Change up your regular Friday night pizza night with this fun casserole recipe!
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🗝️ Key takeaways
- Takes just minutes to prep and is picky eater friendly - who doesn't love tater tot casseroles?
- It's a delicious alternative to family pizza night but it's so easy that it works for any weeknight!
- Choosing lean ground beef (90/10) for this recipe keeps it from being too greasy.
Meat lover's tater tot pizza casserole is as great on game day as it is for a quick weeknight dinner. Though made with simple ingredients, this easy casserole recipe delivers flavor and satisfaction—no delivery required!
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- In a large skillet, cook ground beef, bacon, green pepper, onion, and garlic until browned and tender.
- Stir in pizza sauce, then spoon beef mixture into a casserole dish.
- Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and top with tater tots. Bake.
- Add pepperoni and remaining cheese. Bake for five minutes more.
🥫 Storage
This tater tot pizza casserole recipe holds up great if you happen to have some leftovers. However, if you've got a hungry family, I wouldn't count on having one morsel of delicious comfort food left in the dish!
First, let the food cool down. Then, carefully spoon the leftovers into an airtight container. I prefer to use storage dishes rather than bags to preserve the layers of flavors.
Refrigerate pizza casserole for three or four days at the most. Heat it up again in the microwave until it's hot. I recommend covering it loosely with a paper towel to prevent pizza sauce splatter!
You can also freeze this. Just cover tightly with plastic wrap then aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Be aware that the Tater Tots may get a slightly weird texture.
📖 Variations
- Switch up the meat. Feel free to swap ground turkey for beef if you prefer. You can also substitute or add ground Italian sausage. Use hot, mild, or sweet depending on what you like! Another option: swap the pepperoni or bacon for ham if you have some to use up.
- Say "cheese!" If you don't have mozzarella, provolone works great! Sometimes we'll add a little parmesan on top, too, for extra flavor.
- Get creative with your favorite pizza toppings! Stir in olives or mushrooms if you like them. Green bell pepper can be swapped with diced yellow or red pepper, or use banana peppers for more spice.
- Swap the seasoning. If you have fresh herbs (like basil and parsley) use 'em for garnish instead of Italian seasoning. Occasionally, we'll add red pepper flakes or a drizzle of hot honey, too!
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: Don't let your frozen tater tots thaw. For best results, throw them on top of the casserole straight out of the freezer.
- Don't have a cast iron skillet? Use the pan you prefer to brown ground beef in. Just make sure it's big enough to hold the yummy ingredients.
- I prefer lean ground beef (90/10). Otherwise, the tater tot pizza casserole can taste a bit oily. If you use fattier meat, try to drain some of the grease off before mixing in the pizza sauce.
- Placing the tater tots in a single layer helps them cook evenly, so try to avoid overlapping. It also ensures each tot turns a crisp golden brown.
- If your casserole dish is really full, place it on a baking sheet before cooking. This will help catch any oily drips that may try to escape!
- Sometimes it's cheaper to buy sandwich-sized pepperoni from the deli rather than the prepackaged, pizza kind. Compare at your store to find the best option. (You can slice the large pepperoni into quarters so that they're easier to eat with a fork.)
- For a crisper tater tot base use a rimmed cookie sheet instead of a casserole dish.
👩🍳 FAQs
I don't recommend freezing leftovers because the tater tots were already frozen from the bag. They won't thaw as well a second time.
Good question, it's easy! Simply brown the meat and veggies and stir in the sauce. Cool and refrigerate this meat mixture in a storage container or casserole dish until you're ready to cook—up to two days!
While preheating your oven, finish assembly by adding the frozen tater tots, then bake as directed. However, don't put a freezing-cold glass baking dish straight into a hot oven or it can shatter!
It can be—just freeze the meat/sauce mixture separately from the tater tots (see the "prep ahead of time" question above.) When it comes time to bake, pour the saucy beef into a dish, top it off with the frozen tots, and cook!
Pizza sauce is a little thicker than tomato sauce (so it doesn't make a regular pizza crust soggy.) However, since meat lover's tater tot pizza casserole is already a fork-based dinner, you can get away with using a thinner tomato sauce if you need to.
Nope! This is a pizza-inspired tater tot casserole, so we omit the pizza dough. Instead, we top the saucy, pizza-flavored deliciousness with a tater tot "crust." Don't try to use your hands to eat this one, though—it'll be quite the mess!
Nope! Just bake it without any covering unless you are warming up leftovers.
📚 Related recipes
- Sloppy Joe Tater Tot Casserole has all the tangy flavor of your favorite sandwich but in easy casserole form—don't forget the cheddar cheese!
- If you love Mexican recipes, Cowboy Casserole is a must-try! Creamy beef and peppers are layered with tater tots in a delish Tex-Mex dish.
- Hamburger Potato Casserole is so simple, yet incredibly creamy and flavorful. The secret? Cream of mushroom soup and lots of cheese!
- Cheesy, creamy, easy, and the perfect side to any main dish, Hashbrown Casserole is a Southern pot-luck and holiday classic for a reason!
🍽️ What to serve with tater tot pizza casserole...
I don't know how it is where you live but here it's very popular to get wings with pizza. For the full pizza night effect I'll sometimes add these Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Wings.
A salad adds crunch so I'll often add it to the table. While bagged salad works great this Italian Green Bean Salad is zingy and fresh, offering the perfect, easy complement to pizza casserole!
Ending with something sweet means chocolate to me - and this Double Chocolate Fudge Coca Cola cake is one of my favorites.
🥄 Restless Chipotle recommends
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📞 The last word
There's nothing I like better than an easy meal that everyone will eat. This pizza Tater Tot casserole fits into my busy weeknights perfectly!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Meatlover's Tater Tot Pizza Casserole
Print Pin Recipe SaveEquipment Needed
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef, 90/10 or 97/3
- ½ pound bacon
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 16 ounces pizza sauce
- 2 pounds frozen Tater Tots
- 3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded from a block, divided use
- 4 ounces pepperoni
- ¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Heat a large heavy skillet over medium high heat.
- Add ground beef, bacon, onion, green pepper, and garlic.
- Cook about 10 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender.
- Stir in pizza sauce.
- Spread pizza mixture evenly on the bottom.
- Sprinkle with half the Mozzarella.
- Cover completely with Tater Tots.
- Bake for 40 minutes.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.
- Return to oven and bake an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
- Remove from oven and top with Italian seasoning.
- Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Don't let your frozen tater tots thaw. For best results, throw them on top of the casserole straight out of the freezer.
- Don't have a cast iron skillet? Use the pan you prefer to brown ground beef in. Just make sure it's big enough to hold the yummy ingredients.
- I prefer lean ground beef (90/10). Otherwise, the tater tot pizza casserole can taste a bit oily. If you use fattier meat, try to drain some of the grease off before mixing in the pizza sauce.
- Placing the tater tots in a single layer helps them cook evenly, so try to avoid overlapping. It also ensures each tot turns a crisp golden brown.
- If your casserole dish is really full, place it on a baking sheet before cooking. This will help catch any oily drips that may try to escape!
- Sometimes it's cheaper to buy sandwich-sized pepperoni from the deli rather than the prepackaged, pizza kind. Compare at your store to find the best option. (You can slice the large pepperoni into quarters so that they're easier to eat with a fork.)
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.First published Published: March 21, 2023. Last updated September 5, 2023 for editorial corrections.
Bill
What a good combination of flavors. I used all Italian sausage in my 1/2 size recipe. I especially liked the crust that formed along the edges. Just like pizza! Definitely a 5 star rating.