Looking for a delicious, make ahead meal? This Sausage Pizza Bake inspired by Pillsbury Bubble Up Pizza Casserole, is the answer to your busy weeknight schedule!
If you love easy weeknight pizza dinners, try our delicious slow cooker Pizza Soup recipe. Or give this tasty Taco Pizza a try soon!
Table of Contents
Why this Recipe Works
I don’t know about you, but dinner time can be crazy during the week at our house. Add in the hectic holidays and getting a delicious dinner on the table can be cumbersome.
Enter: Easy Bubble Up Pizza.
Make it in the morning, cover with foil, and refrigerate until dinner. Bake as directed and enjoy this easy pizza!
If you’ve ever had Pillsbury Bubble Up Pizza (or bubble bake) this cheesy pizza casserole tastes similar! You get puffy pieces of dough layered with cheese, sauce and sausage
Eating this also reminds me of a deep dish Chicago style pizza! And as a Chicago native…I love me some deep dish pizza!
The convenience of having this made ahead of time in my refrigerator was awesome!
Ingredient Notes
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Bisquick.
The way I see it a quick and easy meal needs a short and sweet ingredients list. This recipe starts with a box of original Bisquick to form the dough. You can swap this for a tube of Pillsbury Grands Biscuits, cut into eighths too!
Italian Sausage.
Italian Sausage gets my vote for best sausage to use in this recipe! It’s already full of flavor so it needs no extra seasonings, and I almost always have some on hand for fast dinners. Add in some pepperoni and bacon for a true meatlovers pizza.
Sauce and Seasonings.
A jar of spaghetti sauce (store bought or homemade marinara) and lots of shredded mozzarella cheese complete the pizza bake! For seasoning, I just use dried Italian Seasoning and garlic powder. This is a weeknight meal so I kept it as convenient to make as possible!
Make it Meatless.
You can easily make the bubble up pizza vegetarian, too! Leave out the meat entirely or replace it with a meatless sausage substitute or vegetables. Think peppers, mushrooms, olives or whatever chopped veggies you usually enjoy on your vegetarian pizza.
Step by Step Instructions
Cook the sausage- Brown Italian sausage over medium high heat, using a wooden spoon to crumble it while it cooks. Drain the grease and set sausage aside.
Make the dough- Mix Bisquick with water, melted butter and garlic powder in a bowl to form a dough, then divide in half.
Assemble– Drop half the dough by the tablespoon onto the bottom of a glass baking dish. Top with half of the sauce, sausage and cheese. Add the rest of the dough by the spoonful to the top and add the remaining half of other ingredients. Sprinkle Italian seasoning over the whole thing. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
Cover and bake– Cover dish with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25 minutes, until bubbly and browned. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Refrigerated biscuit dough works great in place of the bisquick baking mix.
Whatever you enjoy on pizza, put it on your casserole. Sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, and all your favorite veggies!
Store leftovers in airtight container or covered with plastic wrap in the pan. Keep cold for up to 3 days, microwave to remelt the cheese and heat before eating.
Keep the unbaked pizza covered in the pan in the fridge until ready to bake! You can assemble this in the morning and have it ready to toss in the oven as soon as you get home in the evening.
Serving Suggestions
When you only have time to make ONE thing for dinner, Bubble Up Pizza is a great solution. It’s a whole meal all in one pan.
I love to serve this with something fresh on the side like this homemade Olive garden salad recipe or Cucumber Tomato Salad. While I definitely make this for family dinners most often, pizza casserole makes a perfect potluck food and party food too.
Don’t forget dessert. Apple Crumble or an easy pan of chocolate eclair cake would be perfect.
More Easy Casserole Recipes
- Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole
- Buffalo Chicken Casserole
- Green Bean Casserole
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Hashbrown Casserole
Bubble Up Pizza Casserole
Ingredients
- 4 cups original Bisquick mix
- 1 cup water
- 3 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 pound Italian Sausage bulk (no casings)
- 1 jar spaghetti sauce 32 ounce
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degree F.
- Brown Italian sausage in a skillet over medium high heat. Use a wooden spoon to crumble as it cooks. Drain off fat and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, combine Bisquick, water, melted butter and garlic powder. Mix until fully combined into a dough. Divide dough in half.
- In a glass 13×9 baking dish, using half of the dough, drop by tablespoon into bottom of the dish. Top with half the jar of sauce and half of the browned Italian Sausage. Add half the shredded cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
- Cover dish with foil and refrigerate until ready to bake. Or keep covered and bake immediately for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25 minutes, until bubbly and browned. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- You can swap Bisquick (with butter and water) for a tube of Pillsbury Grands Biscuits, cut into eighths too!
- Make it in advance. Keep the unbaked pizza covered in the pan in the fridge until ready to bake! You can assemble this in the morning and have it ready to toss in the oven as soon as you get home in the evening.
Nutrition
Everyone loves a heaping serving of this gooey, cheesy sausage Bubble Up Pizza casserole!
This recipe was absolutely delicious and my family absolutely loved this for dinner the other night! Very easy to throw together and so tasty! I can’t wait to make this again!
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing pizza recipe! So easy to make! Will have this again!