This pizza casserole with cauliflower is a one dish meal made with pepperoni, cauliflower and plenty of cheese, all mixed with pizza sauce. An easy dinner that’s family friendly and quick to make!
My family would eat pizza every day if I let them. Heck, I’d eat pizza everyday if I allowed myself. This casserole is a fun twist on a classic meal with nutritious cauliflower cooked in a zesty pizza sauce, plenty of cheese, and our favorite pizza toppings – pepperoni and basil.
Pizza casserole has it all – it’s quick, doesn’t dirty up a ton of dishes, and has flavors that both kids and adults adore. Make it for dinner tonight and watch the rave reviews come in!
How Do You Make Pizza Casserole With Cauliflower?
The first step is to chop your cauliflower into small florets. Now bring a pot of water to a boil and cook cauliflower until it’s softened, about 4-5 minutes. Drain. Add cauliflower into a 11×8 casserole dish.
Mix the butter, heavy cream and garlic in a small bowl. Pour the butter mixture over the cauliflower. This mixture smells like the garlic sauce that some restaurants put on pizza crust, yum!
Chop up your pepperoni. You can use a knife, cutting shears, or just rip them up with your hands. Add into the casserole dish.
Add 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella on top of the cauliflower and mix. Pour the pizza sauce evenly on top.
Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of shredded mozzarella on top of the casserole.
Add your remaining slices of pepperoni.
Now it goes into the oven! Cook the casserole at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. When it’s cooked completely and comes out of the oven, feel free to garnish it with fresh basil or oregano. Dinner is served!
Cooking Tips
- Feel free to use any favorite pizza toppings. If you’re not really a pepperoni fan, try using Canadian bacon, cooked Italian sausage or hamburger meat.
- If you’re able to find mini pepperoni at your store, you can use that instead of slicing the regular sized pepperoni.
- I really love mozzarella in this dish, but any Italian-style cheese will work.
- Choose your favorite brand of marinara or pizza sauce for this recipe. You can also make a homemade tomato sauce if you want.
- Serve this casserole with a fresh garden salad and garlic bread for an amazing meal.
Add-ins and Variations
While I keep things simple with a mix of pepperoni, cauliflower, cheese and pizza sauce, you can absolutely add more of your favorite pizza toppings to this recipe. Other great options are:
- Bell peppers
- Mushrooms
- Olives
- Canadian bacon
- Chicken
This dish makes for great leftovers, simply reheat individual portions in the microwave. Or pop the whole dish back in the oven for a several minutes.
Other Family Dinner Recipes:
yummy cauliflower recipes
Here’s some of my favorite recipes using cauliflower:
Cheesy Cauliflower
Crockpot Vegan Cauliflower Soup
Creamy Pasta with Cauliflower
Cheddar Cheese Cauliflower Casserole
Vegetable Pot Pie Recipe
Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
Pepper Jack Jalapeno Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese
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Pizza Casserole with Cauliflower
PrintIngredients
- 1 large cauliflower head cut up into small florets
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 15 slices pepperoni quartered
- 1 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3/4 cup pizza sauce
- 12 slices pepperoni
- fresh basil or oregano to garnish
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add cauliflower and cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes. Drain. Place cauliflower into a 11×8 casserole dish.
- In a small bowl mix butter, heavy cream and garlic. Pour butter mixture over cauliflower.
- Add 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella on top of your cauliflower. Use a spoon to mix everything up.
- Pour pizza sauce on top of your cauliflower.
- Pour the remaining 1 cup shredded mozzarella evenly on top.
- Place remaining 12 slices of pepperoni on top of casserole.
- Cook at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, or until cheese is completely melted. Garnish with fresh basil or oregano when it comes out of the oven.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Krissy Allori says
This recipe is great! I loved it and so did my family. I feel so much better about it because I can squeeze more veggies in too. Big bonus!
Amy says
What a great way of making a lighter dinner while keeping that pizza flavour!
Kelly Anthony says
I’m always looking for new ways to get my family to eat more veggies and this cauliflower pizza casserole will be perfect.