Supreme pizza beans, a mashup of pizza beans and my favorite kind of pizza, hits all the right notes when you need a cozy comfort food kind of night.<\/strong><\/p>\n Come fall, I\u2019m all about the comfort foods. I want food that makes me warm and cozy, from the inside out. These pizza beans hit all the right notes. Warm, savory, filling, full of flavor and protein. This and a side of extra garlicky bread and it\u2019s my favorite meal: carbs with carbs but with the added benefit of bean protein.<\/p>\n Pizza beans are baked giant white beans in tomato sauce with browned melted mozzarella and topped with pizza toppings. Think American-style baked ziti but with beans. Baked ziti is a classic Italian-American casserole made with ziti, tomato sauce, and cheese, all baked together into a bubbly, delicious dish. Swap out the ziti for giant beans and you have pizza beans.<\/p>\n Deb Perelman, the cookbook author and creator of Smitten Kitchen came up with this genius dish as a mashup of a Greek dish of giant beans in tomato sauce, but with a bunch of cheese to make it more like ziti. I\u2019m a huge fan of Smitten Kitchen (I mean, I think everyone is, she\u2019s our Martha\/Ina) and I\u2019ve made so many of her recipes over the years.<\/p>\n Now that the sun has gone into hiding and the days are starting out crisp and a little cold, I\u2019ve been making pizza beans on repeat, but I amped it up a notch with my favorite (and I personally think under-ordered) pizza topping: supreme. If you haven\u2019t had it, supreme is Italian meat of some kind (eg sausage or pepperoni), green peppers, mushrooms, onions, and olives, and it\u2019s so much more than the sum of its ingredients. It\u2019s the iconic pizza when you think of a pizza that\u2019s not just pepperoni. To me, supreme is like the most\u00a0pizza<\/em>\u00a0pizza to ever pizza.<\/p>\n They taste kind of like pizza, but I would say they taste more like a comforting baked pasta. There\u2019s rich and savory tomato sauce, creamy bean-y beans, gooey browned cheese, and your favorite pizza toppings. The whole thing just begs to be eaten with a spoon, in a bowl, which is my ultimate comfort meal requirement.<\/p>\n I absolutely adored this dish. Something about adding the supreme toppings really made it feel like a pizza. I think my mind is just wired to think that the flavor combination of green peppers, mushrooms, olives, and sausages (or pepperoni) equals pizza. We just about demolished half of the pan, which was surprising because it was quite a large pan.<\/p>\n Mike told me that the supreme toppings are what made it amazing. Apparently, he wasn\u2019t prepared to like it as much as he did because, as he said before the first bite: how good can beans be? The answer is: really freaking good!<\/p>\n I love beans. I love pizza. Everyone loves a good one pan dish that\u2019s hearty, saucy, and full of flavor. With pizza beans you get the benefit of two things people are always looking to get more of: fiber and protein. Pizza beans are proteinmaxxing and fibermaxxing together as one. Best of all, they\u2019re super leftover friendly. They can even be completely meat-free if you want. If you dare (I dare) you can even bring these to a holiday potluck or dinner party.<\/p>\n Pretend you\u2019re in Greece and you have your own olive orchard. Go wild. The first time Mike ever made me a pasta sauce, his soffritto was essentially equal parts extra virgin olive oil to vegetables. It seems like a lot, and it is, but it\u2019s what makes really good Italian food good: vegetables chilling out in a long warm oil hot tub so they release all of their aromatics and flavor.<\/p>\n I love Italian sausage. Italian sausage, if you\u2019re not from North America, refers to ground pork seasoned with fennel\/anise, garlic, pepper, and other seasonings of that sort. It\u2019s not cured, but it comes in casings, which I almost always remove. If you like, you can even go with ground pork and season it on your own.<\/p>\n Note: If you don\u2019t eat meat, you can skip the sausage. If I\u2019m making a mini batch for me and not Mike, I almost always go all beans.<\/p>\n Soffritto, if you\u2019re not familiar, is a classic Italian base for sauces, braises, and the like. In France, they call it mirepoix, in Spain they call it sofrito. Essentially, they\u2019re all the same idea: aromatics finely chopped and gently cooked in fat.<\/p>\n Our soffritto contains garlic. You might be surprised to hear that garlic is not traditionally in Italian soffritto. In fact, garlic in general is not used with as much abandon as we use it here in North America. It\u2019s more of a background note, usually added to oil to infuse with a light garlic flavor. I\u00a0love<\/em>\u00a0garlic though and this dish is by no means authentic, so I say garlic with all your heart.<\/p>\n A bit of wine (you can choose white or red depending what you want to drink with your pizza beans) is optional, but I think it adds a complexity, depth, and a bit of acidity. It makes what seems like a regular red sauce more than just a red sauce.<\/p>\n Greens! I love hearty greens that cook down into silky, smooth strands. The kale adds a much needed bit of green to the recipe, visually, as well as its mild earthy flavor. Chop it up nice and tiny so it distributes throughout the beans, like star flecks of kale in a pizza bean universe.<\/p>\n Crushed tomatoes will be the base of this recipe. If you happen to have tomato sauce (by that I mean, jarred pasta sauce) you can use that too, but once you see how easy it is to turn crushed tomatoes into a rich and savory sauce, you won\u2019t look back.<\/p>\n Of all the beans, giant white beans are the cutest and most fun to eat. I\u2019m always on the lookout for them because they always seem hard to find. Or maybe I\u2019m dreaming of really giant white beans. Where the heck do restaurants source their white beans? Sometimes, they have ones that are the size of a chicken nugget. Anyway, some other types of giant beans are: Royal Corona, Gigantes, or butter beans. All of them will work in this recipe. Side note: I just love the name butter beans. Typically, you can find them dried at Italian or Greek markets.<\/p>\n This recipe calls for cooked beans, so canned is the way to go if you haven\u2019t planned ahead but soaking overnight and cooking dried beans lets them get to your preferred texture. I went with canned beans because I\u2019m not great at soaking and cooking beans. They didn\u2019t have giant beans at the store and really, any bean will work, so choose your bean fighter.<\/p>\n Just like pizza, you can be as restrained or as wild with the toppings as you like. Mike suggested supreme to me and as a true lover of supreme pizza, I was all in. I think every pizza place has their own version of supreme, but in my book, it\u2019s: some sort of pizza meat, either sausage, ham, or pepperoni, green peppers, onions, sliced black olives, and mushrooms. It\u2019s just the classic, nostalgic pizza flavors that remind me of my not-so-misspent youth eating dollar slices in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n We\u2019re going with mozzarella because of its extra melty, cheesy pull. If you want a bit more depth, you can add a little bit of Parm or even just go with your favorite pizza cheese mix. The important part is a generous layer. Don\u2019t be shy, the cheese is going to bake into a beautiful blanket of golden crispiness.<\/p>\n Pizza beans are meant to be kind of soupy, not like baked beans you\u2019d get out of a can. If yours looks like bean soup, you did it right. For science, we made this two ways: with a substantial amount of liquid, and then again, essentially drained of all liquid. Personally, I like soup-y pizza beans and Mike thought he would like dry pizza beans, but ended up preferring soupy too. I think soupy pizza beans are somehow more comforting and cozy.<\/p>\n Additionally, the next day we found that the beans were completely non-soupy, because they absorbed all the liquid in the fridge. So I think the lesson is, if you rest your pizza beans, they will become just the right consistency over time (and bonus, won\u2019t burn your mouth).<\/p>\n If you want your pizza beans to be thicker, make sure to sweat and cook down the vegetables so they\u2019re not releasing any extra liquid into the pan. You can do this by adding onion, mushrooms, and peppers (and you might as well throw in the olives at this time for convenience) to the pan at the same time as the kale and cook until all the liquid evaporates. But be sure to reserve some for the toppings, those don\u2019t need to be cooked down.<\/p>\n Be sure to drain and rinse the beans well before adding to the pan. Add the crushed tomatoes, but don\u2019t add in any extra liquid or chicken stock.<\/p>\n Yes! This makes them great for potlucks and dinner parties. To make pizza beans ahead of time, just assemble as per the recipe but don\u2019t add the cheese or toppings. Cover and refrigerate, then when you\u2019re ready, add the cheese and toppings and bake straight from the fridge until bubbling and browned. You\u2019ll need to add an extra 10-15 minutes to the time.<\/p>\n Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 4 days. Scoop out what you want to eat and microwave, or just put the whole thing back in the oven at 350\u00baF until hot. You might need to add a little liquid if the beans have soaked up all the broth.<\/p>\n Yes! Make and assemble without cheese and toppings, then freeze for up to 3 months. Pro tip: you can freeze the cheese and toppings (separate from the pizza beans) as well. Then just thaw overnight in the fridge and bake until bubbling as above.<\/p>\n Yes! Soak your dried beans overnight and cook until just tender but not creamy. They\u2019ll keep softening in the sauce and oven.<\/p>\n Yes! I often just skip the meat. If you add extra mushrooms, be sure to cook them a bit first so they release their water outside of the top of your cheese.<\/p>\n Yes! But be sure to adjust the salt to match. Jarred sauce is much saltier than crushed tomatoes.<\/p>\n These guys are a hearty meal just by themselves, but I never say no to:<\/p>\n Pizza beans forever, \u00a0<\/p>\nWhy You’ll Love This Recipe<\/h3>\n
\n
At a glance<\/h3>\n
\n
\n Flavor Profile<\/th>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\ttomato-y, savory, cheesy, pizza-y and cozy\t\t\t\t\t <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Storage<\/th>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\tcovered in the fridge for up to 4 days\t\t\t\t\t <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Reheating<\/th>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\tmicrowave\t\t\t\t\t <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Difficulty<\/th>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\teasy\t\t\t\t\t <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Pro-trick<\/th>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\tSlightly freeze the sausage and the meatball making will be a breeze.\t\t\t\t\t <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n ![\"pizza](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9705.jpg\"\/)
![\"pizza](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9705.jpg\")
<\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\nWhat are pizza beans?<\/h2>\n
![\"pizza](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9706.jpg\"\/)
![\"pizza](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9706.jpg\")
<\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\nSupreme pizza beans<\/h2>\n
What do pizza beans taste like?<\/h2>\n
![\"supreme](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9678.jpg\"\/)
![\"supreme](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9678.jpg\")
<\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\nOn pizza bean supreme<\/h2>\n
![\"pizza](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9691.jpg\"\/)
![\"pizza](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9691.jpg\")
<\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\nBut why pizza beans?<\/h2>\n
![\"enjoying](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9722.jpg\"\/)
![\"enjoying](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9722.jpg\")
<\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\nPizza bean ingredients<\/h2>\n
Extra virgin olive oil<\/h3>\n
Italian sausage<\/h3>\n
![\"mini](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9664.jpg\"\/)
![\"mini](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9664.jpg\")
<\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\nSoffritto<\/h3>\n
Wine<\/h3>\n
Kale<\/h3>\n
Crushed tomatoes<\/h3>\n
Giant white beans<\/h3>\n
![\"beans\"](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9668.jpg\"\/)
![\"beans\"](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9668.jpg\")
<\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\nToppings<\/h3>\n
Cheese<\/h3>\n
![\"topping](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9689.jpg\"\/)
![\"topping](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9689.jpg\")
<\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\nHow to make pizza beans<\/h2>\n
\n
Soupy or dry<\/h2>\n
![\"dry](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9729.jpg\"\/)
![\"dry](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9729.jpg\")
<\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\nLess soupy pizza beans<\/h3>\n
Pro tips<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"making](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9673.jpg\"\/)
![\"making](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9673.jpg\")
<\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\nFrequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n
Can you make pizza beans ahead of time?<\/h3>\n
How do you store and reheat?<\/h3>\n
Can you freeze pizza beans?<\/h3>\n
Can I use dried beans?<\/h3>\n
Can I make pizza beans vegetarian?<\/h3>\n
Can I use jarred pasta sauce instead of crushed tomatoes?<\/h3>\n
What to serve with pizza beans<\/h2>\n
\n
xoxo steph<\/p>\n
![\"pizza](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9699w-150x150.jpg\"\/)
![\"pizza](\"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pizza-beans-9699w-150x150.jpg\")
<\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n