What Are Quepapas At Pizza Hut? (Explained)
Last updated on February 7th, 2023 at 02:32 pm
Every food restaurant wants to stay on top of the game – and they do this differently.
They may do this by improving the quality of their service and engaging in many promotions.
Another way food restaurants maintain relevance and their customers is by tweaking or reinventing amazing food recipes. Pizza Hut is no different.
While Pizza Hut offers a diverse menu of desserts, drinks, pasta, wings, and pizza, they also have small, fried, or baked, medallion-looking goodies called quepapas.
Quepapas are small finger foods made from potatoes, cheese, and jalapenos. While they look like tater tots, there are some differences. Where tater tots are fried potatoes with almost nothing inside, quepapas have a filling of cheddar and jalapeno, which melts in your mouth when you take a bite.
This article will describe quepapas in as much detail as possible, giving you a fair gauge of how good this food is.
How can you get these goodies at the closest Pizza Hut outlet and make yours in the comfort of your house?
Does Pizza Hut Sell Quepapas?
Pizza Hut has been selling quepapas as a side item for more than eight years. Quepapas are tater tots – like foods with cheddar and jalapenos inside shredded potatoes or hashbrowns.
Pizza Hut Quepapas are served steaming hot for about fifteen pieces and a side of ranch dipping dressing. These foods can be baked or fried, giving them a golden, crispy surface.
Sometimes, you might see some tiny bits of jalapenos through the breading. The price for these finger foods varies depending on your location.
While they started at about $4.25 in some locations, today, you can get this order for anything between $5 and $7.
How Many Calories Are in One Quepapas Serving?
Compared to other pastries, quepapas have between 650 to 690 calories in one serving with the dressing.
If you like experimenting with new foods but are conscious of the number of calories in your diet, you may have some concerns.
Though the difference is not much, the number of calories in fried quepapas differs from that of the baked alternative.
The caloric value for one serving size is 690 for fried quepapas and about 650 for the baked alternative.
Below is a table showing the nutritional value for both quepapas options with the ranch dipping dressing per serving.
| Particulars | Baked Quepapas | Fried Quepapas |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 650 | 690 |
| Calories from fat | 396 | 414 |
| Total Fat | 44g | 46g |
| Saturated Fat | 12g | 11g |
| Trans Fat | 0.5g | 0g |
| Cholesterol | 35mg | 30mg |
| Sodium | 1430mg | 1680mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 51g | 55g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5g | 5g |
| Sugars | 7g | 4g |
| Protein | 13g | 13g |
How Good Are Pizza Hut Quepapas?
Quepapas is one food unique to Pizza Hut, and most people who have tried them give very nice reviews.
Pizza Hut Quepapas have a decent amount of breading, giving them a crispy texture on the outside, and are soft when you bite into them.
The jalapeno spiciness tends to kick in after a minute, but it blends well with the dressing, so it does not burn so much.
Some reviewers rank them as high as 8 or 9 out of 10, especially when eaten with ranch dressing.
Even though quepapas look like tater tots or hashbrown nuggets, there are distinct differences.
Here is a table that shows the differences.
| Pizza Hut’s Quepapas | Tater Tots/ Hash Brown Nuggets |
|---|---|
| Are made with potatoes, jalapenos, and cheese | The main ingredient is potatoes, and there is no cheese or jalapenos. Some brands add vegetables to their tots. |
| Are served in Pizza Hut. | They are served in many other restaurants. |
| The cheese and jalapeno mix create a pleasant filling. | They are sometimes hollow on the inside. |
| Quepapas have higher calories of more than 600 calories per serving. | Tater tots have 160 calories in one serving, while hashbrown nuggets have about 350 calories. |
The main similarity between these foods is that they all have potatoes in them, and their preparation mode is quite similar.
At What Pizza Hut Locations Can I Get Quepapas?
Quepapas is only available in a few locations. Officially, as of March 2022, most local outlets stooped making and selling quepapas.
Pizza Hut took them down menus at some of their locations to make room for other items.
Since Pizza Hut’s menu varies by location, you must check the official website to know if the outlet closest to you has quepapas.
Doing this will give you an excellent overview of what Pizza Hut has in store. If you are lucky, your outlet might have some delicious quepapas for you.
Aside from quepapas, there are other foods that Pizza Hut has stopped making across most of its outlets.
Some of these foods are:
- The Hot-Dog Stuffed Crust Pizza – as the name implies, this was a regular pizza lined with hot dogs.
- Triple Decker Pizza was three pizzas layered with cheese between each layer.
- Salad Bar
- Hershey’s Chocolate Dunkers
- Priazzo, which was part lasagna and part pie.
- Taco Pizza
- Sicilian Lasagna Pizza
- Twisted Crust Pizza, which had a crust made of breadsticks.
- Panormous Pizza
- The Big Italy Pizza
- P’zolo, which was half stromboli and half sandwich
Hopefully, Pizza Hut will bring back the quepapas across their locations without turning these amazing finger foods into one of their dinosaur meals.
Can I Make My Own Quepapas?
You can make your quepapas in the comfort of your kitchen. It does not matter if you have had quepapas before; for some reason, the Pizza Hut closest to you no longer sells them.
Or if you are feeling experimental and want to try your hands on a new recipe.
It could also be that you have never had quepapas before, and you do not want to miss out on knowing how they taste.
Whatever it may be, once you know how to make your quepapas, you can have them in less than 30 minutes and enjoy them as much as you want.
To make quepapas, you will need the following ingredients:
- 4 cups of shredded potatoes or hashbrowns
- Three eggs
- ¼ cup of diced jalapeno
- 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
- ¼ or ½ cup of flour
- Seasoned breadcrumbs
- Oil for frying
- Optional: Salt
How to Make Your Quepapas at Home?
Knowing the ingredients you need for this pastry, you can guess that the steps are as simple as the ingredients.
- Mix the hashbrowns, eggs, cheese, and jalapenos in a large bowl until it all ingredients are properly mixed.
- Add flour until your mixture has the consistency you can mold into a patty. The mixture should not be runny or too hard.
- Pour half an inch of oil into a large skillet and heat it over medium heat.
- Take one full tablespoon of the mixture and mold it into a patty.
- Place your molded patty in the bowl of breadcrumbs and coat both sides.
- Put the coated patty in the hot oil and fry it until it becomes golden brown.
- Remove the patty and place it in a paper bag. You can sprinkle on some salt to taste.
- Repeat these steps until the mixture finishes.
If you are using potatoes, you will have to peel them and grate them using the small size (about one-eight-inch holes).
You want to have about 2 cups of shredded potatoes in the end. Next, pour the grated potatoes into a clean towel and squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible.
You can put the wrung-out, shredded potatoes in the large bowl with the other ingredients in the first step.
Additionally, if you do not want to fry your quepapas, you can arrange your patty-shaped mixture in a baking tray and bake it in your oven.
