Crock Pot Pizza Casserole is an easy, delicious dinner recipe with tender pasta, meaty homemade pizza sauce, melted cheese, and pizza toppings of your choice.
After a fast prep, let the slow cooker do the work. Make it your way with the options in the post, or follow our preference for easy and delicious crock pot pizza with pepperoni and Italian sausage.
🍕Ingredients
Pasta—uncooked bite-size pasta
Ground meat—usually ground beef and Italian sausage.
Pepperoni
Aromatic—onion, garlic
Green pepper
Cheese—mozzarella cheese divided
Sauce ingredients—crushed or diced tomatoes, water, oregano, salt, and black pepper.
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Featured Comment from Jerri:
"Delicious! I doubled this because I don't have a small crockpot. It worked perfectly and was a big hit. The grandkids loved it!"
I love pizza; you love pizza, grandma and kids love pizza. Try my favorite crock pot pizza pasta bake; it is an easy crock pot pizza recipe that will become one of your family's favorites. Serve with garlic bread and a nice side salad for a complete
👨🍳How to Make Crock Pot Pizza Casserole—Step-by-Step
1. Chop a small onion and half a green bell pepper (optional).
2. Brown ground meat with the onion and some garlic. I suggest using half ground beef and half mild Italian sausage.
3. In a 3 to 4-quart crock pot, mix all the sauce ingredients with dry pasta, cheese, green pepper, and pepperoni slices.
4. Mix in the drained, browned ground meat mixture.
5. Top with mozzarella cheese and other toppings of your choice.
6. Cook on low for approximately 4-5 hours until the edges are brown and pasta tender.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
Options and Variations
Ground Meat—I suggest half ground beef and half Italian sausage—more than half Italian sausage will release too many spices. Other ground meat like ground turkey or chicken may be used.
Cheese—Shredded mozzarella cheese is standard. Mixing some into the casserole helps keep it together. You may use other cheeses if you wish. A good sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on the topping is a nice touch.
Pepperoni and other meats—A pizza is not a pizza to me without pepperoni, so I mix some in and add it to the topping. Other meats like ham, bacon, or Canadian bacon are good choices. You can also add some rotisserie chicken or other precooked meats.
Other ingredients—This is very much a make-it-like-you-want recipe. Use the pizza ingredients you like—black olives and mushrooms can be added to the casserole at the start of cooking. Delicate toppings, like pineapple, should be mixed in about 30 minutes before the end of cooking.
Sauce—You can use store-bought pizza sauce, but mine is much better; it cooks in the crock pot and is economical. I recommend crushed tomatoes for the sauce, but undrained diced tomatoes or tomato sauce may be substituted.
Make it right every time.
- Use a shorter standard pasta like ziti, rigatoni, or penne.
- The behavior of a non-standard pasta is unpredictable.
- Raw pasta usually takes four to five hours to cook on low. See the FAQs to precook pasta.
- When adding spices, be aware that spiced meats like pepperoni and Italian sausage will release more spices as they cook.
Related recipes
Check out these other pizza recipes, like French Bread Pizza, How to Make Pizza Dough, Easy Biscuit Pizza, 4 Cheese Chicken Pizza, and Low Carb Tortilla Pizza.
Check out Crock Pot Baked Ziti, Chicken Baked Ziti in a Crock Pot, and Healthier Chicken Alfredo for a great Italian flavor.
↕️How to make this a "for two" or "family size " recipe
The full recipe makes about six smaller or 4 large servings in a 3 to 4-quart crock pot. Perfect for our "for two" household since we love leftovers. Make a smaller recipe in a 2 quart mini crock pot or a family size double recipe in 6 quart or larger slow cooker.
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to half or double.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
- A half recipe will fit in a 2-quart mini crock pot, and a double recipe will fit in a 6-quart or larger crock pot.
- Cook until browning edge and tender pasta, a little longer for double size recipe and less for the mini crock pot size.
❄️Storage of Leftovers
Seal leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days. Leftovers can also be frozen for 3 months, but the texture will suffer.
❓FAQs
Precooking is not needed for this recipe. If you use non-standard pasta or are unsure about your crock pot temperature control, you should precook your pasta with the below-mentioned adjustments.
Cook the pasta to al denta and skip the cup of water in the recipe to help the dry pasta.
Decrease the cooking time to about 2 hours on low if you have some additives that need to cook longer, but much longer can make the precooked pasta mushy.
No, it will be a clumpy mess. So, ground meat should be browned before adding to the crock pot. Raw ground meat does not cook well in a crock pot, and there is no way for the fat to drain in a crock pot recipe.
📖 Recipe
Crock Pot Pizza Casserole
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground meat—a combination of beef and Italian sausage
- 4 oz sliced pepperoni
- 1 onion - small
- 2 cloves garlic - crushed
- 2 cups uncooked pasta - smaller standard pasta
- ½ green pepper - optional
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese - divided
Sauce Ingredients
- 28 oz crushed or diced tomatoes - not drained
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoons oregano
- 1 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Chop a small onion and half a green pepper (optional).
- Brown 1 pound of ground meat, usually half ground beef and half mild Italian sausage, over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion after a couple of minutes. Cook for about 8 minutes until no pink is left. Add 2 cloves of crushed garlic at the last minute of browning — about 8 minutes total.
- Add 28 oz crushed tomatoes or diced tomatoes (not drained), 1 cup of water, 4 oz of sliced pepperoni minus 12 slices for topping, oregano, salt, pepper, green pepper, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese to a smaller 3 to 4-quart crock pot. Mix well. Mix in 2 cups of uncooked pasta.
- Add the cooked ground beef after draining the fat.
- Top with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella and 12 slices of pepperoni.
- Cook on low for approximately 4-5 hours until edges brown and pasta is tender. Test a piece of pasta at 4 hours into cooking and again before stopping cooking.
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Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- This fits nicely in a 3-4 qt crock pot. For a half recipe, use a 2-quart mini crock pot. For a double recipe, use a 6-quart or larger crock pot.
- WARNING: Cooking a small recipe in a large crock pot can cook the pasta faster due to the lower mass being cooked. If you do this, please check the pasta early a few times. The pasta may be done before the cheese is browned.
- Use a standard short pasta. Results with others may work, but the behavior of non-standard pasta is unpredictable.
- 2 cups of dry pasta is 8 oz. generally—so half a 1-pound box.
- The precooked pasta option is discussed in the post.
- Do not cook on high. Cook on low for 4-5 hours and watch the results about 1 hour before the end of cooking since crock pots vary.
- My sauce is much better than canned or jar sauce. You can use jarred sauce. You will need 36 oz of fluid to replace the 28 oz of crushed tomatoes and the water.
- You may vary the ingredients some, but you need a base of pasta, ground meat, sauce, and cheese.
- The pepperoni will release a lot of spice, so be careful with things like red pepper.
- Good in the refrigerator for 4 days and frozen for 4 months but the texture will suffer.
- Nutrition is calculated on ⅙ of the recipe which is about one cup.
- Many more options are discussed in the post.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
© 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.
Editor's Note: Originally published December 26, 2013. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Paul Kirker says
I am alone and have been using a 2 quart crock pot for most of my crocpot cooking. Can this recipe be made in a 2 quart?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Paul,
Welcome to the blog.
The main issue is the inconsistency of temperature control in very small crock pot unpredictable effect on cooking raw pasta in this recipe or any recipe with uncooked pasta. So I would not recommend it.been
I have rewriting the blog and have been including instructions for 2 qt crock pots of appropriate. Here are 5 that I know will work and has discussion in the post. More will be coming.
https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/easy-crock-pot-cashew-chicken/
https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/excellent-crock-pot-beef-stew/
https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/simple-crock-pot-chicken-stew/
https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/wonderfully-simple-vegetable-beef-soup/
https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/easy-crock-pot-french-onion-soup/
Dan
Brittny Shay says
I'm brand new to cooking with a crock pot and loving it! But so many questions! The one I have has a locking lid. Do I lock it with this recipe or not? Thanks.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Brittny,
Welcome to the blog.
First, I want to say it is always ok to ask questions even if you think you should know. If you don't want to ask on the site, email me.
On to the lid locks on a few models of crock pots. It is made to prevent spills when transporting and (I believe) should never be used when cooking. If the pot is locked closed and then heated, it can build up pressure and could be dangerous.
Crock pots are just not made for pressure. Look at InstaPots and other pressure cookers to see the type of construction that is needed for containing pressure safely.
So DO NOT lock the led other than to transport. Somewhere buried in the manual, it should say this but probably in a size 4 font.
Dan
Jill Tempest says
Please check the ingredients..I see 1/2 cup chopped green pepper listed twice. And in the written instructions, I only see chopped green pepper listed once.
I am really enjoying being able to find the smaller crockpot recipes so quickly now. Thank you very much for continuing to make these tasty recipes and for refining the method to find said recipes.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Jill,
Thanks for the proofread. Fixed. It has been that way for years.
I hope you enjoyed your casserole.
Dan
Karen says
Making this today. I have made other versions but I like homemade sauce. Like my Grandma and Mom have always made. Yours is similar so will try that. Added some fresh mozzarella. It smells wonderful. Thank you! Taste test, Yummy!
Jerri says
Delicious! I doubled this because I have don't have a small crockpot. It worked perfectly and was a big hit. The grandkids loved it!
Jerri says
Should also have mentioned I followed the recipe pretty much exactly as written. Thanks for sharing this!
Kaci says
5 hours in the crockpot was way too long. It cooked all of the sauce out of it and tasted horrible.
Claudia Matusiak says
Just finished dinner of your crock pot pizza casserole and it was very good. I added 8 oz of fresh sliced Portobello mushrooms because I just can't imagine any pizza type entree without them and this is a fantastic recipe. My husband also stated it was a "Real keeper!" My 3 1/2 quart crock pot had it completely done on 'low' in 3 hours 10 minutes so mine must run a little hotter.
Keep these great recipes coming. I enjoy reading your detailed instructions and photos as it leaves no questions on how you prepared something. I also appreciate the photo's of your ingredients before hand as it leaves no questions as to what you used. Great job, you are appreciated.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Claudia,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe and the presentation. We don't do mushrooms generally in this house due to food allergies. That leads me to forget to include them as an option.
Thanks so much for the note and the rating.
Dan
Patricia says
My entire family loves this! The uncooked pasta was so great not mushy and the homemade sauce was perfect since I hate jar pizza sauce . I always add more toppings but this by far is the best recipe I've ever tried and a family favorite
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Patricia,
Welcome to the blog and sorry for the delayed response.
I do love this recipe. Glad you enjoyed the sauce.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Lindsey Mozgai says
I just wanted to let you know that one of your posts was mentioned in my post :)
Jeffrey says
This was amazing! Now, I did use Mid's True Sicilian Pasta Sauce Pizza Sauce from Kroger. Grabbed 2 - 16 OZ jars and added 2/3 a cup of water. I used that instead of the crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, and oregano mix. Also, I added mushrooms and pineapple (my fiancé's and my favorite pizza toppings). We used a 7 qt crock pot on low for 3.5 hours. Thank you, so much for keeping up this blog and sharing.
Charles says
It's cooking now. After the heat came up, all of the topping cheese just melted through the lower layers and disappeared. For the pizza effect, I'm going to add another batch of cheese/pepperoni for the last bit of time. (not going to be a healthy one, that's for sure)
On another note - for things that are very compressible, such as shredded cheese (or any dry baking ingredient really,) could you please add a weight measure to go along with the cup approximation? 8 oz liquid != 8 oz dry loose != 8 oz dry packed...
Thank you for this site - I've tried several recipes, and all have turned out nicely.
DrDan says
Get the extra cheese on now... You want the edge to cook and brown nicely.
About the measuring / weight issue. 1 cup volume wise is 8 oz of water. Most liquids likewise weigh and measure about this way (oil not quit). Most home cooks do not have accurate weight measurement available so I measure things like flour, sugars etc by volume mostly. I those cases I state for example 1 cup of flour. When something is measured by a manufacturer like pepperoni if it is 8 oz package and I want half I will state 4 oz. With cheese I try to use volume.
I will try to pay more attention in future posts to this issue and it appears that some will try measuring differently I will try to include both.
DrDan
Charles says
I did add another layer of the toppings at the last bit of cooking, and ate it before I saw your response. Next time, I'll save back all of the reserved toppings for the last 30-60 or so. Regardless, it turned out very nicely.
Regarding the cheese. Normallly for any ingredient, weight and liquid can *almost* substitute. 8 oz of wet is *nearly* 8 oz of dry/weight measure. For shredded cheese, however... 8 ounces (weight) in the block = 16/2 cups dry after shredding. or even 24/3cups if you use a different grater. Unless you pack it - and how hard you pack it.
In a recipe like this, It probably doesn't matter. (Like bacon and garlic, you can (almost) never have too much cheese.)
DrDan says
I was on line when your first comment came through but wasn't fast enough. The longer the topping is on and cooking the more browning and more "pizza like" it will be.
More cheese is always good. I can't let my wife help cook when cheese is involved. She won't measure and it ruins the post... and then she yells at me.
Dan
Suzi Castiglione says
When you say smaller crockpot, about what size do you mean?
DrDan says
I used a 3.5 qt. but larger should work but add more cheese to the top.
Dan
Sam says
This turned out great. I was worried we wouldn't like it since it isn't really "pizza", but it certainly held its own. Felt like I was living on the edge with the uncooked pasta, but it was the right choice. I added some parmesan to the mix and to the top... also a good choice. Thanks for the recipe.
DrDan says
So glad it worked for you. I'm a "pizza guy" and find this amazingly good. I was quit surprised the first time...Nice modifications.
Thanks again for the comment and rating.
DrDan
Tina B says
Tried the pizza cassarole in the crockpot and loved it! We made it to take to a friend who is a fiend for pizza, but wanted something "more" than just pizza. We will definitely make this again and again. So delicious and hearty.
DrDan says
I though this was amazingly good and I didn't expect that. Glad it worked for you
Thanks for the note
DrDan
Nancy says
Just want to tell you I love your new blog! I follow you pretty much everyday because I live alone and many of your recipes are perfect for one or two people's servings! It's a bit difficult to just cook really good food for just one after being used to cooking for a family of five, so I really enjoy your recipe ideas! Thanks much for some really great ideas and some really yummy food!!!
DrDan says
Thanks for the note.
Dan