Description
This Slow Cooker Deep Dish Pizza recipe delivers a delicious homemade pizza with a perfectly cooked crust and rich, flavorful toppings using a convenient slow cooking method. The Italian sausage is browned and simmered with garlic, tomato puree, and seasonings to create a savory meat sauce layered generously over fresh pizza dough, mozzarella, and your choice of toppings before slow cooking to bubbly perfection.
Ingredients
Scale
Meat Sauce
- 8 oz Italian sausage, removed from casings
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 (10.5 oz) can tomato puree
- 2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp dried onion flakes
Pizza Base and Toppings
- 1 pound purchased fresh pizza dough
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- Pizza toppings of choice (e.g., pepperoni, vegetables, olives, etc.)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Brown the sausage: In a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the Italian sausage until no longer pink, breaking it into crumbles. Drain off any excess fat.
- Cook garlic and sauce: Add the minced garlic to the skillet and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Stir in the tomato puree and dried onion flakes, cooking for another minute. Remove the skillet from heat.
- Prepare the dough in the slow cooker: Roll the pizza dough on parchment paper into a piece two inches longer and wider than the insert of your 6-quart slow cooker. Place both the parchment and dough into the slow cooker, pressing the dough up the sides to form a crust edge.
- Add the cheese layer: Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella evenly over the prepared dough base.
- Add toppings: Arrange your chosen pizza toppings evenly on top of the mozzarella cheese.
- Top with meat sauce: Spread the cooked sausage and tomato sauce mixture over the pizza toppings in an even layer.
- Cover and secure: Place paper towels over the top of the slow cooker insert, then cover with the lid, stretching the paper towels taut to absorb moisture and prevent condensation from dripping onto the pizza.
- Cook: Cook the pizza on HIGH for 3 hours, or alternatively on LOW for 6 hours, until the crust is cooked through and the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Finish and serve: Using the edges of the parchment paper, carefully lift the pizza out of the slow cooker and transfer it to a cutting board. Sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese on top and allow the pizza to cool for 2 to 3 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- You can customize the pizza toppings to your preference—try mushrooms, peppers, onions, or olives.
- If your slow cooker tends to run hot, check the pizza toward the end of cooking to prevent burning.
- Using parchment paper makes it easy to remove the pizza from the slow cooker without breaking the crust.
- Covering the slow cooker with paper towels under the lid helps absorb excess moisture and keeps the crust from becoming soggy.
- For a crisper crust, you can finish the pizza under a broiler for a minute or two after slow cooking, but be careful not to burn it.
