Review: Papa Johns - Calzone Papa Bites

Papa Johns' Calzone Papa Bites feature rolled-up dough stuffed with a blend of mozzarella and garlic herb ricotta cheeses, green peppers, pepperoni, and Italian sausage.

An order includes 8 Papa Bites and pizza sauce for dipping. It currently costs a promotional price of $4.99 but I received this courtesy of Papa Johns.

They basically make this by stretching out a square of pizza dough, lining it with cheese and toppings, and rolling it up before baking.

There's quite a bit of mozzarella to the Calzone Bites as I could see the parts of two sticks of mozzarella sticks in each bite. It was nicely melted with a decent stretch and creamy flavor. Like the Cheesy Calzone Epic Stuffed Crust Pizza, any ricotta seemed to have just melted into the mozzarella but there was a garlicky herb flavor throughout.

Beyond the cheese, the toppings added a lot of texture and flavor. With salty smokiness from the pepperoni, a springing meaty bite from the sausage, and crunch from the bell pepper. If you're not a fan of bell pepper, the flavor of it was very present here.

The bread was soft and chewy with a lightly crisped crust, while the dipping the Papa Bites into the sauce gave them more of a pizza-like feel. Additionally, there seemed be some peppery garlic sauce drizzled on top of the bites for more garlic flavor and a strong black pepper note (it was even slightly spicy).

Overall, Papa Johns' Calzone Papa Bites were interesting more calzone-like than the Cheesy Calzone Crust Epic Stuffed Pizza as like a calzone, it's essentially folded dough stuffed with cheese and toppings. There was a good amount of flavorful toppings and a generous amount of gooey cheese to each Bite to go with a healthy dash of garlicky flavor. I only wish that the texture of the ricotta was more apparent.

Nutritional Info - Papa Johns' Calzone Papa Bites
Serving Size - 1 Papa Bite
Calories - 110 (from Fat - 50)
Fat - 6g (Saturated Fat - 3g)
Sodium - 280mg
Carbs - 10g (Sugar - 1g)
Protein - 4g