This Paleo Pizza Casserole is packed with so many of your favorite goodies yet it’s totally gluten free, grain free and dairy free! Veggies, garlic, sausage and pepperoni, cassava pasta, cheese sauce and pizza sauce, are baked together for the ultimate paleo friendly treat! Family approved and the leftovers are delicious too.
Pizza and cheeseburger themed recipes are probably my favorite (savory) ones to make!
I mean, I think we can all agree that pizza is amazing. And pizza in casserole form is serious comfort food!
Believe it or not, you can totally recreate a wildly delicious pizza casserole, paleo style, without missing any of your favorite goodies. Pasta and cheese included!
What You Need to Make Paleo Pizza Casserole
Yes there are quite a few ingredients needed here since I didn’t want to skip any of the pizza yumminess!
I separated out the ingredients into those for the cheese sauce and the rest of the casserole. Here’s everything you’ll need to prepare the pizza casserole:
Cheese Sauce:
- cashews, soaked in warm water for two hours
- fresh lemon juice
- water or plain almond milk
- olive oil or avocado oil
- garlic
- sea salt
- nutritional yeast
- dried basil, optional
Casserole:
- 1 (8 0x) box Jovial Foods cassava pasta (I used fusilli) or your favorite grain free pasta (or pasta substitute)
- avocado oil or olive oil
- onion
- bell pepper
- mushrooms
- garlic
- sweet Italian sausage
- marinara sauce or pizza sauce
- pepperoni slices
- sliced black olives, optional
- Fresh basil, for garnish
How To Make Dairy Free Cheese Sauce
When it comes to a pizza casserole, cheese is obviously something I don’t want to skip!
Since we’re making it dairy free, cashews are going to be the base of the creamy sauce. My family CANNOT believe this isn’t actually cheese. It’s pretty incredible!
Plus, it’s super easy to prepare. All you need to do is place all the cheese sauce ingredients in a high-speed blender or food processor. I used my NutriBullet for this and it was fast and easy but a larger blender like a Vitamix will also work well.
Then just blend on high speed until the sauce is smooth and creamy. You’ll need to stop the blender a few times to scrape down the sides to make sure it all blends up nice and creamy. The entire process, including getting your ingredients together, takes about 5 minutes!
How To Make Paleo Pizza Casserole
Once your cheese sauce is done, set it aside. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain and set aside. Preheat your oven to 375° F and lightly grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the onion, peppers, and mushrooms. Cook for 2-3 minutes until softened, then add the garlic, stir, and cook another and sprinkle the mixture with sea salt and pepper. Continue to cook 2 more minutes.
Push the veggies to one side of the skillet and crumble the sausage to the other side. Cook, using a spatula to break up lumps as it browns. Mix the sausage with the veggies and continue to cook until it’s fully browned, then remove from heat. Stir in the marinara or pizza sauce and cooked pasta, plus half of the pepperoni.
Assemble the casserole: Transfer the sausage pasta mixture to the casserole dish, then pour the cheese sauce over the top. Arrange the remaining pepperoni over the top, and baked in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until heated through and bubbly. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve hot.
I hope you’re ready for a dream of a casserole that’s sure to become a favorite in your house!
Grab your blender, a skillet, and your favorite casserole dish because it’s time to cook – let’s go!
Paleo Pizza Casserole {Gluten Free, Dairy Free}
Paleo Pizza Casserole {Gluten Free, Dairy Free}
Ingredients
Cheese Sauce:
- 1 cup cashews soaked in warm water for two hours
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup water or plain almond milk
- 3 Tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3/4 tsp dried basil optional
Casserole:
- 1 8oz box jovial foods fusilli pasta or your favorite grain free pasta or pasta substitute
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper diced
- 8 oz mushrooms sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb sweet Italian sausage
- 2 cups Rao’s marinara sauce or pizza sauce
- 2 oz Pepperoni slices
- 1/2 cup sliced black olives optional
- Fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
For the Cheese Sauce:
- Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender or food processor. I used my NutriBullet for this and it was fast and easy but a larger blender like a Vitamix will also work well. Blend on high speed until smooth and creamy, set aside.
For the Casserole:
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain and set aside. Preheat your oven to 375° F and lightly grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the onion, peppers, and mushrooms. Cook for 2-3 minutes until softened, then add the garlic, stir, and cook another and sprinkle the mixture with sea salt and pepper. Continue to cook 2 more minutes.
- Push the veggies to one side of the skillet and crumble the sausage to the other side. Cook, using a spatula to break up lumps as it browns. Mix the sausage with the veggies and continue to cook until it’s fully browned, then remove from heat. Stir in the marinara or pizza sauce and cooked pasta, plus half of the pepperoni.
- Assemble the casserole: Transfer the sausage pasta mixture to the casserole dish, then pour the cheese sauce over the top. Arrange the remaining pepperoni over the top, and baked in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until heated through and bubbly. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve hot. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Want More Paleo Casserole Recipes? Try One of These!
Chicken Bacon Broccoli “Rice” Casserole
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Delicious!!! Thank you for another great one!!
(You didn’t say when to add the olives. I added right before the oven and turned out great.)
I used ground lamb and added garlic powder and italian seasoning to it while cooking.
Can you prep the cheese a day ahead of time? Or make this a day ahead of time?
I did and it worked great. I stored it in a mason jar in fridge and then just set it on stove top when oven was preheating to warm up a bit back to stir-able consistency. It worked great. Stayed nice and creamy.
It was amazing and too fascinating. I love your food. I will cook it for my family this weekend
Making this one day this week, but ? The cashews after soaking them I drain the water before blending the “cheese” sauce right?
Yes, drain the water!
Any recommendations for nut free cheesy sauce?
There are some recipes for cauliflower based “cheese” sauces out there you could try. I think I have tried one along the way and it was pretty good. Very comparable to this one.
So delicious! I didn’t have time to soak the cashews so I used the Siete family foods spicy blanco cashew queso instead of making the cashew cheese sauce and it worked perfectly 😊
Can I soak the cashews all day, or would that be too long?
Great recipe – husband like it, which is a bonus! however, I did not love the texture of the cassava flour pasta so I will keep searching for an alternative. Definitely cook it slightly less than called for because it will keep cooking in the recipe. Non-gluten pastas are tough for recipes like this though because they go from done to mushy very quickly, at least for me they do. I used mostly hot sausage with a little mild thrown in and had a nice level of heat to it. A fair amount of work but I’d make it again.
Can’t wait to make this! Could you make the dish ahead of time and put it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it? Thanks!