Pizza Hut Nutrition: Choosing Healthy Menu Items
Most people you see at McDonald’s won’t be eating several Big Macs, or multiples of any other large burger, but how many people do you know of that only eat one slice of pizza? Even if a person eats two slices of a large Meat Lover’s pizza they will be getting over 2,500 mg of sodium in one sitting.
Eating pizza is different from eating at fast food places where burgers are the main focus. Though both can be high in fat and calories, one serving of a large hand-tossed Pizza Hut Meat Lover’s pizza has 1,270 mg of sodium, while the Big Mac from McDonald’s has 1,040.
It’s important to remember that one slice of a small pizza will be a smaller serving than one slice of a large or extra large pizza. Pizza Hut does have some healthy choices available on their menu. The healthiest pizzas that Pizza Hut currently makes are the 12” Fit ‘n Delicious pizzas.
The Fit ‘n Delicious pizza is available in 6 different varieties including:
- All natural chicken, red onion and green pepper
- All natural chicken, mushrooms and jalapeno
- Ham, red onion and mushroom
- Ham, pineapple and diced red tomato
- Green pepper, red onion and diced red tomato
- Diced red tomato, mushroom and jalapeno
All of these items have between 150 and 180 calories per serving. One serving is one slice, or 1/8 of the pizza. When compared to a slice of a large pepperoni stuffed crushed pizza that is a savings of at least 200 calories per slice. So if one chose to eat one of the Fit ‘n Delicious pizza varieties, they could eat twice as much as a person who ate the stuffed crust and consume the same amount of calories.
The Fit ‘n Delicious pizzas are also lower in fat, saturated fat, and sodium and have fewer calories from fat (only 35 to 40). They also contain dietary fiber and good amounts of protein – especially in the all-natural chicken varieties.
When taking a look at the 6” personal pan pizzas that Pizza Hut offers, even the cheese-only type has 590 calories and higher amounts of fat, cholesterol and sodium in one serving – which is the entire pizza.
Another healthy choice you can make at Pizza Hut is to eat their Thin ‘N Crispy pizza. The thicker the crust is, the more room there is for extra carbohydrates and fats. Eating a thin crust pizza automatically eliminates a lot of the excess that can be found in thicker-crust pizzas.
One slice of a medium Thin ‘N Crispy pizza contains anywhere from 60 to140 calories per slice and sodium levels range from 530 to 870 mg. In comparison, one slice of large stuffed crust pizza contains anywhere from 330 to 480 calories and sodium levels range from 900 to 1,390 mg.
Eating healthy is a personal choice and even though many Pizza Hut food items are filled with fat, cholesterol and sodium, it is possible to make the healthiest food choice by choosing items that are lower in calories and fat.