The Best & Worst Menu Items at Blaze Pizza
Blaze Pizza is a fast-casual restaurant chain committed to better food for people and the planet. This pizza place offers plenty of build-your-own options for pizzas and salads as well as a selection of predetermined pizza topping combinations. Blaze Pizza commits to making fresh, homemade dough daily and nixes artificial ingredients from its menu. With all of these core beliefs, Blaze Pizza could be a great option to satisfy a pizza craving.
To find some of the healthiest options, from salads to pizzas to desserts, at Blaze Pizza, experts Lindsey Pine, MS, RDN, CLT and LeeAnn Smith Weintraub, MPH, RD analyzed the menu to find the healthiest and least nutritious menu choices.
11-Inch Pizza
Best: Red Vine
The smaller, 11-inch pizzas offer a handful of healthier options, whether you choose one from the menu or customize your own. One of the best options, according to dietitians, is the red vine pizza. Weintraub notes the red vine is lower in sodium and fat than many of the other options, and Pine also suggests swapping the traditional shredded cheese for ovalini mozzarella for even fewer calories and less fat without losing that delicious cheesy flavor.
Best: Keto Pizzas
Meanwhile, the keto pizza is another option Pine likes.
"Even though this pizza does have a bit more calories and saturated fat than some of the other pizzas, if you stick to a couple slices, you'll be okay," Pine says. "According to the CDC, over 100 million Americans are living with diabetes or prediabetes. These folks often think they can't have pizza, but with only 4 grams of carbohydrates per slice, they can have more than one piece and enjoy something they thought they couldn't."
You'll also get a good amount of protein and vegetables without as much sodium as many of the other menu items.
Worst: BBQ Chicken
If you want healthy pizza options, you might steer clear of the barbecue chicken pizza. Unfortunately, this option is high in sodium, even at just one slice. The barbecue chicken pizza also only contains onions in terms of veggies, which is definitely not ideal.
Worst: Meat Eater
The meat-eater pizza is just as unhealthy because of its high sodium content and the fact that this pizza only has processed meats on top. "Each 11-inch pizza has six thin slices, and it is very easy to eat the whole pie," Pine says. After you multiply the sodium in one slice by six, you have about the same amount of sodium as 7.5 dill pickle spears. Plus, Pine says, "The American Institute for Cancer Research recommends limiting processed meats, such as pepperoni, to help prevent certain types of cancers."
Large Pizza
Best: Red Vine Pizza
For the larger pizzas, there are still great options to share with friends and family without wreaking havoc on your health. The red vine takes the crown again.
"This pizza has 8 grams of protein per slice, which is pretty good for a non-meat pizza," Pine says. "You'll also get a dose of the antioxidant lycopene through both the red sauce and the cherry tomatoes."
Best: Green Stripe Pizza
To no surprise, the very green pizza called the green stripe is also a healthier option. It's topped with plenty of veggies as well as grilled chicken for lean protein. Pine says, "The added hit of chopped garlic not only gives extra flavor, but it also hits you with a dose of powerful anti-inflammatory antioxidants." The calories and sodium can still be a bit high, so Pine warns to watch your portions.
Worst: Meat Eater
The processed meats on the meat-eater pizza make it one of the worst picks for the large pizza category, too. Weintraub points out that it has the highest number of calories compared to the others, plus quite a bit of saturated fat.
Worst: Hot Link Pizzas
The hot link has similar problems. To reduce the amount of saturated fat in these pizzas and any others, Pine recommends asking for less than the normal amount of cheese or swapping for the vegan cheese. Pine also says the hot link could be a better option, "if the Italian sausage, which is full of sodium and saturated fat, was replaced with grilled chicken."
Otherwise, eating about four slices of the hot link pizza, which is easy to do because of the thin crust, is 3,000 mg of sodium. "About 2,300 milligrams is the recommendation for the entire day, assuming you don't have blood pressure issues," Pine says.
Simple Salads
Best: Classic Greek Salad
Craving the fresh flavors of a salad? The classic Greek salad is one of the healthier options in the salad section, according to Pine. It has plenty of vegetables, and the olive oil and Kalamata olives offer healthy fats. Ask for less cheese to reduce the amount of saturated fat, and add chicken to increase the protein for a more balanced meal, Pine recommends. If necessary, you can also reduce the sodium by omitting the olives.
Worst: Tomatoes and Mozzarella Salad
The tomatoes and mozzarella salad seems like a delicious, healthy option, right? Unfortunately, both dietitians identify this as the least nutritious salad on the menu. Weintraub points out that this salad has a whopping 41 grams of fat.
"If I'm eating a salad, I want veggies, not almost a day's worth of saturated fat," Pine says. "This salad has a whopping 16 grams of saturated fat. That's similar to putting two pats of butter over the veggies. This could be a better option if you order it with less cheese and dressing."
Dessert
Best: S'mores Pie
Hungry for more? The s'mores pie can't be beaten. Even for a dessert, it is low in fat and sugar, especially compared to the other dessert options at Blaze Pizza.
"For a rich, chocolate dessert that resembles a cookie sandwich, these numbers aren't half bad at 200 calories and 11 grams of sugar per pie," Pine says.
Worst: Cinnamon Dough Knots
Pine finds the cinnamon dough knots to be the worst dessert on the menu, particularly considering the portion size.
"One cinnamon dough knot sounds reasonable, but not six, especially after you've just eaten a pizza meal. An order of these knots will add an additional 650 calories, a whopping 137 grams of carbs and 57 grams of sugar—that's like eating a little over 14 straight-up sugar cubes." If you really crave this gooey dessert, split the six among the people you are dining with.
Worst: Chocolate Chip Cookie with Sea Salt
If you feel like indulging, you can go for the chocolate chip cookie with sea salt, but perhaps split it with a friend. If you are wanting to stick with healthy options though, these desserts just won't cut it no matter how you split it.
As you can imagine, a cookie covered in sea salt is high in sodium. Weintraub says, "A food with over 300 mg of sodium is considered high in salt, so this cookie is not a great choice, especially for anyone following a low-sodium diet."
