Review: Pizza Hut - Italian Beef P'Zolo

Pizza Hut's new Italian Beef P'Zolo is one of three new P'Zolos on the menu and features marinated steak, roasted peppers, onions, and mushrooms wrapped in pizza dough and topped with Asiago cheese before being baked.

It's meant to take on Subway's subs and as such is a little bit longer than 6 inches but a little narrower as well. Pricing stands at $3 each or two for $5.

An Italian beef sandwich is typically thin-sliced seasoned roast beef with juices set on a roll with hot or/and sweet peppers. Pizza Hut's version uses a steak that was tender enough and seasoned, but not particularly beefy (or abundant). I suppose that's because for pizza topping, steak is pre-cooked while good steak is best fresh off the grill and seasoned with some salt and pepper. I've found steak to be, in general, a lackluster pizza topping and it's no different here. I think the general effect here is meant to be similar to a cheesesteak, but I actually got more pepper and onion flavor than steak.

Mozzarella, while good for melting and keeping your pizza toppings on your pizza, is a very mild and bland cheese. There's a reason a cheesesteak generally calls for provolone, white American, or Cheese Whiz. Also, I could have used a bit more cheese in mine.

With the general lack of flavor, I tried it with marinara sauce as well as Ranch, but it just wasn't working for me.

I liked the bready shell though. It's made with un-risen Pizza Hut Pan Pizza dough. The thickness varied a bit throughout the P'Zolo with some parts thin and other parts thick, dense, and chewy. The crust had bit of that Pizza Hut Pan crispiness and oiliness to it. Mine's was fresh out of the oven and therefore, piping hot. I didn't really taste any Asiago though.

Overall, the P'Zolo is a pretty good value; a single P'Zolo should be plenty for most. I'm not a fan of Pizza Hut's take on Italian Beef though; store-bought deli roast beef would have had more flavor.

Nutritional Info - Pizza Hut Italian Beef P'Zolo
Calories - 400 (from Fat - 110)
Fat - 12g (Saturated Fat - 5g)
Sodium - 1130mg
Carbs - 53g (Sugar - 5g)
Protein - 21g

Nutritional Info - Marinara Dipping Sauce - 3 oz (85g)
Calories - 60 (from Fat - 0)
Fat - 0g (Saturated Fat - 0g)
Sodium - 440mg
Carbs - 12g (Sugar - 9g)
Protein - 2g