I’m not a vegetarian, but I’m no stranger to meat substitutes. My grandfather and stepdad are both vegan, my girlfriend used to be vegan, and I spent two years in college as a pescatarian (eating only fish). While I’ve settled in my omnivore ways as a taxpaying adult, I’m not opposed to a nice Impossible Burger or Tofurky Sausage, and I am legitimately fascinated by the huge wave of plant-based options that have swept fast food in recent years.

If you had told me Little Caesars would beat McDonald’s to the punch in adding a fake meat offering, I’d call ya crazy, but that’s exactly where we’ve landed. Little Caesars’ Planteroni Pizza is a large round pizza with Field Roast Plant-Based Pepperoni.

Pulling up to my second closest Little Caesars (my closest is usually a jam-packed nightmare I wanted to avoid), there were zero advertisements of this new plant-based ‘roni, likely because this item hasn’t rolled out nationwide. Although it still seems like a secret, even locally, it was prominently featured on LC’s terrific app under Limited Time Offers, and ordering went off without a hitch.

It looks great — nice and shiny cheese with a fresh and zesty aroma that instantly makes my mouth water. Field Roast’s “pepperoni” are faux meat made up of canola oil, wheat gluten, potato protein, and pea protein, along with a ton of other binders and flavors. They have a deeper color, thicker cut, and way less greasy shine than your average pepperoni.

Unfortunately, their different look and lack of shininess translate to a lackluster flavor as well. I have no issues with the tougher texture of plant-based proteins, but the lack of salty and fatty intensity really brings down the experience. With pepperoni that isn’t chockfull of salt and animal fat, the cheaper components of Little Caesars’ pizza are exposed, and the crust and sauce both taste weaker and less impactful than any LC’s pizza I’ve had in the last two years.

The saving grace was the Butter Garlic sauce I added to my order, which, hot take alert, is even better than Papa John’s with a more robust and intense garlic flavor. When dunked into that glorious silky sauce, the pizza is pretty good, bringing the necessary salt and fat desperately lacking from Field Roast’s creation.

Another issue with this is that it’s not vegan. Nothing has changed about this pizza except for the pepperoni, and I don’t see this as an improvement over plain cheese or a wonderful veggie combo like mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers for those who don’t eat meat.

At the price point that Little Caesars is offering this pizza, $8.49, it should at least be an ExtraMostBestest, with extra cheese and pepperoni, but it isn’t, and that lack of indulgence makes for something that’s pretty underwhelming. For a $2.50 upcharge (the most I’ve ever paid for an LC pizza), I don’t think the Planteroni delivered anything exciting to the Little Caesars experience, aside from a cool and catchy name.

Purchased Price: $8.49
Size: Large
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 pizza) 2180 calories, 84 grams of fat, 32 grams of saturated fat, 2 grams of trans fat, 150 milligrams of cholesterol, 4580 milligrams of sodium, 256 grams of carbohydrates, 14 grams of fiber, 13 grams of sugar, 107 grams of protein.

According to a 2015 University of Michigan study, pizza is the most addictive food in the United States. Sitting proudly atop of chocolate, potato chips, cookies, ice cream, and cheeseburgers, the study of more than 500 people’s eating habits officially handed the craving crown to pizza’s undeniable combination of sweet sauce, fatty cheese, and fluffy (or crispy) crust.

And you know what?

I can’t argue that point. I’m not sure there’s been a single time in my life when I thought to myself, “Yeah… I’ve had enough pizza,” unless my stomach was on the verge of bursting. I have never grown tired of pizza’s immaculate flavor trifecta, and if it wouldn’t kill me, I’d eat it every day.

So, in 2021, how can it be made even more addictive? Stuff that crust. And not just with cheese, that’s so Pizza Hut circa 1995. Stuff it with more salty, fatty, and crave-able stuff, like pepperoni. Cue the applause for Little Caesars, who has graced us with its latest innovation, a large ExtraMostBestest pepperoni pizza with pepperoni and cheese stuffed in a parmesan and butter-flavored crust.

For those unfamiliar with LC’s lingo, an ExtraMostBestest takes its standard $5.99 pepperoni pizza and adds extra cheese and “the most” pepperoni for only $1 more. The new limited-time double stuffed offering ups the price to $10 but promises nine feet of pepperoni and three feet of cheese in the bread. Spoiler alert: it’s worth every extra (most bestest) penny.

The pizza is adorned with a noticeably admirable amount of pepperoni, and when taking my first bite, I’m immediately reminded of why pizza is the #1 most addictive food; I never want to stop. The topping has a slight curl and nice crunch that erupts with salty bliss made much more intense by the generous sprinkling of green seasoning on the top that amplifies every bite to 11. The seasoning is a combination of oregano, basil, and salt, and I’m sure it’s the same spice blend that comes with its Italian Cheese Bread; it’s delicious.

The cheese is also as advertised: lots of melty mozzarella sitting atop an acidic and slightly sweet layer of sauce that plays third fiddle to the two prominent salty, fatty toppings.

So how’s that groundbreaking new crust? It’s wonderful, with pretty flawless ratios of bread to cheese and little rolled pepperoni slices in every bite. It’s an impressive technique, but for how delicious it is, it’s hard to really taste the pepperoni with the amount of cheese and parmesan butter flavoring added to the crust.

I love every bite but not really getting any meaty or spicy notes because the salt is overwhelming my tongue. I wish I had a little marinara dip cup for the crust because at this point, with pepp and cheese inside, it’s the only thing missing, and I could use some sweet relief from the oncoming sodium overdose.

The pepperoni in the crust may not have popped as hard as I would like, but that was really only because the flavor throughout the whole pie was so strong that it never took its foot off of the salty flavor accelerator. For ten bucks, you can’t go wrong. Just consider adding a side of their Crazy Sauce to inject some extra life into the crust.

Purchased Price: $10.00
Size: Large Pizza (14 inch)
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 slice) 417 calories, 23 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, less than 1 gram of trans fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,093 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, 19 grams of protein.