Who doesn’t like pizza? Whether you’re hungry and tired from work, had a busy day at school, or just simply hanging out with friends and family, everything gets better with pizza.
Pizza is considered one of the favorite foods of most people. It appears that 350 slices are eaten every second, or 21,000 slices per minute. And that is just in the US alone! But our relationship with pizza seems to be a bit complicated. We love eating a couple, if not a few pizza slices every once in a while. However, there is always this guilt we feel after indulging since we know that pizza, no matter how heavenly it tastes like, is not exactly considered the healthiest food.
Pizza Calories Per Slice
Pizza comes in different types and sizes. They vary based on their toppings, cooking method, crust, and size. Its calories and nutrition content also depends on its type and size. But let’s focus on the calories this time. How many calories are in a slice of pizza?
Based on the Nutritional Information provided by the USDA (US Department of Agriculture), a slice of regular cheese pizza (107 grams) contains 285 calories. But there sure are a lot of types of pizza available. We picked the five most common types of pizza from three famous brands in the US – Domino’s, Pizza Hut, and Papa John’s. And this is what we got:
1. Cheese Pizza
This classic is easily one of the most popular choices. Its ingredients include processed and modified cheese, like Mozzarella, Provolone, Cheddar, and Parmesan.
Domino’s medium cheese pizza contains 200 calories per slice. Pizza Hut’s medium cheese pizza has 220 calories each serving, while Papa John’s has 290 calories per slice.
2. Veggie Pizza
One awesome way to eat your vegetables is to have a veggie pizza. It makes the classic cheese pizza more exciting as it includes roasted red peppers, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, baby spinach, black olives, and it’s sprinkled with garlic herb seasoning. A slice of Domino’s medium veggie pizza has 215 calories. Pizza Hut’s medium-size “Veggie Lover’s” pizza has 340 calories per slice, and Papa John’s has 210 calories per medium slice of its veggie pizza.
3. Pepperoni
This pizza is one of the most popular types. Pepperoni is made from cured mixture of pork and beef seasoned with paprika and other chili peppers. This thinly sliced, bright red, crispy meat is one of the favorite pizza toppings of Americans. Domino’s and Pizza Hut’s medium slice pepperoni pizza contains 336.8 and 380 calories, respectively. Papa John’s, on the other hand, has 230 calories per slice.
4. Hawaiian Pizza
Pineapple is the highlight of this type of pizza, not exactly the first thing we think of as a pizza topping. But if we combine it with ham and cheese, it will have a unique sweet and salty taste. Domino’s version of Hawaiian pizza has a calorie content of 190 per medium size. Pizza Hut’s famous Hawaiian Chicken Pizza has 360 calories per serving, while Papa John’s has 230 calories per slice.
5. Supreme Pizza
If you can’t have enough of the pizzas mentioned above, Supreme pizza is the one for you. This pizza is a combination of different toppings – from cheese and vegetables to bacon and pepperoni. The medium size Meatzza Pizza from Domino’s has 458 calories each slice. Pizza Hut’s and Papa John’s medium Supreme Pizza slice has 290 and 330 calories, respectively.
Conclusion
It is easy to forget to be mindful of calories and nutrients when eating pizza. Still, eating pizza is not bad since we can get calcium from the cheese, protein, and other nutrients from the toppings. You can still enjoy having pizza from time to time. The best thing is to remember to eat moderately and maintain balance in our diet and food intake. How about grabbing a slice now? Know more about calories on pizza.