Papa Johns recently introduced three new menu items called Papa Bowls. Think of Papa Bowls as pizza toppings served hot in a bowl without the crust. Another name for Papa Bowls is crustless pizza, which is a popular choice for people following a low-carb or ketogenic diet.

You may wonder if Papa Bowls are keto-friendly and what are the exact carb counts. In this detailed review of Papa John's Papa Bowls I'll give you the scoop on all things Papa Bowls, including the complete nutrition facts, the cost, if they are gluten-free, and very importantly the TASTE.

If you love pizza and want the Papa Bowls facts, let's dive in.

What is a Papa Bowl?

A Papa Bowl is a hot, savory bowl of pizza toppings like fresh vegetables, Italian meats like pepperoni and sausage, and cheese minus the crust. Papa Bowls are also considered "crustless pizza" which is a popular choice for people looking to enjoy the same delicious taste of their favorite pizza minus lots of carbs and bread.

Papa Johns has three varieties of Papa Bowls: Chicken Alfredo, Italian Meats Trio (featuring Italian sausage, pepperoni, and meatballs) and Garden Veggie. You can also use their app or online ordering to customize a Papa Bowl with the sauces, meats, and toppings YOU prefer.

The Chicken Alfredo Papa Bowl features tender chicken, creamy alfredo and garlic parmesan sauces, with spinach, mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes. It's topped with a three-cheese blend and Italian seasoning and oven-baked.

Italian Meats Trio Papa Bowl is a meat lover's delight. It has pizza and alfredo sauces layered with pepperoni, sausage, meatballs, green peppers, onions, and tomatoes. It is topped with three melty cheeses, sprinkled with Italian seasoning, and baked.

The Garden Veggie Papa Bowl is a vegetarian option with lots of veggies (spinach, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and banana peppers). It features cheese, Papa John's original pizza sauce, and Italian seasoning.

I ordered all 3 varieties of Papa John’s Papa Bowls to try!

Are Papa John's Papa Bowls keto-friendly?

Papa Bowls are keto-friendly but they are not as low in carbs as you might imagine. Most of the carbs in Papa John's pizza bowls come from the tomato sauce and fresh vegetable toppings, like onions, mushrooms, and green peppers. The Chicken Alfredo Papa Bowl is the lowest in carbs with 9 grams of net carbs per bowl. The Garden Veggie Papa Bowl has 15 grams of net carbs, and the Italian Meats Trio Papa Bowl has 18 grams of net carbs per serving.

Exactly many carbs are in a Papa Bowl?

The Chicken Alfredo Papa Bowl has 9 grams of net carbs per serving. (15 grams of total carbs minus 6 grams of fiber.)

The Italian Meats Trio Papa Bowl has 18 grams of net carbs per serving. (24 grams of total carbs minus 6 grams of fiber.)

The Garden Veggie Papa Bowl has 15 grams of net carbs per serving. (21 grams of total carbs minus 6 grams of fiber.)

Papa John's Pizza Bowls nutrition facts.

Chicken Alfredo Papa Bowl Nutrition Facts

Are Papa Bowls gluten-free?

None of the Papa Bowls (Chicken Alfredo, Italian Meats Trio, or Garden Veggie) are gluten-free. Papa John's Italian seasoning mix contains gluten and that seasoning is used in all of the Papa Bowls.

How many calories are in Papa Bowls?

The Chicken Alfredo Papa Bowl has 570 calories.

The Italian Meats Trio Papa Bowl has 880 calories.

The Garden Veggie Papa Bowl has 380 calories.

RELATED: See all of the Keto Restaurant Guides.

This is the Chicken Alfredo Papa Bowl. It was rich, creamy, satisfying, and was my second favorite bowl.

Can you create your own Papa Bowl?

You absolutely can create and customize your own Papa Bowl using the app or online ordering. Choose a sauce (original pizza, alfredo, bbq, ranch, or buffalo), either 3-cheese bland or Parmesan Romano cheese, your favorite meats and vegetables to create a Papa Bowl that is uniquely your own.

The create-your-own Papa Bowl is also $7.99.

How much do Papa Bowls cost?

Papa Bowls cost $7.99 each and are available at Papa John's restaurants for a limited time.

The Italian Meats Trio Papa Bowl was my absolute favorite. It had all the flavors of a pepperoni pizza!

Review: What do Papa Bowls taste like?

Now for the important part of this review, the taste.

The Chicken Alfredo Papa Bowl is reminiscent of chicken alfredo, as you might imagine. You get plenty of chicken in your bowl so you feel satisfied. In fact, the Chicken Alfredo Papa Bowl surprisingly has the most protein of all the Papa Bowls at 62 grams per bowl. I found the alfredo and parmesan sauces to be delightfully decadent without the carbs of either a traditional pizza or chicken alfredo with pasta. The mushrooms were fresh and plentiful, and I enjoyed the spinach, onions, and tomatoes. It was creamy and rich with a hint of garlic. I found the amount of cheese in the Papa Bowl to be just right. Too much would be greasy and overpower the chicken and vegetables, and too little would make me want more!

I really enjoyed the Chicken Alfredo Papa Bowl.

The Italian Meats Trio Papa Bowl really reminded me of my favorite pepperoni pizza and this was my personal favorite. I didn't even miss the crust! It was a little tangy from the pizza sauce and a tiny bit spicy with the pepperoni and Italian sausage. I feel like the balance of meats to vegetables (green peppers, onions, and tomatoes) was just right. It had enough veggies to make me feel slightly healthy, while enough meat and cheese to fill me up.

I would definitely order this one again. It was also my husband's favorite variety.

Finally, the Garden Veggie Papa Bowl was my least favorite. It tasted fine and had a nice variety of veggies: mushrooms, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and my favorite banana peppers. To me it felt a little skimpy without protein which is odd because when ordering a pizza with crust I will often choose a veggie variety (like Papa Murphy's Gourmet Vegetarian pizza). The banana peppers gave it a little spiciness which I enjoy. It was a little watery when baked. Next time I might request it to be "well done" instead of the "normal bake" when customizing this Papa Bowl.

What do other people say about Papa Bowls?

There's lots of Papa Bowls lovers, judging from the comments on Papa John's Facebook page introducing the new, keto-friendly crustless pizza bowls!

Some people love the Papa Bowls.

Jason B said: "I got it today and loved it! Pepperoni, green peppers, onions, roma tomatoes, and spinach. I've always loved toppings over crust. It was a huge portion too I could have gotten two meals out of it."

Ali K said: "So glad you are doing this because it opens up a whole new world of food choices for diabetic/ Keto people. Good job!"

Kayla B said: "Me and my husband has gotten it twice, we’ve had 5 bowls total (he took one to work) we’re on a low carb/dirty keto lifestyle so for papa johns to offer something like this for us and for diabetics is absolutely amazing! I sure hope it’s here to stay!"

Amy L said: Got 2 custom bowls last night and was very happy with them. Thanks for giving us a pizza experience without the carbs of crust. Well done."

Other people wouldn't order Papa Bowls again.

Erin H said: "We got one today. It was not what we expected. It wasn't terrible but not good. Will not order again."

Jay J said: "The flavors were great! But come on…fill the bowl! Marcos Pizza offers this and you get 3x’s the amount."

Kenda K said: "Sure would be nice to be able to remove the Italian seasoning to make these gluten free. Not able to in the app. Big miss there."

Scrolling through the comments it seems that people were disappointed because they felt the bowls were skimpy, they were greasy, or that they contained gluten (from Papa John's Italian seasoning).

I felt the bowls were filling, there were a little greasy (which is natural and expected with ANY pizza, crustless or not), and I too was disappointed that they contain gluten which I try to avoid.

Are Papa Bowls the same as crustless pizza?

Yes! Papa Bowls from Papa John's are considered crustless pizza: pizza toppings and cheese served hot in a bowl.

RELATED: Check out these restaurants that serve crustless pizza which is a popular choice when following a keto diet.

Does Papa John's serve keto pizza?

Papa John's does not offer a keto-friendly traditional pizza with crust at this time. Their lowest carb pizza style options are the three Papa Bowls with 9, 15, and 18 grams of net carbs per bowl.

I hope you enjoyed this review of Papa John's Papa Bowls. For more restaurants serving pizza bowls, otherwise known as crustless pizza, see this post: What Pizza Chains Have Crustless Pizza for Low-Carb or Keto Diets?

Happy low-carb eating!

--The Keto Minimalist

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