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    Home » Recipes » Special Diet » Weight Watchers Friendly Recipes » WW Friendly Dinner Recipes

    Healthy Pizza Casserole Recipe

    Published: Feb 5, 2023 by Terri Gilson · Modified: Feb 5, 2023 · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

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    Jump to Recipe
    spoonful of pizza casserole being held up on a dark wooden spoon over casserole dish

    This Healthy Pizza Casserole recipe means you can get your pizza fix in a guilt-free way! It's a lighter version of a pizza casserole that's also WW friendly, but so good, you'd never know it's a healthier version.

    healthy pizza casserole in a blue casserole dish with grey oven mitts in the background

    This recipe is a popular game day food, making it a great alternative to chili. But it also makes a fun and easy dinner for back to school, movie night, pizza night, or any night! This casserole is also ideal for bringing along to a potluck. My whole family LOVES this casserole and it pairs well with garlic toast or salad.

    Jump to:
    • 🥘Ingredients
    • 🔪Instructions
    • 📖Variations & Substitutions
    • 🥗 Side Dishes
    • 🍽Equipment
    • 👪 Serving Size
    • 🔢WW Points
    • 🌡️Storage
    • 💭Top tip
    • 🦺Food safety
    • 📋Healthy Pizza Casserole Recipe

    I love pizza in any form! And you don't have to give up pizza to lose or maintain your weight. I have a bunch of lighter and WW friendly pizza recipes you'll want to try, such as my Healthy Pizza Dippers, Weight Watchers Pizza with 2 ingredient Weight Watchers Pizza Dough, Pizza Cupcakes, Healthy Breakfast Pizza Recipe (Egg White Pizza), and my Healthy Homemade Pita Pizza Pockets!

    🥘Ingredients

    You'll need the following simple ingredients for this pizza casserole:

    pizza casserole ingredients in glass bowls, labelled
    • 4 cups egg noodles, smart pasta * I use no yolks broad egg noodles
    • 6-7 ounce (¾ cup)- can of olives, pitted and sliced
    • 8 oz package of sliced mushrooms
    • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
    • 1 onion, chopped
    • 1 ¾ cups red pasta sauce (marinara sauce)
    • 10 oz - can of cream of chicken soup (low-fat)
    • 1 lb extra lean ground beef
    • 1 ½ cups low-fat cheddar cheese
    • ¾ cup turkey pepperoni about 5 sticks, chopped
    • 2 tbsp low-fat or fat-free parmesan cheese

    🔪Instructions

    Prep:

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C)

    Cook noodles as directed. Drain, return to pot, and set aside on a trivet.

    Skillet with mushrooms, onions and peppers

    Spray a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray.

    Cook mushrooms, onion, and pepper over medium heat for 5 minutes (covered)

    ground beef added to vegetable mixture in skillet

    Add the ground beef.

    browned ground beef with vegetables in skillet

    Cook ground beef until browned.

    ground beef mixture in pot with other ingredients (cheese etc0

    Add pasta sauce, cream of chicken soup, ¾ cup of cheddar cheese, pepperoni, and most of the black olives (reserving about 1-2 tablespoon for garnish) to the cooked pasta.

    Mixture placed in casserole dish

    Spoon into casserole dish.

    Bake until hot, about 35 minutes

    Casserole with cheese melted on top

    Remove from oven and add remaining cheese.

    Cook for an additional 5 minutes or until melted.

    Garnish with parmesan cheese and remaining black olives. Serve hot.

    📖Variations & Substitutions

    • Noodles - you can use any type of noodle, such as penne pasta. But to keep it light, you'll want to use smart pasta or whole wheat pasta. Alternatively, you could use zucchini noodles to lighten it up even more.
    • Ground Beef - I use extra lean ground beef but you could use regular, lean, or use ground turkey or ground chicken instead
    • Pepperoni- I use turkey pepperoni sticks because I can no longer find the turkey pepperoni slices
    • Cheese - you could use part-skim mozzarella cheese instead
    • Peppers - you can use red, orange, yellow or green pepper.
    • Toppings - you could use an Italian turkey sausage (or chicken sausage), Italian seasoning, or any of your favorite pizza toppings
    • Spicy - for a little kick of spice add chili pepper flakes or jalapenos

    🥗 Side Dishes

    Here are some suggestions for what to serve with this recipe for pizza casserole:

    • Bread Machine Italian Breadsticks
    • Garlic Toast
    • Everything Bagel Cloud Bread Recipe
    • Mandarin Orange Salad Recipe
    • Spinach salad (shown)
    honey lime cilantro dressing

    🍽Equipment

    You will need a cheese grater, a large pot, a large skillet and a 2 quart casserole dish (affiliate links) for this easy pizza casserole recipe.

    Or you can simply use a Dutch oven (affiliate links) and boil the noodles in it, then brown the meat and vegetables and bake the whole thing in the oven! You will also need trivets.

    spoonful of pizza casserole being held up on a dark wooden spoon over casserole dish

    👪 Serving Size

    This healthy pizza casserole recipe makes 8 servings. However, you can half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the blue serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.

    🔢WW Points

    This original recipe was a recipe that was lightened to be WW friendly, so this is Weight Watchers friendly @ 7 points per serving, using fat-free parmesan. There are 8 servings in this casserole - a serving is about 1 ¼ cups.

    You can further lighten this up by using broad whole wheat noodles or zucchini noodles.

    🌡️Storage

    Store leftover pizza casserole with pasta in an airtight container for up to 4 days. It can also be made ahead for busy weeknights and frozen for up to 3 months in a sealed container (see Top Tip for how to reheat).

    single serving of healthy pizza casserole on a black plate with fork and dish of crushed red pepper flakes, with whole casserole in background

    💭Top tip

    How to reheat pizza casserole:

    This method is the best because it prevents the casserole from drying out.

    1. Simply bring the casserole out of the freezer the night before and let it defrost (preferably in the fridge). Ideally, you want to keep it at room temperature for about 30 minutes to an hour before you put it in the oven.
    2. Then heat the oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C, remove the lid and plastic wrap, then tightly seal your casserole dish with aluminum foil (shiny side in) and put it in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes, until it's warmed through. *you can remove the foil and broil it for the final 2 minutes if you desire.
    3. You can use an instant-read thermometer (affiliate link) to make sure it's done (165 degrees F/75 degrees C)

    🦺Food safety

    • Cook ground beef to an internal minimum temperature of 160 °F (71 °C)
    • Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
    • Wash hands after touching raw meat
    • Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
    • Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
    • Never leave cooking food unattended

      See more guidelines at USDA.gov 

    If you are looking for healthy meals that are delicious and fun, the entire family will love this pizza pasta casserole recipe! And be sure to check out my other casserole recipes.

    healthy pizza casserole in a blue casserole dish with grey oven mitts in the background
    Food Meandering Logo

    📋Healthy Pizza Casserole Recipe

    This Healthy Pizza Casserole recipe is a lighter version of a pizza casserole that's also WW friendly. Made with egg noodles, vegetables, extra lean ground beef, and turkey pepperoni, it's sooo good you'd never know it's the healthier version!
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: dinner, Side Dish
    Cuisine: American, Canadian
    Keyword: casserole, healthy, pizza
    Special Diet: Weight Watchers
    Servings: 8 servings
    Calories: 314kcal
    Author: Terri Gilson
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 55 minutes minutes
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Equipment

    cheese grater
    Dutch oven
    stack of different colored large 9X12 trivets
    trivets

    Ingredients

    • 4 cups broad egg noodles * I use no yolk broad noodles, measured dry
    • 8 oz package of sliced mushrooms
    • 1 orange bell pepper
    • 1 onion, chopped
    • 1 ¾ cups red pasta sauce
    • 10 oz - can of cream of chicken soup * I use low-fat
    • 1 lb extra lean ground beef
    • 1 ½ cups low- fat cheddar cheese
    • ¾ cup turkey pepperonini sticks about 5 sticks, chopped
    • ¾ cup can of olives, pitted and sliced
    • 2 tablespoon low-fat parmesan cheese
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    Instruction photos are set to NOT print (by default). If you want them to print, you need to check the 'print' box.

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C)
    • Cook noodles as directed. rinse and drain
    • Spray a skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Cook mushrooms, onion and pepper over medium heat (with a lid) for 5 minutes.
      Skillet with mushrooms, onions and peppers
    • Add the ground beef to the skillet.
      ground beef added to vegetable mixture in skillet
    • Cook until browned.
      browned ground beef with vegetables in skillet
    • Add pasta sauce, cream of chicken soup, ¾ cup of cheddar cheese, black olives (reserve a few for garnishing) and noodles. Mix well.
      ground beef mixture in pot with other ingredients (cheese etc0
    • Spoon into baking dish. Bake until hot, about 35 minutes.
      Mixture placed in casserole dish
    • Top with remaining cheddar cheese, then bake 5 minutes longer
      Casserole with cheese melted on top

    Garnish

    • Garnish with parmesan cheese and remaining black olives. Serve hot.
      healthy pizza casserole in a blue casserole dish with grey oven mitts in the background

    Notes

    *Please see post contents for important recipe information, substitutions, and tips!
    *NOTE: Adapted from WW magazine, page. 74,  January/February 2008
    Nutrition Facts
    📋Healthy Pizza Casserole Recipe
    Amount Per Serving (1.25 cups)
    Calories 314 Calories from Fat 99
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 11g17%
    Saturated Fat 4g25%
    Trans Fat 0.2g
    Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
    Monounsaturated Fat 5g
    Cholesterol 85mg28%
    Sodium 1219mg53%
    Potassium 822mg23%
    Carbohydrates 24g8%
    Fiber 3g13%
    Sugar 5g6%
    Protein 30g60%
    Vitamin A 943IU19%
    Vitamin C 24mg29%
    Calcium 139mg14%
    Iron 3mg17%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1.25cups | Calories: 314kcal (16%) | Carbohydrates: 24g (8%) | Protein: 30g (60%) | Fat: 11g (17%) | Saturated Fat: 4g (25%) | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 85mg (28%) | Sodium: 1219mg (53%) | Potassium: 822mg (23%) | Fiber: 3g (13%) | Sugar: 5g (6%) | Vitamin A: 943IU (19%) | Vitamin C: 24mg (29%) | Calcium: 139mg (14%) | Iron: 3mg (17%)
    Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating and review below!
    Rate this Recipe

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Susanne

      February 26, 2023 at 4:48 pm

      Easy recipe to follow and make.....delicious result!

      Reply
      • Terri Gilson

        February 26, 2023 at 7:31 pm

        I'm so glad you found it easy to make and loved it, Susanne!

        Reply

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    I'm Terri, a passionate home cook and baker, an award-winning recipe developer, and a busy working mom who is trying to eat healthy and fit everything into not enough hours in a day! My mission is to share not only my recipes, cooking hacks, and tips with you, but also my secrets to successful weight maintenance.

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