This one-pan wonder is a great way to change up your weeknight dinner rotation, using what you probably already have on hand, in a new and tasty way!
We’re taking boxed mac and cheese, stirring in pizza sauce, topping with mozzarella cheese and mini pepperonis and baking it to melty perfection!
If you love pizza, and love the ease of mac and cheese, you’re going to love this meal!
This recipe comes together just as easily as making a pot of mac and cheese and a frozen pizza. Just prepare the mac and cheese, stir in pizza sauce, top with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni, and bake like a pizza!
So simple, yet so so good. Cheesy pasta tastes so good with your favorite pizza sauce stirred in, you’ll wonder why you never tried the combination before.
Choose your favorite type of mac and cheese.
This recipe honestly tastes great starting with basic boxed mac and cheese. You can even just go with store brand. Or Kraft if you want to be fancy. 😉
If you prefer ready-made mac and cheese to save a little more time, or maybe you just like the consistency of it better, that’s fine too. Go ahead and heat that up as directed on the package, then transfer to a cast iron skillet, and follow the same directions to finish this off, pizza-style!
You can use elbow pasta or shells. Organic or not. White or yellow cheese. Or, even the characters noodles are fun! Your choice.
What type of pizza sauce is best?
Hands down, my favorite sauce is Rao’s. Rao’s sauce originated from a restaurant in NYC. Their food is so good, it’s really hard to even get a seat to eat there so they started bottling their sauce. It. Is. Not. Cheap. BUT… it’s amazing. So, if you really want to elevate this dish, spring for Rao’s pizza sauce. This isn’t sponsored, I’m just a big fan.
If you want to save some dollars, go ahead and opt for another pizza sauce brand. The combination of the cheese sauce and tomato sauce is what makes this dish really yummy. So don’t fret if you can’t swing the cost of $$$ per jar of pizza sauce. It’ll still taste great with any pizza sauce.
Top this mac and cheese casserole like like a pizza!
This dish is meant to eat like a pizza. So go ahead and swap out the pepperonis for anything you prefer to put on your macaroni and cheese pizza.
Some of my favorite pizza toppings are: black olives, artichokes, fresh spinach leaves, fresh basil, and ricotta cheese.
If you’re more of a meat lover, try sausage, ham, pepperoni, chicken, bacon… etc.
If you love veggies, try broccoli, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions…
Any combination you love. Do it up!
To make this a one-pot meal, you’ll need an oven-safe skillet.
If you don’t own a cast iron skillet, then you might want to invest in one. I use mine all the time! I have a lot of other great recipes you can make in your cast iron skillet too. Check them out!
Browse my other cast iron skillet recipes
Shop cast iron skillets on amazon
Want more easy dinner ideas?
This easy Pizza Mac and Cheese recipe was featured on South Your Mouth!
Pizza Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 7.5 oz box mac and cheese
- 4 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup milk
- 13 oz jar Rao’s pizza sauce
- 1 cup shredded Italian cheeses
- ½ cup mini pepperonis or other toppings as desired
- Fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Using a large cast iron skillet, prepare macaroni and cheese according to package instructions for al dente (1 minute less than minimum cook time) — boil, drain and return pasta to skillet. Add butter, milk and cheese packet. Stir to combine.
- Stir in pizza sauce then top with a layer of shredded cheese. Then layer on mini pepperonis and/or other toppings as desire.
- Bake at 425˚for 10 minutes or until mozzarella cheese is completely melted.
- Spoon onto a plate, garnish with parsley and enjoy!