FEMAIL tests Pizza Hut's new vegetarian pizza against its meaty companion

Pizza Hut Delivery has become the latest restaurant to launch a permanent vegan menu with a sumptuous of three new plant-based toppings arriving in stores earlier this month following a successful trial.

Offering a meat-free twist on classic flavour favourites, the Beyond Meat line-up will see three pizzas and one side joining Pizza Hut Delivery’s menu permanently.

The three pizzas The Beyond Italian Style Sausage Supreme, Beyond Three-Meat Three Cheese, and The Beyond Beef Sizzler pizza, are made in partnership with plant-based juggernaut Beyond Meat – who have wowed vegans and meat-eaters alike with their pea-protein based faux-meat.

At first glance it is difficult to tell the plant-based offering apart from the meat topping (above)

The Beyond Italian Style Sausage Supreme is loaded with meat-free Beyond Italian Style Sausage, oozy mozzarella cheese, mixed peppers, mushrooms and crunchy red onions.

As there is real mozzarella on the pizza – it’s not fully vegan, but can be ordered without the cheese for those on plant-based diets.

Also available is the Beyond Three-Meat Three Cheese, topped with not one but three Beyond Meat toppings, with meat-free Beyond Italian Style Sausage, Beyond Beef Crumbles, Beyond Pork Crumbles, mushrooms, red onions, and a decadent three cheese blend.

For those who like their pizza with a kick, the Beyond Beef Sizzler pizza is topped with meat-free Beyond Beef Crumbles, mozzarella cheese, red onion, fiery jalapeños and green chillies.

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Amelia Riba, Chief Brand Officer at Pizza Hut told FEMAIL: ‘Here at Pizza Hut Delivery we’re so excited to be bringing Beyond Meat Pizzas to our menu permanently.

‘It’s important for us to ensure we deliver the absolute best for our customers, and we know that many of our them are increasingly looking for more flexitarian and meat-free choices that don’t compromise on taste.

So, are they really as good as the real thing? FEMAIL tried out the vegan Beyond Beef Sizzler and the real-meat Beef Sizzler to see if they could taste the difference…

Could you tell which pizza is vegan and which is meaty? FEMAIL’s Hayley Richardson tries (and fails) to decipher which pizza is the real deal

FEMAIL reporter Hayley Richardson was given both pizzas and not told which is Pizza Hut’s new meat-free option and which was their classic beef sizzler… here’s her verdict on the two tasty treats

FEMAIL reporter Hayley Richardson was given both pizzas and not told which is Pizza Hut’s new vegan option and which was their classic beef sizzler… here’s her verdict on the two tasty treats

PIZZA ONE: The Beyond Beef Sizzler: meat-free Beyond Beef® Crumbles, mozzarella cheese, red onion, fiery jalapeños and green chillies

Looking at the pizzas side-by-side, this was the one I suspected was the real meaty feast. The only visible discernable difference between them was the size of the chunks of minced beef/Beyond Beef crumbles.

These pieces looked more substantial than the ones on the other pizza, which were much smaller – though there were more of them.

The texture of the chunks tasted just like minced meat, and while it didn’t carry a particularly punchy flavour, there was a faint taste of beef.

They could have done with a little more seasoning, but the jalapenos and green chillis ensured this pizza still delivered on flavour.

PIZZA TWO: Beef Sizzler: Green Chillies, Jalapeños, Red Onions, Seasoned Minced Beef

I was pretty convinced this one was the vegetarian option just from looking at it, though when I tasted the mince it didn’t prove definitive.

To be honest the ‘meat’ pieces on both pizzas tasted very similar and had almost identical textures, sp it was very difficult to tell them apart (my partner, who was only too happy to sample a slice, felt the same).

Overall I think the chunks on pizza 1 had a marginally meatier taste, though the fact there were more of them scattered across the cheese on pizza 2 provided a more consistent meat experience.

VERDICT

Both my partner and I concluded that pizza one was the real meat version… but it turns out we were wrong!

I’m very surprised, because the ‘beyond beef’ chunks looked and tasted just like real mince – in fact more so than the real thing!

That’s genuinely the most impressive meat imitation I’ve ever tried.

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Source: Food Recipes and News