A large breakfast pizza can contain a significant amount of calories depending on the toppings and crust. Breakfast pizzas are often loaded with high-calorie ingredients like cheese, eggs, bacon, sausage, and fatty meats. The amount of calories can vary greatly based on portion size and ingredients.
Typical Breakfast Pizza Calories
Most large breakfast pizzas at national pizza chains contain between 2500-3000 calories. For example, a large breakfast pizza from Pizza Hut with eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese, and biscuit crust contains about 2940 calories. A large breakfast pizza from Domino’s with eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, cheese, and regular crust has about 2650 calories.
Here are the nutrition facts for some typical large restaurant breakfast pizzas (around 14 inches):
| Breakfast Pizza | Calories |
|---|---|
| Pizza Hut Large Breakfast Pizza with Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Cheese, Biscuit Crust | 2940 |
| Domino’s Large Breakfast Pizza with Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Ham, Cheese, Regular Crust | 2650 |
| Papa John’s Large The Works Breakfast Pizza | 2620 |
| Little Caesars Large Ultimate Breakfast Pizza | 2300 |
As you can see, even a single restaurant breakfast pizza can contain around 2000-3000 calories or more. Eating an entire large pie would give you more than the recommended daily calorie intake for most adults.
Calories by Topping
The most calorie-dense toppings on breakfast pizzas tend to be:
- Bacon – Roughly 40-50 calories per slice
- Sausage – Around 80-100 calories per 1 oz sausage link or patty
- Ham – Approximately 35 calories per 1 oz
- Cheese – Regular mozzarella cheese is about 80 calories for 1 oz shredded
- Eggs – One large egg has about 70 calories
When you add up multiple servings of high-calorie meat and cheese toppings, the calories add up quickly. For example, a 14-inch breakfast pizza may have:
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese – 400 calories
- 2 oz cooked sausage crumbles – 200 calories
- 2 oz diced ham – 70 calories
- 2 eggs – 140 calories
- 4 strips bacon – 200 calories
Just those toppings alone would account for over 1000 calories before factoring in the dough and crust!
Calories by Crust Type
The crust is the foundation for any pizza, breakfast or otherwise. Here are the approximate calories for popular breakfast pizza crusts:
- Regular pizza dough crust – 100 calories per slice
- Thin crust – 90 calories per slice
- Thick pan crust – 130 calories per slice
- Stuffed crust – 115 calories per slice
- Cheese-filled crust – 125 calories per slice
- Biscuit crust – 130 calories per slice
- Hashbrown crust – 150 calories per slice
Stuffed crusts, biscuit crusts, and hashbrown crusts tend to be higher in calories than regular or thin crusts. So the crust type can also impact the total breakfast pizza calories.
How Ingredients Impact Calories
As a general rule, pizzas stacked with meat, cheese, fried foods, and condiments are going to be higher in calories. Some specific things that can increase breakfast pizza calories include:
- Using whole eggs instead of egg whites
- Loading up on high-fat meats like sausage, bacon and ham
- Using full-fat cheese instead of reduced-fat
- Picking oil-based sauces like alfredo over tomato sauce
- Adding condiments like ranch, honey mustard or gravy
- Choosing fried hashbrowns over roasted veggies as toppings
- Using a deep dish or double crust that increases dough
- Smothering the crust in butter or brushing with oil
You can make some lower calorie substitutions to reduce the total calories, for example:
- Use egg whites or Egg Beaters instead of whole eggs
- Choose Canadian bacon instead of sausage or bacon
- Load up on veggies like onions, peppers, mushrooms
- Use reduced-fat cheese and limit to 1/4 cup
- Pick tomato sauce instead of white sauce
- Ask for light olive oil instead of butter on the crust
Making even a couple of these swaps can save you a couple hundred calories per pizza slice.
How Portion Size Impacts Calories
In addition to the ingredients, the overall size of the pizza matters when calculating calories. Larger pizzas mean more calories overall. Here are some estimates on total calories for different pizza portion sizes:
| Pizza Portion | Typical Calories |
|---|---|
| Personal 6-inch pizza | 700-900 |
| 1 slice (1/8th of 14-inch pizza) | 300-400 |
| Half a 14-inch pizza | 1300-1600 |
| Whole 14-inch pizza | 2600-3200 |
As you go up in pizza size, the calories increase. Sticking to a single slice instead of an entire large pie can make a dent in calories. Or consider sharing one large pizza with a group instead of each person getting an individual pie.
Low-Calorie Breakfast Pizza Options
You can order or create breakfast pizzas with a healthier calorie profile by:
- Building your own breakfast pizza on a thin, veggie-based crust
- Using egg whites or liquid egg products instead of whole eggs
- Loading up on low-cal veggies like mushrooms, peppers, onions and spinach
- Choosing lower-fat meats like Canadian bacon or grilled chicken
- Using part-skim mozzarella cheese or veggie-based cheese
- Picking tomato sauce instead of Alfredo or cream sauce
- Asking for light olive oil instead of buttery sauces on crust
- Sticking to a single slice instead of multiple pieces
You can easily cut down a few hundred calories per slice with some lighter substitutes and ingredients. building your own breakfast pizza allows you to control the calories rather than just ordering an off-the-menu option at a restaurant.
Conclusion
A large restaurant breakfast pizza can range from 2000-3000+ calories depending on the amount of high-calorie meats, cheeses, sauces and crusts used. The more generous the toppings and the bigger the overall size, the more total calories. There are ways to lighten up breakfast pizza calories by using healthier ingredients, making vegetable-based crusts, limiting portions, and sticking to lighter meats and sauces. When ordering a restaurant breakfast pizza, be mindful of just how many calories that large pie can contain.
