Little Caesars is always innovating, and this week the chain has released a new limited-time offering: Crazy Puffs. These little handheld bites of pizza dough, sauce, and cheese, drizzled in buttery garlic flavor and sprinkled with dry herbs, come in both a plain cheese and pepperoni variety, and a four-piece order is priced at $3.99. The press release promises “layers of complexity that will tantalize taste buds everywhere.”
Notably, Crazy Puffs are meant to be portable and snackable, which is in line with other major fast food pizza chains’ desire to cater to on-the-go customers with single-serving items: Pizza Hut’s Melts appeal to Gen Z customers looking to grab a quick lunch, and Papa Johns’ Papadias aim for the same pocket. But are Crazy Puffs promising enough to join the permanent menu at Little Caesars?
How do Little Caesars’ new Crazy Puffs taste?
Both the cheese and pepperoni Crazy Puffs look identical; since the pepperoni is stuffed inside, you can’t distinguish one from the other externally, so make sure you double check the label. They’re golden brown and baked to a respectable level of caramelization with a crisp ring of cheese around the edges, kind of like a Detroit-style pizza. And they’re kind of adorable—but that cuteness is actually kind of an issue.
These things are small. Like, they’re the exact size of a dipping sauce cup. “Adorable” is one thing, but “dollhouse-scaled” is another, especially if you’re hoping to eat the equivalent of a full meal without committing to an entire pizza.
I am happy to report, however, that both the cheese and pepperoni Crazy Puffs taste great. The ratio of sauce and cheese to dough is ideal, and the dough wasn’t dried out in any areas as I was worried it might be. Nothing about the experience of eating a Crazy Puff is overwhelming at all. My personal preference is for the pepperoni, mostly because of the extra savory pop of flavor.
Aside from the diminutive size of each individual puff, my only gripe is with the amount of garlic butter that’s applied to these things. There’s so much that you can practically see through the bottom of the cardboard box. A tiny part of me is wondering if that’s why I liked them so much—but I only sampled one puff of each variety. Four puffs, with that level of grease, might have been a little overwhelming if I had one full serving for lunch.
I think they would have been just fine with easily half the amount of flavored oil applied, since the cheese has plenty of fat and flavor, too. But Little Caesars’ mobile app doesn’t allow you to make modifications to your order, so in this case, you get what you get.
In terms of value, the Crazy Puffs don’t compete with the always cheap Hot-N-Ready pizza, which currently costs $5.99 at my nearest Little Caesars location. You get so much more food for barely any more money, but I do understand that people can’t always transport a whole pizza on the go, or maybe they can’t properly store the leftovers and need something they can finish in one sitting.
So yes, on the whole, I absolutely love the idea of the Crazy Puffs. They’re handheld, cute, fun to eat, and full of flavor—but they’re also tinier, greasier, and less value-driven than other Little Caesars menu items. As long as you think of them as a snack and can hazard the resulting greasy, garlicky fingers, they’re a perfectly enjoyable novelty. But for the most bang for your buck, a whole pie will always be your best bet.