Pizza Baked Spaghetti
This post may contain affiliate links.
When you’re in the mood for pizza and pasta, this Pizza Baked Spaghetti recipe is the perfect solution! Your favorite pizza toppings are tossed with spaghetti and marinara sauce, then topped with lots of cheese and pepperonis, in this Italian casserole that’s easy to make in only 29 minutes!
Table of contents
When it comes to easy weeknight meals, pasta is always a go-to at our house. And let’s just say that if I could eat pizza every day for the rest of my life, I probably would! So the idea of a meal that combines an easy pasta dish with one of my favorite foods, is something I’m definitely on board with!
The great thing about this pizza baked spaghetti recipe is that it’s totally customizable! While I tossed the pasta with Italian sausage and red peppers (my favorite pizza toppings!) you could easily swap them out, or add in mushrooms, bacon, onions or Italian-seasoned ground beef. The possibilities really are endless!
If you’re looking for a new recipe to add to your weeknight menu repertoire, look no further than this pizza baked spaghetti recipe! It only takes 14 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to bake, which makes it an easy 29 Minute Meal, perfect for busy schedules!
The pizza toppings are tossed with extra saucy spaghetti and topped with lots of parmesan and mozzarella cheese for a meal that the entire family will love!
Ingredients
- Spaghetti noodles – you could also use another type of pasta if you’d like. Penne, rotini or ziti all work well in baked pasta dishes.
- Marinara sauce – I love Rao’s, but feel free to use your favorite brand of sauce, or make homemade marinara sauce.
- Italian sausage – to make this recipe quick and easy, I recommend using fully cooked Italian sausage links. These can be chicken or pork sausages. This means that you don’t have to cook the sausage before preparing the casserole. You can just slice it up, toss it in and bake the casserole. If you’d like to use loose Italian sausage for crumbles, you’ll need to cook the sausage in a skillet on the stove before adding it to the casserole.
- Red bell pepper – this is one of my favorite pizza toppings and I love the crunch it adds to this casserole. If you’d like to use other veggies, refer to the section below on substitutions and variations for other suggestions.
- Mozzarella cheese – I recommend low-moisture shredded mozzarella cheese, so you don’t water down the casserole. You can use whole milk or part-skim. I like to use whole milk mozzarella because it has a richer flavor and melts better than the park-skim cheese.
- Parmesan cheese – I recommend fresh grating the parmesan cheese at home. It melts better than pre-shredded cheese in a bag, because it does not contain the anti-caking ingredients found in bagged, shredded parmesan cheese.
- Pepperonis (optional) – adding sliced pepperonis on top of this casserole really makes it look like a pizza! This ingredient is optional, but it does add a flavorful, salty addition on top of this pizza baked spaghetti.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions, recipe video and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Boil a large pot of salted water on the stove. Add the spaghetti noodles and cook according to the package directions, until al dente. Drain and transfer the cooked spaghetti to a large bowl. Add marinara sauce, cooked, sliced Italian sausage and diced red bell peppers.
- Transfer this mixture to a 9 inch by 13 inch casserole dish.
- Top with shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
- Add pepperoni slices in an even layer on top of the cheese.
- Bake in the oven at 425°F for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with fresh chopped basil or parsley, if you’d like to garnish the casserole.
Substitutions and variations
- Make a vegetarian version! Replace the sausage in the casserole with 12 ounces sliced baby bella or white button mushrooms. Omit the pepperonis on top of the casserole.
- Make a supreme version (like Fazoli’s)! In this copycat version of the recipe, add 1/2 cup cooked, diced bacon, 1/2 cup diced green bell peppers, 1/2 cup diced onion and 1 cup sliced mushrooms to the casserole, along with the Italian sausage and red bell peppers.
- Make a meat-lovers version! Replace the cup of red bell pepper with 1 cup of diced, cooked bacon. Combined with the pepperoni and Italian sausage, this is a meat lovers dream! You could also add 1/2 cup diced ham and a cup of cooked, quartered meatballs or 1/2 pound Italian seasoned ground beef to really amp up the meatiness of this dish!
- Replace the Italian sausage with Italian seasoned ground beef. Speaking of ground beef, if you want to use this, instead of the Italian sausage, you’ll want to cook and crumble 1 pound of ground beef in a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Once the beef is cooked through, drain any grease from the skillet, then toss the ground beef with 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning. Add it to the casserole at the same time that you would add the Italian sausage.
- Replace the bell peppers with your favorite vegetable pizza topping. This could be mushrooms, onions, green bell peppers, black olives or jalapeno peppers. You can use a cup of any of these toppings, or use multiple veggie toppings, combined for a cup of veggies.
Recipe tips
- You can assemble the casserole recipe up to 24 hours ahead of time. Cover and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake the casserole.
- You can use pizza sauce, instead of marinara sauce. Pizza sauce is generally less seasoned than marinara sauce, or pasta sauce, so I recommend stirring in 1-2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, if using pizza sauce.
- To decrease the grease coming off of the pepperonis on top of the casserole, first cook the pepperonis for 2-3 minutes per side in a skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Remove the pepperonis from the skillet and press them between two paper towels. This will release the grease from the pepperonis, so when you cook them on the pizza baked spaghetti, it won’t get greasy.
- You can also make this casserole without the pepperonis. I’ve made this recipe several times without the pepperonis on top. It’s still just as delicious!
- To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten free spaghetti, or another gluten-free pasta noodle.
How to store and reheat
Pizza spaghetti casserole leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and eaten within 5 days.
The pasta can be reheated on the stove or in the microwave. To reheat it on the stove, add the pasta to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir and reheat for 5-10 minutes, or until heated through.
To reheat the pasta in the microwave, add it to a microwave safe bowl and heat for 2-3 minutes.
What to serve with it
This spaghetti pizza recipe is delicious on it’s own, or served with buttery garlic bread on the side. Or to lighten things up, add a scrumptious salad or roasted veggies. Pair the recipe with any of these side dishes for a winning combo!
More easy Italian recipes
Add these other easy Italian recipes to your weekly menu!
Pizza Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 16 ounces spaghetti noodles
- 4 cups marinara sauce, click link for homemade marinara sauce recipe
- 12 ounces fully-cooked Italian sausage links, sliced
- 1 cup red bell pepper, diced
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 24 pepperonis
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil on the stove over high heat.
- Add the spaghetti noodles and cook according to the package directions, until al dente.
- Drain the noodles and transfer them to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the marinara sauce, sliced sausage and bell pepper to the bowl and toss to combine everything.
- Transfer the spaghetti mixture to a 9 inch x 13 inch baking dish.
- Top with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
- Add the pepperonis in an even layer on top of the cheese.
- Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Video
Notes
- To make this recipe vegetarian, replace the sausage in the casserole with 12 ounces sliced baby bella or white button mushrooms. Omit the pepperonis on top of the casserole.
- To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten free spaghetti, or another gluten-free pasta noodle.
- The bell peppers can be replaced with your favorite vegetable pizza topping. This could be mushrooms, onions, green bell peppers, black olives or jalapeno peppers. You can use a cup of any of these toppings, or use multiple veggie toppings, combined for a cup of veggies.
- The casserole can be assembled up to 24 hours ahead of time. Cover and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake the casserole.
- Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and eaten within 5 days. The pasta can be reheated on the stove or in the microwave.
- To reheat it on the stove, add the pasta to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir and reheat for 5-10 minutes, or until heated through.
- To reheat the pasta in the microwave, add it to a microwave safe bowl and heat for 2-3 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
3 Comments on “Pizza Baked Spaghetti”
I’m going to try this as soon as our Fall weather cools down !! Absolutely sounds delicious !!!
Wow, this looks sooo delicious! I’m definitely going to try it, since it sounds super simple. Thank you for sharing the details!
Thanks so much Diego! Enjoy!