Hang Up the Phone! Your Slow Cooker’s Got Pizza Night Covered

Cooking for a family is no easy task. You really want to give your family healthy, home-cooked meals, made with fresh and whole ingredients, every night. But sometimes after a long, hard day, it’s tempting to pick up the phone and order a hot pizza from your favorite pizza place. Maybe you’re already envisioning the pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, olives, onions, peppers and bubbling cheese. Well, you can put down the phone because your slow cooker is handling pizza night from now on.

This slow-cooker pizza soup features everything you love about pizza, but in a home-cooked soup made with fresh ingredients you can feel good about. And because it’s made in the slow cooker, it’s practically as easy as picking up the phone and calling the pizza place.

Two key ingredients come together to bring out the pizza flavor: Progresso beef-flavored broth and Muir Glen organic diced tomatoes. You’ll also need ground Italian sausage, tomato sauce, diced green bell pepper, a yellow onion, olives, basil leaves, oregano, parsley, pepperoni, mushrooms and Parmesan. Of course, you can omit or add toppings according to your family’s tastes.

First, brown the Italian sausage over medium/high heat in a large skillet. When the meat has browned, drain the grease.

Place all of the ingredients, with the exception of the cheese, into a six-quart slow cooker. Cook on High for four hours or on Low for six hours.

When the soup is ready, ladle it into bowls and top with shredded cheese. This soup is our new favorite way to celebrate pizza night!