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Two days after Christmas Domino’s officially began selling pizzas made with their newly revamped recipe. The marketing campaign boasts a better sauce, cheese and crust. Although you might be interested in how it stacks up against the old recipe, you probably haven’t jumped at the opportunity. Luckily for you, I have a taste for bad food, a lightning fast metabolism, and I’m a workout warrior who can burn anything off. I put down two of these large pies so you wouldn’t have to and I’m ready to share my findings.
The Recipe
The box explains the new recipe.
The new pizza box itself gives you an idea of what’s in store for you. If you believe what you read you will be treated to:
- 100% mozzarella with a hint of provolone
- A new sauce with spicy red pepper
- A garlic-seasoned buttery crust
Well all of that sounds delicious, they have me on board. Let’s open the box up and get a look at this thing.
Oh Snap, Guess What I Saw?!
Shorty is not a ten.
Luckily when it comes to food, first impressions mean nothing, it all comes down to the taste test. Visually I was absolutely disappointed. I suggest you head over to the Domino’s website and compare the image on the front page to what you see here. After days of having the website image in my head, I felt bamboozled when I saw this unappetizing piece of crap in front of me. It even appeared to be smaller than I hoped it would be. But let’s give it a taste.
The Crust
Crust seasoning you can see.
I had a feeling that the crust would be a homerun because the breadbowls from their Pasta Breadbowls are delicious. Same thing with this new pizza crust. Think of a seasoned breadstick used as a pizza crust. You can clearly see the garlic/parm seasoning in the picture and you’ll also be pleased to know that it’s hit with butter. I thought I was imaging this at first but each slice honestly gets better as you work your way towards the crust.
‘Got Any Cheeeeeese?’
Close-up look at the pie.
Before trying out the new recipe I talked to some people on what they thought about the old recipe. Pretty much everyone, myself included, agreed that the cheese was never an issue with old Domino’s pizza. It wasn’t spectacular but they had more to worry about than just the cheese.
Not much has changed with the new recipe. I expected a more pronounced flavor from the provolone blend but it really doesn’t stand out.
The Sauce
A single slice.
Can food be described as gimmicky? Because that’s the first word that came to mind when I got a lick of the new sauce. As promised, they have spiced the sauce up a bit. But the result is something that tastes exactly like a sauce you’d get in a package of frozen mozzarella sticks, or sauce you would receive with an order of breadsticks to dip in. It’s tasty, but I just don’t know if a pizza is the right venue for it. Save it for the breadsticks.
Blindsided By The Bottom
Don't look down!
I expected to only have three focuses: the outer crust, the cheese and the sauce. But while eating the pizza I was completely blindsided by the bottom of the pizza. Look at the picture I took. At the very least you expect to see cornmeal on the bottom. This pizza has nothing covering the bottom at all. I’m not using hyperbole when I say that it feels like cardboard when your tongue touches the bottom of a slice. The underside of this pizza was an unexpected bumout.
A Surprise
Buttery goodness is visible.
Domino’s played up the garlic-butter crust, and I’m already fond of their Pasta Breadbowls which are drenched in butter. So I should have been prepared for what I was going to see, but I was still surprised when I saw the butter sauce soaked into the crust with my eyes. You know it’s seriously buttery when you can see the butter on a cross-section of the pizza. This was an unexpected treat which helps let me look past the cardboard base this pie is built on.
Final Review
- If you’re having Domino’s, the crust is worth the price of admission.
- The new cheese and sauce are closer to lateral moves, not upgrades.
- Overall better than the OG recipe.
- Although better, still not as good as your favorite hometown pizza shop.
Shorty is not a ten.
real talk: this looks terrible
Jason – Thanks for trying the new pizza! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I do some work with Domino’s and wanted to let you know that if you’re not a fan of the new sauce you can still get the old one. Next time you place an order, just ask for “Hearty Marinara” and they will make it with that instead.
Drew, thanks for the read. I did notice when ordering online that you have the option to substitute ‘New Robust Tomato Sauce’ with ‘Hearty Marinara Sauce’.
Years ago I worked at a Domino’s. I can confirm that they use cornmeal when they are working the dough. The pizza is cooked on a pizza screen – great for baking really, but if the temp is too high, you get the nasty cardboard look.
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/14-aluminum-pizza-screen/14-aluminum-pizza-screen.jpg
My favorite item always was the cheesy bread… buttery cheesy garlic goodness.
Why is it so hard to make pizza? After reading your blog, all I keep thinking is that I dont want my pizza to taste like bread sticks, I want it to taste like pizza, not sure why that is so hard. If you ever go to NYC, not many ppl order fast food pizza, because the little guys do it better. Just make pizza please.
p.s. nice job on the review
The new Domino’s Pizza -
Crust – still the same, but with garlic flavor (in other words, insipid white bread plus bad breath).
Sauce – about the same, but with some red pepper spiciness (spicy with sugar but not much other flavor).
Overall – more soggy than before, less flavor noticeable in toppings and cheese – perhaps overwhelmed by garlic and sugar.
If you liked it before – you probably won’t like it now.
If you didn’t like it before – you probably won’t like it any better now.
Summary – total waste of their time, and I’m less likely to order any now than before.
Well, ordered it at work one day and I thought their new pizza was fabulous! Compared to the old recipe that is. Then I ordered it from the dominos near my house and guess what? Could not even finish ONE piece… Ok, what’s up? Well, after some research it appears that their new marketing campaign is heavy on promotion and VERY light on quality assurance, each and every dominos makes the pizza different!!! wow… just wow… The number 1 rule in franchising is CONSISTENCY! Without it all the promotion in the world is worthless… just like the new pizza.
hmmm…yummy..=)
Long night of studying for finals – not many options at midnight, so went back to Domino’s after YEARS of swearing the blah stuff off. First off – LOVE LOVE the sauce and the garlic crust kick – it woke me up and had me pleasantly surprised. Ok – here is the bad side of the review – Besides the unnecessary burnt tops on ALL of the 3 I ordered (gotta love the 555 deal!), Domino’s can in no way make a Mediterranean pizza – they may TRY with the new ingredients, but really – they suck at it. The feta was rubbery and tasteless, the “fresh” tomatoes were actually canned stuff, the spinach was burnt, and the black olives were thin – but really no different than before. I remembered the web-ad on their website trying to knock Papa Johns, but, um – naahhhh. They are still Domino’s – just kickier, but in NO WAY are they as bistro as Papa Johns, not worth the bottle of wine I cracked open for it. Still my last resort, sorry guys…
I love these, real review, no sponsor action. Plus, you just saved me a fortune as I would have had to pay for a family of four to get card-boarded, that always hurts.
Cool Post!
My reaction to the new Domino’s Pizza is: Papa John’s. The new pizza is seriously nasty. The crust oozes butter-flavored grease, the sauce is far too sweet, and the cheese is totally unremarkable. I wasn’t a fan before, but my kids like it, so every so often we order it as a treat for them. I could stand the old recipe, which was merely bland, but not the makeover, which tastes bad and is worse for you, thanks to the greasy crust. Luckily their Girl Scout troop ordered Papa John’s for their last pizza party, and the kids ate it without complaint. We have a winner, but it’s not Domino’s.
ugly crust !:|