Pizza Hut just revamped a nearly 40-year-old menu item for the first time ever - here's the verdict

Irene JiangMay 31, 2019, 00:06 IST

Irene Jiang / Business Insider

Pizza Hut on Tuesday unveiled its new Original Pan Pizza, the first change to its classic recipe in nearly 40 years.
The chain claims that the new recipe features a crispier, buttery crust complemented by cheese and sauce with improved flavor.
We tasted the new pan pizza to see if it lived up to Pizza Hut's claims. The verdict? Kind of.
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Pizza Hut's Original Pan Pizza recipe carried the brand through the birth of the internet, the rise of delivery, and the reign of Instagram.

But no further - the chain has finally updated its nearly 40-year-old menu item.

In recent years, Pizza Hut has faced competition from a surging Domino's and younger, sleeker competitors like Blaze and Mod Pizza, which deliver a more personalized experience and more customization options. Newer fast-casual pizza chains also cater to evolving customer tastes with their chic branding, artisanal ingredients, and healthy options.

Pizza Hut's new recipe, which was unveiled on Tuesday, is the culmination of three years of research and a welcome change for an otherwise relatively stagnant brand.

According to a press release from the company, the new recipe is cooked in a "newly engineered" pan that makes for a crispier crust. The sauce and cheese have also been revamped to complement the dough.

To test those claims, I decided to head to one of the few Pizza Huts in Manhattan to give the new recipe a try. Here's what it was like:

See Pizza Hut just revamped a nearly 40-year-old menu item for the first time ever - here's the verdict >>

I ordered a large Supreme Pan Pizza. It was not a bad-looking pizza, and it was generously adorned with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions, and peppers. However, the toppings weren't important — I was there to test the chain's claims about the new sauce, cheese, and crust.

The new crust was a pleasant light gold and had a touch of oily translucence.

The cheese was soft and very, very elastic. Photogenic for a perfect cheese pull.

Upon first pull, the slice revealed itself to be both thick and floppy.

The flavors did complement each other. The tomato sauce was tart and sweet, while the cheese was mild and served as a soft, stretchy bed for the toppings.

However, the crust was definitely undercooked in the middle, if not all around.

The outer crust was definitely crispier, but it was also so buttery it made me wonder if it was worth clogging my arteries. Plus, once I got through the initial joy of the bite, the sauce, cheese, and toppings quickly capitulated to the dominant flavor and texture: undercooked dough.

It made me wonder whether Pizza Hut couldn't have achieved a crispier crust and better texture simply by baking a slightly thinner crust for slightly longer.

Overall, Pizza Hut's new recipe is a solid, inoffensive slice, and it's definitely a filling one. There's plenty of cheese and sauce — maybe a little too much. But it's all overshadowed by the thick, doughy crust. The result is a pizza that's halfway between a thin crust and a deep-dish.

From memory, the new pan pizza is definitely an improvement upon the old recipe, but not a significant one. And it may not be a big enough move for Pizza Hut to stay afloat in the fast-moving world of chain pizza.

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