This quick and easy pizza casserole recipe is a family favorite. It is a variation of a pasta bake and you can easily modify it to include your favorite toppings.
Last week I had Pasta Bake on my menu plan, but as I was pulling ingredients out of the fridge I saw the leftover ingredients from our pizza night. I decided to experiment with my Pasta Bake recipe and ended up creating a new family favorite: Pizza Casserole!
My son loved this dish so much he asked for the leftovers for breakfast and lunch the next day. The great thing about a pizza pasta bake is that you can add your favorite pizza topping to the casserole, customizing it to your family’s favorite flavors. We made a Pepperoni Pizza Casserole with bell peppers, onion, and mushrooms. However, you could add sausage, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, or Canadian bacon. The possibilities are endless!
How to Make a Pizza Pasta Bake
A Pasta bake starts with uncooked pasta. I like to use rotini pasta, but you can use your favorite pasta.
Since you don’t have to cook the pasta first, you will need to add extra liquid to the casserole dish. I add 3 1/2 cups of pizza sauce and 2 1/2 cups of water. The water will be absorbed by the noodles, so the flavor of the sauce will not be watered down.
The water will be absorbed by the noodles, so the flavor of the sauce will not be watered down.
Pizza Casserole Recipe
These instructions are a little general The printable recipe card for this my pizza casserole can be found below.
Ingredients:
- 16 ounces rotini or penne pasta noodles, uncooked (use gluten-free pasta to make this gluten-free)
- 3½ cups of pizza sauce (I used a triple batch of my Pizza Sauce Recipe)
- 2 ½ cups water
- 1 ½ cups of your favorite grated cheese (I used mozzarella and white cheddar)
- 24+pepperonis or other cooked meat (optional)
- ¼ cup onions (optional)
- ¼ diced bell peppers (optional)
- ½ cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
- other favorite pizza toppings such as sun-dried tomatoes and olives
Directions:
- Place uncooked pasta noodles in a 13×9 baking dish.
- In a large bowl combine the pizza sauce, water, and your favorite vegetable pizza toppings: onions, peppers, mushrooms, etc. Don’t add the cooked meat until the end.
- Pour the pizza sauce mixture over noodles. Mix enough to ensure the noodles are coated with the sauce.
- Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top of the noodles.
- Spread the pepperonis or other cooked meat on top of the cheese.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake at 425 for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the noodles are al dente and the cheese is melted and slightly browned.
Pizza Pasta Bake Video Tutorial
The printable recipe is below this video, but I wanted to show you how easy it is to make this pizza casserole in the following cooking video.
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Printable Recipe for Alea’s Pizza Casserole
Pizza Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 ounces rotini or penne pasta noodles uncooked (use gluten-free pasta to make this gluten-free)
- 3½ cups pizza sauce
- 2 ½ cups water
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup grated cheddar cheese
- 24 pepperonis
- ¼ cup onions
- ¼ diced bell peppers
- ½ cup sliced mushrooms
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F degrees.
- Place uncooked pasta noodles in a 13×9 baking dish.
- In a large bowl combine the pizza sauce, water, onions, diced bell peppers, and mushrooms.
- Pour pizza sauce mixture over noodles, mix enough to ensure the noodles are coated.
- Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top of the noodles.
- Spread pepperonis on top of the cheese.
- Cover the casserole dish with foil. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes or until the noodles are al dente and the cheese is melted and slightly browned.
More Pizza Recipes:
This was originally published on March 5, 2013, and was updated on October 17, 2019.
Yvonne says
Very adaptable! I was looking for a healthy gluten-free pizza-ish dish, and this fit the bill!
I used my homemade pizza sauce and lentil pasta and altered some of the amounts to cook it in my dutch oven on the stove top to make it quicker. I added some frozen broccoli and used diced uncured kielbasa. Lots of onions, frozen peppers and mushrooms, of course! Everyone loved it! Can’t wait to eat the leftovers!! Thank you!
Cindy says
Can you use tomato sauce instead of pizza sauce
Alea Milham says
You can substitute a marinara sauce or spaghetti sauce for the pizza sauce. If you use tomato sauce, I recommend adding Italian Seasoning to it to make it more flavorful.
Shelley says
Made this and loved it. There’s even enough leftover to have tonight. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Shelley
Jaclyn says
Hey! I was wanting to make this for a meal swap. We usually freeze everything before swapping them. Would you recommend making this dish first and then freezing or put it all together and freezing it right away (not cooking)? Thank you!
Alea Milham says
I would make it and then freeze it.
Jaclyn says
Thanks! What’s your advice for reheating?
Alea Milham says
Cover the frozen casserole dish with foil. Place the casserole in the oven while it is still frozen. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour. Then remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 – 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the casserole is warmed through.
Lisa says
I made this recipe yesterday afternoon, just now eating it today. So delicious, I mixed in bell peppers, onions, jalapeños and black olives. Used turkey pepperonis, put the pepperonis on top of whole wheat pasta then on top of the cheese. My 28 year old son loved it. Will make again. Yum 😋 thanks for the recipe.
Brandy Johnson says
Can you freeze the leftovers?
Alea Milham says
Yes, you can.
Carol says
Can you make this a freeze it
Lillian @ My Recipe Journey says
I tried this today and it was pretty good! I love how easy it was to make! The pasta just needs salt, so next time I’ll use a saltier sauce. Thanks so much for this easy recipe.
Swathi says
Delicious pizza casserole Recipe Alea.
Lillian @ My Recipe Journey says
I love that the pasta is put in raw…one less pot to clean! Great recipe! I’ll be trying this one! Thanks! Re-pinning!
Kristi says
I’ll try this one, too. Again, using my Einkorn pasta (with lower gluten). The one last week was SO good!
Michelle says
Looks good! I like that it was on the fly and used what you had.
kitblu says
I first made my version of pizza casserole many years ago to use leftovers. Instead of uncooked pasta I used leftover rice. This was such a hit with my family that my father adopted it as his signature dish. It could also be made with leftover cooked beans.
Alea says
I love the idea of using cooked rice as the base!
April @ The 21st Century Housewife says
I love the sound of your pizza casserole, and it looks delicious too. What a great idea!