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

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 

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.