Crock-Pot Pizza Pasta

This gluten-free Crock-Pot Pizza Pasta has all the flavors of meat lovers’ pizza, but without all the work!

In my humble opinion, pizza and pasta are two of life’s greatest joys. And if they’re both so great, why not put them together into one dish? Honestly, I’ve always had a thing for turning pizza into anything and everything—pizza quinoa, pizza-style lasagna, pizza bites, you name it. If it can be pizza-fied, I’ve probably tried it. But this Crock-Pot pizza pasta might just be my most genius idea yet.

I’ll admit that the idea of putting pasta in the slow cooker threw me at first. I was a little worried I’d just bought a one-way ticket to Mush Town. Turns out, no. You can totally cook pasta in a slow cooker as long as you time it right—even gluten-free pasta! It comes out perfectly tender without the chaos of watching for the pot to boil. (Please tell me I’m not the only one who still struggles with picking the right pot size for that?)

The real star of the show here, though, is the cheesy, pizza-flavored sauce loaded with ground beef and pepperoni. It’s hearty, comforting, and oh-so-good even the next day. If you’re feeling ambitious, making a homemade sauce will take it to the next level—but don’t stress, the jarred stuff works great, too.

Is Crock-Pot Pizza Pasta Healthy?

This dish is many things, but healthy isn’t one of them. But hey, enjoying comfort food isn’t about counting calories!

Pizza-fied dishes tend to be heavy on the carbs, fat, and salt, and those things are certainly present here. But I’ve done what I can to lighten things up slightly where possible. I used 92% lean ground beef and turkey pepperoni to cut down on fat content. If you want to trim it back even further, you could swap the ground beef altogether for ground turkey. I also use a low-sodium chicken broth, as the salt content in the pepperoni, Italian seasoning, and cooked ham can be a bit high, depending on your dietary needs. Mozzarella cheese is already lower in fat than many other soft cheeses, but if you wanted to, you could use a reduced-fat mozzarella instead. Just know it may not melt as well as regular.

For a vegetarian version, swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth and leave out the ground beef, pepperoni, and ham. Load up on veggies instead. Mushrooms, bell peppers, diced onions, or black olives are all popular veggie pizza toppings that still bring the same vibe, just without the meat.

Getting The Perfect Pasta Portion

In addition to being terrible at guessing the correct pot size to boil my noodles in, I’m also really bad at guessing how much pasta to cook per person. If you’re anything like me, there’s a simple rule of thumb you can follow.

If pasta is going to be the main dish, plan on about two ounces of dry pasta per person. That’s roughly half a cup of dry pasta for small shapes like rotini or penne. It’s the width of about the size of a quarter if you’re making long pasta like spaghetti.

Now, keep in mind, everyone’s a little different. If you know you’ve got some big appetites coming to the table, you might want to bump it up to three ounces! After all, a few leftovers never hurt anyone.

Serving Suggestions

If this Crock-Pot pizza pasta is going to be your main course, consider serving a light side dish to go along with it. This Italian Salad or Artichoke Salad would be perfect and suit the Italian theme. And if you want to take a crack at making your very own sauce for this dish, try this simple homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe.

Recipe