Deep Dish Pizza Casserole
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This deep dish pizza casserole recipe takes your favorite pizza toppings like ground beef and pizza sauce and transforms them into casserole form, with a delicious deep-dish crust and lots of melted cheese, of course.
Fill your kitchen with mouthwatering irresistible aromas from this deep dish pizza casserole recipe. This is another one of my favorite super easy, quick to throw together, family pleasing, and incredibly delicious meals, originally from my mother’s recipe collection. All we need to do is brown the meat and onion, add the sauce and seasonings, and pour it into a casserole dish along with the crust ingredients and all the cheese. 30 minutes in the oven and it’s ready to serve to your hungry family.
One of the best things about this pizza casserole is how incredibly adaptable it is to whatever ingredients you have on hand! For example, I’ve made it with absolutely no cheese before and it was still delicious. I’ve included lots of suggestions below, but feel free to swap ground beef for ground turkey or sausage, make the pizza sauce from scratch, and throw in your favorite veggie pizza toppings like olives and mushrooms. Let this casserole work for you.
For all of my readers with hungry mouths and teenage boys to feed, get ready for a home run with deep dish pizza casserole!
Recipe Ingredients
- Ground beef
- Pizza sauce
- Italian seasoning
- Onion
- Shredded parmesan cheese
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Flour
- Eggs
- Oil
- Milk
- Salt
How to Make Deep Dish Pizza Casserole
In a large skillet brown your beef and chopped onion.
After that, drain any grease and add any other pizza ingredients you typically enjoy, or just keep it as is, as I do.
Had my entire family (except for me) not been dropped on their heads as children (thereby ruining their ability to tell what is good in food), I would be adding bell pepper and mushrooms now. YUM!
Pour in your pizza sauce and stir.
Spray a 9×13 inch pan with baking spray. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the bottom of the pan. Spread the meat mixture over the mozzarella.
Then it’s time to mix up the pizza crust.
In a medium bowl, place milk, flour, eggs, oil, and salt. Stir until well combined and no lumps remain.
Pour over the meat in the casserole dish and sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. It may not look done but it is.
By now, your kitchen is filled with the most delicious smell of this deep dish pizza casserole. Your kids and spouse have been driving you crazy by asking if it’s done yet, and your stomach has set into a continual growl.
Or maybe that’s just me.
Enjoy your quick and easy casserole!
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Simply reheat in the microwave.
Recipe Notes
- A different way to make this pizza casserole is to add a layer of canned crescent rolls or refrigerated pizza crust dough to the bottom of the casserole dish and then top it with the mozzarella cheese and the meat mixture instead of making your own crust. It should take less time to cook, about 15 minutes.
- Another option is to substitute the pizza crust for cooked pasta, like rotini pasta or penne pasta. This will take about 20 minutes until the cheese melts.
- For added heat, add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes.
Recipe FAQs
What pizza toppings can I add to this deep dish pizza casserole?
You can really add in whatever pizza toppings you like. I tend to keep mine pretty basic because my precious family has no imagination, despite a collective twenty years of effort on my part to change that. However, I will tell you that even basic, this recipe is absolutely delicious and deeply satisfying. Anyway, here are some suggestions:
- Chopped green bell pepper or red bell pepper
- Sliced mushrooms
- Chopped black olives
- A layer of pepperoni on top of the parmesan cheese.
- A combination of ground beef and sausage (spicy Italian sausage would be delicious).
- Ground turkey instead of ground beef
- Homemade pizza sauce
- Different types of cheese, like provolone cheese or sharp cheddar cheese.
- Add 2 minced garlic cloves when you saute the onion and ground beef.
What do you serve with pizza casserole?
I love to just serve my casserole with a simple side salad.
You may also like these pizza recipes:
Barbecue Chicken Pizza, Southern-Style
Air Fryer Pizza Rolls Made From Scratch
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 1 15-ounce jar pizza sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Brown ground beef, onion, and bell pepper. Drain well. Add pizza sauce and Italian seasoning. Stir well.2 pounds ground beef, 1 medium onion, chopped, 1 bell pepper, chopped, 1-2 tablespoons Italian seasoning, 1 15-ounce jar pizza sauce
- Grease a 9x13 inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Sprinkle mozzarella over the bottom and spread the meat mixture over the cheese.2 cups mozzarella cheese
- In a mixing bowl, add flour, milk, eggs, oil, and salt. Stir until well mixed and no lumps remain. Pour over the meat in the baking dish.1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup milk, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 tsp salt
- Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the batter and bake for 30 minutes.1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Nutrition
“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
~Abraham Lincoln
I love Frigo Parmesan cheese!! Please get this brand, readers, if you don’t want the pre-shredded version!
I will definitely be trying out this recipe soon. I made some homemade pizza dough yesterday, so it will be a while before I get to it. I love pizza!!
Thanks for another great recipe!!
What is SO FUNNY is I was reading your comment and thinking “hmm, I wonder if they have Frigo Parmesan here, I’ll have to look…”
Had no idea what brand I had gotten! lol It is good on spaghetti though!
Hope you enjoy this and thank you so much, Memoria!!!
Man that looks so good. Can’t wait to make it..Thanks
Thank YOU!
Christy – I’m in trouble at home. My family really enjoys the new and delicious meals they have been getting, but my wife is getting fed up with me talking about this Cristy person and what a good cook she is. Sorry, I guess I have to just shut up about your great receipts and just prepare them. Tonight I’m making this secret pizza receipt I found.
I had a hard time replying to this comment because i had to wait until I could stop laughing and start breathing regularly again so I could type………wait……
Okay…I stopped again…uh oh…….
This was the BEST comment, I love it!!! You’ve made me laugh myself silly! Now I’ve got to call Mama and read it to her…
Glad you posted before I went out to the store now I can add it to my list.
YAY!!! I’m so glad y’all trust me enough to want to make it! lol
This looks so incredibly good and easy enough for me to handle! Thanks!
It really is. I thought the tutorial made it look more complicated than it actually is so I bet you’ll be even more surprised!
Quick+Easy+Good
I love recipes like that!
Thanks, Christy. We have a peanut allergy in the family, and he is also a very fussy eater. He loves pizza, tho, and I think he will like this one. There are SO many recipes we can’t use.
Oh Swedie, I can imagine! My kids are peanut butter-holics and in light of this recent slew of recalls, I’m trying to replace it in their diets for a while. You gotta get awfully crafty !
Hope he enjoys this!
Christy…I luhhv your site! (Hope you could hear my southern drawl!) Would one need to double or tripe this recipe for a church potluck? Susan
Well baby, dahlin’, you’ve just made m’day! Aren’t you the sweetest thang since simple syrup! Course I can hear your gorgeous accent! M’ears are a singin’!
For a church potluck with other dishes present, I’d just make one and cut it into small squares. After this cools it is incredibly easy to cut. If you cut it into smaller squares you could easily get at least twenty servings out of it. It is very filling, too!
Thank ya, Susan! Hope to see you around often!!!