Meat Lovers Pizza Casserole is essentially a deconstructed pizza baked in a casserole dish, providing a hearty and comforting meal. Cooked pasta, marinara sauce, Italian sausage, pepperoni, a little garlic, and some mozzarella cheese are all baked together until heated through and the cheese is melted. This weeknight meal has minimal ingredients, is simple to make, and is definitely a dinner that all will enjoy!

Why I love this recipe:

Meat lovers pizza casserole will become your new weekly weeknight meal for several reasons. Not only does it taste just like a hearty meaty pizza, but it comes together in just 30 minutes. The ingredients are minimal and cheap making this meal easy and budget friendly. It can also be made ahead of time and then baked right before dinner making meal planning incredibly easy. This dinner is also kid friendly given that most kiddos enjoy pasta dishes. I purchase mild Italian sausage so it’s not too spicy, but ground beef can be a great substitute if needed!

The ingredients:

As mentioned above, the ingredients are minimal for this recipe!

• Box of pasta – any short cut pasta will do. 
• Italian sausage – Italian sausage has so much flavor already packed into it which is why I love to cook with it. It adds salt and tons of other spice flavors like oregano and fennel to the recipe. It’s also cheap!
• Bag of pepperoni – This recipe has to have pepperoni because it’s a meat lovers recipe, right? The salty slightly spicy bite is the perfect addition. I love how the pepperoni looks on top of the casserole as well!
• 2 jars of marinara sauce – Any flavor will do. I typically use a traditional one to keep things simple, but feel free to use your favorite jarred pasta sauce. 
• Shredded mozzarella cheese – Mozzarella melts beautiful and is mild enough allowing all the other flavors to shine. 
• Minced garlic (not pictured) – I like to add garlic just for that extra touch of flavor. However, most jarred marina sauces already have garlic in them so it definitely can be left out if needed. 

How to make meat lovers pizza casserole:

As you can see this recipe is incredibly easy to make! All that’s required is to cook the sausage with a bit of garlic, boil some noodles and then dump everything together and bake! My family truly enjoys this recipe and I’ve been making it for years. Weeknight meals can sometimes be difficult and time consuming to make, but this recipe is the opposite of that. You will have dinner ready in just 30 minutes and again, it can be made ahead of time and baked right before dinner! 

Tips and Substitutions:

• Do not over boil the noodles otherwise they will become mushy. I boil mine for about 8 minutes and then they will continue to cook in the oven. 
• Prepare all of the ingredients and utencils ahead of time so you don’t miss anything. I like to go through the recipe first and then get everything I need out before I start cooking. This prevents mistakes and makes the cooking process run smoothly. 
• If your family doesn’t like Italian sausage, you can use ground beef instead. I suggest seasoning it with a tablespoon of Italian seasoning and a teaspoon of salt. You could also use ground turkey or chicken as well. You can also do a combination of Italian sausage and ground beef. 
• Provolone cheese and parmesan cheese would be nice cheesses to incorporate if you want a sharper cheese flavor. 

And there you have it. Everything you need to know about Meat Lovers Pizza Casserole! If you have any questions, please leave me a comment! I’d be happy to help you in any way I can! Enjoy!

Yield: 6

Meat Lovers Pizza Casserole

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Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 2, 24 ounce jars traditional pasta sauce
• 1 pound Italian sausage
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1, 16 ounce box rigatoni pasta
• 1, 12 ounce bag shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 bag pepperoni
• 2 tablespoons Olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Drizzle olive oil in a large saute pan and place over medium heat. Add sausage and cook until browned. Next add minced garlic and sauté for an additional minute; set aside until pasta is done.
3. While sausage is browning, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta for 8 minutes - the pasta should be well under-cooked. Drain pasta and put back into the large pot.
4. Count out 18 pepperoni and place to the side. Take the leftover pepperoni and cut it into chunks.
5. To the pot of drained pasta add the browned sausage and garlic, two jars pasta Sauce, sliced pepperoni, and a handful of mozzarella cheese and stir.
6. Put pasta into a 9x13 dish, top with remaining mozzarella cheese and pepperoni slices. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and pepperoni is crispy.