We analyzed dozens of frozen pizzas. Here are the healthiest options.

In many American households, frozen pizzas are a kitchen staple.

That’s because frozen pizzas are tasty, convenient, and affordable. But many of them have a major downside: They’re ultra-processed. They’re frequently laden with salt, saturated fat, added sugars, and industrial additives like artificial flavors, synthetic preservatives, and emulsifiers. Some popular frozen cheese pizza brands have nearly an entire day’s worth of saturated fat and 60% of your recommended daily sodium intake per serving.

Studies show that eating a lot of ultra-processed foods is associated with a higher risk of developing chronic diseases. Health experts say it’s a good idea to limit your intake — but that you don’t have to avoid them at all costs. For one, it’s impractical: Ultra-processed foods make up about 70% of all food items sold in grocery stores. And second, you can include some processed foods in your diet and still be healthy. That’s because they’re not all created equal.

We analyzed dozens of frozen pizza brands and discovered that some use mostly simple ingredients like wheat flour, tomato sauce, olive oil, garlic powder, and mozzarella cheese, while others contain so many preservatives, flavor enhancers, emulsifiers, and artificial ingredients that their ingredients lists can sound like a high school chemistry experiment.

Here’s how to make frozen pizza a more nutritious meal, red flags to watch out for — and six of the healthiest pizzas we found.

You probably shouldn’t eat frozen pizza every day, nutrition experts say, but it can still be part of a healthy, occasional lunch or dinner. The key is to purchase a quality brand and to make it part of a balanced meal, said Federica Amati, a medical scientist at Imperial College London and head nutritionist at Zoe, a personalized nutrition company.

You could steam some broccoli or chop up carrots and cucumbers to eat with your pizza. Maybe make a hard-boiled egg to go along with it. And have some fresh fruit, walnuts, or mixed nuts at the end of your meal, she added.

If you want pizza with toppings, choose ones that have veggies such as onion, peppers, mushrooms, and spinach. Or better yet, buy a Margherita pizza and add your own veggies at home. If you have kids, put some sliced veggies, corn, and olives on the counter and let them choose their own toppings. Kids are more likely to eat veggies if you give them choices and involve them in the cooking process, Amati said.

If you want meat toppings, you should add your own — ideally things like grilled chicken or tuna. If you want sausage or pepperoni, buy them separately and look for the “uncured” versions that advertise low sodium and no added nitrates or nitrites. These two preservatives have been linked to cancer.

High sodium: Many brands of frozen cheese pizza contain high levels of sodium. It’s not uncommon to see brands that add salt to the crust, the sauce, the cheese, and the toppings. We found that sodium levels in most brands of frozen pizza ranged from about 20 to 60% of the recommended daily limit for sodium intake per serving. Consuming a lot of sodium can increase your risk of developing hypertension and heart disease. It’s best to look for brands that are relatively low in sodium — the less sodium the better.

Added sugars: Some brands add sugar into their pizza sauces and crusts. We found brands that had nearly a teaspoon of added sugar per serving or more. While it’s normal for pizza to contain some sugar — tomatoes naturally contain some sugar — you don’t need a lot of extra sugar in your pizza. Look for brands that contain no more than one or two grams of added sugar per serving — or, ideally, no added sugar at all. Added sugars may be listed on food labels under names like dextrose, corn syrup solids, high fructose corn syrup, malt barley extract, sucrose, and cane sugar.

Processed meats: Processed meats like pepperoni, sausage, and bacon contain a lot of sodium, saturated fat, and preservatives. Studies have found that they increase your risk of developing multiple cancers, colorectal cancer in particular. For that reason, you should avoid buying frozen pizzas that have processed meats on them, Amati said. Processed meats are generally considered those that are smoked, cured, salted, or that have had preservatives added to them.

Industrial additives: Many frozen pizza brands use additives that have been linked to health problems. These include things like butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) — two synthetic preservatives that have been linked to cancer in animal studies. Other additives to look out for are emulsifiers like polysorbate, carrageenan, and mono- and diglycerides, as well as industrial preservatives such as propylparaben and sodium nitrite. Pick frozen pizzas that contain mostly simple ingredients that you recognize and would use at home in your own kitchen.

Amy’s Cheese Pizza: This frozen pizza has one of the simplest ingredients lists we could find. The primary ingredients are organic wheat flour, mozzarella cheese, organic tomato puree, organic extra virgin olive oil, and a variety of everyday spices and seasonings. The pizza is also relatively low in sodium, sugar, and saturated fat compared to other brands.

Newman’s Own Thin & Crispy Crust Harvest Vegetable Pizza: This is a good example of a frozen pizza that has recognizable ingredients that you’d expect to find in a home-cooked pizza, Amati said. It is relatively low in salt, sugar, and saturated fat compared to other pizzas, and its ingredients list has no surprises. It contains simple things like wheat flour, whole oat flour, vegetable oil, olive oil, tomato puree, mozzarella cheese, red wine vinegar, garlic, and other spices. Even better, it has a variety of nutritious toppings, including several vegetables.

Banza Roasted Veggie Pizza: This frozen pizza stands out because its crust is made from chickpeas. That means this pizza is gluten-free, and it also has significantly more fiber and protein than most other brands. One serving contains 10 grams of fiber. It also has 16 grams of protein — nearly equivalent to the amount of protein in three eggs. This pizza does have some additives, like tapioca starch and sunflower lecithin, but they are not considered harmful, Amati said. “Overall, this pizza has a nice combination of ingredients,” she added. “It’s a little more processed than the others, but it doesn’t have any ingredients that are high risk.”

California Pizza Kitchen Margherita Pizza: One serving of this frozen pizza has 20% of your recommended daily sodium intake per serving, which is lower than most other brands we analyzed. It also has fairly high-quality ingredients, Amati said. It’s made from things like enriched wheat flour (flour that’s been fortified with iron and B vitamins), tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, fontina cheese, extra virgin olive oil, herbs, spices, and baking powder.

Whole Foods Market Mushroom with Truffle Sauce Pizza: The ingredients list for this white pizza is notably free of many of the synthetic or potentially problematic additives commonly found in frozen pizzas. The crust contains just five ingredients: wheat flour, water, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and yeast. The toppings include recognizable ingredients like lemon juice, sunflower oil, portobello and cremini mushrooms, and mozzarella and Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses. It has no added sugar, and it’s relatively low in sodium and saturated fat compared to most other frozen cheese pizzas we looked at.

Amy’s No Cheese Roasted Vegetable Pizza: Finding a good-quality vegan or dairy-free frozen pizza is no easy task. That’s because many of them contain ultra-processed cheese alternatives that are made from coconut oil, xanthan gum, and various emulsifiers and thickening agents. It’s better to buy a plain wheat crust and add your own tomato or pesto sauce and veggie toppings, Amati said. “As an Italian, I can tell you that pizza does not have to have cheese on it,” she added. Another option is to buy a “no cheese” frozen pizza like this one from Amy’s and add your own vegan cheese, preferably one that’s made from nuts instead of coconut oil and that doesn’t have a lot of additives, Amati said. One example of a vegan cheese with relatively good ingredients is Kite Hill’s dairy-free “Almond Milk Ricotta Alternative.” It’s made from just a handful of ingredients: almond milk (water, almonds), salt, enzymes cultures, and tartaric acid, a preservative that occurs naturally in grapes.