Vegan Pizza Pasta Casserole

This vegan pizza pasta casserole makes transitioning to a meatless diet easier. The taste is incredible and kids will line up for seconds!

One thing we hear often from people transitioning is that they miss the things they were able to have before.  This vegan pizza pasta casserole is definitely a meal that can help with that transition. 

Don’t worry, even if you’ve been vegan for years, this is a huge hit for anyone, including omnivores if you are serving a mixed crowd.

We know first hand that sometimes the vegan/plant based diet can be intimidating. So many people just right into a lot of plant based meals and while we have those and they are delicious, often times people transition better if they can have similar meals with just a few swaps.

Other times, people struggle with what to feed their kids when they first transition and they are putting up a hard time because it’s just not things that appeal to kids.

And then there are other times that you are serving people that includes omnivores and you want something that everyone will love.

If any of these apply to you (or even if they don’t), then this vegan pizza pasta casserole is the dish that you want to recreate.  

What are the ingredients needed to make vegan pizza pasta casserole?

We wanted to try to create a super flavorful and super easy to make dish. Besides chopping a few ingredients, the rest is super easy!  

In total, this recipe needs just 12 ingredients. Full amounts listed in the printable recipe card below. 

• sweet onion
• garlic
• bell pepper (any color works)
• mushrooms (optional)
• olive oil
• frozen beefless ground crumbles 
• vegan pepperoni 
• vegan mozzarella cheese
• marinara or spaghetti sauce 
• fennel 
• Italian Seasoning
• penne pasta (other tubular noodles would work)
• vegan Parmesan cheese

How do you make vegan pizza pasta casserole?

To start you are going to want to bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook al dente according to instructions. Do not overcook the noodles.

Next, chop all your vegetables. Then, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  

In a large skillet, you are going to heat oil and when ready, add in the onion, garlic, peppers and mushrooms, if adding. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until onions have softened. 

Add in the seasoning and stir together for 1 more minute. Then, add in the  frozen meatless crumbles. Cook for 4 minutes.

Pour in the marinara, 1 cup of the mozzarella, and half of the pepperoni. Stir to combine. 

Drain pasta and add to the skillet. Stir to combine well.

Spoon mixture into a 9×13 baking dish. Top with remaining vegan Mozzarella, parmesan, and the remaining sliced vegan pepperoni.

Cover the top with foil and bake for 25 minutes.  If you avoid foil, you can cover with a baking sheet. 

Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes until bubbly. Remove from oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes. This helps it cool down and set up. 

Serve with our homemade vegan garlic bread. 

Do I have to bake the dish?

If you are looking for an even faster way to serve this dish, technically it can all be cooked from the skillet.

Make sure that you cook your pasta all the way through instead of just to al dente.

You will also want to add all of the vegan mozzarella and chop all of the pepperoni and cook it altogether instead of adding it to the top. 

Once everything is heated throughout, it’s ready to serve without baking.

Can I only use mushrooms? 

In the recipe we call for using frozen meatless crumbles; however, we know some people would like to use more whole foods based ingredients and not so much processed. 

Luckily, this dish is really customizable. While the meatless crumbles help give it that meaty red sauce flare, it’s not necessary.

You could use half mushrooms and half beef crumbles, or only mushrooms. Feel free to get creative with the dish.  

Also, some people don’t even like pepperoni on their normal pizza, so feel free to take those off as well if you want to reduce your processed consumption or just can’t find them In your area. 

Can I prep this dish ahead?

Absolutely!  Once bake, cover and store it in the fridge for up to a week.  

Can I freeze it?

Yes.  You want to make sure that the dish has cooled completely and then you want to make sure that it is completely covered to prevent freezer burn.

If you are reheating and the dish is still frozen, remove the cover unless it is foil and bake at 375 degrees F for about an hour to an hour and a half. Checking to make sure that the center it hot. 

You can also defrost overnight and then bake at 375 degrees F until the center is hot, which should take about 40-45 minutes. 

You could also put then into individual serving portions and bake one at a time as needed. Depending on the size of the serving portion it would reduce cooking time. 

Is this dish Top 8 Allergen Friendly?

Friends, you know that we are usually loaded with information about how to make our dishes allergen friendly.  This dish however, is a little harder because of some of the processed ingredients. 

The vegan meatless crumbles, pepperoni, and cheeses are the big things here. 

Obviously the pasta can be switched out for gluten free pasta.  I would recommend a brand that you have already tried and don’t cook it completely so it doesn’t get mushy. 

Also, double check your marinara or sauce you are using because sometimes cheese is added to those. 

For the cheese, Follow Your Heart Parmesan appears to be Top 8 Free.  You could also make homemade vegan parmesan using sunflower seeds.  For the vegan mozzarella cheese, pick one that suits your allergies. 

For the meatless crumbles, most contain gluten.  Beyond Meat does not but it does still have coconut oil in it.  You could omit and just use mushrooms as described above. 

As far as the pepperoni, we haven’t seen any that don’t contain wheat or soy, so unfortunately don’t have a recommendation for that right now. 

Let’s see your creations!
Share to Instagram and tag us @makeitdairyfree so we can see and share it!