California Pizza Kitchen Just Launched a Gluten-Free Chickpea Crust Pizza

There’s something about California Pizza Kitchen that spells comfort. Whether it’s memories of nights out with middle school friends or celebrating birthdays there (gotta love that free birthday dessert with CPK rewards). And while you may have moved on from your Hawaiian Pizza obsession, the national restaurant chain has certainly evolved with your tastes, too.

In fact, we’re pleased to announce that CPK has announced the launch of its Chickpea Crust Pizza today, a gluten-free, high-protein crust that ups the health stats on your next ‘za order without compromising flavor.

FYI: If you’re strictly vegan you’ll want to steer clear as the crust contains honey. The new crust will first be available starting June 22nd at select locations throughout Southern California and Florida to start.

For this phase, the product will be tested in 21 locations:

“Chickpea Crust represents the very best of CPK culinary — first to market, creative, and most importantly, the product brings new health benefits while maintaining the incredible California-inspired pizza taste our guests love,” said CPK CEO Jim Hyatt in a company press release. “We have incredible business momentum following a challenging pandemic year and Chickpea Crust is another example of how we are moving CPK forward.”

“At CPK, we’ve always been proud to answer the question ‘what’s next?’ for our guests, before they ask. We did it with a gluten-free crust, then with Cauliflower Pizza Crust, and now we’re thrilled to innovate once again with the introduction of Chickpea Pizza Crust,” added SVP of Culinary Innovation, Brian Sullivan in the same statement. “We’re excited to finally share what we’ve been working on, and to continue bringing bold and creative culinary ideas to our guests.”

Whether you’re simply looking to eat healthier, are a vegetarian, or embrace a plant-based lifestyle, CPK has several spectacular plant-forward options, including the vegan limited-edition Avocado Super Green Pizza (featuring cilantro pesto, smashed avocado, baby greens, cucumber, red onion, house-made salsa verde, fresh lime, and toasted sesame seeds) or the Plant-Based BBQ Chicken Pizza (just hold the cheese; you can also order plant-based chicken substitute à la carte). Guests can also order pizzas with veggie toppings, marinara sauce, or olive oil, and without cheese to customize plant-based pizzas. The new Chickpea Crust can be ordered with any toppings you’d like.

We suppose this evening sounds like a good one for a pizza night.

Fast-food restaurants have finally got the memo that their customer base isn’t just coming through for a burger, fried chicken, or a beef taco. Many now have plant-based foods and are coming up with creative, delicious ways to get more greens on the menu. Here are the 6 best fast-food chains with plant-based options on the menu.

Turns out there’s a lot more to rely on than a salad if you’re eating plant-based. Burger King has the Impossible Whopper featuring a meatless patty as well as a few secretly vegan options such as the French Toast Sticks and Hashbrowns.

Known for its mini square-shaped sliders, this hamburger chain jumped on the plant-based bandwagon at some participating locations. You can find an Impossible Slider on some White Castle menus.

This was the first national Mexican fast-food chain to offer Beyond Meat at the company’s 580 restaurants across the country. Del Taco has the Beyond Avocado Taco on the menu along with the Epic Beyond Original Mex Burrito and Avocado Veggie Bowl.

Another brand synonymous with beef burgers, Carl’s Jr. offers several plant-based options for veggie and plant lover such as Beyond Famous Star Burger and Guacamole Thickburger.

This fast-food restaurant may have been one of the first you frequented while transitioning to plant-based eating. That’s because Taco Bell has eight million vegetarian combinations and sells 350 million vegetarian items a year through menu substitutions or ordering off their vegetarian menu. In fact, they were the first quick-service restaurant to offer American Vegetarian Association (AVA) certified food options.

From the time it started offering breakfast sandwiches in 2006, the coffee conglomerate became a competitor in the fast-food space. You can get your favorite hot and cold beverages made with almond, coconut or oat milk but there are also plant-based food options available such as the Baja Black Bean Veggie Wrap, bagel with vegan cream cheese and Impossible Breakfast Sandwich.