It’s fun to look back in time to the wildest food trends and see what things were available for purchase at different periods, and get completely surprised. And on June 18th, 2015, Pizza Hut did the unthinkable and combined two American classics: pizza and hot dogs. The pizza was surrounded by 28 mini hot dog bites baked into the crust (which also came in a soft pretzel style) and was served with what it called a drizzle of French’s Classic Yellow Mustard, but was really a tub of it as a dip. Although this pizza was only around for a limited time, it’s clearly one of the most out-of-the-box ways Pizza Hut tried to make waves. Despite the Hot Dog bites making a splash, when it came to taste, Redditors gave it mixed reviews, with one stating, “I tried the pretzel version[;] the pizza itself was pretty underwhelming[,] and the hot dogs were worse” (via Reddit).
Pizza Hut has always been willing to try new things and follow food trends, like with hot honey pizza and wings – or how it tried to reinvent the burger with its cheeseburger melt. And the Hut is no stranger to experimenting with stuffed crust, having first introduced stuffing mozzarella cheese into its bready crust in 1995. Since then, the stuffed crust competition has been stiff with pizza franchise competitors Domino’s and Papa John’s trying to take the title of best stuffed crust pizza.
In addition to hot dogs and cheeseburgers, Pizza Hut has plenty of experience experimenting with different types of pizza crusts. They’ve done fried chicken, tater tots, tiny meat pies (a Down Under specialty), flying fish roe mixed into cream cheese, and even meatballs and cream cheese bombs.
The hot dog pizza didn’t launch in the States
Pizza Hut, like most international franchises, has a menu that differs from country to country — and countries in Asia have some of the most unique offerings. In Indonesia (no, not the U.K.), there was a fish and chips pizza, Pizza Hut in Taiwan offered scallops as a topping, and in South Korea, you were able to replace a standard crust with one made of rice cakes. Perhaps unexpectedly, this all-American combo of hot dog and pizza was first seen in Asia, where consumers in Thailand, Japan, and South Korea got to enjoy this quirky item. Then Pizza Hut released the special edition pie in the U.K., Australia, and Canada, all before it finally made its way to America, much to the frustration of American bloggers who felt envious that other countries got access to it before they did.
While hot dogs seem like a uniquely American food, the truth is that hot dogs are popular in many different countries, like Japan, Vietnam, China, and the Philippines. In Asia, hot dogs are often baked into pastries similar to “pigs in a blanket” and eaten as a snack or breakfast. Hot dogs are such a big deal in Japan that they once held two different Guinness World Records. One world record was held by a Japanese competitive eater named Takeru Kobayashi who is on record for 69 hot dogs in 10 minutes in 2001 and was reigning champion until 2024. In fact, the Kobayashi Shake revolutionized Nathan’s hot dog eating competition. And the record for the longest line of hot dogs was set in Kikiuchi, Kumatmoto, Japan in 2016 before it was broken by Mexico in 2018. Given the significance of hot dogs across Asia, it’s clear why Pizza Hut tested them there first before bringing this experimental pie to the United States.
