This One Pot Pepperoni Pasta is quick and easy to make, and will have your family licking the plates clean if they are pepperoni fans like us! It's creamy, cheesy and tomatoey with mild peppery kick from of course, the pepperoni. With minimal prep work and a quick cook time, you can get this on the table in around 25 minutes. It's also budget-friendly.
So ticking all the boxes, this is one mid-week meal that will always hold a spot in my meal rotation. Italians might not like that I have made this all in one pan, but if it means having only one pot to wash after, I'm all for it - you with me?!
You can even share this with a weaning baby or toddler with a few tweaks - if are wondering how to adapt this one pan pepperoni pasta for your family, see here >
Watch the Step-by-Step Recipe Video
FAQ's for my One Pot Pepperoni Pasta
- Pepperoni. In the UK most supermarkets call this Pizza Pepperoni. In the US look for a pack called Pizza Slices. You'll need 120g / 4.23 oz - or a little more if you are pepperoni mad! You may find mild or hot pepperoni slices, obviously go for what suits your family. I recommend mild if sharing with younger children.
- Pasta. You can use any shape you like, but I recommend something like a fusilli, rotini or penne.
- Passata (canned tomato sauce US). You'll need just 300g / 10.58 oz.
- Cheddar. I like to use mature cheddar for this recipe, and I find I need to use less than when I use milder cheddars, but really you can use any cheddar you have. I would add an extra handful of cheddar if you use a milder one.
- You'll also need 2 garlic cloves, a chicken stock cube, hot water, dried mixed herbs, a pinch of sugar and salt and a little black pepper.
You could double or treble the recipe to feed 8-12 people, however, you'll need an extra large cooking pot. You will also need to leave longer for the pasta to cook and absorb most of the liquid.
There isn't much to prepare and should only take 5 minutes, but if needed you can dice the onion, cut the pepperoni slices and grate the cheese earlier that day, or the day before. Store in air-tight containers in the fridge until ready to use. If you do prepare the pepperoni the day before, this will decrease the amount of time you can keep leftovers in the fridge. Look at the pepperoni pack and see how many days you can consume the pepperoni once the packet is open.
This recipe is suitable for those on an egg and nut-free diet, so long at the ingredient packages specify so. It is NOT suitable for those on a gluten or diary-free diet or for vegans or vegetarians.
You can store any One Pot Pepperoni Pasta leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for 2 days (cook day + 1). Leftovers can also be frozen, just defrost for 24 hours in the fridge and reheat in the microwave (add a drizzle of water first), stirring halfway, until steaming hot all the way through.
Adapting My One Pot Pepperoni Pasta For Your Family
Eating together is beneficial for families of all ages and stages, for a multitude of reasons; nutritional, behavioural, psychological and for healthy family functioning. This section will show you how to tweak this One Pot Pepperoni Pasta recipe for sharing with a weaning baby, toddler or a fussy eater, which will help make it easier to eat together as a family.
Keeping Fussy Eaters Happy
If you have a picky eater who doesn't like chunks of tomato, this recipe may be good for you as it uses passata (tomato sauce US) instead of diced tomatoes. This one pan pasta is also worth a try if you have a fussy eater like me who loves pepperoni!
Making My One Pot Pepperoni Pasta Suitable for Baby Weaning
You can share this pasta dish with weaning babies from 6 months old with the following tweaks:
- go for a pasta shape that little one can palm like penne, rigatoni, fusilli or rotini
- use low or no-salt chicken stock
- hold off adding salt (you can remove little one's serving and then stir-through salt to taste after)
- dish theirs up BEFORE stirring through the pepperoni (infants under 12 months should not have processed meats).
Once little one is a toddler, ideally from 2 years old, they can have it with pepperoni too.
I've also added these notes to the bottom of the recipe so you have them to hand when you come to cook.
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One Pot Pepperoni Pasta
Ingredients
- 120 g pizza pepperoni slices
- 350 g pasta
- 300 g passata (canned tomato sauce US)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 ltr hot water
- 1 chicken stock cube
- Pinch sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
- 130 g cheddar, ideally mature / sharp (see notes)
- Pinch salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the oil to a large pan over a low heat and when hot, add the onions. Fry for around 5 minutes, until softened.
- Add the garlic and fry a further 1 minute, stirring.
- While that's cooking, cut your pepperoni slices into thirds if slices are large, or in half if slices are smaller. If the slices are stuck together, you can keep them like that while you cut them. Then once sliced, use your fingers to roughly separate.
- Add the hot water, sugar, herbs and black pepper and crumble in the stock cubes. Stir well until the stock cubes have dissolved. Turn heat to high and bring to the boil. Then turn heat to medium and cook over a rolling boil, stirring often until the pasta is cooked through and liquid is mostly absorbed - about 13-15 minutes, depending what pasta you use. Once done, remove from the heat and stir in the cheese until melted. Then fold through the pepperoni and serve.
Notes
Baby & Toddler
- go for a pasta shape that little one can palm like penne, rigatoni, fusilli or rotini
- use low or no-salt chicken stock
- hold off adding salt (remove little one's serving and stir-through salt to taste after)
- dish theirs up before stirring through the pepperoni
STORAGE
Nutrition - per serving
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