I’ve reviewed Dr. Praeger’s Organic California Veggie Burgers before, and they were okay, just not something I’d rave about. So when I saw Dr. Praeger’s Pizza Stars at Costco, I was intrigued. They looked like a fun, easy way to add a few more veggies to my kid’s diet, and I was really hoping they’d taste good enough that she’d eat them. Read on to find out if she did, and what I thought of them.
Location in Store
These are located in the freezer section at Costco, near the Beyond Meat Beyond Burgers and the Sabtasso’s Pizza Singles, the item number is 1940140.
Taste
The first thing I noticed is that the tomato flavor is dominant over all the other flavors. There really isn’t much cheese flavor at all. I wouldn’t call these pizza stars; they don’t really taste like pizza.
They’re like a veggie patty with a hint of tomato flavor. They’re crispy on the outside but soft and mushy on the inside. If you don’t like mushy food, you may want to skip these. Overall, the flavor is pretty bland, but you can taste the tomato.
The stars are kind of like tomato-flavored mush. My toddler took one bite and didn’t want another. I feel like the picture on the box is a bit deceptive.
Cost
These are pretty expensive for what you get. The 907-gram box costs $19.99 Canadian at Costco. There are two bags of pizza stars in the box, with about 25 stars in each bag.
Convenience
There are three different cooking methods listed on the box: air fryer, microwave, or oven. I decided to try both the microwave and oven methods. The microwave method results in soft pizza stars, while the oven method results in pizza stars that are crispy on the outside and soft and mushy on the inside.
The best-before date on the pizza stars is about ten months from when I purchased them, and they need to be kept frozen. I think these are definitely marketed toward kids, but I don’t think many kids will enjoy them.
Nutrition
Calories
Five pizza stars contain 170 calories, nine grams of fat, 19 grams of carbohydrates, three grams of fibre, three grams of sugar, five grams of protein and 320 milligrams of sodium. The nutrition facts are decent, there aren’t a ton of calories or fat in the stars and the sugar is low. They’re also pretty low in protein too which in my opinion is a negative.
Ingredients
The ingredients list is pretty decent. I love that there’s cauliflower, zucchini, navy beans, onions, and potatoes in the pizza stars. What I don’t love seeing is the canola oil. The pizza stars contain milk and may contain eggs, mustard, sesame, sulfites, and wheat.
Scoring
Taste: 6/10
Cost: 5/10
Convenience: 9/10
Nutrition: 7.5/10
Overall
Walk on by!
I don’t think kids or adults will enjoy these enough to justify the price. They’re not awful tasting, just not great.
Have you tried the Costco dr. Praeger’s Pizza Stars? What did you think of them?
Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. This product was purchased by Costcuisine for the purpose of producing this review. The opinions in this review are strictly those of Costcuisine. Costcuisine is not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. In the event that Costcuisine receives compensation for a post from the manufacturer of a product or some other third party, the arrangement will be clearly disclosed (including where the manufacturer of a product provides Costcuisine with a free sample of the product).
