It is not strange for a person who has been buying pizzas from Pizza Hut to suddenly remember a delicious and juicy calzone from fifteen or so years ago. Therefore, if you are one of those people, you might ask the following question – “Does Pizza Hut still have calzones?”.
Pizza Hut has never had traditional calzones on their menus, but P’Zones – Pizza Hut’s unique calzone recipes. Sadly, the company made a decision in 2012 to take the famous P’Zones off their menus without stating the reason why (most likely because calzones demand an ample amount of toppings and more time for preparation than standard pizzas). But, P’Zones have reappeared a couple of times throughout the last decade.
A Standard Pizza Hut Menu Does Not Have P’Zones
Without any doubt, Pizza Hut is one of the better delivery pizzas in the USA, and unique pizzas like P’Zones have contributed a lot to their overall renown. Moreover, pizza prices at this famous restaurant chain have been considered by the majority of people to be quite affordable, and the price of P’Zone was no different. This type of pizza made its debut in 2002, and it turned out to be one of the most popular items on the menu at the time. Pizza Hut had three different P’Zones:
- Meaty,
- Pepperoni,
- Supremo.
In general, the three recipes all received high praise both from regular customers and food critics. But suddenly, in 2012, Pizza Hut discontinued all three P’Zones from their standard menus. They didn’t state the exact reason, but there is no denying that calzones are not very suitable for a fast-food chain. Making them can be costly, and moreover, they require a unique technique for preparation which can be time-consuming.
Fortunately, the 2012 Decision Was Not Final
Pizza Hut made an interesting announcement on their Twitter account in 2019 saying that for March Madness (a traditional Pizza Hut event during which there are many discounts) they would bring back “one of their legends.” Automatically, a number of Pizza Hut fans posted that the legend would, of course, be P’Zone, and that is exactly what happened. There was another piece of great news for all customers – P’Zones would be a part of the famous five-dollar offers. However, once March Madness passed, these delicacies were taken off the menus again. As of 2019, P’Zones made a couple of more comebacks, and a lot of customers have urged Pizza Hut through social media to bring them back on the standard menus.
Pizza Hut Wanted to Invent an American-Style Calzone, and Hence, P’Zone Was Born
Pizza and calzone are not the same things, and we could say that calzone is a subtype of pizza. Nonetheless, this recipe has been around for a long time, and according to historians, the first calzone was baked in Naples around three hundred years ago. It is not strange to meet a person who prefers a calzone over standard pizza, and most US pizza parlors have incorporated this dish into their menus. But Pizza Hut clearly wanted to create something unique, and as a result, P’Zone was invented.
The most prominent aspect of a traditional calzone is its folded crust. You can often hear people call them pizza pockets because the toppings are covered completely with dough. If you order a calzone in Naples, the toppings will most likely be Italian sausage or ham, melted cheese (parmesan, pecorino, or mozzarella,) vegetables, and an egg. Pizza Hut wanted to adjust the recipe to resemble a fast food pizza, and they were not wrong in doing so. Meaty, Supremo, and Pepperoni quickly became popular among customers.
Meaty, Supremo, and Pepperoni All Differ in Their Own Unique Ways From the Traditional Italian Calzone
The crust is the first and most striking difference. The traditional calzone has a doughy crust with slight crispiness, while Pizza Hut’s has a lot more. On top of that, P’Zone’s crust is covered with parsley, grated cheese, and oregano which the original recipe does not have. Moreover, if you have eaten an Italian calzone in the past, you would quickly notice the difference after the first bite, so let us see what toppings the three recipes have.
| Supremo | I could probably say that Supremo is the most similar to the traditional calzone. Toppings consist of sausage, red onions, melted cheese, and green peppers. |
| Pepperoni | Pepperoni is made only with thin pepperoni slices and cheese, and if you want a spicy meal, this would be a good choice. But according to reviews, pepperoni was not as popular as the other two as it resembled too much an ordinary pizza with pepperoni slices. |
| Meaty | Undoubtedly, Meaty is the most interesting recipe of the three. The toppings include Italian ham and sausage, beef, pork, pepperoni, and a lot of cheese. |
All pizza enthusiasts who haven’t tried a calzone still might find something strange in all three recipes. No sauce is added, not even the tomato sauce. But, this is according to the traditional recipe, as when ordering in Naples, you will never get a calzone with any kind of sauce. However, Pizza Hut thought about this and took into consideration the fact that some people might find it too dry without any sauce. Hence, they included a container of marinara sauce in the order. Finally, when it comes to the overall size of the pizza, a single order of P’Zone was more than enough to satisfy one person, particularly if your choice was Meaty.
Don’t Miss P’Zones if Pizza Hut Suddenly Decide to Bring Them Back
Hopefully, Pizza Hut will recognize its customers’ pleas and decide to bring back the P’Zones in the future. But currently, I can only hope that during some event, they will be a part of some special offer. If that happens to be the case, don’t miss out on them. Pizza Hut has really outdone itself with this recipe, and it is a shame that, for some reason, they are reluctant to bring P’Zones back.