This Pepperoni Pizza Casserole recipe is a quick dinner baked from scratch. This is comfort food at its best! Kid-Friendly and great for a weeknight dinner. This post contains affiliate links.
Pizza and pasta are 2 of my family's favorite types of meals. With this recipe, we are combining the two!
This easy casserole recipe takes about 40 minutes, including food prep and bake time. You'll be enjoying dinner in no time.
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Why We Love This Recipe
The recipe combines pizza and pasta, what's not to love?!
Plus, whatever pizza toppings you enjoy can easily be added to the recipe so you aren't missing out on your favorite flavors.
And lastly, it reheats great! So make sure to make enough so you'll have leftovers!
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the variations of this recipe?
The sky is the limit to what you can add to your pizza casserole. When thinking of toppings, simply think of what you put on your pizza order!
Examples of what could be added or swapped:
- sausage
- chicken
- bacon
- ham
- olives
- red onions
- pineapple
- bell peppers
- banana peppers
- tomatoes
Depending on how small you cut the ingredients you add ½ to 1 cup of your favorite pizza toppings.
For example, I used 1 cup of sliced and quartered mushrooms, because they are larger. But if I was adding smaller cut pieces of pineapple I would add ½ cup.
Don't forget the pasta! If Rotini pasta isn't your favorite, or if you have another type on hand, go ahead and use it in the same amount.
Can this be made ahead and frozen?
Yes, it can!
Prepare the recipe as stated, just don't bake.
Cover your dish really well to protect it from freezer burn.
When you are ready to make it, cook as directed. Since it will be frozen, it will take extra time, so keep an eye on that.
How do you store the leftovers?
Package leftovers in an airtight container. My favorite is the Rubbermaid tubs.
The CDC recommends only keeping leftovers of any type for 3 - 4 days.
How do you reheat leftovers?
Remove the lid from the Rubbermaid container, add a couple drops of water (depending on the serving amount), and place in the microwave. Heat for 30-second intervals until the food is at the desired temperature.
What shortcuts can I take to make this faster to put together?
I am so glad you asked because this is my favorite kitchen hack!
This recipe calls for diced onions, and I do not like cutting onions.
When small, cut pieces of onions are required for a recipe I turn to my cheese grader.
It works like a charm, and I have my onions "diced" in no time! 😁
Ingredients You'll Need For This Recipe: (Full Recipe at the bottom of this post)
- ground beef
- onion
- mushrooms
- garlic
- Italian seasoning
- pizza sauce
- water
- rotini pasta
- mozzarella cheese
- pepperoni slices
How to Make Pizza Casserole:
Measure 3 cups of pasta and pour it into boiling water. Cook according to the package instructions, making sure to drain thoroughly when finished boiling.
In a large skillet combine the ground beef, onion, garlic, and Italian seasoning and begin cooking.
After about 5 minutes, add the cut mushrooms to the ground beef mixture.
I wait to add them because I don't want soggy over-cooked mushrooms. I want them to be cooked but not mush.
Continue cooking until ground beef is completely cooked and no longer pink.
In a large bowl, combine pizza sauce and water.
To the bowl, add the drained pasta, ground beef mixture, 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese, and 20 slices of pepperoni that ve been cut in quarters.
Stir until well combined.
Pour the mixture into an 8x8 glass baking dish.
Sprinkle the top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and pizza sices.
Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.
Then remove the aluminum foil cook for an additional 5-10 minutes.
Serve with salad and/or breadsticks and you've got yourself a delicious homemade meal!
Our Baking Essential List:
- For baking casseroles, we use Glass Baking Dishes. I especially like the dishes with lids so leftovers can be transferred straight to the fridge.
- Silicone Kitchenware is my favorite because they don't scratch my cookware and are super easy to clean!
- To prepare all of those ingredients a Glass Cutting Board is a must. We even keep ours on our counter at all times.
- This Knife Set will also become your favorite! They cut beautifully and with the hollow design of the knife, food doesn't stick to the blade.
How to Make the Easiest, Tastiest Pepperoni Pizza Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- ½ cup onion
- 1 cup mushrooms
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 14 oz pizza sauce
- ¾ cup water
- 3 cups rotini pasta
- 2 cups mozarella cheese
- 36 slices pepperoni
Instructions
- Measure 3 cups of pasta and pour into boiling water. Cook according to the package instructions, making sure to drain thoroughly when finished boiling.
- In a skillet combine the ground beef, onion, garlic, and Italian seasoning and begin cooking.After about 5 minutes, add the cut mushrooms to the ground beef mixture.Continue cooking until ground beef is completely cooked and no longer pink.
- In a large bowl, combine pizza sauce and water.
- To the bowl, add the drained pasta, ground beef mixture, 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese, and 20 slices of pepperoni that ve been cut in quarters.Stir until well combined
- Pour the mixture into an 8x8 glass baking dish.Sprinkle the top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and pizza sices.
- Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.Then remove the aluminum foil cook for an additional 5-10 minutes.
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Patti
mmm...looks delish!
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patti
Lindsay
That looks awesome! We love pizza at our house as well. 🙂 Thanks for sharing this @ Show & Share! I am very happy to have you there!
Mimi
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I love the "thumbs up" picture. So cute!
Lindsay Patrick
This looks delicious! I might make this instead of the homemade pizza I intended on making tonight thanks!
Visiting from my girlish whims link up 🙂
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LindsayJEveryday.blogspot.com
Katie Adams
I would love to here what you thought about it!
Candice Brown
Been wanting to try this so tonight i am
Stacey Alexander
Trying tonight...Looks so good!! Thanks for a great idea!
Patti
If you were to make this and freeze it, would you freeze before you cook it? or after? What do you think would be better?
Ed
Looks good I am giving my wife a break from trying to figurewhat to have for dinner
C. Wise
It sounds a lot like lasagna. I'm sure it is yummy. Another recipe like this uses the frozen ravioli with cheese. You can use so many different variations. Just think out of the box and have fun.
Amber
My family likes this casserole, but we use 1 pound ground beef and 1 pound Italian sausage for more flavor 🙂
Amber
I also throw in some basil, oregano, garlic powder and thyme in the meat while browning it.
Alisha
Where in the order are you supposed to put the first half of the cheeses?
Katie
Alisha, thanks for catching my oops. I have added it to the recipe but it after the first half of pizza sauce.
Angela Blankinship
We've been making this dor yrs. Before that my father in law made it. We use left over spaghetti sauce and spaghetti noodles.
Kasey
I think you may have over compensated the meat and noodles. I didn't have enough room for all of it. Also there is no way to fit 2 packs of pepperoni on there trust me I tried lol. We're pepperoni lovers In our house. It's in the oven as I type. I've got high hopes.