Combine the fun tastes of pizza with a hearty pasta casserole that will feed a crowd! Pizza pasta casserole is zesty and blazingly delicious, packed with pepperoni, and so easy to make. With endless ways to customize it, it's bound to be a family favorite.
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Easy Casserole Recipe
Finally, a dinner that the entire family will agree on! Easy pizza casserole is cheesy with a fantastic flavor that features everything you love about pizza and pasta. You can make it as spicy or mild as you like it.
Casseroles are the perfect thing to make when you need to feed a bunch of people. Some of my favorite recipes include Chicken Broccoli Pasta Casserole, Meatball Casserole, and Southwest Chicken Casserole.
What is pizza pasta?
Pizza pasta is a dazzling combination of your favorite type of pasta with whatever pizza sauce and toppings you like. Sweet and tangy pizza sauce, comforting swirls of pasta, strings of melted cheese, and a zest of spicy pepperoni on top. Altogether, it's a family-friendly meal that will make your mouth water as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Why You'll Love This Pizza Pasta Bake
This baked pizza casserole is both easy and fulfilling. After you make it one time, you'll have the recipe memorized! Plus, you can change it up in so many ways that you'll never make the name recipe twice. Try it with alfredo sauce and chicken, or ham and pineapple. The options are endless!
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need for this baked pasta casserole:
- Ground beef or Italian sausage
- Yellow onion
- Garlic clove
- Italian seasoning
- Marinara or pizza sauce
- Water
- Rotini pasta
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Pepperoni slices
How to Make Pizza Pasta Casserole
- Brown the meat then add onion, garlic and seasoning and cook until onion is transluscent.
- Combine cooked beef with half of the pepperoni, sliced in half, and 1 ½ cups of cheese.
- Toss in cooked pasta and marinara or pizza sauce. Stir to combine.
- Pour into 8x8-inch greased casserole.
- Sprinkle on the remaining cheese.
- Lay whole pepperoni slices on top.
- Bake covered in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook for another 5-10 minutes or until cheese is fully melted. Serve piping hot!
Recipe Tips
- Cook the pasta to al dente so it will not be overcooked and mushy after baking in the oven.
- If using ground beef or Italian sausage, be sure to drain off the grease before adding it to the dish.
- For easy cleanup or taking the casserole to a potluck, use a disposable aluminum foil pan.
Recipe Variations
You know how there are countless pizzas out there with different toppings? Well, you can do the same with this pizza casserole. Here are some ideas of what you can use instead of or in addition to what's in the recipe:
Cheese: Cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, Cheddar cheese, or feta cheese.
Meat: Bacon, chopped or shredded chicken, chicken sausage, ground chicken, ham, meatball, smoked sausage, ground turkey, turkey pepperoni, or whatever meat you like on a pizza.
Pasta: Bow tie, elbow macaroni, penne, spaghetti, egg noodles, ziti, rigatoni, shells, or wagon wheel.
Vegetables: Bell pepper, broccoli, mushroom, olives, roasted red peppers, spinach, or zucchini
Other Variations
- Gluten Free Pasta Casserole: Use gluten-free pasta.
- Pizza Casserole without Pasta: Just omit the pasta or use roasted cauliflower instead of it.
- Supreme Pizza Pasta Casserole: Load it up with the toppings you enjoy on a supreme pizza. You may need a bigger dish though.
What to Serve with Pizza Pasta
- Bread - Air Fryer Bread, Garlic Bread, or French Bread.
- Salad - Caesar Salad, Italian Salad, or Simple Green Salad
- Vegetables - Roasted Broccoli, Green Beans, or Rosemary Potatoes
Make Ahead
Prepare the pasta pizza casserole as directed except don't bake it. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for up to 3 days. Remove the dish from the fridge before you preheat the oven. Then bake as directed.
If you want to make this well in advance and bake it straight from the freezer, be sure to use a metal baking dish because glass or ceramic can shatter.
Wrap the dish with two layers of aluminum foil. Freeze it for up to 3 months.
Bake as directed with additional time because a frozen casserole will take longer to bake than a thawed one.
How to Store, Freeze, and Reheat Pasta Casserole Leftovers
To Store: Allow the casserole to cool to room temperature. Cover the dish with plastic wrap or transfer it to an airtight container. Refrigerate it for up to 3 days.
To Freeze: Transfer the cooled casserole to a freezer-safe container. Freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight.
To Reheat: Add some pizza sauce if the leftovers look dry. Bake the leftovers in a covered dish at 350°F until heated through, about 15 minutes.
More Pizza Recipes
Find lots of healthy and easy dinner recipes right here on 2CM!
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Pizza Pasta Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef or Italian sausage
- ½ medium yellow onion diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 14 ounce marinara or pizza sauce
- ¾ cup water
- 3 cups rotini pasta measure before cooking
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- 40 pepperoni slices divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8x8 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray or oil and set aside.
- Cook pasta as directed on the box. Drain and set aside.
- In a medium skillet, brown the meat, chopping it into small pieces. Drain the fat off and add the onion, minced garlic, and Italian seasoning, cooking on medium-low until the onion softens and appears translucent.
- Slice half of the pepperoni in half. In a large bowl, mix the pizza sauce and water together. Add in the meat, halved pepperoni slices and 1 ½ cups of mozzarella cheese.
- Mix well and pour into the prepared 8x8-inch baking dish.
- Top with the remaining shredded cheese and arrange the pepperoni slices on top.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for and additional 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted. You can place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes if you like your cheese nicely browned.
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