Easy Pizza Pasta (+Video)
This Pizza Pasta recipe is a family favorite. Flavorful pizza sauce tossed with rotini noodles, pizza toppings and melted cheese. Delicious and easy!
A FAMILY FAVORITE MEAL
I’ve been in a pizza mood lately. I’ve been craving pizza and anything that tastes like pizza. Ok in all honesty, I am always in a pizza mood. Did you catch the Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Salad from last week? And now I’m sharing another pizza-inspired recipe: Pizza Pasta Bake.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Let’s start with the basics of what this recipe is exactly. Pizza pasta is just cooked pasta that has been mixed with pizza sauce and pizza toppings. This is a really fun recipe to play around with because you can use pretty much any pasta shape you love and add any of your favorite pizza toppings to the mix.
Yes! Funny enough I get this question a lot on social media. So I am going to show you in this recipe how I use it. Pizza sauce is more concentrated in flavor than your typical marinara sauce. So if I am using it in pasta, I dilute it some with water or chicken broth.
If I am in the mood, I will make my own Homemade Pizza Sauce. But sometimes we don’t feel like doing all that, right? I try to show more affordable options here on my site so folks don’t feel like they have to buy an expensive brand to make something good (like Great Value items.) However, if you have the money to splurge on something a bit extra, I really like Rao’s Pizza Sauce. It is as close to homemade as you can get in my opinion.
Yes, prepare the pasta (just don’t bake). Cover really well to protect against freezer burn. Then continue with baking instructions when you’re ready to eat. Note: you will have to add on extra cooking time since you will be cooking from frozen.
Any leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- ground beef
- onion
- garlic
- Italian seasoning
- pizza sauce
- water
- rotini pasta
- mozzarella cheese
- pepperoni slices
HOW TO MAKE PIZZA PASTA:
Cook 3 cups of pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta well. Brown ground beef with onion, garlic and Italian seasoning. Start preheating your oven to 350F degrees. Drain excess grease from ground beef.
In a large bowl, mix together pizza sauce and water.
Add in cooked pasta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, cooked ground beef and 20 slices of pepperoni (that have been sliced in half.) Stir well.
Spray an 8″x 8″ baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour in pasta mixture.
Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.
Place remaining pepperoni slices on top.
Cover with aluminum foil. Note: I like to spray the inside of the aluminum foil with nonstick spray so the cheese doesn’t stick to it while baking or use nonstick aluminum foil. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes (until cheese is melted.)
Serve with a crisp green salad and garlic bread or garlic breadsticks.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Originally published: August 2012
Updated & republished: October 2021
Easy Pizza Pasta (+Video)
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef, (or Italian sausage)
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 14 ounce jar pizza sauce
- 3/4 cup water
- 3 cups rotini pasta, measure before cooking
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided use
- 36 slices pepperoni, divided use
Instructions
- Cook 3 cups of pasta according to package directions. Drain well.
- Brown and crumble ground beef with onion, garlic and Italian seasoning. Drain excess grease from ground beef.
- Start preheating oven to 350F degrees
- In a large bowl, mix together pizza sauce and water.
- Add to the bowl, cooked pasta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, cooked ground beef and 20 slices of pepperoni (that have been sliced in half). Stir well.
- Spray an 8"x 8" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour in pasta mixture.
- Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. Place remaining pepperoni slices on top.
- Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
- Remove aluminum foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes (until cheese is fully melted).
Video
Notes
- I like to spray the inside of the aluminum foil with nonstick spray so the cheese doesn’t stick to it while baking or use nonstick aluminum foil.
- You can substitute the jar of pizza sauce & water for one jar of spaghetti sauce.
- Have fun with this dish and add more of your favorite pizza toppings like mushrooms & green peppers
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 can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
I’m making my Pizza Pasta Bake right now. I have to tell you that you’re the one I go to for all my important recipes. You just have a way of cooking that reminds me so much of the way I’ve been eating all my life. I’m Sicilian. My grandparents on both sides were from Sicily and when you cook something Italian, it just comes out great.
I love hearing that so much RoseMary! I hope you loved this one and find lots more recipes on here that you enjoy!
Are the nutritional facts per serving?
They are. However, these are just estimates. If you need nutritional facts due to dietary or health concerns, please use your own trusted nutritional apps.
Using pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce. Which one is better?
I added black olives, mushrooms, and bell peppers to the top! It was delicious!!!
I made this yesterday for my family, and it was a hit!!!!!!
Absolutely delicious ????❤????❤????????????
Yay!! Thanks so much Colleen!! I love hearing when a recipe was a hit!
This is a great easy meal! Perfect for families. So easy and quick to prepare and very tasty! You could add any pizza toppings that you like to this dish. I did it as written and we loved it! I will definitely be making this again!
This was great !, I mixed mild Italian sausage with the ground beef, also used a larger baking dish and added sliced mushrooms…mmmm
Steps for freezing? Do I bake it the same amount of time or longer? Does it need to thaw or can I go straight from freezer to oven?
I used Johnsonville Italian Sausage and added bacon bits and it was Fantastic
Made this tonight. It was good!