Review: Pizza Hut - Cheesesteak Melt

Pizza Hut's Cheesesteak Melt features a handheld melt filled with melted cheese, sirloin steak strips, green bell peppers, onions, and garlic parmesan sauce, then finished with butter and parmesan oregano seasoning after baking.

I bought one for $6.99.

Out of the box, a strong parmesan aroma wafted forth courtesy of the seasoning on top of the melt. The parmesan added a nutty pop of saltiness to the sandwich.

The crust reminded me of a somewhat chewy, toasted lavash (a Middle Eastern, thin flatbread), which is to say it was thin and crispy with occasional chewier parts. To form the melt, it looked like they took half of a thin crust pizza and, rather than just folding it in half, they folded the center edge towards an invisible center line. They then cut it along the center line after baking. The result is that you have two melt pieces with a fold where you can hold it without the fillings falling onto your hands. It's an interesting approach, I suppose, as similar products typically just take a smaller, whole pizza crust and fold it in half.

The sirloin steak on its own offered a lightly seasoned, beefy flavor with a tender but oddly breakable texture that reminded me of Taco Bell's steak (which is understandable as they're both part of Yum! Brands). As the Cheesesteak Melt is really a folded pizza, the steak frequency was notably, but not unexpectedly, less than you're generally going to find in any type of steak sandwich.

Visually, most of the steak pieces were a uniform grey without any browning or searing from the actual baking process. I did catch a few edges of browning on a piece or two that looked to be from when the steak was originally cooked before shipping out to my local Pizza Hut.

Oddly enough, the strongest flavor that I got from the Cheesesteak Melt came from the bell peppers, which were quite crispy and flavorful. However, it's generally not the driving flavor of most dishes for a reason. The onions seemed to somehow have cooked through a bit more and added a pleasant sweetness.

The cheese was mild and creamy with a satisfying melt to it. There were also some really nice crispy cheese bits from where it spilled out of the Melt during baking.

I tried a bit of it dipped in the ranch, and the sauce/dressing just ended up covering up the generally mild flavor of the sandwich.

When it comes down to it, Pizza Hut's Cheesesteak Melt felt more like a grilled cheese with a little bit of steak, onions, and bell pepper thrown in rather than a cheesesteak. The overall flavor was rather muted and plain but the various textures were well done.

Nutritional Info - Pizza Hut Cheesesteak Melt
Calories - 1100 (from Fat - 600)
Fat - 65g (Saturated Fat - 26g)
Sodium - 2320mg
Carbs - 87g (Sugar - 12g)
Protein - 43g