Feb 23, 2015

Gluten-Free Pizza Nirvana at Pizza Hut (& Giveaway!)

It was just over two years ago that we found out Aaron couldn’t eat gluten. A lifetime of stomach issues was finally explained with a simple diagnosis. This new diet restriction didn’t come easy, though. Eliminating gluten from his diet took some getting used to, because my husband really loves his bread. I mean, really loves his bread. We found simple adjustments for many of his favorite meals. When eating out, he’s now used to ordering a burger without the bun. We keep gluten-free cereal and granola in the house for breakfast. And through lots of trial and error, we’ve found a small supply of gluten-free baked goods that he likes.

But there’s one area that has been hard to compensate for: pizza. Ordering pizza has always been a go-to meal for us on busy nights, but unlike ordering a burger without a bun, you can’t order a pizza without the crust. Making pizza at home defeated the point of ordering out. We’ve tried a few bake-at-home gluten-free pizzas, too, but they still haven’t matched the quality that Aaron remembers from good delivery pizza.

So when I recently found out that Pizza Hut® had developed a “Gluten-Free Pizza” made with Udi’s® certified gluten-free crust, I knew we’d have to try it. How much did we want gluten-free pizza? Enough that we drove out of town to see what we were missing, because it’s not available in Columbus yet! (They’re slowly rolling it out to all stores, so we expect it to be in Columbus soon.)

Pizza Hut offers a cheese-only gluten-free pizza, a pepperoni gluten-free pizza, and a “create your own” option with select gluten-free toppings. Each still has 100% real cheese and that great Pizza Hut marinara sauce. While it’s important to note that Pizza Hut kitchens aren’t gluten-free environments, they partnered with the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) to create a gluten-free preparation process and training standards for their employees to reduce the risks of cross-contamination.

We ordered a cheese-only pizza and a pepperoni pizza, both gluten-free. I was so surprised at the size of the pizzas that were delivered to our table. Most gluten-free pizzas tend to be tiny personal pizzas, but these were about the size of a medium pizza and easily large enough for two people to share.

The crust was thin, but not super thin, and had a good texture and crunch to it. Honestly, it tasted like a good thin-crust pizza to me. But Aaron is the ultimate judge of gluten-free taste, so I waited for him to take his first bite to ask his opinion. He’s already a fan of Udi’s baked goods, so I hoped a pizza made with Udi’s crust would win his approval. He chewed the first bite thoughtfully, then smiled and said, “I forgot how good Pizza Hut pizza is!”

I am mean and take photos of people while they eat.

Our gluten-free family member declared it to be a good pizza. And considering I somehow didn’t see him quickly inhale another two slices before he asked if I wanted the last slice of pepperoni, I’d say it’s a complete success.

It was at that point that I asked Mira if she liked the gluten-free pizza. Her eyes got wide mid-bite, and with her mouth still full of pizza, she said, “Wait, the cheese pizza is also gluten-free?” When I nodded yes, she replied, “Huh. Well, it’s still good pizza!” A few minutes later, this was all that remained:

Aaron’s only complaint about Pizza Hut’s new Gluten-Free Pizza is that it isn’t available in Columbus yet. You can find a list of participating restaurants at PizzaHut.com. The Gluten-Free Pizza starts at $9.99, which in our experience is a fantastic price for a gluten-free pizza big enough for two. We can’t wait until this is available for delivery in our area.

Giveaway!

SheKnows is hosting a giveaway and wants to give you the chance to try Pizza Hut’s new Gluten-Free Pizza with Udi’s gluten-free crust for yourself with a $100 Pizza Hut gift card! (Or, you know, just have a big pizza party for your friends.)

To enter for a chance to win, leave a comment below telling me your favorite combination of toppings for a pizza – mine is pepperoni, green peppers and mushrooms.

Entry Instructions:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older (or nineteen (19) years of age or older in Alabama and Nebraska). Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 2 business days to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 2/23/2015 – 3/16/2015.

Be sure to visit the Pizza Hut’s brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!