Puffy Pizza Casserole
Puffy Pizza Casserole is like a meat lovers pizza all tossed in a casserole dish – flavorful with melty cheese, sauce and the fun part – no pizza dough needed!
YUMMY PIZZA CASSEROLE IN AN HOUR
Everything you love about pizza all thrown together in an ooey gooey, cheesy casserole. I have a feeling once you make this, it will end up on your regular meal rotation! The best part is how easy it is to make and it’s ready in an hour. No long cook times, no hours prepping over the stove, just a simple to follow recipe that is sure to make your family’s tastebuds happy and their bellies full. And the fun part? No pizza dough – the ‘puffy’ part starts off as a liquid base which makes for a fun transformation at the end!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
When you put it in the baking dish, it’s in a liquid form. But when it bakes up, it gets all nice and fluffy and puffy, so we call it the puffy pizza casserole.
I used hot Italian sausage, but you can use whatever kind of ground sausage your family enjoys on pizzas. Sweet Italian or mild sausage would also work nicely. Or you can use all ground beef instead of sausage.
You can add whatever pizza toppings you typically like to enjoy on your pie. Some easy ideas are mushrooms, diced pepperoni, ham, pineapple, other diced veggies, etc.
Sure. We like it with a good amount of sauce, but if you prefer it with a little less, try to use a 15 ounce jar of pizza sauce instead. This will give you a firmer, less saucy casserole if that is what you are going for.
Yup. If you want the biscuit layer at the top- first add the sauce, then the batter and followed by the cheese, then bake just the same as the directions state.
I like the roasted garlic marinara from Rao. But, you can use any pizza sauce or marinara sauce that you prefer.
I like to serve this casserole with a nice big Caesar salad and some garlic bread.
Leftover pizza casserole should be stored in an airtight container and should be kept in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. Freeze it for longer. It should keep up to 3 months.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- ground beef – I use a mix of ground beef and Italian sausage but you could certainly use all ground beef or all sausage.
- ground Italian sausage – we prefer a hot Italian sausage that I think ends up not really being too hot once it’s all mixed in with everything else but you could certainly use mild.
- onion and green bell pepper – use what you enjoy here. If you don’t like onions and bell peppers then leave them out.
- marinara sauce – I love Rao’s roasted garlic but use your favorite sauce here – you could also use pizza sauce but you’d probably want to grab two jars to have enough sauce
- all-purpose flour – this is for the pizza base – you could use self-rising flour here but you’ll just want to leave out the baking powder and salt since that is already included in self-rising flour.
- baking powder – make sure your baking powder is fresh and not expired – most things end up not rising because the baking powder has gone bad.
- shredded Mozzarella cheese – you can use store bought shredded cheese or shred your own.
- shredded Parmesan cheese – I like the contrast in cheese flavors but you could leave this out and just use mozzarella.
- sliced pepperoni – use as much of this as you like!
- dried parsley flakes – this is optional but I always love that bit of green on the top because it looks pretty – you could also use a tad bit of dried oregano.
HOW TO MAKE PUFFY PIZZA CASSEROLE
In a large skillet over medium heat, cook and crumble the ground beef and Italian sausage along with the onion and green pepper. Season with a little salt and pepper to taste (about ½ teaspoon each.) Cook until meat is cooked thoroughly. Turn off heat. Drain any excess grease.
Place mixture back into the skillet. Stir the marinara sauce in with the meat.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl (I used a large measuring cup), combine the milk, butter, oil and eggs and mix with a whisk until combined well. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and continue to whisk until fully combined.
Evenly pour this batter into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
Then distribute the meat mixture evenly on top of the batter (as best as possible – it will start to sink into the batter as you do this – that’s ok!)
Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese evenly over the top, followed by the shredded Parmesan.
Top cheese with pepperoni.
Cover the pan with nonstick aluminum foil.
Bake, on the middle rack, for 20 minutes then remove the foil and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes (or until the casserole is puffed around the edges, light golden brown and cheese is completely melted.) Take care not to burn the cheese on top.
Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. Giving it time to cool also helps it to continue to set up and make it easier to scoop and serve. Sprinkle the top with a bit of dried parsley (optional) then serve with a fresh salad and garlic bread!
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Puffy Pizza Casserole
Ingredients
For the casserole:
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ pound ground Italian sausage
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 1 green bell pepper, finely diced
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 24 ounce jar marinara sauce
For the base:
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup (½ stick) salted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
For topping:
- 8 ounce bag shredded Mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- pepperoni slices (as many as you'd like)
- dried parsley flakes, for garnishing (optional)
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook and crumble the ground beef and Italian sausage along with the onion and green pepper. Season with a little salt and pepper to taste (about ½ teaspoon each.) Cook until meat is cooked thoroughly.
- Turn off heat. Drain any excess grease.
- Place mixture back into the skillet. Stir the marinara sauce in with the meat.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl (I used a large measuring cup), combine the milk, butter, oil and eggs and mix with a whisk until combined well. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and continue to whisk until fully combined.
- Evenly pour this batter into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
- Then distribute the meat mixture evenly on top of the batter (as best as possible – it will start to sink into the batter as you do this – that’s ok!)
- Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese evenly over the top, followed by the shredded Parmesan. Add pepperonis.
- Cover the pan with nonstick aluminum foil.
- Bake, on the middle rack, for 20 minutes then remove the foil and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes (or until the casserole is puffed around the edges, light golden brown and cheese is completely melted.) Take care not to burn the cheese on top.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. Giving it time to cool also helps it to continue to set up and make it easier to scoop and serve.
- Sprinkle the top with a bit of dried parsley (optional) then serve with a fresh salad and garlic bread!
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- You can use whatever ground sausage you prefer. I used hot Italian but you can use mild or sweet.
- Any of your favorite pizza toppings can be added: mushrooms, diced pepperoni, etc.
- My favorite jarred sauce is Rao’s Roasted Garlic but feel free to use your favorite.
- We like this to be fairly “saucy”, but if you don’t, just use a 15 ounce jar of pizza sauce. This will give you a firmer, less saucy casserole.
- If you want the biscuit layer to be all at the top, place the sauce into the bottom of the dish first, then evenly pour the batter on top, followed by the cheese. Bake for the same amount of time.
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.
My family really enjoyed this casserole. My oven heats a little slow, so next time I’ll use a 375 degree oven, to ensure the crust is a little more firm. But it was tasty, and we devoured it. Only a couple pieces leftover. I had a container of fresh mushrooms, which my family loves, so sliced those and placed them next to the ground meat mixture to ensure they were good and moist.
Thanks so much Beverly! I am so thrilled to hear that!! Great idea to add the mushrooms!
The flavor was good but it was a little too “mushy” for me. I even used the modification Brandie gave for using 15 ounces of sauce and 1/2 cup of water. Next time I might leave out the water, cook it at 375 degrees like you suggested, and cook it longer to see if I can get it to be firmer.
I just wanted to add that we had leftovers of this tonight, and the flavor was even better the 2nd day….as Italian food seems to be. 🙂
That’s wonderful! Thanks so much Miss Donna!