.  My first thought is the pizza looks absolutely appetizing.  It’s sprinkled with the perfect amount of cheese, pepperoni, black olives, onions, and peppers.  The aroma was also great!  It’s just what you’ve come to expect from a pizza company claiming to be better than delivery.

The pizza is not as full sized as a standard DiGiorno pizza.  I would say it could serve maybe two or three people.  It’s not as large as if you would have just bought a regular DiGiorno pizza only.

The wings didn’t look appetizing at all.  In fact, they looked like six pieces of cheap chicken on a cookie sheet.  I followed the next set of directions by placing the wings in a bowl and shaking them up with the enclosed packet of BBQ sauce that I had microwaved for 15 seconds.

The sauce was plentiful, but not enough to totally coat the wings.  I was able to get a good amount on one side, but there wasn’t much left to coat the other.

It was time to sample the food.  I sliced up the pizza and dug in.  It was great.  Not as good as delivery, but still very good for a pizza from the frozen food aisle.  I live in North Jersey and work in New York City, so I’ve been spoiled by some of the best pizza in the world.  I’ve kind of become a pizza connoisseur.  But, their product is still a very good option.

Now, the wings… not as good as I had hoped.  First, the quality of what I got from what was pictured on the box left much to be desired.  I got three large slabs of breaded chicken and three smaller pieces.  I was hoping to get more than this small order.  This is really only enough for one person.  The color and appearance of the breading also seemed quite cheap.  The taste was just OK; nothing special and not really filling.  I think if I served this to a family, they would be a bit disappointed.  Fast food chicken nuggets have way more flavor.

The sauce does help save the day.  It has a hint of spice, but is not too hot.  I thought it was pretty good – there just needed to be more of it.

My other big complaint is the spelling of Wyngz.  Really?  So, I guess America is just a bunch of idiots, right?  Absolutely one of the stupidest marking decisions, I’ve ever seen.  (I count the re-branding of The Sci-Fi Channel to Syfy as another).  I can’t wait until kids start missing this on a spelling test because they saw this on the box.  I think they also use this spelling because these aren’t actually wings.  Yes, they are boneless, but they are more like a random conglomerate of processed white meat.

According to the DiGiorno website, their explanation for the spelling is “Because they’re not wings. They’re better.”  WRONG!  The photo they show on their site is nothing compared to what they actually look like after heating them up.  While they are all white meat chicken, they are not as plump, big, or juicy as pictured.

I haven’t had the opportunity yet to try any of the other varieties.  I hope they are of better quality than what I had here.  I do applaud the Nestle Corporation for trying something different, however.  Nobody else has any combos even close to this in the grocer’s freezer.

THE 411

What: DiGiorno Pizza and Wyngz

Price: $6.54

Nutrition Facts:

DiGiorno Supreme Pizza, Servings: 5, Calories: 360, Fat: 17g

DiGiorno Honey BBQ Wyngz: Servings: 2, Calories: 230, Fat: 6g

JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS: I probably won’t buy the pizza and wings combo again.  It was good to try and not a bad value for the cost; but the wings themselves were a major disappointment.  They need to add more sauce and to upgrade the look, size, and taste of the chicken.  Chicken nuggets from a fast food place are much better. The pizza, however, is good enough to buy on its own.

If you are looking to serve this to your family, I would suggest just buying a DiGiorno pizza and picking up a side of the frozen chicken nuggets in the store.  It will most likely be around the same cost and you’ll get more food.

I might give the other combos a try, if they go on sale, or the company hands out a coupon.  Outside of that, I say skip it and go for the full size regular DiGiorno pizza, instead.