Make a delicious Italian Penne Pasta Casserole for those you love! It’s filled with ground beef, Italian sausage, sauce and lots of cheese!
Today I want to share a “simple” yet delicious casserole recipe I believe you’re going to enjoy! I created this recipe using simple ingredients and we really like it a lot! I came up with this recipe after experimenting with different uses for penne, those cute little tubes of pasta goodness! YUM!
Our family loves almost anything Italian, so this tasty casserole is one that is easily made and enjoyed without a ton of prep work. That’s a win-win in my book, so let me show you how to make this Italian Penne Pasta Casserole. It yields about 6 servings, and I hope you like it!
Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page
Prepare The Casserole Filling
Place ground beef, Italian sausage, chopped green bell pepper and chopped onion in a large skillet. Cook these ingredients on medium-high heat until the meat is browned and fully cooked through. The peppers and onions should be tender, as well.
TIP: You can use sweet OR spicy Italian sausage (links or bulk) in the casserole, but if you use Italian sausage links, remove the casings before cooking.
Once the meat finishes cooking, remove any grease from the skillet (and discard). Season the meat mixture with Italian seasoning mix and salt and pepper.
Transfer the meat filling to a large bowl, add a favorite marinara sauce (your choice) and shredded mozzarella cheese. Note: You will set aside a small part of the mozzarella cheese to top the casserole before baking!
Stir the filling well, until all the ingredients have been combined. Now the only thing left to add to the casserole filling is eight ounces of cooked penne pasta.
Cook the Penne Pasta
TIP: To save time, consider cooking the pasta WHILE you make the meat filling. It doesn’t take too much effort to cook both at the same time and will significantly reduce your prep time.
Bring a large saucepan of boiling water to a full boil. Add the penne pasta and cook it on medium-high heat according to the package directions (approx. 10 minutes). The pasta may be slightly al dente (or slightly undercooked) at this point but will finish cooking in the oven.
Drain the pasta once it has finished cooking and add the drained pasta to the rest of the filling in the bowl. Stir well, to fully combine and coat the pasta with the meat sauce.
Prepare The Casserole For Baking
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Spray a 9″ x 9″ baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour the casserole filling into the baking dish and spread the mixture out evenly in the pan.
Sprinkle the surface of the casserole with the reserved amount of shredded mozzarella cheese, until evenly distributed. Cover the baking dish lightly with aluminum foil. Now the Italian penne pasta casserole is ready to bake!
Bake And Serve The Italian Penne Pasta Casserole
Bake the casserole at 350°F. for 35-40 minutes, removing the foil covering for the last 10 minutes of baking. Once done, the sauce should be bubbly around the edges and the cheese topping should be golden brown and fully melted.
Transfer the baking dish to a wire rack and let the Italian Penne Pasta Casserole rest for 2-3 minutes before serving. If desired, sprinkle each portion with grated Parmesan cheese, then serve and enjoy this delicious meal.
I hope you have the opportunity to make this casserole for your family and/or friends, and trust you’ll enjoy it as much as we do. Any leftovers you may have can be easily re-heated in a microwave for additional meals.
Thank you for stopping by, and I invite you to come back again soon for more family-friendly recipes. Take care, may God bless you, and have a wonderful day!
Looking For More CASSEROLE Recipes?
You can find ALL of my recipes in the Recipe Index, which is located at the top of the page. I have a nice variety of casserole recipes to choose from, including:
- Chicken Divan
- Cheesy Beef Potato Casserole
- Layered Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Mom’s Tuna Noodle Casserole
- Quinoa Enchilada Casserole (meatless)
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↓↓ PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW ↓↓

Make a delicious Italian Penne Pasta Casserole for those you love! It's filled with ground beef, Italian sausage, sauce and lots of cheese!
- ½ pound ground beef
- 2 links Italian sausage (casings removed) or ¼ pound bulk Italian sausage
- 2 Tablespoons chopped yellow onion
- 2 Tablespoons chopped green bell pepper
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt and pepper (enough to season the meat to taste)
- 24 ounces marinara sauce (or favorite meatless spaghetti sauce)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese* *DIVIDED USE
- 8 ounces uncooked penne pasta
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9" x 9" baking dish with non-stick spray.
Place ground beef, Italian sausage, green pepper and onion in a large skillet. TIP: If using Italian sausage links, remove the casing. Cook on medium-high heat until meat is browned/fully cooked. Drain grease from skillet. Season meat with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir well.
Transfer meat mixture to large bowl; add marinara sauce and 1½ cups mozzarella. Note: Reserve ½ cup mozzarella to use later! Stir mixture well, until combined.
Bring large pan of water to a full boil. Add pasta; cook on medium-high heat per pkg. directions (approx. 10 minutes). Pasta may be slightly undercooked but will finish cooking in the oven. Drain pasta; add to meat sauce in bowl. Stir well, to coat pasta with meat sauce.
Pour casserole filling into greased baking dish, spreading mixture evenly. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese, sprinkling evenly. Cover dish with aluminum foil.
Bake at 350°F. for 35-40 minutes, removing foil during the last 10 minutes of baking. It's done when the sauce is bubbly around the edges and cheese topping is golden brown and fully melted. Transfer baking dish to a wire rack. Let casserole rest 2-3 minutes before serving. If desired, sprinkle each portion with grated Parmesan cheese. Serve and enjoy!
TIP: To save time, consider cooking the pasta WHILE you make the meat filling. It doesn't take too much effort to cook both at the same time and will significantly reduce your prep time.
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!