Tag: Little Caesars

For as many times as I’ve had a wallet-friendly Little Caesars pizza in the last two years, I have never once looked at Mr. Pizza Pizza to serve me some cake cake. Unlike other pizza chains that have dessert offerings all the time, Little Caesars doesn’t offer a full-time sugary staple to tempt me.

That all changes for now, with the addition of the eye-catching Cookie Dough Brownie. Will it be as short-lived as 2017’s Cinnamon Loaded Crazy Bites or go the distance to round out the menu for good? The cellophane-wrapped dessert is a chocolate brownie topped with cookie dough frosting and M&M’s Minis.

I’m glad I went to pick this up in the afternoon to have later on for a proper dessert because this new item is served COLD. Like straight out of the fridge and handed to me cold. Like, “damn, is that a fridge or a freezer?” cold. And I have a major pet peeve when it comes to baked goods: I don’t like them cold. Cake, especially something with frosting, cookies, brownies, etc., should all be at room temperature to enjoy their ideal texture and flavor. If I wanted stiff frosting, I would eat ice cream, and even that has to properly temper, or I lose my mind. I let this pretty package of four perfectly cut squares sit on my counter for four hours before eating, and they achieved peak softness.

The cookie dough frosting is the most unique component and by far the highlight of the experience. It has a pronounced brown sugar flavor with some of cookie dough’s essential granular sugar crystal grit that plays well with the generally smooth and creamy (properly tempered) frosting. It’s more firm than your average buttercream but softer and less dense than actual cookie dough. I’ve never had anything quite like it, and Little Caesars kind of killed it with the execution — I’m impressed.

The brownie is much less interesting. Although still totally passable for a $4 dessert, the chocolate base is way more cake than a brownie, devoid of the heft and richness I associate with a brownie. It’s moist and fluffy but firm enough to hold up the frosting, very much like a thinly sliced sponge cake. A very close comparison in terms of texture and flavor is Little Debbie’s Cosmic Brownie, with a little less of an artificial preservative-heavy finish.

I tend to enjoy M&M’s incorporated into my desserts, and that’s the case here. They add a satisfying rainbow of color to the presentation, a nice little crunch to offset the creamy frosting, and another layer of chocolate to accentuate the milder cocoa in the brownie.

For those who prefer their sweets cold, I did try a square straight from the fridge the next day, and while it didn’t improve the experience, it didn’t take anything away, either. Little Caesars nailed two out of the three pieces of this sweet puzzle, regardless of temperature, and for the beyond reasonable price point, I would still recommend adding this unique treat to your next pizza night.

Purchased Price: $3.69
Size: 4 pieces
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 piece, 48g) 210 calories, 11 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 75 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 17 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein.

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.

Little Caesars seems to always have a new scheme up its sleeve. One of the true masters of limited edition offerings – and that’s why you love this website, right?

From bacon-wrapped deep dish to cheese-stuffed crazy bread to my favorite, the undeniable pretzel crust pizza, it always finds ways to entice me back into its budget-friendly establishments. Its latest creation fuses an entree and an appetizer into one with the Hot-N-Ready Slices-N-Stix. Four pepperoni slices, eight Italian Cheese Stix, and a side of Crazy Sauce.

Grabbing my Hot-N-Ready pizza out of Little Caesars’ very cool and innovative Pizza Portal by scanning a QR code on my phone, I was surprised to see it personalized just for me. What I thought said “SES” on the outside, my initials, was actually S&S for Slices-N-Stix. A seemingly nice gesture from Caesar was just some insider employee scribble to make sure the pizza didn’t go into the wrong portal slot. I would have taken a picture of the sweet machine, but it was the most crowded Little Caesars I have ever been in, packed with customers and a line ten deep out the door. Friday night pizza night lives on!

Nine out of ten times when I order a customized pie, I get half and half, because who doesn’t love mixing up their bites? That desire to have slices of different identities made this latest creation alluring. I had to have it right away.

The only letdown was finding I didn’t get any Crazy Sauce in my box. I should have checked, but the location was such a madhouse that I didn’t dare open my glistening pizza in front of the 20 yet-to-be-satisfied people around me. Fortunately, my home is stocked with pasta sauce, so the evening went on swimmingly.

The pepperoni pizza half is exactly what you would expect. I’ve found LC’s quality in the last couple of years to be much better than what I remember from the early 2000s. The sauce is zesty and flavorful, the cheese is gooey and plentiful, and the pepperoni shiny and salty. With the foundation of a crust that has just enough heft to feel satisfying without being too bready.

This was my first time having the Italian Cheese Stix, and I really enjoyed them. Despite being on the same crust, the lack of sauce changes the dough’s flavor in a way that really highlights the fatty cheese. I loved the alternate cut style from the regular pizza half, which left me with a couple pieces that had no crust, just simple cheesy, bready bliss. When dunked in marinara, I get that classic parlor cheese bread flavor with just the right acidity amount. Yet, it still tastes different from the normal pizza slices with its altered ratios of toppings.

Slices-N-Stix is a really simple concept that’s executed perfectly. As usual with Little Caesars, it’s hard to nitpick the quality with its generous prices, and this limited offering delivers what it promises. Food doesn’t have to be crazy to be crazy good, and despite the missing Crazy Sauce, I can’t wait to have this one again before it inevitably disappears.

Purchased Price: $6.00
Size: One Pizza
Purchased at: Little Casears
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 pizza) 2950 calories, 141 grams of fat, 69 grams of saturated fat, 4.5 grams of trans fat, 355 milligrams of cholesterol, 6710 milligrams of sodium, 264 grams of carbohydrates, 15 grams of fiber, 14 grams of total sugars, and 161 grams of protein.