Pizza Hut Cavatini
Just like the original that used to be a part of the buffet, this hearty copycat Pizza Hut Cavatini is loaded with pasta, meats, peppers, and melted cheese!
A NOSTALGIC PASTA RECIPE
If you ever had the Pizza Hut Cavatini in the past (not the ones they have now – those are different so it’s mostly us older folks that remember this one), you know how delicious it was! I used to enjoy it during my lunch break when they used to have the lunch buffet. Anyone else miss the buffet? Back then it was such a good deal and they had so many different kinds of pizzas out along with this pasta, a salad bar and dessert pizza too. This baked dish is loaded with tender pasta, seasoned meats, peppers, marinara, and a generous blanket of melted cheeses and captures everything we all loved about the original recipe!
So delicious! My wife and family really enjoyed this one. Made them with your Pizza Hut Breadsticks (which were also fabulous) thanks so much!
– Dan
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Sometimes our Pizza Hut switched up the veggies in the pasta and would include some mushrooms and sliced olives. This was back when they made more things in-house (they weren’t just delivered to the store frozen) so they would switch it up sometimes because they were making it themselves. So feel free to play with this recipe and add what you love.
Why not try serving it with some other Pizza Hut favorites like the old school Pizza Hut Garlic Cheese Bread or the Pizza Hut Breadsticks and finish it off with some Pizza Hut Cinnamon Sticks! You could also serve with a nice big salad or a side dish of steamed veggies.
Certainly. If you don’t need as many servings, you can cut the recipe in half. It may be easier to change the baking dish size if desired. Or you can make half now and freeze the other half for later – it’s a great make ahead freezer meal like most all pasta dishes.
Keep leftovers covered and in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
Yes, this can be frozen before or after cooking as long as it is properly covered to protect against freezer burn. When cooking from frozen, it’ll take longer to cook. Start with 5-10 minutes extra and continue to check until cooked through.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- rotini pasta – or cavatappi could also be used.
- green pepper – don’t like peppers? Leave it out. If I remember correctly, this recipe was made with peppers, onions and sometimes mushrooms and olives (this was back in the day when the pasta was made in house so sometimes they switched up the veggies that were in it so feel free to have fun with this recipe and change it up!)
- yellow onion– If you don’t like onions, omit it and add 1 Tablespoon of onion powder instead.
- Italian sausage– If you want to keep the spice level down, you can use regular sausage instead of Italian. You can use sweet or spicy sausage.
- ground beef– I used 85% lean. You can use all sausage for all ground beef if you don’t want to do half and half.
- pepperoni slices
- shredded parmesan cheese
- shredded mozzarella cheese
- pasta sauce – my favorite pasta sauce is usually Rao’s Roasted Garlic Sauce (not a paid link) or Aldi’s Specially Selected Premium Marinara Sauce (not a paid link) but I usually end up going with whatever I got on sale or had a coupon for – as you see in the photo below. So use what you like, you don’t need to go by the kind that I used.
HOW TO MAKE PIZZA HUT CAVATINI:
Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Prepare a 9×13-inch casserole dish by spraying it with non-stick spray. Set aside. Cook pasta to al dente according to box directions. Once pasta is cooked, drain and return to the stock pot. Heat the oil in a medium-size skillet over medium/high heat. Once hot, add the diced peppers and onions to the pan and cook until softened. Approximately 3-5 minutes.
Once the peppers and onions are softened, add the Italian sausage and ground beef and cook, while breaking apart into smaller pieces, cook and crumble until fully cooked and no longer pink. Drain any excess grease. Add the peppers, onions and cooked meat to the stock pot with the noodles.
Add the pepperoni, making sure to pull the individual slices apart or they will stick. In addition, add the parmesan cheese and ½ cup of the mozzarella cheese along with both jars of spaghetti sauce. Use a sturdy spoon to stir everything together until well incorporated. Pour the pasta mixture into the prepared casserole dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese evenly over the top.
Cover with nonstick aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until everything is melted and bubbly. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool slightly before serving.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- Pizza Hut Breadsticks
- Pizza Hut Cinnamon Sticks
- Pizza Hut Garlic Cheese Bread
- Little Caesar’s Crazy Bread
- Baked Pizza Pasta
- Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad
- Pizza Tortellini
- Meatball Pizza
Pizza Hut Cavatini
Ingredients
- 1 pound rotini pasta (or cavatappi)
- 1 Tablespoon oil
- 1 cup diced green pepper
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- ½ pound Italian sausage (see notes below)
- ½ pound ground beef
- ½ a 6 ounce bag pepperoni slices
- 6 ounce bag shredded parmesan cheese (1 ½ cups)
- 8 ounce bag shredded mozzarella cheese (2 cups, divided use)
- 2 (24 ounce) jars pasta sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Prepare a 9×13-inch casserole dish by spraying it with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Cook pasta to al dente according to box directions. Once pasta is cooked, drain and return to the stock pot.
- Heat the oil in a medium-size skillet over medium/high heat. Once hot, add the diced peppers and onions to the pan and cook until softened. Approximately 3-5 minutes.
- Once the peppers and onions are softened, add the Italian sausage and ground beef and cook, while breaking apart into smaller pieces, cook and crumble until fully cooked and no longer pink. Drain any excess grease.
- Add the peppers, onions and cooked meat to the stock pot with the noodles. Add the pepperoni, making sure to pull the individual slices apart or they will stick.
- In addition, add the parmesan cheese and ½ cup of the mozzarella cheese along with both jars of spaghetti sauce. Use a sturdy spoon to stir everything together until well incorporated.
- Pour the pasta mixture into the prepared casserole dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese evenly over the top.
- Cover with nonstick aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until everything is melted and bubbly.
- Remove from the oven and allow it to cool slightly before serving.
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- You can use all ground beef or all Italian sausage if you don’t want to use half and half.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
As a former Pizza Hut manager, I can tell you that the cooked noodles were marinated overnight. As with all of the Pizza Hut spices it came in a plain white plastic bag, so I can’t tell you exactly what was in it, but I suspect it was a powdered chicken bouillon with other Italian spices. It was added to a 5 gallon bucket of a water and oil mixture overnight. The noodles would swell to twice its size overnight. May be something for you to experiment with.
So delicious! My wife and family really enjoyed this one. Made them with your Pizza Hut Breadsticks (which were also fabulous) thanks so much!
Why wouldn’t you not be able to? I’m confused about the question.
Can you do a Pizza Hut Priazzo?
Cheryl, you are taking me back! Wow! I haven’t thought about that one in years! Let me see what I can do 🙂