Oxymoronic as it may sound, fast food chains have begun marketing their latest products as nutritious, wholesome meals. One of the best examples of this movement is Pizza Hut's new health-oriented pie, the Natural.
The Natural pizza ($9.99 for a medium with one topping) has sauce "made from vine-ripened tomatoes," all-natural toppings, and a multigrain crust that has been endorsed by the Whole Grains Council. Find out what I thought of its taste — and how healthy it really is — when you read more.
The Natural comes in three flavors: Cheese, Natural Pepperoni, and The Rustica, a blend of all-natural sausage, fire-roasted red peppers, and marinated Roma tomatoes. I sampled the first two flavors. The crust was similar to a typical Pizza Hut pizza: It was not too thick nor incredibly thin. In fact, everything about the pie was typical of Pizza Hut, except for one major difference. The crust had the distinct grainy, rough quality of whole wheat flour. It was, as one Sugar gal put it, "like eating pizza on a whole wheat pita".
The texture meant the pizza had more personality, but are the pizzas actually better for you, or is the whole "natural" aspect simply a clever positioning tactic? I did some research, and if you opt for the Natural instead of a typical Pizza Hut pizza, you might shave a fat gram, consume 20 calories less, and gain some fiber. So I suppose if you appreciate the texture of whole wheat, the Natural is an attractive alternative to the, well, not-so-natural.
The bigger question is, if you were health conscious, would you really be eating Pizza Hut in the first place? Have you tried this pizza yet? What did you think of it?
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1I like the concept but I really don't like Pizza Hut:(
2i was pretty stoked that yum left the pizzas in the kitchen after her taste test, so that's my full discloser (free pizza). BUT i thought it was tasty.
3These commercials sort of scare me: "all natural pepperoni, natural tomato sauce..." I'm like, what is it normally?!
4I wonder why they didn't use a lowfat cheese. That could have cut out fat. Maybe they tried and it didn't taste good enough
5Hmmm, I was really skeptical of this ad when I first saw it. How stupid do they think we are??
Obviously they are trying to capitalize on the Organic/Whole Foods movement, but they cannot claim its "Organic" just "Natural".
I guess that makes all their other pizzas Un-Natural. The entire ad is complete BS. I laugh my a** off every time I see it!
6I think using whole grains in the crust makes it a lot more heart healthy and nutritionally more valuable than regular white flour pizza, but either way you cut it you're eating all of the cheese and other calories/fats, so it's not incredibly healthy. Just have to be careful not to overindulge. That it *seems* healthier doesn't mean you should eat more.
My favorite thing to do for healthier pizza options is to make my own at home! I love buying fresh wheat dough and fresh veggie ingredients, as well as low-fat/low-cal chicken sausages, from Trader Joes and making pizza on my pizza stone (or in a skillet or baking dish). That way you know exactly what goes into it! Mmmmm
7I haven't had these but I did have Papa John's wheat pizza which was nice but its still a lot of bread.
8I don't really eat pizza, so I won't try this, but I'm not a big Pizza Hut fan anyway and if I did want pizza, I'd make my own with my own "natural" ingredients.
9I second making my own at home. Whole Foods has some great dough and its SO easy!!! Plus you can make it however you want and it costs a total of 5 bucks maybe.
10My boyfriend and I love to make pizza at home and it's SO delicious and so much healthier for you! I want to try out some wheat dough recipes soon.
11Being health-obsessed I would never eat this pizza. Aside from the amount of fat I'm sure it has, I just don't eat non-organic animal products as a rule.
It's super easy to make your own at home! I make my own whole wheat crusts for pennies, and top it with onion, avocado, broccoli and peppers. YUM!
12If this pizza is anything like their Pizza Mia (which I thought was gross, because it tasted way undercooked), then I'm pretty sure I'll be sticking to homemade pizza pies.
13When I first saw the commercials I got really excited thinking they would be Weight Watchers friendly. Turns out they are nearly as many points per slice as the regular stuff. I noticed they have some "Fit n' Delicious" pizza's in their nutritional guide that are like half the points. Has anyone tried those?
14I don't like Pizza Hut.
15On the Pizza Hut Website -
"Multi-grain crust baked from a blend of traditional pizza dough and five different whole grains..."
Multi-grains are not the healthiest. WHOLE grains are the way to go, that is where you receive the health benefits. Multi-grain means you are getting the shell of the grain and they remove the healthiest part, the endosperm (tissue in the seeds.) Is it better than enriched and/or bleached flour? Yes. Is it the healthiest, most "natural"? No. Always look for whole grain.
While this pizza does look tasty, a wonderful option would be to buy Amy's Kitchen or Kashi Pizza's. Yummy and actually natural/healthy.
16* Just wanted to add/clarify part of what I said over the multi-grain crust quote. I should have explained that while Pizza Hut says it is multi-grain because they used five different whole grains; either they rid of the endosperm therefor leaving no real health benefit; or they are misrepresenting it to others by first stating "Multi-grain" rather than "Made with a blend of five whole grains." Their description can be taken two ways.
I still believe the two brands I listed are truly a healthier pizza.
17Mmmm...the Kashi pizzas are so good. I just toss some local sausage (if you are in NYC, learn about Flying Pigs Farm stuff, so good from local pastured pigs). I eat a third of the pizza for dinner, a 1/3 for breakfast the next day and the last 1/3 for lunch. Soooo good!
18The Natural by the Numbers.
Pepperoni (per slice) 250 calories , 100 calories from fat, 11 grams total fat !!!!!, 25 mg cholestoral, 590 mgrams sodium, 26 carbs,...
Still seriously bad for you. because NO ONE eats one slice.
19I think I saw a commercial for this. It looks good and I enjoy Pizza Hut so it might be something to try if I was looking for a change in my take-out pizza. However, with my budget for eating out getting slashed, it might be awhile before I indulge in this. Until then, I might just make my own pizza.
20i don't care, I like pizza hut pizza, I have it like a couple times a year and it's something I'm willing to splurge a little on. I try to be healthy and all that but something I just like pizza. I really like their thin crust bc it's really crunchy!
21well i guess if you are going to pizza hut anyways you might as well eat the healthier choice on their menu.
22I agree with Megln, this really is more of a "lesser-of-two-evils" type of case. If you are in a group of friends (lets say over at someone elses house) and someone says "Oh, we're ordering from Pizza Hut" at least you a a more natural option. It's not being touted as "Healthy", it's being touted at "natural". You can have "natural" foods that aren't 100% healthy (to everyone I guess). Example: Bacon from pastured pigs from a local organic farm. Natural? Yes, indeed. Healthy? Well, I probably wouldn't recomend eating whole slabs of it daily.
Have to admit, they are smart in their marketing. I personally wouldn't seek it out, but hell, if a whole big ol' group of us is ordering from there anyway they sure.
23I LOVE pizza (homemade or not) - so I would give this a try. However I thought the Papa John's wheat crust was awful, so I don't have high hopes
24I don't think I would like it, based on the crust. I've had wheat crusts at a variety of pizza places and have never found one I liked.
25I'm a big pizza fan, but prefer to make my own, like many others here. You really never know what you're eating when you're outside, and to be able to control what you eat is very important. Making your onw pizza is cheaper, healthier, and still tastes really good. And it's so easy to do! I'd rather save the money I'd spend on fake natural pizza from Pizza Hut and buy something cute for myself.
26Just what have they been putting in their "not natural" stuff? o.O scary.
I don't eat at Pizza Hut. Though looking at this pizza has got me craving some from Oreganos. Yum.
27They closed the Pizza Hut near us last year
I really miss my stuffed crust pizza!
28We don't have a good pizza hut by us. The last time I had pizza hut was 6 yrs ago, and that in Cairo. I dunno, I'm not into this whole "Natural Pizza" thing. Like what was said above, I rather make my own with a pre-made crust.
29I don't eat pizza. It's the cheese. I stay away from saturated fat. I like my arteries to remain clear, thank you.
30Sounds like a scam. I'm so sick of "healthy" foods barely being better for you than regular food.
31as a board-certified Holistic Health Counselor, I am not sure how to take this trend of "healthified" fast foods. Organic Oreos, and now "Natural" Pizza Hut Pizza. While I am glad to see them using (what I assume to be) whole wheat crust, (again, assuming) preservative-free pepperoni, and anibiotic & hormone free cheese (from free range cows that are actually *gasp* fed a cow's diet), when it comes down to it, they are of course just preying upon the current fad of Natural/Organic foods and hoping that those who may not know better will believe that this Pizza is healthy food.
While it is certainly *healthier*, I am still skeptical of their efforts and I would like to know if the oil they use on the pizza is expeller-pressed or extracted using chemical solvents; I also wonder if the other ingredients are all natural as well.
Too many people have the completely wrong idea of what real nutrition is. Instead of worrying about the calories/fat, be more concerned about the ingredients that are in the pizza itself. This is the true indicator of what will cause health or disease. Fat doesn't matter, Calories (most especially) do not matter; what matters is the quality of the food.
I'll try the pizza, but I have my doubts that it's truly healthy or all natural.
32This pizza wasn't too bad, definitely tasted grainy, papa johns whole wheat pizza crust is better.
It's definitely nice that pizza places are offering a healthier alternative because everyone once in awhile I love to indulge in pizza
33umm. no pizza for me thanks. too many calories and i would rather be eating something healthier. i make my own veggie pizza at my house, that consists of low fat crescent roll dough; low fat ranch, low fat cream cheese, and ranch seasoning for the "sauce;" and then a mixture of raw veggies as the toppings! my favorites are carrots, bell peppers, celery, tomatoes, and cucumbers!!
34There really is nothing different about this pizza other than the tomato type and the flour used to make the crust. It is the same pepperoni the same cheese the same sauce the same peppers and roma tomatoes instead of traditional. That's it. The Crust is pretty much the same as the hand tossed. To be realistic, no one goes to a pizza place to lose a few pounds. So, eating this pizza instead of the normal choice really makes no difference except in price, med 1 topping is usually 10. 49 the natural 9.99. A whopping 50 cents. Take the advice of someone on the inside, order what you normal would order. You will be happier.
35Well I love this new pizza. I never liked pizza hut pizza before. We would go there and my family would be so happy meanwhile I just drank some water and waited till we got home to eat. The kids love their pizza and they get book it coupons from school (a free personal pan pizza) for reading. The last time we were there I tried the new natural pizza and I actually liked it. I think it worked changing up their pizza for people like me who couldn't stand it before. I didn't try it either because " it is healthier" I am no fool when it comes to eating out "healthy", but it did taste good which now I can enjoy eating with my husband and kids when we go there and it makes them happy too.
36Regarding the pepperoni: the site claims that their natural pepperoni uses rosemary as an alternative to nitrates and nitrites to "lock in flavor." Though they never actually say that nitrates/nitrites aren't used at all, it would be terrific if this were the case.
I'm no fan of any of the big pizza chains, but it sounds like these might be a tastier, more sophisticated alternative to normal Pizza Hut fare. I miss the "whole wheat" crusts that were popular in the late 70s and early 80s, so I look forward to trying this.
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