The $3.99 Trader Joe’s Find Is Just as Good as the Fancy Italian-ish Stuff

And half the price!

Pizza is a big thing in our house. Pepperoni, to be exact. Though my husband, son, and I do our fair share of takeout and frozen pizzas, we also enjoy having homemade pizza nights, too.

For years, I would head to my favorite Italian grocery store and belly up to the deli counter to get the good stuff.  While I still love the ambiance of this neighborhood store, I no longer appreciate the ever-increasing prices, especially of their pepperoni.

Fortunately, I discovered a delicious substitute in the refrigerated deli section at Trader Joe’s: Ciao Pizza Prima Pepperoni.

Why I love Trader Joe’s Ciao Pizza Prima Pepperoni

Trader Joe’s Ciao Pizza Prima Pepperoni is delicious. So delicious that, to my taste buds, it's just as good as the expensive pepperoni that my local shop sells. I know because I did a taste test, comparing the two side by side. It’s moist yet not the least bit greasy, it has just the right amount of spice, and it is cut to the ideal thickness.

Best of all, it costs only $3.99 for six ounces, making it comparable in price to the affordable pepperonis in the market. While it’s the same quality as the pepperoni I used to get at the specialty store, it costs less than half the price, which means I can buy twice as much. I usually buy two or three packages at a time.

Though it’s found in the refrigerated section, I toss two of those three packages into my freezer so that when my family or my teenage son and his friends get a hankering for homemade pizza, I always have it on hand. I’ve found it keeps well for about six months in the freezer. It would probably keep longer, but it’s never lasted that long in my house.

How To Use Ciao Pizza Prima Pepperoni

Obviously, this pepperoni is perfect for homemade pizza. One package has about 60+ pepperonis in it, and for our family, it can top anywhere between four to six pizzas. It’s also good to throw on frozen pizzas if you have a certain person in your family going through a growth spurt and wants double the meat on his pizza. It’s also an occasional after-school snack.

It’s great in calzones, Italian deli sub sandwiches, and even on English muffin pizzas. It would also work well in any sort of antipasto platters or skewers, as well as Italian chopped and antipasto-style salads.

My favorite use for this pepperoni is to toss it into pizza dip. My sister Karen taught me this deliciously cheesy and fun dip: Toss a package of pepperoni in a crockpot or bake in a ceramic dish with tomato sauce, cream cheese, mozzarella, and Italian seasonings, and serve with toasted pita chips or garlic bread. It’s just so, so good, and it’s great for parties and potlucks.

Read the original article on Simply Recipes.