PIZZA SOUP

If you want to enjoy all the flavors of pizza, without falling off your weight loss plan, this is your recipe! It’s delicious! AlFresco Italian Chicken Sausage is available at most stores, or you can substitute ground beef/turkey. You can find uncured turkey pepperoni (Applegate Farms is available at various Kroger stores in the packaged lunch meat section). For those in maintenance (or to entice your family), sprinkle some shredded mozzarella on top. Soup is difficult to be 100% accurate with measuring, but our estimates are very close, and soup is a delicious way to provide meal satisfaction!

Plan: (Standard & Maintenance)

Print Recipe

Serving information: Makes approximately 4 servings. One serving of this recipe is 2 cups and covers your protein and vegetable for one meal.

If you want to enjoy all the flavors of pizza, without falling off your weight loss plan, this is your recipe! It’s delicious! AlFresco Italian Chicken Sausage is available at most stores, or you can substitute ground beef/turkey. You can find uncured turkey pepperoni (Applegate Farms is available at various Kroger stores in the packaged lunch meat section). For those in maintenance (or to entice your family), sprinkle some shredded mozzarella on top. Soup is difficult to be 100% accurate with measuring, but our estimates are very close, and soup is a delicious way to provide meal satisfaction!

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
1-lb. AlFresco Italian Chicken Sausage, thinly sliced or remove casing and crumble into ground sausage (use 6 links or 4 links (11 oz) plus 1/2 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 medium yellow or red onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 Bell pepper – red or green
4 oz Applegate Farms or other Uncured turkey pepperoni, chopped (optional)
2-3 tsps. Italian seasoning, to your taste
3-4 cups quality chicken broth, to desired thickness
1-15 oz can pizza sauce – Muir Glen Organic or Kroger Organic Pizza Sauce*
14-oz canned diced tomatoes, drained
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast (adds cheesy flavor), optional but very good**
1/4 cup sliced black olives, optional
1/4 -1/2 tsp crushed red pepper, to taste (optional)
Pink Himalayan salt & freshly-ground pepper, to taste
For those in maintenance, Shredded mozzarella

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat, then add the oil. Place chicken sausage (and ground beef, if using) into pan. Allow to brown well on one side, then stir, breaking any large chunks into smaller ones. Cook until no pink remains, then remove meat from the pan and set aside. Do not drain the grease.
Lower the heat to medium-low and add onions, cooking 3-5 minutes. Add in garlic, mushrooms, peppers, pepperoni, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Mix well and sauté until veggies are soft (5-7 minutes).
Add in the broth, pizza sauce, tomatoes, olives and nutritional yeast, mixing well. Bring to a simmer and cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

*Any pizza sauce is fine as long as it doesn’t contain added sugars, preservatives or bad fats. Most organic products will be fine. By sugar, we mean no “added” sugar. Tomatoes naturally have sugar that will show on the nutritional panel. We aren’t concerned about that. I used Muir Glen in my soup and it is delicious – thick and rich.

**Nutritional yeast is usually found by the regular baking yeast. It has a cheesy flavor and is rich with B-vitamins, potassium, zinc and 9 essential amino acids. It is not an activated yeast. You can sprinkle it on many dishes for extra cheesy flavor, like chili, veggies (think mashed cauliflower!) and soups.