Secret Menu at Papa Johns: The Custom Pizza Hack Guide
Like most restaurants, Papa Johns does not really have an official secret menu. There is no hidden corporate scroll. No employee will unlock “The Garlic Goblin Supreme” if you whisper it into the app at midnight. This is not a pizza speakeasy. It is Papa Johns, a place where the garlic sauce has more cultural power than some elected officials.
What Papa Johns does have is a very hackable menu: customizable pizzas, dipping sauces, chicken poppers, wings, cheesesticks, desserts, and, depending on your market, Papadias or oven-toasted sandwiches. The real secret menu is less “ask for this magic phrase” and more “combine existing items until dinner becomes a delicious little zoning violation.”
Papa Johns’ current menu ecosystem includes pizzas, wings, sides, desserts, dipping sauces, and newer oven-toasted sandwiches in the U.S. The sandwiches launched in March 2026 on ciabatta-style bread brushed with Special Garlic Sauce, with varieties like Philly Cheesesteak, Chicken Bacon Ranch, and Steak & Mushroom. Meanwhile, the Papa Johns Papadias page describes Papadias as flatbread-style pizza sandwiches and notes they are only available in Canada, because apparently Canada gets custody of the pizza sandwich while the U.S. gets ciabatta chaos.
So yes, this guide is part menu hack, part survival manual, part plea to stop asking employees for fake names from TikTok during the dinner rush.
How to Order the Papa Johns Secret Menu Without Sounding Like a Lunatic
The first rule of the Papa Johns secret menu is simple: order the ingredients, not the nickname.
Do not say, “Can I get the Chicken Parmesan Goblin Melt?” The employee will not know what that is because you invented it in your car 11 seconds ago. Say, “Can I get a pizza with regular sauce, grilled chicken, extra cheese, garlic Parmesan sauce, and Parmesan-Romano?” Now you sound like a person ordering food instead of someone trying to access a deleted training manual from 2009.
The second rule: use the app when possible. Papa Johns customization works best when you can calmly add toppings, sauces, crust options, dips, and sides without making a phone employee decode your pizza manifesto while three delivery drivers stare into the abyss.
The third rule: accept limits. Papa Johns’ own site notes that some offers exclude triple toppings, that additional toppings may cost extra, and that there may be a seven-topping limit to ensure bake quality. Translation: you cannot build a 19-topping pizza tower and then act shocked when it emerges from the oven looking like a casserole that lost a fistfight.
Secret Menu Item #1: Garlic Bomb Pizza
This is the most obvious Papa Johns secret menu hack because garlic is basically the brand’s emotional support condiment.
Order a pizza with Garlic Epic Stuffed Crust if available, add garlic Parmesan crust flavor, and get extra Special Garlic Sauce or Spicy Garlic Sauce on the side. Papa Johns lists both Special Garlic Sauce and Spicy Garlic Sauce among its dipping sauces, and the ingredient page shows the garlic sauce is soybean-oil based with garlic, salt, natural flavors, and emulsifiers. So no, it is not butter. It is yellow garlic petroleum in a tiny cup, and society has chosen to love it anyway.
How to order it:
“Can I get a Garlic Epic Stuffed Crust pizza with garlic Parmesan crust, plus extra Special Garlic Sauce and Spicy Garlic Sauce?”
Best toppings: pepperoni, grilled chicken, bacon, jalapeños, onions, or mushrooms.
Worth it? Yes, if your idea of luxury is eating a pizza that can be detected by neighbors through drywall.
Secret Menu Item #2: Chicken Parmesan Pizza
This is one of the best Papa Johns secret menu builds because it actually makes culinary sense, which is rare in secret menu culture, where many items are just “put ranch on it and call it innovation.”
Build it with regular pizza sauce, grilled chicken, extra cheese, garlic Parmesan sauce, and Parmesan-Romano cheese if available. Papa Johns’ official meat ingredients list includes grilled chicken as a pizza meat topping, and the sides list includes Chicken Poppers if you want to do the more chaotic DIY version at home.
How to order it:
“Can I get a pizza with regular sauce, grilled chicken, extra cheese, garlic Parmesan sauce, and Parmesan-Romano?”
DIY goblin version: order Chicken Poppers, cut them up, and throw them on top of a cheese pizza with extra pizza sauce. This is not elegant. It is effective. There is a difference, and tonight we respect effectiveness.
Employee-style off-menu discussions on the Papa Johns subreddit mention Chicken Parmesan-style poppers and chicken parm pizza builds using Chicken Poppers, pizza sauce, cheese, garlic Parmesan, and Parmesan packets. This is not official company doctrine; it is fast-food worker folklore, which is somehow more useful and more dangerous.
Secret Menu Item #3: Loaded Chicken Poppers
Chicken Poppers are already on the Papa Johns sides menu, made from boneless chicken breast with breading/batter. The secret menu move is to turn them into a tiny chicken nacho situation using dips and toppings.
Order:
Chicken Poppers
Cheese Sauce
Buffalo Sauce
Ranch
Extra bacon if your location can add it
Then combine everything yourself like a trash wizard with a napkin.
How to order it:
“Can I get Chicken Poppers with cheese sauce, Buffalo sauce, ranch, and bacon if available?”
This is basically loaded fries, except the fries have been replaced by chicken, because apparently someone looked at a side dish and said, “What if protein wore a breaded jacket and made worse decisions?”
Worth it? Yes. Especially if you like Buffalo chicken dip but wish it came in nugget form and attacked your self-control directly.
Secret Menu Item #4: Buffalo Chicken Ranch Pizza
Buffalo chicken pizza is one of those things that should be standard at every pizza chain because it combines chicken, heat, cheese, and ranch — four food groups recognized by the Council of People Eating Near a Couch.
Build it with grilled chicken, onions, bacon, Buffalo sauce, and either ranch drizzle or ranch dipping sauce on the side. Papa Johns lists Buffalo Sauce and Ranch Sauce among its official dipping sauces, and the ingredients page confirms ranch is very much an oil-and-buttermilk situation, so maybe do not pretend it is a light drizzle from a woodland spring.
How to order it:
“Can I get a pizza with grilled chicken, bacon, onions, Buffalo sauce, and ranch on the side?”
Add jalapeños if you want the pizza to stop being polite and start causing little problems.
Worth it? Absolutely. This is one of the safest secret menu builds because it uses flavors that already know each other and do not need a team-building retreat.
Secret Menu Item #5: BBQ Chicken Bacon Pineapple Pizza
This is the pizza for people who like sweet, smoky, salty, and spicy all on one crust — also known as people with functional taste buds and a willingness to be judged by pineapple cowards.
Papa Johns offers BBQ sauce, grilled chicken, bacon, onions, and pineapple among its pizza ingredients and toppings. The official ingredient pages list BBQ sauce, grilled chicken, bacon, onions, and pineapple tidbits, so this build is not some fantasy pizza scribbled on a napkin by a sauce-drunk raccoon.
How to order it:
“Can I get a pizza with BBQ sauce, grilled chicken, bacon, onions, pineapple, and jalapeños?”
This is basically BBQ chicken pizza after it got back from vacation with a questionable tattoo. The pineapple adds sweetness. The jalapeños keep it from becoming dessert. The bacon stands around being bacon, which is apparently a full-time job.
Worth it? Yes. Ignore the pineapple discourse. It is 2026. We have larger problems.
Secret Menu Item #6: Philly Cheesesteak Garlic Pizza
Papa Johns has Philly Steak as a meat topping, and the new U.S. oven-toasted sandwich lineup includes a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich with chopped steak, roasted onions and peppers, pizza ranch, and white American cheese. That means the Philly flavor lane is very much inside the building, pacing around with melted cheese confidence.
Build the pizza with Philly steak, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, cheese, and garlic sauce. If you want heat, add jalapeños or banana peppers.
How to order it:
“Can I get a pizza with Philly steak, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, and garlic Parmesan sauce?”
This is not exactly a cheesesteak. It is a pizza wearing cheesesteak cologne. But it works.
Worth it? Yes, especially if you are bored of pepperoni and want your pizza to feel like it owns a grill spatula.
Secret Menu Item #7: Bacon Six-Cheese Cheesesticks
Papa Johns Cheesesticks are already close to being a secret menu item because they are basically pizza without the burden of pretending tomato sauce is involved. The official side ingredients list includes Cheesesticks made with dough, mozzarella, and garlic sauce, and the nutritional details page includes Bacon Cheesesticks as a menu item in some contexts.
The secret upgrade: add bacon, extra cheese, and a pizza dipping cup.
How to order it:
“Can I get Cheesesticks with bacon added, and pizza sauce on the side?”
If your location lets you add extra cheese or a different cheese blend, do it. If not, order extra dipping sauce and stop trying to make one side dish carry your entire personality.
Worth it? Yes. This is one of the easiest hacks because it asks Papa Johns to do what it already does best: bake dough under cheese until everyone forgets nutrition labels exist.
Secret Menu Item #8: Alfredo Bacon Cheesesticks
This one comes straight from employee-style off-menu lore: Papa Johns workers on Reddit have discussed cheesestick builds using Alfredo sauce, garlic swirl, six cheese, bacon, and Parmesan after baking. Again, this is not official. It is the kind of thing employees make when the dinner rush is dead and creativity has begun chewing through the walls.
How to order it, if your location allows custom cheesesticks:
“Can I get Cheesesticks with Alfredo sauce and bacon?”
If they cannot do it, do not argue like the Constitution has been violated. Just order Cheesesticks and a dipping sauce. We are hacking pizza, not negotiating a hostage release.
Worth it? Yes, if available. Alfredo plus bacon plus cheese on dough is not subtle. It is dairy wearing a motorcycle helmet.
Secret Menu Item #9: Chicken Parm Sandwich
In the U.S., Papa Johns now has oven-toasted sandwiches on ciabatta-style bread brushed with Special Garlic Sauce. Current official sandwich options include Philly Cheesesteak, Chicken Bacon Ranch, and Steak & Mushroom. The Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich is the easiest base for a Chicken Parm-style hack, assuming your location allows modifications or you are willing to assemble at home.
How to order it:
“Can I get the Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich with pizza sauce on the side?”
Then add pizza sauce yourself. If you can remove ranch or add extra cheese, even better.
A full Italian Chicken Bacon Ranch Oven-Toasted Sandwich is listed at 780 calories and 52g of protein, which is a lot of sandwich energy. Not a light hack. A big, cheesy, garlic-brushed ciabatta slab doing pushups in a paper wrapper.
Worth it? Yes, but do not pretend it is a snack. It is a meal wearing sandwich pants.
Secret Menu Item #10: Spicy Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich
Take the Philly Cheesesteak Oven-Toasted Sandwich and add jalapeños, banana peppers, or Spicy Garlic Sauce on the side. The official veggie ingredients list includes jalapeños and banana peppers, while the sauces page lists Spicy Garlic Sauce as an available dipping sauce.
How to order it:
“Can I get the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich with jalapeños or banana peppers, and Spicy Garlic Sauce on the side?”
This is the sandwich version of putting a leather jacket on a cheesesteak and telling it to make poor decisions.
Worth it? Yes. The Philly sandwich is already rich; acid and heat help keep it from becoming a melted-beef nap.
Secret Menu Item #11: Steak & Mushroom Pizza Ranch Sandwich
The Steak & Mushroom Oven-Toasted Sandwich is already officially on the U.S. menu, listed at 820 calories and 41g of protein. The secret move is not making it bigger. It is making it sharper. Add banana peppers, jalapeños, or pizza sauce on the side.
How to order it:
“Can I get the Steak & Mushroom sandwich with banana peppers, plus pizza sauce on the side?”
This one is for people who want a hot sandwich but also want it to taste vaguely like pizza had a job interview.
Worth it? Yes, especially if you need a break from pizza but refuse to leave the Papa Johns flavor universe, which is apparently held together by garlic sauce and stubbornness.
Secret Menu Item #12: Chicken Parm Papadia
Papadias are available in Canada according to Papa Johns’ current Papadias page, and the nutrition page describes them as flatbread-style sandwiches served with dipping sauce. The menu includes or has included versions like Philly Cheesesteak, Grilled BBQ Chicken & Bacon, Grilled Buffalo Chicken, Meatball Pepperoni, and Italian Papadias, though availability can vary.
If Papadias are available near you, build a Chicken Parm Papadia with grilled chicken, pizza sauce, extra cheese, garlic Parmesan sauce, and a pizza dipping cup.
How to order it:
“Can I build a Papadia with grilled chicken, pizza sauce, extra cheese, and garlic Parmesan?”
Worth it? Yes. It is pizza folded into a sandwich, which is already one of humanity’s more elegant ways of admitting plates are optional.
Secret Menu Item #13: BBQ Pineapple Bacon Papadia
This is the Papadia version of the BBQ chicken pineapple pizza. Use BBQ sauce, grilled chicken, bacon, onions, pineapple, and jalapeños if available.
How to order it:
“Can I get a Papadia with BBQ sauce, grilled chicken, bacon, onions, pineapple, and jalapeños?”
This is very much a “Canada gets the fun toy” situation if you are in a market where Papadias still exist. The U.S. sandwich launch has replaced or displaced them in many places, while Canada still shows Papadias on the official Papa Johns page.
Worth it? Yes, if your location will build it. If not, make the pizza version and stop mourning the sandwich that got away.
Secret Menu Item #14: Loaded Pepperoncini Pizza
Every Papa Johns pizza traditionally comes with a pepperoncini, and the ingredient page lists pepperoncinis under signature extras. The underrated hack is to stop treating the pepperoncini as box decoration and start treating it as an actual ingredient.
Build a pizza with pepperoni, sausage, banana peppers, jalapeños, onions, and extra pepperoncinis on the side. Slice the pepperoncinis and add them after baking for acid and heat.
How to order it:
“Can I get extra pepperoncinis on the side?”
Then use them like a civilized chaos agent.
Worth it? Absolutely. Acid makes heavy pizza better. This is science, or at least the kind of kitchen logic that should be science because it keeps greasy food from tasting like a weighted blanket.
Secret Menu Item #15: Papa Johns Dipping Sauce Flight
This one is barely a secret, but it is the smartest move for groups. Papa Johns has a wide dipping sauce lineup, including Special Garlic, Spicy Garlic, Pizza Sauce, Cheese Sauce, Honey Mustard, BBQ, Buffalo, Ranch, Blue Cheese, and others. The nutrition page also lists calorie differences: Pizza Sauce is 20 calories, Buffalo is 15 calories, Special Garlic is 140 calories, Ranch is 100 calories, Blue Cheese is 160 calories, and Cheese Sauce is 40 calories per cup.
Order a sauce flight:
Special Garlic
Spicy Garlic
Pizza Sauce
Buffalo
Ranch
Cheese Sauce
Then dip pizza, crust, breadsticks, cheesesticks, and whatever dignity remains.
Worth it? Yes. Especially because different sauces completely change the same pizza. This is how you make one order feel like six orders without adding a second mortgage.
Secret Menu Item #16: Oreo Cinnamon Pull-Apart Dessert Chaos
Papa Johns’ dessert page lists options like Salted Caramel Blondie, OREO Cookie Papa Bites, Cinnamon Pull Aparts, Double Chocolate Chip Brownie, and cream-cheese-icing-style dessert items. Depending on location, availability may vary, because dessert menus are apparently managed by a mischievous bakery ghost.
The secret hack: order Cinnamon Pull Aparts and OREO Cookie Papa Bites, then use the icing as cross-dip. Or crumble the Oreo bites over the cinnamon pull-aparts if you are at home and have accepted that dessert has become a construction project.
How to order it:
“Can I get Cinnamon Pull Aparts and OREO Cookie Papa Bites with extra icing if available?”
Worth it? Yes, if sharing. If eaten alone in one sitting, this becomes less “secret menu” and more “sugar weather event.”
Secret Menu Item #17: Dessert Pizza Hack
This is employee folklore territory. Papa Johns workers on Reddit have discussed using icing, Cinnamon Pull Apart pieces, Oreo-style fillings, and dough to create dessert-pizza-like builds. That does not mean your store will make it. It means employees with access to dough and boredom can create things that civilians should probably only attempt at home.
The customer-friendly version:
Order a cheese pizza-sized dessert? No. Don’t do that unless the app offers it. Instead, order the desserts separately and assemble them yourself at home.
DIY version:
Cinnamon Pull Aparts
OREO Papa Bites
Cream cheese icing
A knife
A concerning sense of purpose
Worth it? Yes, but only if you accept that this is dessert engineering, not a menu item.
What Not to Ask For at Papa Johns
Do not ask employees to make elaborate Reddit employee-break-food during dinner rush. Some off-menu builds involve using dough in ways that are not normal customer ordering, running items through the oven multiple times, chopping poppers, crimping dough, or assembling calzones. Fun? Yes. Reasonable to demand at 6:30 p.m. on a Friday? Absolutely not.
Do not assume discontinued items are available. Papa Bowls, for example, appear in the current U.S. nutrition page as “NO LONGER AVAILABLE” for listed varieties like Chicken Alfredo, Italian Meats Trio, and Garden Veggie. So if your local menu still has bowls, great. If not, do not stand there yelling “but the internet said” like a crustless-pizza lawyer.
Do not build a pizza with every meat, every vegetable, extra cheese, three sauces, and stuffed crust, then complain it is messy. That is not Papa Johns’ fault. That is you building a lasagna Frisbee.
Do not ignore allergens. Papa Johns’ ingredient pages note that products may come into contact with wheat or dairy in restaurants, and some sauces and sides contain allergens like milk, egg, soy, wheat, or fish. Secret menu experimentation is not the time to be casual about allergy risk.
Best Papa Johns Secret Menu Hacks, Ranked by Usefulness
The best hack is the Chicken Parmesan Pizza. It is easy to explain, uses available ingredients, and tastes like it was supposed to exist instead of being assembled during a coupon-fueled fever dream.
Second is the Garlic Bomb Pizza, because Papa Johns garlic sauce is basically the chain’s entire mythology in liquid form.
Third is the Loaded Chicken Poppers build. It is messy, ridiculous, and extremely on-brand.
Fourth is the Buffalo Chicken Ranch Pizza, which is hard to mess up because Buffalo sauce, chicken, cheese, and ranch are already friends.
Fifth is the BBQ Chicken Bacon Pineapple Pizza, because sweet-smoky-spicy pizza is good and the anti-pineapple lobby needs to get a hobby.
Sixth is any Papadia hack, but only if Papadias are available in your market.
Seventh is the Dipping Sauce Flight, because sometimes the sauce is the point and the pizza is just the vehicle.
Papa Johns Secret Menu Is Customization Wearing a Garlic-Sauce Mask
The secret menu at Papa Johns is not official. It is not hidden in a vault. It is not protected by the pepperoncini council. It is just customization, sauce strategy, side-item engineering, and the occasional employee-born food experiment escaping Reddit like a cheesy little lab animal.
The best secret menu items are the ones you can actually order without making anyone’s shift worse: Garlic Bomb Pizza, Chicken Parmesan Pizza, Buffalo Chicken Ranch Pizza, BBQ Chicken Bacon Pineapple Pizza, Loaded Chicken Poppers, Bacon Cheesesticks, spicy sandwich hacks, Papadia builds where available, and dessert mashups.
Order by ingredients. Use the app. Keep it reasonable. Accept local availability. Tip if you are making someone deal with your garlic-stuffed pizza thesis.
And remember: Papa Johns already gives you pizza, garlic sauce, pepperoncinis, cheesesticks, chicken poppers, and desserts in the same building. The secret menu was never hidden.
It was just waiting for someone reckless enough to combine everything.
