I have a confession to make: I’m a pineapple on pizza hater. If I was stranded on a deserted island with no alternative other than a pineapple pizza, I’d probably eat it — but outside of life-threatening circumstances, it’s not for me. Being a pineapple hater is so entrenched in my personality that it hurts to admit I may have recently seen the light, in the form of Pizza Hut’s new Spongebob Squarepants-inspired Chillapineappleno sauce.
If you’ve been paying attention to Pizza Hut over the last few months, you’ll have noticed some weird little collabs going on in the background. A few months ago, it launched a slimy green Mutagen Ranch sauce to celebrate the history of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This month, it’s launching a yellow Chillapineappleno SpongeBob Squarepants sauce.
To celebrate, the kind folks at Pizza Hut sent over some sauced pizza and wings for Kotaku Australia’s Snacktaku.
And honestly? The sauce looks pretty nasty. There’s nothing about it that looks appealing at all.
Whether you get it on wings or pizza, it stands out like a gooey, yellowing stain.
This looks gross, right? But thankfully, it tastes a lot better than it looks.
The name “Chillapineappleno” doesn’t really give much away, and truthfully I had a hard time pinning down the exact flavour beyond it being ‘good’ — but I believe it’s closest to pineapple aioli. Basically, you’ve got a garlicky, cheesy taste layered with a fruity pineapple tang. The ‘chilla’ part of the name makes me think it’s meant to be spicy, but there isn’t any real zing here.
Instead, the sauce is quite sweet and gives you a hint of pineapple on your pizza or wings.
The ‘hint’ here is important, because as a pineapple on pizza hater I can’t stand a full-bodied pineapple taste. But as a hint, it worked great.
It was particularly nice on the crispy wings, and worked as a sweet, zesty topping to counteract the savouriness. On the pizza, it made the meat base tangier and more flavourful.
For a single moment while eating this newly-sauced pizza, I became convinced I could leave my pineapple-hating ways behind.
I looked at this beautiful, round pizza and I thought: maybe — just maybe — I could learn to accept pineapple on pizza in my heart. Then I closed the box and realised that being a hater is just who I am.
Still, those few moments of tangy, pineapple saucy bliss were far better than I’d expected. It had me thinking that maybe I could learn to love again. The SpongeBob sauce didn’t quite get me there, but it did a damn good job convincing me I might be missing out on something great.
If you have space in your heart for pineapple on pizza, or you just want to check out a funky new sauce, Pizza Hut’s Spongebob Squarepants Chillapineappleno sauce is now available at your local store.
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