This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Italian Beef and Sausage Pie combines ground beef, sweet Italian sausage, three kinds of cheese, onions and peppers, and Italian seasonings in a satisfying and delicious meal.
Every once in a while, my husband Jack makes a new recipe that is so good, we shuffle our calendar around so we can share the recipe sooner on A Family Feast. This Italian Beef and Sausage Pie is one of those recipes.
This fantastic meat and cheese pie was inspired by a ‘holiday meat pie’ recipe Jack spotted in a Polish recipe group on Facebook. We both loved the idea – but decided to take our version in a different direction with different meats, cheeses, and Italian-inspired seasonings.
We also wanted to make our Italian Beef and Sausage Pie more of a weeknight meal idea – and every ingredient in this recipe is easily found at the supermarket.
How do you make Italian Beef and Sausage Pie?
You’ll need a nine or ten-inch springform pan (affiliate link), and some parchment paper to line the bottom so your pie doesn’t stick. (Greasing the paper will help prevent sticking.)
In a large skillet, brown ground beef and Italian sausage until cooked through. We used sweet Italian sausage, but you could use hot Italian sausage if you prefer a spicier pie. Drain, but reserve the juices. (As the juices cool, skim the excess fat off the top, but save the rest of the liquid.)
Next, saute chopped onions and green bell pepper – seasoning the vegetables with dried basil and oregano, salt and pepper, plus a pinch of red pepper flakes. When the peppers are tender, add minced fresh garlic and cook that for a minute. Then stir in tomato paste and cook one minute more. Finally, add the strained juices and the cooked beef and sausage to the onion and pepper mixture. Stir, then set aside.
Next, mix up a batter of eggs, Greek yogurt, salt, baking powder, and some all-purpose flour. This mixture will resemble pancake batter.
Pour half of this egg and yogurt batter into the bottom of the prepared springform pan. Then, pour half of the meat mixture into the pan. Sprinkle grated Parmesan over the top of the meat, then layer slices of provolone cheese over the Parmesan.
Add the rest of the meat and sausage mixture on top of provolone slices. Mix chopped scallions and shredded mozzarella cheese to the remaining egg batter – then pour the batter over the top of the meat mixture.
Bake your Italian Beef and Sausage Pie for about 45 minutes. (We strongly recommend you place your springform pan on a foil-lined sheet pan while it bakes to avoid any leaks in your oven.)
After the pie bakes, you can brown the top under the broiler for a minute or so if you’d like a more golden top. Let the pie sit in the pan for about ten minutes to set up.
Place the pie on a platter and loosen the springform pan away from the sides (use a knife around the edges if necessary). Slice and serve while still warm from the oven.
What do I serve with Italian Beef and Sausage Pie?
We served our pie with a simple side salad, but it’s really quite filling all on its own.
Even though there are three cheeses in the recipe, this pie is not overly cheesy and gooey. It bakes up with a nice light crust on the bottom and top – and the center stays nice and firm, but soft and tender.
We think the flavors of the Italian Beef and Sausage Pie are really fantastic. We hope you love it too!
You may enjoy these other savory pie recipes:
- Spaghetti Pie
- Sweet Onion Turkey Cheddar Pie
- Chicken Carbonara Spaghetti Pie
- Tomato Pie
- Aussie Meat Pies
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Italian Beef and Sausage Pie
Ingredients
Vegetable shortening or butter to grease a 9-10 inch spring form pan (pan should be at least 2 1/2 inches deep)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound Italian sweet sausage removed from casing
1 large sweet onion, diced into large half inch pieces, about 2 1/2 cups
1 large green Bell pepper, diced into large half inch pieces, about 2 cups
1 teaspoon dry basil
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Batter
3 large eggs
1 cup Greek full fat yogurt
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Other
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 pound provolone cheese sliced
1 large bunch scallions diced, about one cup
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. with rack in center of oven.
Open a 9-10 inch springform pan and lay a piece of parchment over then snap the ring over so that the parchment covers the bottom and gets held in place by the ring. Use scissors to cut the outside parchment overhang. You should now have a round piece of parchment tightly held in place at the bottom of the springform pan.
Use vegetable shortening or butter and grease the bottom parchment and inside ring sides. Set the pan aside for now.
In a large saute pan, place two tablespoons of olive oil and over medium high heat and brown the beef and sausage meat. Pour into a strainer but save the liquid. Pour the liquid into a glass and remove and discard the fat that floats to the top with a spoon but save the liquid for later in the recipe.
In the same pan over medium heat, add the last tablespoon of olive oil and add the onions, peppers, basil, oregano, salt, pepper and pepper flakes and cook for about four minutes or until the vegetables are no longer crunchy but are still firm.
Add the garlic and cook one minute.
Make a space in the center and add the tomato paste and cook one minute.
Stir in two tablespoons of the reserved meat liquid and add all of the cooked meat and stir to combine. Set aside for now.
In a medium bowl with a whisk, beat the eggs then add the yogurt, salt, baking powder and flour and whisk to combine. The batter should resemble pancake batter.
Pour half of this batter into the bottom of the prepared springform pan and spread to the edges.
Add in half of the cooked beef mixture, again, spreading to the edges.
Sprinkle on all of the Parmesan then layer on all of the provolone cheese, overlapping the slices.
Add the remaining meat on top of the provolone and spread to the edges.
Add the scallions and mozzarella to the remaining batter and spread this mixture all over the top, spreading to the edges.
Cover a medium sheet tray with foil and place the pie in the center and bake 45 minutes. Spring form pans are notorious for leaking so the foil lined pan will save your oven from drips.
After 45 minutes, brown under broiler if the top needs it. I broiled ours for two minutes to brown the top further than it was.
Let sit 10 minutes in the pan. If you press lightly on the center, it should feel firm like a quiche would feel when baked. If not, let sit five more minutes.
Run a small sharp knife around the inside edges to loosen.
Release the spring form outer ring then cut into eight pieces using a sharp serrated knife to cut through the top layer then down through the pie.
Serve hot.
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
\
Could this be made ahead, refrigerated, then baked? Or would it run together and lose the “layers”?
Hi Stephanie – You’d be better off baking it ahead of time and reheating. With the egg in the filling, we do think it would start to separate if you allowed it to sit without baking it.
Can this be made up ahead of time
Hi Thomas – You would be OK baking it ahead of time and reheating. With the egg in the filling, we think it would start to separate if you made it up ahead of time and allowed it to sit without baking it.
Made this tonight for dinner. Fantastic. I used regular sausage because I couldn’t find Italian sausage and it still turned out perfectly.
Glad you enjoyed the pie Karen!
Empty nesters here. Do you think cutting ingredients in half & using a smaller ( 7 inch) springform pan would turn out OK? And how would you adjust the cooking time? Thanks
Going from a 9-10 inch pan to a 7 inch pan is about 2/3 the recipe, which would probably be better since the recipe calls for three eggs. Bake time may be slightly less but not by much. Looking over the remaining ingredients, you will need to do some math but 2/3 of everything should work out. A little more of this or a little less than that, should not make that much of a difference. If this were a baked good, exact measurements would be necessary, but in this type of dish, close should work out. Only measurement I would get just right is 2/3 of the batter…2 eggs, 2/3 cup yogurt, little more than a quarter teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder…With the flour, weigh 1/2 cup then while still on the scale, remove 1/3 of the weight. Alternatively, 1/2 cup of flour is 8 tablespoons so 2/3 would be 5 tablespoons plus one teaspoon.
Good luck,
Jack
Teresa, I always make the yield per recipe instructions and freeze half.
It’s far more efficient to cook that way. You’ve already shopped, prepped and heated your oven.
Now you have back up meals at the ready for unexpected company.
question please: I can’t eat green peppers…what would you recommend in its’ place? also would it taste as god NOT using sausage, just hamburg?
Hi Karen – The sausage adds a lot of flavor to the pie so with just ground beef, you will need to add more seasonings. The sausage adds some fat too, and ground beef is leaner so that may impact the overall texture and taste as well. You could definitely swap in red, yellow or orange peppers if you’d like. Hope that helps!
I don’t eat pork so I use 80%beef 20%fat and add sausage seasoning. Or even Greek is nice.
I do like changing up peppers with broccoli, and ground chicken 75% with the broccoli Yum
Thanks for the suggestions Karen!
Could this be assembled ahead and frozen? If so, would you recommend freezing before or after baking?
Hi Kristeen – We haven’t tried freezing this ourselves, but I’d definitely suggest baking it first, then freezing.
What temp for oven?????
Hi Keith – Step 1 states to preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Can you sub the Greek yogurt with something else?
Some other readers have swapped in sour cream for the Greek yogurt.
I subbed in Ricotta! Was excellent.
Thanks Marlene!
Can I just omit yogurt, sour cream or ricotta? Maybe add a Lil more flour or “other” type of liquid?
Hi Debbie – we’ve only made the recipe as written. We’d have to do some kitchen testing to be able tell you what changes to make if you want to leave that out entirely and still have it sliceable and moist…
Do u think it will work replacing the flour with almond flour? Doing without carbs at the moment. It sounds amazing!
We haven’t tried it Laura. Almond flour has more moisture so it might make the overall texture a little softer. Please let us know how it comes out – we’d love to know as would other readers too.
I used sunflower seed flour and worked well.
Thanks Donna!
Could this be done in a casserole dish instead of a springform?
Thank you
Yes Kay – you definitely can. I *think* it will fit in a 9×13 pan…
This sounds amazing! But, how much parmesan cheese should I use? I don’t see it in the ingredients. Thank you!
Great catch Joe! I just looked back at Jack’s notes…1/2 cup. I’ll update the recipe now! Thank you!