One-Pot Pizza Rigatoni Recipe

For many people, pizza is the perfect option for any meal. Delivery on a Thursday night? Absolutely. Leftovers for breakfast before starting a meeting? You bet. But you can't honestly order pizza for every meal, right? That's where this one-pot pizza rigatoni recipe comes in.

Pizza rigatoni is the answer to every pizza craving. And the beauty of this dish is that it comes together in 30 minutes, allowing you to get dinner on the table in no time. It doesn't require a ton of dishes or complicated ingredients, and you can customize the toppings to create a dish the whole family will love.

Whether you love a pizza topped with peppers and onions, a simple pepperoni pizza, or you prefer to dress up a supreme pizza with pepperoncini peppers and olives, this dish is for you. With tender, flavorful noodles and plenty of gooey cheese, the whole family will be asking for this one-pot pizza rigatoni again and again.

Just like choosing your own pizza toppings, the ingredients for this easy one-pot pizza rigatoni recipe are really up to you. However, starting with a base list of ingredients will help set you up for success.

Start by gathering one box of rigatoni noodles, a jar of marinara sauce, half a cup of water, one red onion, one bell pepper, two cloves of garlic, Italian seasoning, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese. Each of these list items should be quick and easy to find at any store, without any complicated ingredients added to the mix.

To customize your pizza rigatoni, feel free to add in other flavors you love as pizza toppings. If you're a fan of ham and pineapple on pizza, you can definitely add it in to this recipe. Or, if you love black olives and mushrooms, feel free to grab those as well. We opted for pepperoni, red onion, bell pepper, and pepperoncini peppers for our pizza rigatoni, but the beauty of this recipe is that you can also switch it up.

We chose to make our one-pot pizza rigatoni recipe with rigatoni noodles, but you could certainly opt for another choice of noodle.

Rigatoni noodles work well with this recipe because of their large shape. They absorb sauce well, allowing us to cook them in the same pot with the toppings and sauce. Plus, the shape offers great surface area for toppings, sauce, and cheese to adhere to for the perfect bite.

If you don't have rigatoni noodles on hand, a similarly shaped pasta will certainly work in its place. Options such as penne, rotini, cavatappi, or even macaroni elbows would work just as well. Just be sure to keep an eye on your pasta's cooking time if you opt for a different type of noodle. A smaller-sized noodle option may need less time spent in the marinara sauce.

First thing's first. Start off by prepping all of your vegetables for this one-pot pizza rigatoni recipe. You'll want to make sure your onion, bell pepper, and garlic are all prepped for cooking, along with your pepperoni.

Start by mincing the garlic. Peel the cloves, and then use the flat side of a large knife to crush the cloves on a cutting board. Mince the garlic into fine pieces with the knife. Cut your onion in half and remove the skin, and then slice the onion to create long strips. Turn the onion 90 degrees on your cutting board and cut cross-wise for small, diced pieces. You can repeat the same steps with your bell pepper.

For the pepperoni, you'll want to cut a portion of it into smaller pieces. Take two-thirds of the pepperoni out of the package and stack it on the cutting board. Cut the pepperoni across twice to cut each slice into fourths. Save the remaining pepperoni for your topping.

Once the vegetables and pepperoni are prepped and ready, it's time to start cooking. Use a high-walled saucepan or a Dutch oven for your one-pot pizza rigatoni. Turn the stove on medium heat and spray your pan with cooking spray to be sure your ingredients don't stick to the bottom of the pan while cooking.

Start by cooking the garlic until it's lightly golden brown, and then add in your diced onions and diced bell peppers. Allow the vegetables to cook for three to five minutes to release the flavors and become tender.

Once the vegetables are cooked, sprinkle in your cut pieces of pepperoni. Continue stirring until the pepperoni is well-incorporated into the vegetable mixture. If you choose to add in other pizza rigatoni topping options, such as olives or mushrooms, cook them in the mixture at this step.

Once your vegetables and pepperoni are cooked and ready in the pot, it's time to add the rigatoni noodles and marinara sauce. Pour the whole box of uncooked noodles into the pot. Then, pour the whole jar of marinara sauce on top and add in the Italian seasoning. Stir the mixture well with the pot on medium heat.

After stirring, you'll want to add a half cup of water to the mixture to make sure there's enough moisture in the pot to cook the pasta. Turn the heat up to medium-high, and cover the pot with a lid. This will allow the moisture in the sauce to cook the pasta in the dish.

Cook your one-pot pizza rigatoni on medium-high heat with the lid on for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to be sure the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of your pan. Once the rigatoni noodles are tender and cooked, turn the heat back down to medium.

Once your noodles are tender and fully cooked, be sure to stir your one-pot pizza rigatoni well. Then, it's time to add all in of the glorious cheese! It wouldn't be pizza without cheese, right? 

Sprinkle half of the bag of shredded mozzarella cheese into the pot. Stir well until the cheese is incorporated throughout the dish. Next, top the dish with the additional reserved pepperoni slices. Place the pepperoni slices on whole, and then sprinkle with additional mozzarella cheese. You can place the lid back on and allow the cheese to melt on top. Or, place the pan in the oven and broil for just a few minutes to melt and brown the cheese. Be sure your pot is oven-safe if you choose this method.

Melting the cheese should only take a few moments to get that beautiful cheesy pizza look.

Once your cheese has melted, your one-pot pizza rigatoni pasta is all ready to dish up and serve. Serve this recipe in a big bowl or on a plate for dinner. And be sure you don't skimp on the extra toppings for serving.

If you want to add a kick of flavor and fresh crunch to your pizza rigatoni, consider topping your pasta with pepperoncini peppers. These mild, sweet peppers add such a great dimension of flavor. You could also opt to include chunks of pineapple on top or even add leaves of fresh basil to the mix.

Think about things that you love to add to your pizza when it comes to dressing up this dish even further, whether it's a hot honey sauce or even ranch dressing. Add a little drizzle to complete your perfect pizza dish, and pair your pasta with a nice green salad and a slice of bread to complete the meal.