Looking for a fresh take on family pizza night? This Pizza Ranch Chicken Casserole is a healthier, more flavorful way to eat your pie!
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This recipe is…
It’s CASSEROLE TIME! Once upon a time, I was in New Jersey for a stop on my book tour for Fed & Fit (the book), and I mentioned that my book had a whole chapter devoted to casseroles.That statement was met with a quiet, blank-stare response. I did NOT know that casseroles aren’t a kitchen staple everywhere! She may have been pulling my leg, but a sweet lady in the crowd asked, “is a casserole that thing from the 80’s?”
HA! Yes, yes it is…and like all good things, they have come back around. So let’s embrace a couple of the gems from the 80’s: white leather shoes and the casserole. But this time, let’s casserole a little differently.
In previous decades, casseroles were a mixture of mostly pasta with a little meat, maybe some veggie (for color, mostly), and some kind of a creamy/cheesy sauce. YES that sounds delicious to me, too …but it also sounds like a stomach ache.
You can find a good number of my healthy casseroles here on the website, including Buffalo Ranch Chicken Casserole, Chicken Caprese Casserole, and Paleo Chicken Parmesan Casserole. But I’m exceptionally excited about THIS Pizza Ranch Chicken Casserole! Here’s the breakdown.
First, we start off by adding some roasted potatoes to the bottom of a casserole dish. Then, diced tomatoes go on top, with a heavy sprinkle of Italian seasoning. You can think of this like the pizza crust + sauce! The potatoes represent the crust and tomatoes …well, you get it.
From there, things get especially tasty. Because chicken is the protein star of this show, I wanted to dress it up. I’m that girl who always dips her pizza in ranch dressing, so ranch was an obvious flavor choice.
That chicken gets tossed in a liberal amount of the ranch, then spread over our “pizza crust.” Pepperoni is layered over the chicken to be followed by YOUR favorite pizza toppings. I chose green pepper, black olives, and mushrooms. Into the oven it goes until the toppings look crisp! Sprinkle the top with crushed red pepper and ENJOY this pizza ranch chicken casserole!
Why You’ll Love This Pizza Casserole Recipe
- A fun and healthy take on family pizza night!
- Just 20 minutes of prep
- Use store-bought ranch dressing, or make your own easy 3-ingredient version at home
Pizza Casserole Recipe Ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need to bake up this pizza casserole recipe. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Potatoes – you’ll need 2 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes cut into 1-inch pieces
- Chicken – we call for 2 pounds chicken breast tenders
- Pizza ranch dressing – one of the stars of this creative pizza recipe!
- Olive oil – you’ll need 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil for the potatoes, and 1 more for the casserole
- Salt – you’ll use coarse sea salt here
- Black pepper – ½ teaspoon seasons the casserole
- Canned tomatoes – we use a 10-ounce can of diced tomatoes
- Italian seasoning – you’ll need 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning
- Garlic powder – just ½ teaspoon of garlic powder goes a long way here
- Pepperoni – bring on the pepperoni slices!
- Mushrooms – slice up ¼ cup
- Black olives – old-school canned black olives are what we want here!
- Green pepper – the last ingredient you’ll need is a sliced green bell pepper
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
Here’s how you can tweak this recipe to your liking:
- Dressing – If you’d prefer to make your own dressing, swap in our 3-Ingredient Paleo Dairy Free Ranch for the store-bought pizza ranch.
- Pizza toppings – if mushrooms and green peppers aren’t your thing, swap in other pizza toppings like onions and sausage.
How to Make Pepperoni Pizza Casserole
Loaded with pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, and peppers, here’s how this pepperoni pizza casserole comes together.
Step 1: Toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, then spread out on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes until crisp, then remove from the oven and reduce heat to 350 F.
Step 2: While the potatoes are cooking, add the olive oil to a large pan over medium heat. Season the chicken liberally on both sides with the salt and pepper. Working in two batches, add the chicken to the pan with the olive oil. Sear for 5 minutes on one side, then turn over and sear for 2 minutes on the other side.
Step 3: Once the chicken is finished cooking, cut into 1-inch pieces, then toss with the pizza ranch dressing. Set aside.
Step 4: Toss the drained diced tomatoes with the Italian seasoning and garlic powder, then set aside.
Step 5: To assemble the casserole: place the potatoes in the bottom of a round casserole dish, then top with the tomato mixture, followed by the ranch chicken mixture. Next, place the pepperonis on top of the chicken, then add the mushrooms, olives, and green bell pepper, making sure they are evenly spread out.
Step 6: Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes, let cool slightly, and serve with additional pizza ranch on the side!
Recipe Tip
Tomatoes – be sure to drain the canned tomatoes really well before adding them to the casserole dish. Too much liquid will take some of the crispiness out of the roasted potatoes.
How to Serve
Serve this pizza piping-hot, with extra ranch on the side!
How to Store and Reheat
Store the pizza in the casserole dish you baked it, covered, for up to 3 days.
To reheat it, just pop it back in the oven and bake at 425 F until warmed through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our easy, dairy-free homemade ranch dressing only requires 3 ingredients: mayonnaise, lemon Juice, and dried dill. Find the recipe here!
More Favorite Pizza Recipes
If you tried this recipe for Pizza Ranch Chicken Casserole, or any other recipe on the Fed & Fit website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Pizza Ranch Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
For the Roasted Potatoes:
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
For the Casserole:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 pounds chicken breast tenders, patted dry
- 3/4 cup pizza ranch dressing
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1, 10 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 ounces pepperoni slices
- 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1/4 cup sliced black olives
- 1 sliced green bell pepper, seeds removed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, then spread out on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes until crisp, then remove from the oven and reduce heat to 350 F.
- While the potatoes are cooking, add the olive oil to a large pan over medium heat.
- Season the chicken liberally on both sides with the salt and pepper. Working in two batches, add the chicken to the pan with the olive oil. Sear for 5 minutes on one side, then turn over and sear for 2 minutes on the other side.
- Once the chicken is finished cooking, cut into 1-inch pieces, then toss with the pizza ranch dressing, then set aside.
- Toss the drained diced tomatoes with the Italian seasoning and garlic powder, then set aside.
- To assemble the casserole: place the potatoes in the bottom of a round casserole dish, then top with the tomato mixture, followed by the ranch chicken mixture. Next, place the pepperonis on top of the chicken, then add the mushrooms, olives, and green bell pepper, making sure they are evenly spread out.
- Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes, let cool slightly, and serve with additional pizza ranch on the side!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
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This combination seemed like an odd one to me but my whole family loved it! Definitely give it a try!
haha totally see that!! We are so happy you tried it… and loved it!! Thank you so much for taking a moment to share!
It’s in the oven now. But a few questions for next time…
The potato instructions say to toss with oil, salt, pepper and garlic but the ingredient list only lists the salt.
The garlic powder is listed to put in the tomatoes. Is that additional to the garlic on the potatoes?
Mine has a total of 1 tsp of garlic. 1/2 on the potatoes and 1/2 in the tomatoes. We shall see what happens.
Loved this! Its so good. I added more peppers and onions as toppings along with bacon and a little cheese!
I’m so glad, Kylie! Thank you for sharing this with us!
Would you mind putting in the recipe what type of pan/dish would work best and maybe an alternative pan? I find myself having to guess sometimes which pan would work best. Love your recipes! Thank you for making the weekly meal plan.
Of course — sorry about that, Heather! Any casserole dish is a great choice here. Hope you enjoy this one!
I can’t find pizza ranch dressing. Is there a substitute?
You can use regular ranch, Cindi!
It calls for tenders but in the instructions says thighs. Which is it? Thanks.
Thanks for catching that, Coby! It should be tenders, not thighs!
This is an amazing and easy dish that my whole family loves! Very filling and tastes amazing!
YAY…so glad that your whole family loves it, Mandy! We love it too!!
Anyone made this ahead of time and then bake later? Wondering how it would hold up if it was ready to go the night before it needed to be served?
It’ll hold up fine if you want to assemble the night before then bake Amy!
Another big win for the Fed and Fit team! Made this last night (in a 9×13 dish – worked perfectly) because the fresh green peppers from the garden needed a home! SO GOOD!
So glad you liked it Miranda!
This looks amazing, I cannot wait to try it! Quick question though, I only have an 8×8 and a 9×13 casserole dish. Which size would work best for this, I’m not sure how big your round one. I hope I didn’t miss something when I read your blog…I hate it when people ask already answered questions! 😉
Thanks Cassy!!
I’d go 9×13, this one is at least twice as deep as a typical 8×8!
running to the store as soon as I get off of work!!