The pizza kit is a relative new-comer amidst the storm of meal kits that have evolved over the past few years, but if lockdown did one good thing, it surely opened up many possibilities for the aspirational home chef looking to broaden their knowledge and skillset and discover new satisfaction in the age-old old art of cooking. If you want to make your own pizza kit with a vengeance then please read on!
The pizza kit is also perhaps a little unique, in that it has distinct appeals to 3 very different sets of persons:
- The pizza geek who has limited storage space, but still wants to make the exceptional pizza that only high-quality, slow-fermented dough will give you
- The corporate office (or virtual) pizza party/ team building event, where the unique powers of pizza to bring persons together has proved so popular over the past 2 tumultuous years for businesses and
- The parent who loves to get the kids into the kitchen, where the world’s most popular food is surely going to inspire this younger generation to get started in this important life skill, perhaps as no other might.
But the variety can be bewildering. Do I go for dough balls? Pre-stretched bases? Topped and par-cooked? Kits for oven cooking… what the dickens is the “frying pan method”… do I need a pizza oven to make a great pizza…? And so forth.
We believe pizza should be simple, so here we take a look a some of the best pizza kit offerings on the market today and evaluate how they suit the different needs of these varied users.
1. Pizza Pilgrims Pizza Kits
The pizza kits from this rapidly expanding restaurant chain are popular, fun, very easy to order, and very clearly packaged. They offer great 2-pizza kits with 2 main topping options – Margherita or Double Pepperoni & Spicy Honey.
On the higher side in terms of price per pizza, although joining the Pizza Club subscription plan offers some great savings in their London and Oxford restaurants and broadens the scope of toppings, with monthly Chef Specials.
The dough is beautifully light and easy to use and comes with 48-hour fermentation. The toppings are very high quality, with Napoli-style fior di latte mozzarella and lovely fresh pizza sauce using just San Marzano tomatoes and salt.
Pros: Simple and easy to use. High-quality ingredients.
Cons: Limited variety of pizza choices unless on the subscription plan. Higher price point per pizza.
Perfect for: Budding young chefs and regular pizza eaters. Frying pan or pizza oven method.
2. Bertelli’s Pizza Kits
This Midlands-based pizza restaurant offers a lovely pizza kit range, along the lines of a high-end takeaway experience, with a huge range of standard offerings that can be further customised to suit your specific tastes. Their focus is on award-winning British produce and their impressive range includes a large number of Vegan options too.
Very simply, but clearly packaged, with everything nice and recyclable, we were very impressed with the quality of the ingredients and the dough was classically stretchy and light.
Impressive price point too, especially when you order 3 or more and benefit from free delivery and 15% off each pizza.
Pros: Highly customisable. Great quality British produce
Cons: Higher price point than some.
Perfect for: Pizza geeks and plant-based eaters. Frying pan or pizza oven method.
3. Virtue Pizza Kits
Virtue pizza kits offer super high-quality sourdough 48-hour fermented doughballs, for ultimate digestibility and added wheatgerm for a delicious, nutrition-packed meal!
3 doughballs per kit, perfect for a family of 4 (or 3 bigger eaters!), along with ready-portioned ingredients to make some of the old favourites (hello Cheesy Garlic Bread), or some really luxury pizzas, like the Pancetta, Prosciutto, and Burrata.
The somewhat unique contents enable each kit to make more than just one type of pizza, and in some cases, the home cook is encouraged to do a little more themselves in the prep (charring chillis, etc) and make a simple crust-dipper sauce.
Each Virtue pizza kit offers a Gluten-free doughball swap at no extra charge, and Vegan ingredient add-ons to make every kit Gluten-free and Vegan friendly, without impacting those in the household that don’t have the same dietary choices.
Ordering for bigger numbers is no problem either, as when you order more than one kit you get 25% off and for really big sessions, you can use the Pizza Party Builder to order in full cases for maximum cost-effectiveness.
Pros: More variety per kit. Sourdough flavour and digestibility. Great value for larger numbers.
Cons: Higher price point than some.
Perfect for: Pizza geeks and larger gatherings. Frying pan or pizza oven method.
4. Homemade Pizza Club Kits
If stretching the dough isn’t something you are quite ready for yet, then this family-friendly pizza kit range could be where you make a start on your journey!
100% natural ingredients, but with the convenience of the base coming ready-stretched and already topped with sauce, you can then customise your kit with a variety of add-on toppings.
Tailored towards a simple oven-cook method, these kits will be very popular with younger children and also those who are Gluten-Free thanks to the highly-rated Gluten-Free option.
Super value, especially in the 5-pizza kits and a unique low-calorie offering with their Salubre pizza base.
Pros: Cost-effective. The easiest way to get into homemade pizza.
Cons: Par-baked bases don’t give the same quality end result.
Perfect for: Budding young chefs and health-conscious eaters. Oven-cook method.