This easy pepperoni pizza soup recipe is naturally gluten free comfort food that will leave you feeling both virtuous and slightly guilty — but above all, it will leave you comfortably satisfied.

So, how do you get kids to eat more veggies? Sometimes it helps just to add a little pepperoni, as in this Pepperoni Pizza Soup with Kale (AKA, what I threw together with the odds and ends in my fridge for lunch today). I mean: If you can add sausage to a veggie-kale soup, why not pepperoni, right?

So, what inspired today’s pizza soup idea? I was standing in my kitchen looking at half a bag of kale left over from making chicken kale mushroom stir fry, half a bag of pepperoni in the back of the fridge from making naan pizza, half a bag of baby carrots that never made it into Mr. 11’s lunches, and a jar of SimplyNature organic pizza sauce from ALDI that I picked up a while back after hearing people rave about how good it was.

And… well… I really felt like having a bowl of soup, and since no one else was going to make it for me… Ta-da!

Pepperoni Pizza Soup with Kale

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz baby carrots, sliced into fairly thin coins
1/2 a medium yellow onion, diced
3 oz sliced pepperoni or turkey pepperoni, quartered
1 medium zucchini, chopped (about 10 oz)
2 tsp minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
32 oz chicken broth
14 oz jar pizza sauce
2 cups water
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 bay leaf
6 oz chopped kale (about 5 cups)
Shredded mozzarella and/or Parmesan to top, optional

Directions

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat for about a minute. Add carrots and onion and saute for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pepperoni and continue to saute over medium heat for four minutes, then stir in the zucchini and garlic and continue to saute over medium heat for another four minutes, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in broth, pizza sauce, water, spices, and the bay leaf. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 25 minutes until flavors are well combined and carrots are soft, then remove the lid and fish out the bay leaf.

Increase heat under the pot back to medium and stir in the kale a handful at a time, continuing to simmer and stir uncovered until the kale is bright green and wilted into the soup, about six minutes.

Serve your pepperoni pizza soup topped with optional mozzarella and/or Parmesan, if desired.

Note: If you are using bagged chopped kale as I did here, just tear any of the larger pieces up to be a little more bite sized if yours is as unevenly chopped as mine was. If you’re using a different pizza sauce you might feel your soup needs a bit more in the way of added seasoning, so taste before adding the kale and adjust proportions as necessary.

That’s a big pot of pizza soup

I’d recommend topping your pepperoni pizza & veggie soup with cheese and serving it with garlic bread, but that’s just me. Cause I totally did both of those things! As did High School Guy, who happily joined me in today’s soupy lunch.

This easy kale & pepperoni soup recipe is naturally gluten free comfort food, and takes less than an hour to simmer up. I hope everyone in your house also enjoys their veggies leavened with a little salty cheese and pepperoni: Pepperoni pizza soup will leave you feeling both virtuous and slightly guilty, but above all, it will leave you comfortably satisfied.

Pepperoni Pizza Soup with Kale, printable recipe

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Pepperoni Pizza Soup with Kale

This easy kale & pepperoni soup recipe is naturally gluten free comfort food, and takes less than an hour to simmer up.

Course dinner

Keyword kale, pepperoni, soup

Total Time 55

Servings

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz baby carrots sliced into fairly thin coins
1/2 a medium yellow onion diced
3 oz sliced pepperoni or turkey pepperoni quartered
1 medium zucchini chopped (about 10 oz)
2 tsp minced garlic about 4 cloves
32 oz chicken broth
14 oz jar pizza sauce
2 cups water
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 bay leaf
6 oz chopped kale about 5 cups
Shredded mozzarella and/or Parmesan to top optional

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat for about a minute. Add carrots and onion and saute for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add pepperoni and continue to saute over medium heat for four minutes, then stir in the zucchini and garlic and continue to saute over medium heat for another four minutes, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in broth, pizza sauce, water, spices, and the bay leaf. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 25 minutes until flavors are well combined and carrots are soft, then remove the lid and fish out the bay leaf.
Increase heat under the pot back to medium and stir in the kale a handful at a time, continuing to simmer and stir uncovered until the kale is bright green and wilted into the soup, about six minutes.
Serve your pepperoni pizza soup topped with optional mozzarella and/or Parmesan, if desired.

Notes

If you are using bagged chopped kale as I did here, just tear any of the larger pieces up to be a little more bite sized if yours is as unevenly chopped as mine was. If you're using a different pizza sauce you might feel your soup needs a bit more in the way of added seasoning, so taste before adding the kale and adjust proportions as necessary.

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