Pizza Casserole
This easy pizza casserole recipe is a family pleaser! An Easy casserole recipe. Plus this pizza pasta casserole is an easy freezer meal. Try it today!
Servings: 6
Cost: $10.68, $1.78 per Serving
Equipment
- 9x13 baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef (or Italian Sausage)
- 6 oz pepperoni
- 3 cups Mozzarella cheese
- 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes (or 2 15 oz cans of crushed tomatoes)
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- 16 oz penne pasta
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, brown 1 lb ground beef and drain excess grease.
- Stir in 28 oz crushed tomatoes, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, and 1 teaspoon garlic salt. Mix well and let simmer briefly.
- Meanwhile, cook 16 oz penne pasta in salted water until al dente (slightly undercooked). Drain well.
- Pour half of the cooked pasta (about 8 oz) into a 9×13 baking dish.
- Spoon half of the meat sauce mixture over the pasta.
- Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese over the top.
- Add half of the pepperoni (3 oz) evenly over the cheese.
- Repeat the layers: add remaining pasta, remaining meat sauce, remaining 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, and remaining 3 oz pepperoni.
- Sprinkle 1/4 cup parmesan cheese evenly over the top.
- Cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes until hot, bubbly, and lightly browned.
- Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
This pizza pasta casserole freezes great so you can easily make two batches and toss one in the freezer for an easy freezer meal. A delicious time saver!
Recipe Tips
- Pasta - When preparing the pasta make sure to not overcook it. It will finish cooking in the oven. I like to cook the pasta al dente or according to the package.
- Ground Beef - We recommend draining any grease from the beef before mixing it with the other ingredients.
- Prepare baking dish - Spray the baking dish with cooking spray for an easy cleanup.
- Cover Casserole - Cover the casserole with foil before placing in the flavor. This locks in the flavor and prevents the casserole from burning. We like to remove the foil for the last 15 minutes so the cheese gets brown and bubbly.
Substitutions and Additions
- Meat - We used ground beef in this recipe, but you can easily use Italian Sausage. Also substitute with ground turkey or do half turkey and half ground beef.
- Sauce - We made our sauce out of crushed tomatoes, but you can also use a jar pizza sauce or marinara sauce if you prefer. Spaghetti sauce would also work with this pasta recipe.
- Pasta - Use your favorite pasta. Bowtie pasta, rotini or rigatoni pasta would be a good substitute to use.
- Cheese - Mozzarella is our favorite cheese to use but you can also mix in some parmesan cheese or use an Italian blend cheese.
- Vegetables - You can easily sneak in some veggies such as slice fresh mushrooms, black olives, green bell pepper and onions.
Nutrition
Serving: 6g | Calories: 841kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Cholesterol: 130mg | Sodium: 1534mg | Potassium: 892mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 710IU | Vitamin C: 12.4mg | Calcium: 426mg | Iron: 5.2mg
