Pizza Pasta Casserole is a dinner recipe that the whole family will love! Simple baked pasta recipe made with rotini, Italian sausage, pepperoni, spaghetti sauce, veggies and cheese.
Pizza Pasta Casserole
If you love pizza, you’ll love this easy casserole recipe! Rotini, Italian sausage and spaghetti sauce are mixed together and then layered with a layer of cottage cheese, mozzarella and some veggies. The recipe calls for mushrooms and olives, but you can add any other pizza toppings you’d like – peppers, pineapple, ham, etc. Pepperoni slices and a little bit more mozzarella go on top and everything is baked together for about 30 minutes. Tastes just like pizza!
What to serve with Pizza Pasta Casserole?
With noodles, meat, cheese and veggies, this casserole is a pretty balanced meal just on it’s own. And when I’m crunched for time and we have a crazy night, sometimes we just eat it that way! When we have a little more time to prepare and eat dinner, I love to pair the casserole with a Caesar Salad and some Cheesy Breadsticks. And don’t forget dessert! Serve a no-bake Banana Split Pie or some classic Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Ingredients in Pizza Pasta Casserole
Rotini – Rotini is what we usually use, but you can use any pasta you want. Pasta that is a similar size/shape to rotini seems to work best, but you could even use spaghetti if that’s what you have on hand! Gluten free pasta works great in this recipe as well. I haven’t tried to make this with zucchini noodles, but I think it would be delicious if you’re trying to cut down on carbs.
Italian sausage – You will need a pound of Italian sausage. We prefer mild, but if you like a little bit of heat, that works too!
Spaghetti sauce – You will need 24 ounces (about 3 cups) of spaghetti sauce. We really love Rao’s Marinara sauce, but when I have time, I really love using this homemade Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce. Use whatever kind of sauce you prefer!
Cottage cheese – I really love using cottage cheese in lasagna and other baked pasta. It adds a lot of cheesiness and protein without adding as many calories as other types of cheese. You can use 16 ounces of ricotta cheese mixed with an egg as a substitution if you prefer.
Olives – Use one small can of sliced olives and make sure they are well drained before adding to the casserole. If you love olives, add more! If you hate them, leave ’em out!
Mushrooms – The recipe calls for a 4 ounce can of mushrooms, well drained. Disclaimer: we don’t really love mushrooms so these are usually left out at our house.
Mozzarella – You will need 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese. 1 1/2 cups will be mixed into the cottage cheese layer and the remaining 1/2 cup will be sprinkled on top of the casserole. Feel free to use an Italian blend or add extra cheese if you’d like!
Pepperoni – Top the casserole with 6 ounces of sliced pepperoni. My kids love it when I get the little tiny miniature pepperonis, but you can use any kind of pepperoni you’d like.
How to make Pizza Pasta Casserole
Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9X13 pan.
Boil pasta according to package instructions, about 8-10 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.
In a skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage until evenly browned. Drain the grease. In a large bowl, combined the cooked pasta, spaghetti sauce and cooked sausage. Mix together in a large bowl. Pour half of the mixture into the 9X13.
In a separate bowl, mix together the cottage cheese, olives, mushrooms and 12 ounces of the mozzarella cheese. Spoon this mixture over the pasta in the pan.
Pour the remaining pasta over the cheese layer. Sprinkle with the remaining 4 oz of mozzarella. Top with pepperoni slices evenly spaced across the top of the casserole.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and heated all the way through. Serve immediately.
Pizza Pasta Casserole
Ingredients
- 16 oz rotini
- 1 lb ground Italian sausage
- 24 oz spaghetti sauce
- 16 oz cottage cheese
- 2.25 oz canned black olives drained
- 4 oz can mushrooms drained
- 16 oz shredded mozzarella divided
- 6 oz pkg sliced pepperoni
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9X13 pan.
- Boil pasta according to package instructions, about 8-10 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.
- In a skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage until evenly browned. Drain the grease. In a large bowl, combined the cooked pasta, spaghetti sauce and cooked sausage. Mix together in a large bowl. Pour half of the mixture into the 9X13.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the cottage cheese, olives, mushrooms and 12 ounces of the mozzarella cheese. Spoon this mixture over the pasta in the pan.
- Pour the remaining pasta over the cheese layer. Sprinkle with the remaining 4 oz of mozzarella. Top with pepperoni slices evenly spaced across the top of the casserole.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and heated all the way through. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
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Is pizza pasta casserole gluten free?
If you swap out the rotini with a gluten free pasta, this casserole is gluten free! Gluten free pasta is much easier to find these days – I have tried quite a few varieties and they all taste great in this dish. To be completely honest, gluten-free pasta does not taste exactly the same, but there are so many other flavors and textures in the casserole that you really can’t even tell that the pasta is not “regular” at all!
What are the best pizza toppings?
The great thing about pizza and this casserole is that you can customize according to your preferences. The recipe calls for Italian sausage, pepperoni, olives and mushrooms, but you can leave any or all of those out and swap them with whatever you’d like. Love Hawaiian pizza? Add in some pineapple and diced ham or Canadian bacon and leave everything else out. Have picky eaters that only eat cheese pizza? Leave all the toppings out! You can add more veggies and leave out the meat if you prefer. This dish is so versatile and it’s easy to make it just the way your family likes!
Love pasta? So do we! Here are some of our favorite pasta recipes:
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
- Creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta
- Taco Stuffed Pasta Shells
- Crockpot Chicken Alfredo Lasagna
- Pasta Fagioli
- Lasagna Soup
- Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta
- Easy Garlic Butter Pasta
- Sausage Pepper Pasta
- Fiesta Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad
- Easy 4-Cheese Skillet Lasagna
- Mexican Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
- Pizza Pasta Salad
- Pasta Caprese
Pizza Pasta Casserole is a dinner recipe that the whole family will love! Simple baked pasta recipe made with rotini, Italian sausage, pepperoni, spaghetti sauce, veggies and cheese.
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