We Tried Pizza Hut's Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza And Wings To See If They Really Are Swicy

The hot honey food craze can be traced to Mike Kurtz, who encountered its sweet and spicy magic at a Brazilian pizzeria in 2003. From there, Kurtz developed his own eponymous brand, and started applying it to pizzas in America. Restaurants took notice and the trend caught on, with hot honey being applied to wings, chips, cornbread, and everything else. Not to be left out of the party, Pizza Hut started testing hot honey pizza and wings in Dallas and Cleveland in the summer of 2023, and is now ready to give the rest of the country a taste. Rachel Antalek, Pizza Hut's new Chief Food Innovation Officer, said "This bold innovation not only elevates our pizza experience but also opens up exciting opportunities to showcase our wings. Get ready for a flavor revolution that goes beyond pizza."

So, are Pizza Hut's limited time offering of Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza and Hot Honey Wings a toothsome fire we never want extinguished or a saccharine Fyre Festival disaster? I took a bite to find out. This chew and review is based on taste, texture, presentation, and overall lovability.

Some recommendations are based on first-hand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

Before my eyes, the hand-tossed Hot Honey Double Pepperoni Pizza glistened. The pizza looked so sopping wet, I wanted to give it a towel to dry off, but I decided to let it bathe in its own juices. Pulling apart one piece from another proved to be pretty tricky, as it was rightfully over-sticky to the touch.

The flat bottom of the crust was particularly soppy, and the rest, including the end crust, was very doughy and soft. The pizza's crunch and crispness is all due to the super salty and savory standard pepperoni and cupped pepperoni. On a single slice, I counted over 14 generous pieces, with some even hiding under another piece. In addition to providing texture to the pizza, the crispy cup pepperoni also holds the hot honey sauce in a more unsullied, purer form. Elsewhere in the slice, the hot honey sauce is entrenched in the rest of the ingredients, including the barely noticeable marinara sauce and the sharp melted mozzarella cheese.

The taste of the whole slice is perfect, and a perfect mess. The overall sweetness of the honey outweighs the spice on the initial nibbles. Not long after, the modestly spicy hotness starts to evoke an actual smacking of the lips. After a few slices, the glistening that once graced the surface of the pizza, was now making my skin gladly glisten with sweat.

While the Hot Honey Double Pepperoni Pizza perfectly punctuates the hangry harmony where sweet meets heat, Pizza Hut's Hot Honey Wings somehow only bring the hot stuff. The wings I had were bone-in, and look like typical ones from Pizza Hut or from anywhere else. My order included a random selection of flats and drumettes.

The pizza required 101 napkins at the ready, but the wings were less of a mess and just slightly sticky with its brownish-orange glaze. The wings have a thin but crispy skin, and contain plenty of juicy meat underneath. As I tore through a handful of them, I kept searching for that sweet honey taste, but it never seemed to make itself known. The black container the wings came in camouflaged the fact that there was actually a lining of sauce at the very bottom. I'm not sure if it was placed there before the wings were added to the container or if it dripped off them. Regardless, it was nice to dip the wings in it, even if it didn't seem to hit any kind of sweet spot.

Hot Honey Double Pepperoni Pizza contains dough made from enriched flour, classic marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, slices of standard pepperoni, crispy cup pepperoni, and the new hot honey sauce. The hot honey sauce is made of corn syrup, sugar, honey, water, red habanero pepper puree, distilled vinegar, food starch-modified, natural flavor, salt, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate, caramelized sugar syrup, and xanthan gum.

A single slice from a large hand-tossed Hot Honey Double Pepperoni pie has 360 calories, 17 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 780 milligrams of sodium, 1 gram of protein, and 38 grams of carbohydrates, with 3 grams being dietary fiber, and 6 total sugars. Allergens include gluten, milk, and whey.

The Hot Honey Wings are either bone-out chicken breast chunk fritters with rib meat or traditional bone-in wings, covered with the same Hot Honey sauce the pizza utilizes. A single bone-out wing or bone-in wing with hot honey sauce is 110 calories.

Pizza Hut's Hot Honey Double Pepperoni can be ordered as hand tossed, original pan, original stuffed crust, and thin 'n crispy styles of pizzas. There are two sizes of pizza — large and medium — and both are cut into eight slices. The Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizzas start at $11.99 for a medium, but price may vary by location. Customization options include removal of the sauce, adding or eliminating the cheese, and the addition of all other toppings Pizza Hut offers like meats, veggies, and even pineapple. If triangular slices aren't your thing, the pizzas can be cut into squares upon request.

The Hot Honey Boneless wings are available in 8-, 16-, 24-, or 48-piece options. Hot Honey sauce can also be applied to traditional bone-in wings and comes in 6-, 12-, 18-, and 36-piece options. Prices start at $5.99 and vary by location. A dipping sauce is available at an extra cost, and options include marinara, blue cheese, honey BBQ, ranch, and buffalo medium.

All Hot Honey items are available on a limited-time basis, while supplies last. They can be ordered while dining in at a participating Pizza Hut location, or for delivery or carry out. Orders can be made in person, over the phone, or in advance utilizing Pizza Hut's website or app.

Sweet and spicy, aka "swicy," is having quite a moment in the culinary world. The market research firm Datassential has noticed a continual upward trend of menu items infused with the pairing, and per Today, "hot honey is projected to outpace nearly all other culinary and beverage flavors by 2027." Instead of being left behind, Pizza Hut is meeting this moment, becoming one of the largest pizza chains to make a magnificent mess in this truly sweet drizzly business.

Hot Honey Double Pepperoni Pizza is only here for a limited amount of time, but it will surely make its mark for any eater who gives into this buzzy bee pie. I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a permanent Pizza Hut menu item, but hopefully this moist mouthful of a pizza will come standard with a sleeve of napkins, and perhaps a can of ginger ale. As for the Hot Honey Wings, they are totally fine, but could use a bit of fine-tuning. Maybe they could borrow one or five of the 14+ slices of crispy cup pepperoni embedded on the pizza, and bring a bit more sweetness and heat.