This Pizza Pasta is an easy dinner recipe that you can make ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake! Your family will love this cozy casserole!
Pizza Pasta
If you have some hungry family or friends to feed, this Pizza Pasta recipe is perfect! The inside of this pasta bake is loaded with classic pizza toppings, including sausage, ground beef, bell peppers, and onions.
Of course, it’s all topped off with hot, melted mozzarella and loads of pepperoni. It’s even got a combination of marinara and pizza sauce, along with a perfect pizza seasoning blend to tie in the theme.
Bonus: It’s easy to make ahead of time to refrigerate or freeze and bake another day!
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Cook ground beef, sausage, and onions in a skillet until halfway cooked. Add the peppers and cook for 5 more minutes. Drain grease. Add beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, garlic, and seasonings. Add marinara and pizza sauce. Simmer while you boil penne 1 minute less than al dente.
Stir in grated Parmesan cheese and add penne. Stir to combine.
Transfer to a casserole dish if your skillet isn’t oven safe. Top with mozzarella.
Top with pepperoni. Cover and bake for 10 minutes. Remove cover and bake for 15 minutes. Serve with garlic bread with cheese!
Make Ahead Method
- Assemble the casserole as outlined. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Then follow baking method below:
- If refrigerated: Let sit at room temp for 30 minutes prior to baking. Add 10 additional minutes to covered baking time. Be sure not to overcook the pasta when boiling it.
- If frozen: Let it thaw completely in the fridge, this can take up to 24 hours. Then follow refrigerated baking method above.
Pro Tips
- Marinara Sauce: I use Rao’s marinara sauce, it’s super high quality and tastes great. (I stock up when it’s on sale!) They make a great pizza sauce as well.
- Low moisture, whole milk mozzarella has the best consistency for this recipe. Shred it from a block to ensure it melts and tastes the best. I use Dragone mozzarella.
- The hot sauce/Worcestershire sauce act as flavor enhancers and can’t be tasted outright.
- This recipe uses a combination of ground beef and ground sausage, but all ground beef or all sausage can be used if needed.
- I use penne pasta for this recipe because it holds up well with this meat sauce, but other varieties of pasta may be used if needed.
- Additional topping options include: Mushrooms, olives, chicken, and tomatoes!
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. (Leftovers do freeze/reheat well!)
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- 9 x 13-inch casserole dish– This is the one that I use that’s pictured in this recipe.
- This is the round skillet that I prepared this pasta in (see process shots above). It’s also oven safe.
- Box Cheese Grater– Always grate the Parmesan from a wedge so that it melts and tastes the best
- Measuring Spoons– I have these magnetic ones which stay nice and organized in my utensil drawer.
- Pinch Bowls– for measuring out seasonings ahead of time.
Try These Next
- Lasagna Roll Ups
- Stromboli
- Chicken Parmesan
- Homemade Hamburger Helper
- Baked Ravioli
- Buffalo Chicken Pizza
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![Pizza Pasta topped with Pepperoni in a casserole dish with a wooden spoon in it.](jpg/pizza-pasta-f-200x200.jpg)
Pizza Pasta
Ingredients
Pizza Pasta
- ½ lb. ground beef
- ½ lb. ground sausage, mild, sweet, or hot Italian
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 small green bell pepper
- ½ cup beef broth
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 32 oz. marinara sauce, high quality. See notes.
- 8 oz. pizza sauce
- ¾ lb. penne
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 ½ cups whole milk/low moisture mozzarella, shredded from a block
- 25 slices pepperoni
Seasonings
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
Instructions
Prep Work
- Measure ingredients out before beginning.
- Begin heating a large pot of water to cook the pasta in. (Pro Tip: Generously salt the pasta water once a boil is reached. I use 3/4 tbsp. Kosher salt.)
- Preheat oven to 375°.
Make the Sauce/Pasta
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, sausage, and onions and cook for 4 minutes. Add the peppers and cook for 5 more minutes, or until the meat is browned and cooked through. Drain grease.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add beef broth and use a silicone spatula to clean the bottom and sides of the skillet. Add the garlic, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and seasonings. Stir to combine and heat for 1 minute.
- Add the marinara and pizza sauce and stir to combine. Let it simmer, partially covered, while you boil the pasta for 1 minute less than al dente according to package instructions.
- Reduce the heat of the sauce to low and stir in the Parmesan cheese.
- Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet. Stir to combine.
- Transfer to a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch casserole dish if your skillet isn’t oven safe to 450 degrees.
- Top with mozzarella and then with pepperoni.
- Cover and bake for 10 minutes. (If covering with foil, spray one side with non-stick cooking spray to prevent it from sticking to the cheese while it bakes.)
- Uncover, and bake for 15 minutes, or until your desired color is obtained on the top. If desired, broil at 450 for just about 1 minute to brown the top a little more. Watch it carefully/, don’t walk away.
- Optional: Garnish with fresh parsley and grated Parmesan cheese. Remove and serve!
Notes
- Marinara Sauce: I use Rao's marinara sauce, it's super high quality and tastes great. (I stock up when it's on sale!) They make a great pizza sauce as well.
- Low moisture, whole milk mozzarella has the best consistency for this recipe. Shred it from a block to ensure it melts and tastes the best. I use Dragone mozzarella.
- The hot sauce/Worcestershire sauce act as flavor enhancers and can’t be tasted outright.
- This recipe uses a combination of ground beef and ground sausage, but all ground beef or all sausage can be used if needed.
- I use penne pasta for this recipe because it holds up well with this meat sauce, but other varieties of pasta may be used if needed.
- Additional topping options include: Mushrooms, olives, chicken, and tomatoes!
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. (Leftovers do freeze/reheat well!)
The nutritional information provided is an estimate and is per serving. There are 8 servings in this recipe.
This recipe reminds me of the pasta dish you used to get at Pizza Hut called Cavatini. It was SO good and I really miss it. Will have to try yours and see if it comes out close.
I bet my husband would know that dish, he used to take my daughter to Pizza Hut all the time! I can’t wait for you to try this one!😃
Simply amazing!!! My youngest said he wanted this for his birthday dinner! Simply our favorite cookbook ever! You CAN NOT go wrong!!!
Thanks so much for your support and for taking the time to leave a review Chrissy! I love that your youngest wants this for his birthday dinner, its the ultimate compliment!🤗
To make this how do you figure out the metrics? I’ve never used them before. I want to mane this but I can’t yet. Thank you
Hi Jeanie, in the recipe card, under where it says “ingredients”, tap “metric” instead of “us customary”.
This is SO GOOD! Of all your recipes I’ve made so far, this is my husband’s favorite. I add extra pepperoni and olives for him. Thank you for the recipe…it’s a winner!
I am SOOOO happy to hear that this is your new favorite recipe Cathy!!! And YES! You’ve gotta add more pepperoni for the hubs! 🙂 And olives too- those are my fav! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review, you made my day! 🙂 -Stephanie
This not only looks good but tastes great! The spice, the sauces, the beef, and sausage all went together beautifully! I just added more sausage meat than beef (more meat used in general compared to recipe) with more pasta and Rao 13oz (instead of 8) pizza sauce with the Rao 32oz marinera sauce that you recommended and doubled the seasonings. It tastes absolutely DELICIOUS!!! This is a great go to meal if you have people over etc. And serve with garlic twist bread or regular garlic bread of course. And or salad. Im thankful for these meals that people can eat and enjoy!
Garlic twist bread would be amazing, I’m so feeling that with this one😋! I’m so happy you enjoyed this one Racheal thanks so much for the great review!
Very delicious! Everyone wanted seconds! Can’t wait to make this again 🙂
I’m so happy everyone liked it Katie, thanks so much for the great comments and review!💗
Delish! My picky little eaters wanted seconds!
I’m so happy the little picky eaters wanted seconds Katie, nice work!❤️ Thanks so much for the review!
My son and I made this today and it was delicious! Fun to make too. We made your homemade marinara sauce first and used it and it was perfect. This makes a TON also, my son said he will take it in his thermos every day to school this week haha
So much fun Cooking with your son Jodi, I love hearing that💗! I’m so happy it was a success and now your son can bring it to school. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and review!
Tried this the other day, and as a pizza lover LOVED IT! The kids scared it down also and asked me to make it every week! Followed recipe as written. Quick and easy meal! Thanks Steph and keep doing what you do. Will be looking for more new recipes. Can’t wait!
I’m so happy everyone loved it Kurt! I think this will be a very popular one with the kiddos. Thanks so much for the great comments and for taking the time to leave a review!💖
Will have to try this dish after the holidays, would like to keep this recipe, thanks for sharing
You’re very welcome Debbie, I can’t wait for you to try it out!❤️