Cheetos Puffs Cheezy Pizza: The Snack That Time Forgot

Whether you munch them with unabashed pride or as a guilty pleasure, Cheetos are a titan of the chip aisle. However, a ranking of the best Cheetos flavors shows that for every "Flamin' Hot" success story, some experimental varieties weren't up to snuff. One such item was Cheetos Puffs Cheezy Pizza. It was short-lived, only on the grocery store shelves from 2001 to 2006. Still, the snack is fondly remembered by some. The sad truth about limited-time flavors is that they are just not around for very long. Although Cheetos Puffs Cheezy Pizza snacks have been absent from the market for quite some time, the idea of a pizza and Cheetos hybrid is alluring, lingering in our memories if we were lucky enough to have them in our lunchboxes. 

So, what made them distinct in the grand Cheetos oeuvre? According to taste tests, these Cheetos differed from standard issue Puffs by being a deeper red in color and considerably denser in consistency. Of course, the flavor was meant to evoke the tastes and spices you'd find in pizza. The flavor was comparable to other pizza-based chips such as Pizza-Licious Pringles, which came out in 2000, and Pizza Goldfish, which have been around in some form since 1966.

According to an anonymous reviewer on Phoood, a food rating blog, the pizza taste overwhelmed the classic Cheetos cheese flavor. "The flavoring tasted almost exactly like the filling flavor of Cheese Pizza Combos. If I sat there and thought about Combos, the puffs weren't too bad." As the limited-time caveat on the snacks' packaging suggested, the flavor only lasted a few years after its debut. Despite their absence, demand for reinstatement of these snacks has only been minimal, relegated to comments like "I miss these!" International variations can be found on sites like Exotic Snack Guys. Currently, they are sold out, leaving fans to watch auction sites like eBay to get a bag. However, if you're lucky enough to win one, examine that expiration date before you take your tastebuds down memory lane!

As it stands now, it seems as though the saga of Cheetos Puffs Cheezy Pizza has appeared to have come to a close. Still, the nostalgia boom is real, so they could return to satisfy the "Oh yeah, I remember those things from middle school!" section of millennial brains nationwide. Just keep watching the snack aisle — and cross your fingers.