Slow Cooker Pizza Soup (GF, DF, Top 8 Free too!)

All the flavors of a delicious combo pizza, without the work of making a crust or paying an arm and a leg for some specialty allergy-free pizza.

I feel like a terrible mother admitting this, but my son has only had pizza once. I know it’s a childhood staple.  But, having wheat and dairy allergies makes it a titch bit tough!

Any gluten-free crust I’ve found, has eggs in it…which he’s also allergic to. I finally found a recipe and it was so much work and the crust was so tough that I’ve never done it again.

This is why I have the biggest crush on this soup.  It has all the flavors of a delicious combo pizza, without the work of making a crust or paying an arm and a leg for some specialty allergy-free pizza.

As you’ll see in the recipe, it originally called for some mozzarella on top.  I thought it might be bad without the cheese (former cheese-aholic), but the cheese actually ends up melting into a big ball in the soup, so I didn’t miss it.  It’s so full of flavor and texture anyways that it was good without it, but of course you can add it if your diet allows it.

I should also mention that you can omit or add in your other favorite pizza toppings.  For example, my son can’t do beef, so I just put pepperoni in the rest of the cups individually, instead of adding it to the entire soup.

Enjoy the taste of pizza, with the ease of the slow cooker!

Slow Cooker Pizza Soup (GF, DF, Top 8 Free too!)

Adapted from my friend Rachel

1 jar (14 oz) of pizza sauce
3 empty jars full of water
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup baby tomatoes, cut in quarters (or 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained)
1 package of Italian sausage
1 cup sliced pepperoni, sliced in quarters
8 fresh basil leaves, chopped (or 1/2 T dried)
1 T dried oregano
3/4 cup of dried, gluten-free pasta (we like brown rice rotini)
shredded mozzarella cheese (if you don’t have dairy issues)

Directions:

Use a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker for this recipe.

Wash and prepare veggies. Dump them into the slow cooker.

On the stove, brown and crumble the sausage until cooked.  Drain and add to the slow cooker.

Add basil and oregano. Pour in the pizza sauce, and follow with three empty jars of water.

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Everything in this is already cooked, so you are really only heating through and allowing the flavors to meld.

Ten minutes before serving, bring a pot of salted water to boil.  Add the pasta and cook to al dente (this is usually 8-9 minutes for my pasta.)  Drain and run cold water over it to stop it from cooking.  Add the pasta to the individual bowls.  (As I’ve mentioned before, gluten free pasta is finicky, and if you add it to the main soup and let it set in the warm liquid it will become gummy, so it’s better to keep them separate and only add the pasta as you’re serving it.)

Garnish/top with shredded mozzarella cheese, if permitted.

*NOTE: If you happen to forget to put this in your slow cooker, and still have a hankering, you can make the soup and instead of cooking it in the slow cooker, simmer it for a half of an hour to meld the flavors, adding the pasta to the individual bowls like previously mentioned.*