Roni’s Redo: Deep Dish Crescent Pizza Casserole
By: Roni | Posted in: 11 WWPP, 9 WWP, Casserole Ideas, Dinner Ideas, Food Photos, Pizza Ideas, Roni's Redos, Toddler Approved | 48 Comments
You may have noticed some changes around here. Check out my edited All Recipes By Photo page, my new Weight Watchers page and changed layouts for the categories like our video posts. In honor of my recent housecleaning, I’m also adding a new section, Roni’s Redos. This category will be specifically reserved for my healthy spin on your recipes and I’m starting with an email Amy sent me a few months ago…
How would you make this recipe healthier? It is a favorite in my family. The biggest problem is that I cannot actually add any of the veggies I have listed because of people not eating certain ones. We love pizza and this hotdish is fantastic but deadly to our health. Ideas?
- 2 rolls crescent rolls
- 1 jar pizza sauce
- 1 pound lean hamburger
- 1/2 pound spicy italian sausage
- pepperoni
- Shredded Mozzarella and Chedder cheese
- 2 cans black olives
- 1 onion
- 2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
- 1 green pepper
Fry the hamburger and sausage together to mingle the flavors and add any spices you want for flavor. Add in the following layers: layer of crescent rolls, pepperoni, cheese, 1/2 pizza sauce, hamburger/sausage mix, veggies, remaining pizza sauce, pepperoni, cheese, layer of crescent rolls, cheese on top.
I have to be honest. When I originally read her email I was in LOVE. This is my kind of meal. It’s PIZZA! Only my absolute favorite food on the planet! I had so much fun making this tonight and my family LOVED It. The Little Guy devoured it and so did I. The husband was his usual un-enthused self. I told you, he only gets really excited about food when you shove a can up a birds a$$. ;)
Here’s what I did. I’ll give you some of my thought process as I share the recipe.
- 1 small onion chopped small
- 8 oz (1/2 lb) lean ground beef (95%)
- 2 hot Italian sausage links (preferably turkey but I didn’t have any)
- 1 medium zucchini chopped small
- 8 oz mushrooms chopped small
- 1 large bell pepper chopped small
- 2 Reduced Fat Packages of Crescent Rolls
- 2 oz Turkey Pepperoni slices (60g)
- 4 oz fancy shredded mozzarella cheese
- 4 oz fancy shredded Mexican Cheese Blend
- 16 oz of your favorite pizza/red sauce
- garlic powder
- dried parsley
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Remove the casing from the sausage and brown with the ground beef and onion.
For the meats I used half the amount of beef and sausage because will knew I’d be bulking up the filling with all the veggies. Diced small they mix right in and add not only nutrients to the dish but flavor! I skipped the olives but added zucchini as it’s pretty much flavorless and will soak up all the yummy goodness from everything else.
Chop the zucchini, mushrooms and bell pepper and add it to the browning meats.
While the meats and veggies are cooking spray the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish with non-stick spray. Spread 1 of the packages of crescent rolls on the bottoms sealing the seems and pushing to the edges and corners.
Bake for about 10 minutes until just browning.
Top the cooked crescent roll with a layer of turkey pepperoni, 2 oz of mozzarella and 2 oz of mexican cheese blend.
Layer in the cooked meat/veggie mixture and top with the remaining pepperoni.
Pour on the sauce and spread around. I only used a small, 16 oz jar, knowing the addition of veggies will add even more liquid to the dish once baked. Top with the remaining cheese.
Lay the remaining crescent dough on top pressing down firmly and spreading to the edges again. I sprinkled with a bit of garlic powder and dried parsley instead of adding additional cheese.
Bake for about 30 minutes until the top crescent starts to brown.
Remove from the oven and let cook for 5 minutes to help it set. Then cut a piece and marvel at the wonder…
Isn’t it beautiful?! And oh.. the SMELL.. just glorious! :)
As you can see, the casserole held together wonderfully. Here it is minus our 3 pieces…
I don’t feel comfortable doing a side by side nutritional information comparison since Amy didn’t have measurements for things like the cheese and pepperoni. Even if I use the same amounts I did for them I’m getting almost a 200 calorie savings! Regardless this version is only 9 points for a nice size slice. Totally worth it in my opinion!
Thanks Amy! This was fun. If you have a recipe you want me to redo let me know by filling out the form!
Any other suggestions for Amy? What would you add to your families Deep Dish Crescent Pizza Casserole?
| Servings | Amt per Serving | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1/8th of the recipe | ||
| Calories | Fat | Fiber | WWPs |
| 405 | 19g | 2g | old: 9 new: 11 |
| Sugar | Sat Fat | Carbs | Protein |
| 11g | 8g | 36g | 26g |
Other ideas you may enjoy... |
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This looks so yummy! I am definitely going to be giving this a try! I love the idea of sending in a recipe for you to make better. I try to do it on my own, but I never know how well I manage :) You are very inspiring for me and have absolutely gotten me to try new healthier options in the kitchen. Thanks!
That looks delicious! I can’t wait to pick up the crescent rolls and sausage to give it a try.
That looks great! I love to try to do that also, take a super high calorie recipe and attempt to make it healthier. Do you think a quick no rise dough would work instead of the crescent rolls? That way you can use whole wheat flour? That’s how I make my pizza dough. It looks great though!
Oh wow Roni!!! This is such a fun idea! Loving the new changes on the site and really look forward to recipe redo’s.
p.s. That pizza….omg *drools*.
Debbi – TOTALLY! But sometimes convenience wins out. I try to make the easy changes that keeps the recipe as similar to the original but has a slightly healthier spin. Making my own dough, although something that would totally be fun, would change the original recipe too much in my opinion. The crescent texture isn’t easily replaced. Although a quick whole wheat pizza dough would also be awesome! Just like a supreme deep dish pizza!
That looks delicious! And I bet leftovers would be extra tasty. I’m gonna try this one.
This looks great. I would eat it, but my family – no way. The son won’t eat mushrooms and the husband won’t eat it if it has anything green (zucchini/pepper) in it. Sausage is also a no-no. I’m thinking that if I had to leave all that goodness out, it would be pretty much nothing. Any ideas for how to bulk this up for the super-picky eater! I was thinking chopped tomato or just using the veges on half for myself and hoping they don’t slide over too much.
Seriously.. you can not even tell the mushrooms are in there. Out of all the veggies that’s the one to keep because they melt right into the meat. Diced tomato would be a great substitute for green bell peppers but I’d see if you could still sneak in the zucchini. Cut up small it also blends right in. It’s worth a shot… They may be willing to give it a shot it you just call it deep dish pizza. :)
It may be irritating, but for very picky eaters (like me…) it can so be worth cutting the vegetables up really tiny. Especially when cooked with something else like meat, they really do vanish. Of course, you have to be careful with veggies with noticeable texture, but cooking them in the frying pan will definitely help reduce that.
Also, red capsicum/pepper swap for green? Or orange, yellow, purple(?). I don’t particularly like zucchini, but yellow squash, pumpkin, sweet potato, broccoli (including the stems cut up really small), celery, carrot… there’s plenty of other veggies. Pick your family’s favourite (or least disliked), cut them up tiny and either mix them with the meat or the tomato sauce if you use your own, like Roni’s ‘Don’t Know What’s In There’ sauce.
To make the zucchini disappear even more, shred it on a box grater. I froze two cup *portions* of shredded zucchini this summer when there was too much from the garden to eat. It’s wonderful to throw into soup or spaghetti sauce or anything. I don’t even thaw it.
No one will know it’s there. ;-)
I can’t wait to make this! I want to try a vegetarian version! :) Looks amazing!
I think I need to make a vegetarian version of this w/veggie pepperoni and morningstar crumblers!
My stomach is growling looking at the pictures! Did the cresent roll crust seem soggy at all? It almost looks like lasagna. Love the Roni’s Redo section.
Pizza is my middle name. And my first name… and my last name. I obviously want to try this.
Yummy Yummy! This looks great. Thanks for including the step-by-step pictures. I don’t think I would have known how to lay the crescent rolls down.
Love the idea of Recipe Redo!
sorry this is not a recipe redo
But I have a question Did you hear that ww is redoing the points system? It suppose to come out the end of Nov. How might that affect your points on here?
I am hearing roarers that the way they figure out the points is changing.
I will let you know once we know for sure.
Hi Barbara – Everyone freaks out every year when WW announces the changes and then we all grow to love the new plan. I’ll keep my ear to ground as well and make any adjustments if necessary. No biggie. :)
Oh HELLO!! This will be making the rounds on BTL! I’m going to make this and post it within an inch of it’s life!!:) (maybe I should change my e-mail from fireeater to pizzaeater…)
Wow! This is something that will definatley go in our recipes to use especially with the cooler weather that should be here soon! :) (I am in Texas, and it has been pretty warm this week). And a fantastic meal that I can teach my 11 year old to prepare that can become one of her specialties when one of those busy weekday nights seem to take over.
Roni – This looks amazing so many veggie options with this one. Add a Salad for a complete meal! I love to take family favorite recipes and make them healthified. By the way .. I love your website .. the recipes and photos are so colorful and inspirational. But I have one question – is there a possibility of a “printer-friendly” version for your recipes.
Have you attempted to print? I have it set up only print the recipes. Give it a try and let me know.
Oh! and thanks for the compliment. :)
You’re Welcome – Ooh Okay – That’s Nifty – Thanks again!!
Oh my gosh, this looks amazing. Each layer looks chock full of deliciousness.
Roni! I just cooked this casserole for dinner tonight. I thought that it was going to be really good…but it was REALLY GREAT!!!! My husband gave it the ultimate compliment, which I wanted to share with you. He said, “I know you aren’t going to believe this, but I think this is better than Geno’s East (in Chicago)! We loved it!!! Thanks for another great recipe!!!
Perhaps a random question…why the reusable tin pan instead of a regular casserole dish?
Only because I’m in desperate need of baking and casserole dishes. I have a handful of tin ones I use from time to time.
This looks amazing! How well to the leftovers save? Cause it’s just me, and anytime I make something like this I have to eat it for days or hawk the leftovers off on my stepdad (or both lol)
I’ve been LOVING the leftovers! If heated in the microwave the crescent become real soft. If heated in the oven, it’s super crunchy! I love it both ways! :)
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made it for dinner tonight and it was amazing! It is definitely on our go to list of things to make for dinner!
This does look a lot like Chicago deep-dish style, and my favorite of those is spinach. That should get hidden in there pretty well, right?
Honestly… I had spinach all ready to go and forgot to add it!! I totally think it makes a great addition.
I’m glad that you enjoyed it :) I’m going to have to take Roni’s suggestions and see if my family will like the new version as much as the old one.
This was delicious! My husband loved it too! And although he did request more sauce next time, I take that as he wants there to be a next time. Success!
Also, I’m not sure why, but the casserole seemed done after only 15-17 minutes (dough was brown and sauce was bubbly). So I might suggest checking it half way through.
Thanks Roni- can’t wait for the next recipe redo.
Made this last night, it was good, especially the meat/veggie mix. The problem i had was the bottom was so wet and soggy. Is that normal?
Did you bake it first? Mine held up pretty well. I baked it first for about 10 minutes until it was browned and firm to the touch.
Yes, i totally baked it and it was golden brown. I was thinking maybe i should of cooked it longer and more brown. I didn’t let it cool before i started building on it, do you think could of made is soggy? Did you let your stand and cool before building?
You know, I might have and didn’t realize it because I was busy taking pictures and frying the meat. That’s probably it!
damn :)
looks like my wife must make it
take permission to copy txt in document :)
I made this tonight exactly as written but added 1/2 teasp dried red peppers for a little extra kick. It was great, and hubby loved it! He never realized it was turkey pepperoni, and I chopped the mushrooms up so small, he didn’t even realize they were in there! They simply blended in nicely with the zucchini and green pepper.
Quick question…if I wanted to add spinach, what are your recommendations? Fresh or frozen? Do I cook it with the rest of the veggies as the meats are browning? Any idea how much to add? Spinach pizza has always been a personal favorite, and I think it would be a great addition to this dish. Thanks for a healthy revision that is a real family pleaser!
Cindy – I would add fresh and chop it up as small as possible. You want to prevent those stringy pieces. Add it to the meet veggie mixture while it’s browning as the end. Let it wilt and cook in but not to death, if you know what I mean. I think the mushrooms do better cooking a long time with the meat but the spinach would be better off just cooking.
Spinach in a great addition! I’ll add that the next time I make it too!
PointsPlus (new points) = 11 for 1/11th of the recipe…..sounds well worth it. I can’t wait try this one. Thanks!
This was PHAT!! I halved the recipe and used the veggies I had on hand but I thought this was delicious. There isn’t a drop left, sadness!
I am planning to try this but I will use Ground Turkey. Ground turkey is available with italian seasonings already mixed in. It may be in a flat like ground beef with no casings. I use it very often.
YUM! I made this tonight with 16oz of sweet italian turkey sausage. It was delicious! My husband & daughters all loved it too! We’ll definitely make this again. Thanks for the wonderful low-cal recipe, Roni!
I made a vegetarian version of this last night used boca crumbles, veggie pepperoni, and tofurky italian sausage. It turned out really good. I used a small can of sliced olives since we like them. Thanks!
Looks delicious! Going to try this but will add our homemade hot italian venison instead of the turkey sausage since it’s what I have on hand. Thanks!