Blaze Pizza's new entrée salads feature fresh flavors, lower prices

Consumers craving a salad for lunch might not put Blaze Pizza at the top of the list. But the Atlanta-based made-to-order pizza chain just launched three new entrée salads, tossed with flavorful, healthful ingredients and well-priced for a fast-casual salad.

New salad menu

Salads are not necessarily new to Blaze’s menu, but these were developed to meet diners’ current demands, said CEO John Owen. The limited-time Chicken Chickpea Salad is packed with 29 grams protein, while The Chop has a Mediterranean flavor profile, and Bacon Pesto Bliss offers layers of smoky and herbal flavors. All are served with house-made dressings developed for the launch. They’re priced from $10.95. to $11.95, a few dollars below what most fast-casual salad concepts are charging.

“You've now got an opportunity for a mom and dad to bring their kids in, and everybody has something that they can enjoy,” said Owen. “And salad is something that you can take and eat later, which we do see our customers doing. Salads are also becoming more and more popular as Gen Z and, frankly, Gen Alpha, start to be in a position to make their own choices for meals.”

Chicken was already in house for the Chicken Chickpea Salad, but Blaze is now cooking it differently to enhance the flavor. “We roast the chicken right in our pizza ovens, the same way we’ve been roasting garlic and broccoli,” said Owen. “We don’t change anything about the temperature; we just change the time.”

About two ounces of roasted chicken go on each salad, and along with the chickpeas and feta cheese, the protein adds up to 29 grams per serving. The salad is finished with cucumbers, pickled red onions, roasted red peppers, artichokes, and crunchy pita chips, then paired with a creamy Sundried Tomato Parmesan Dressing.

Although some of the ingredients are cross-utilized from Blaze’s extensive stock of pizza toppings, the fast-casual did bring in chickpeas, pickled red onions, and cucumbers. The flavor profile of the salad dressing is new, developed by the Blaze culinary team to reflect what resonates most with consumers’ tastes, said Owen.

The Bacon Pesto Bliss Salad also benefits from an upgraded cooking technique. The chain updated its preparation standards across all 230 locations to make the bacon crisper so it retains a crunchy texture when it’s tossed into the salad. The bacon is layered with romaine lettuce, fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, artichokes, and pickled red onions, then finished with basil and creamy Pesto Ranch Dressing.

Rounding out the salad trio is The Chop — a mix of romaine topped with chickpeas, roasted red peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, pickled banana peppers, red onions, Kalamata olives, shaved Parmesan, fresh mozzarella, and basil, with an Italian Herb Dressing.

Customization options

Guests also have the option to build their own custom salads from the array of ingredients and dressings.

Each entrée salad comes with a wedge of “fast-fire’d” flatbread, crafted from Blaze’s fresh pizza dough. It’s finished with olive oil, oregano, Parmesan cheese, and salt, then baked in the restaurants’ signature fast-fire'd ovens.

“It’s a surprise and delight for our guests and a differentiator for us, since the salad chains aren’t doing anything like this,” said Owen. “People are already surprised that Blaze, known for pizza, can make great salads as well, but they also get this extra baked flatbread with their order.”

The pricing strategy also ties into positioning Blaze as a “surprising” salad destination.

“We wanted to price the salads in such a way that a customer wants to try them, which can turn them into a believer so they come back again,” said Owen.

Implementation and future plans

Although Blaze previously had a couple of salads on offer, the new lineup required extra training. The chain held intense webinars to make sure all the Blazers were understanding the salad components and builds, said Owen. “Our team also spends time going out into restaurants, myself included, when we launch something new, to make sure it’s done correctly and performing the way we want it to,” he added.

The updated salad program also includes upgraded packaging designed to keep ingredients fresh and promote portability. New compostable bowls expand grab-and-go meal options with a convenient, sustainable carrier. Fast-casual pizza typically doesn’t get high marks for portability.

Before testing and launching the three new salads, there were other ideas and combinations that were developed. Owen implied that there are more salads in the pipeline, but “we wanted to start with these three, as we thought they’d be the most popular. But stay tuned for more news around salads going forward,” he said.

Blaze is also working on items in the dessert category, recently having introduced a brookie — a brownie-cookie hybrid — and tiramisu.

Pizza innovation is ongoing, Owen said, and beverages are also on the radar.

While new items often require additional SKUs and additional training, Blaze’s kitchens are well equipped to handle line extensions. No additional equipment was needed to create the new salad program, and those pizza ovens seem able to cook much more than pizzas.

Pat plans and executes menu, food and drink stories for Restaurant Business and hosts the weekly Menu Talk podcast. She provides in-depth coverage of chefs, trends and menu innovation.