Review: Marco’s Fiery Sausage Pizza
Bottom Line: Marco’s new Fiery cheese blend is similar to what it offered before, and it does deliver a kick to that chain’s pizzas.
Marco’s Pizza has its fiery cheese blend back on the menu, and the new mix promises to deliver more heat. They last had this in summer of 2024, and I tried their Fiery Pepperoni Pizza and Inferno Cheesy Bread (you can read my review here). The new fiery cheese combines Carolina Reaper, habanero, and jalapeño chilis, which is basically the same mix as before, but perhaps they amped up the quantity of peppers.
I ordered the Fiery Sausage and Peppers pizza, which comes with “bold” old world sausage, red onions, green peppers, and the new cheese blend. I made a substitution, though, because I’m not a big fan of bell peppers on pizza as their pungent earthiness tends to take over the flavors. So I subbed in mushrooms and left the onions on, and I went for the thin crust.
The crust has a nice chew to it, cracker-like on the edges and softer toward the middle, but strong enough to hold all the toppings. The sauce has a bit of sweetness along with a rich, tomatoey tang. The cheese is plenty creamy and stringy, with just a touch of sharpness. The sausage is savory with some herbs in there and just a hint of a kick. The mushrooms are tender and earthy with a mildness that pairs quite well with the bolder sausage. The onions were barely detectable, but every once in a while I would get a sweet pop from them.
The first few bites of the pizza delivered no heat at all, and I was wondering if they had not included the fiery cheese on my pie. I had also ordered another pizza (a one-topping meatball) and had a piece of that, then came back to the fiery pie. In comparison, I noticed some kick, and some of the bites really delivered the heat and made my lips tingle. The cheese is where the burn is supposed to come from, and it is all over the pizza, so I am not certain why the heat was inconsistent. But it ranged from barely Mild on my scale to above Medium depending on the slice, so I will average it out to a above Mild overall. And that is real close to where it came in the last time I tried their fiery pizza, maybe just a touch warmer. Note that they did included some jalapeno Ranch dipping sauce on the side, but I am not a big fan of Ranch with my pizza, so I did not use it.
I don’t see that they have the calorie info for their pizzas on the website, but my assumption is that a slice of the thin crust comes out lower on the cals than a regular pizza slice. So that means that I can eat a whole bunch more of those, right? Here’s a tip: if you are trying to watch your weight, don’t eat pizza. No matter how they make it, the pie packs in the calories. And I know that I am going to eat at least two more slices than I should. Pizza is a splurge for me, and I put the weight-watching on hold when I order it.
The new Fiery Pizzas from Marco’s appear to be basically the same as the prior version, but there’s nothing wrong with that. I enjoyed it before and I enjoyed it this time and will likely order it again before it heads back to Limited-Time-Only-Ville. They are currently offering a deal of $11.99 for the Fiery Pepperoni and $13.99 for the Sausage and Peppers (prices will vary), and that’s not bad for a large pizza. Add on that Inferno Bread, and you have a pretty good meal! (Wait! What? I have to share?)
