Tired of begging your kids to try a bite of dinner? Low on time and energy and needing a hot meal for the family? This easy, cheesy pizza casserole is a cinch to make and is sure to be a hit with both young and old!
We've all been there — the kids are starving, you've had a long day and your last scraps of energy went out the window a long time ago. Sure, there's always a drive-thru somewhere, but that means extra money out the window, too! What's a parent to do?
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Shelf Cooking to the rescue! We have the perfect recipe that utilizes ingredients you can keep in your pantry and freezer for such a night as this. In just a matter of minutes you can whip up a hot meal that your kids will not only eat, they will absolutely LOVE it, too!
Items Needed To Make Pizza Casserole
This recipe for pizza casserole is a home run for a whole bunch of reasons:
- It can be customized any way you like it, just like a regular pizza.
- It uses items that are easily stored in the freezer or pantry, so you can keep them on hand for when you need a quick dinner.
- It's a “semi-homemade” meal that comes together with minimal hands-on prep, but is warm and delicious and brings the family together for dinner!
To make this recipe, you need only a few things:
- Pizza sauce or marinara sauce
- Frozen raw dinner rolls, such as Rhodes dinner rolls
- Shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese, or whatever your favorite kind is!
- Your favorite pizza toppings
- Nonstick spray
- A 9×13 baking dish
- A sharp knife or kitchen shears
Let's get started!
How To Make Pizza Casserole
Don't be fooled by the prep time on this recipe! The vast majority of it is letting the rolls rise, meaning there is literally only a few minutes of hands-on preparation. Take that time in-between to catch up on a couple of chapters in a book, speed clean a couple of rooms, or chat with someone you love…whatever makes you happy!
Easy Pizza Casserole
Ingredients
- 16 Rhodes dinner rolls, thawed
- 1 cup pizza or marinara sauce plus more for serving
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese
- favorite pizza toppings – pepperoni, cooked sausage, bell peppers, olives, etc. to taste
Instructions
- Remove frozen rolls from the freezer and allow to thaw for about an hour, then cut each roll into 4 pieces and place in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375°F and grease a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- To the bowl of rolls, add the pizza sauce and 1/2 cup of cheese. Stir to coat the rolls in the sauce, then spread the mixture into your prepared baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and allow rolls to rise for 30 minutes to 2 hours, until doubled in size. Remove plastic wrap and top with the remaining cheese and desired toppings.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve with extra pizza/marinara sauce and a side salad.
Notes
What To Serve With Pizza Casserole
To create a filling and balanced meal, we like to serve lots of veggies and fruit on the side when we make this pizza casserole. Here are some of our favorites:
- Strawberry spinach salad
- Oven-roasted carrots
- Roasted buffalo cauliflower
- Cooked asparagus
- Caesar salad or any other type of green salad
- Seasonal sliced fresh fruit
What would you choose to serve on the side? Tell us in the comments!
Need more recipe ideas? We can help! Check out some of these posts:
- Our Shelf Cooking Subscription Meal Plan is chock full of delicious, easy recipes that your family will love! Try it out and spare yourself the headache of meal planning every week!
- This healthy homemade granola recipe is easy and delicious! Don't waste money on the store-bought version again!
- Craving enchiladas but out of sauce?? We've got a simple enchilada sauce recipe that will make you realize you'll never need the canned stuff again!
We hope this recipe steals a pizza your heart!