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Pizza casserole has layers of pasta, sauce, and ooey-gooey cheese, along with your favorite pizza toppings. It makes this a truly satisfying comfort food meal! Perfect for busy weeknights or a cozy family dinner that kids love. This customizable casserole is certain to become a household favorite.
Pizza Casserole
A pizza casserole is a dish that combines the flavors and ingredients of pizza in a casserole format. It includes cooked pasta, pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings like pepperoni, sausage, and vegetables (use whatever you love!).
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- It is made with a few simple ingredients.
- It’s great for busy weeknights or even pizza night.
- This is a meat lovers pizza casserole (but can be made vegetarian too!).
- It’s more filling than your favorite loaded pizza.
- This easy pizza pasta recipe can be made ahead of time.
- This casserole tastes even better the next day.
Ingredients:
- Penne pasta: can be substituted with your pasta of choice.
- Ground beef: Ground turkey and mild sausage are great substitutes.
- Marinara sauce: Store-bought or homemade tomato sauce, pasta sauce, or spaghetti sauce. Crushed tomatoes with basil will also work for this recipe.
- Mozzarella: This cheese is the best for melting.
- Green and red bell peppers: You don’t have to use both, especially for picky eaters.
- Mushrooms: This is optional but it adds flavor to the dish. Canned mushrooms will also work for this recipe.
- Onion: You can use a teaspoon of onion powder as a substitute.
- Garlic: You can use a teaspoon of garlic powder if you don’t have time to mince garlic.
- Italian seasoning: You can use basil instead of Italian seasoning.
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease the casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray or brush it with olive oil. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta according to package directions, until al dente.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the ground beef over medium heat until browned. Drain off any excess grease. Add the chopped onion, green peppers, red bell peppers, Italian seasoning, garlic, and mushrooms to the skillet and cook for a few minutes. Stir in the marinara sauce, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Pour half of the cooked pasta into the baking dish and spread it evenly. Spread half of the meat mixture evenly over the pasta and then top it with the mozzarella cheese. Then, repeat the layering with the remaining pasta, meat sauce, and cheese.
Place the pepperoni slices over the last layer of cheese. You can add as much as you like! Consider adding some of your other favorite pizza toppings at this time.
Additional Ingredients:
- Italian sausage
- Canadian bacon
- Chicken
- Ground beef or ground chicken
- Parmesan cheese
- Black olives
Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for about 15 more minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.Â
This dish is a quick and easy meal that can be customized to individual tastes. This casserole can be served with garlic bread, a salad, breadsticks, or veggies.
Cover the casserole with plastic wrap if you plan to place it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. If you plan to freeze it, I would recommend storing it in freezer bags.
Yes, this casserole can be made in advance, covered with plastic wrap or foil, and placed in the fridge until you are ready to cook it. Pizza casserole keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days.
More Casserole Recipes
Pizza Casserole
Pizza Casserole
Equipment
- Casserole dish
- large pot
- Large skillet
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Knife
- Basting Brush
Ingredients
- 16 ounces penne pastaÂ
- 1 pound ground beef
- 4 ounces pepperoni
- 28 ounces marinara sauceÂ
- 3 cups (or more) mozzarella
- ½ green bell pepper, diced
- ½ red bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease the casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray or brush it with olive oil.
- In a large pot, boil the pasta according to package directions salt, and cook until al dente.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the ground beef over medium-high heat until browned. Drain off any excess grease.
- Add the chopped onion, green peppers, red bell peppers, Italian seasoning, garlic, and mushrooms to the skillet and cook for a few minutes.
- Stir in the marinara sauce, and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Pour half of the cooked pasta into the baking dish and spread it evenly.
- Spread half of the meat mixture evenly over the pasta and then top it with the mozzarella cheese.
- Spread the remaining pasta over the mozzarella cheese and top it with the rest of the meat mixture.
- Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the mixture and spread the pepperoni slices over it.
- Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake for about 15 more minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Garnish the casserole with fresh parsley or top it with red pepper flakes and enjoy!
