What are pizza beans and where did they come from?

Pizza beans are white beans (usually cannellini) braised in garlicky crushed tomatoes and baked under mozzarella until the cheese bubbles and blisters. The dish tastes strikingly like pizza — same sauce, same cheese — with no dough. It was created by food writer Deb Perelman and published in her 2017 cookbook Smitten Kitchen Every Day. It went genuinely, massively viral on TikTok in late 2024 after it was reported that Luigi Mangione — facing charges in the murder of a healthcare CEO — requested pizza beans over chicken parmesan as his first meal in custody. TMZ ran the story; Google Trends for the recipe spiked within hours; TikTok exploded. The high-protein meal-prep community then adopted it as a weeknight staple because two cans of cannellini beans deliver about 30 grams of plant protein per batch.

What kind of beans work best for pizza beans?

Cannellini beans (white kidney beans) are the standard — they're large, creamy, and hold their shape through the oven without getting mushy. Great Northern beans work almost identically and are often cheaper. Navy beans are smaller and softer; they'll cook down into more of a saucy base, which some people prefer. Chickpeas are a firmer alternative with a nuttier flavor — they won't fall apart but have a more assertive taste than white beans. Kidney beans (red) have a stronger, earthier flavor that competes with the marinara. Stick with white beans for the cleanest pizza-forward taste.

Can I make pizza beans without a cast iron skillet?

Yes. Any oven-safe skillet (stainless steel, oven-safe nonstick) works for the stovetop-to-oven method. If you don't have any oven-safe skillet at all, sauté the garlic in a regular pan, then transfer everything to a 9×9 or 9×13 baking dish — the result is identical, just with one extra pan to wash. You lose the 'served straight from the skillet' presentation but nothing else. Don't use a glass baking dish for the broil step — thermal shock risk is real.

Is the viral TikTok pizza beans recipe actually high protein?

Yes, legitimately. Two cans of cannellini beans provide about 30 grams of plant protein across four servings. Add 5 oz of mozzarella (roughly 28g protein total) and 2 oz of pepperoni (about 10g) and the full skillet has roughly 68 grams of protein — about 17g per serving before rounding. The recipe in this article builds slightly more protein per serving (23g) by using a full layer of mozzarella rather than a thin sprinkle. It's a real macro-friendly dinner, not an inflated claim: beans are one of the densest sources of plant protein available, and this is two full cans.

What toppings can I add to pizza beans?

Treat the base — beans, marinara, mozzarella — as the pizza dough equivalent and add whatever you'd want on a pizza. Halved cherry tomatoes pressed into the cheese before baking roast and caramelize. Sliced black olives or banana pepper rings add brine. A handful of fresh arugula scattered on after the broil wilts slightly and adds peppery freshness. Crumbled Italian sausage (cooked before going in) or sliced fresh mushrooms sautéed with the garlic turn this into a more substantial meal. Fresh mozzarella torn on top in addition to the shredded layer adds a creamy, milky layer under the crust.

How do I store and reheat leftover pizza beans?

Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The texture is best reheated in a 350°F oven, covered loosely with foil, for 10–12 minutes — this re-melts the cheese without drying the beans. Microwave works in a pinch (2–3 minutes on medium, stirring halfway) but the cheese layer gets rubbery. The flavor actually deepens overnight as the beans absorb more of the sauce — day-two pizza beans straight from the fridge, eaten cold with bread, is genuinely good.

Can I make pizza beans ahead of time for meal prep?

Yes. Assemble through the bean-folding step (stop before adding cheese and pepperoni), cover, and refrigerate up to 24 hours. When ready to eat, top with cheese and pepperoni and bake as directed, adding 3–5 minutes to account for the cold start. Alternatively, fully bake the whole skillet and portion into containers — each portion reheats cleanly per the storage instructions above. This is a standard high-protein meal prep formula: one batch Sunday makes four dinners or lunches through Thursday.

Viral TikTok Pizza Beans Recipe

Name: Viral TikTok Pizza Beans
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 27 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 cans (15 oz each) cannellini beans (white kidney beans), drained and rinsed; 1 cup marinara or pizza sauce (jarred San Marzano-based is ideal); 3 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning; ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (reduce to ¼ tsp for mild); Salt and black pepper to taste; 1½ cups (about 5 oz) low-moisture mozzarella, shredded from the block; 2 oz pepperoni slices (mini pepperoni cups stay crispy; full rounds work too); Fresh basil leaves to finish; Crusty bread or focaccia, for serving

Pizza beans were created by food writer Deb Perelman for her 2017 Smitten Kitchen cookbook. They lived quietly as a beloved recipe for years. Then in late 2024, it was reported that Luigi Mangione had requested pizza beans over chicken parmesan as his first meal after his arrest — and TikTok made it a phenomenon overnight. Google Trends spiked, the recipe was recreated by hundreds of thousands of creators, and it became one of the most-searched food recipes of the year.

The weeknight TikTok formula stripped Perelman’s original down to essentials: two cans of cannellini beans folded into jarred marinara with garlic, topped with mozzarella and pepperoni, baked until bubbling. One pan, 25 minutes, roughly 23 grams of protein and 9 grams of fiber per serving — more protein per serving than two slices of takeout pizza, and a fraction of the carbs.

Two cans cannellini beans folded into marinara with garlic and Italian seasoning in an oven-safe skillet
Top with shredded mozzarella and pepperoni, bake at 400°F for 18–20 minutes
Optional 90-second broil for charred cheese and crispy pepperoni
One pan, under 30 minutes, ~23g protein per serving

Two cans cannellini beans folded into marinara with garlic and Italian seasoning in an oven-safe skillet
Top with shredded mozzarella and pepperoni, bake at 400°F for 18–20 minutes
Optional 90-second broil for charred cheese and crispy pepperoni
One pan, under 30 minutes, ~23g protein per serving

The One Rule: Don’t Mash the Beans

Cannellini beans have a creamy interior and a thin skin. When you fold them whole into the sauce, they hold their shape through the oven and give each scoop a substantial, almost meaty texture. When you press down or stir too aggressively, you break the skins and the beans dissolve into the sauce — it becomes hummus in marinara, which is a different dish.

Fold gently. The sauce coats each bean without penetrating it. The result, when you spoon it out, is a mix of intact creamy beans and thick tomato sauce, not a uniform paste.

Why San Marzano Marinara Matters Here

With only one cup of sauce in the skillet, the quality of the jarred marinara is amplified rather than hidden. San Marzano-based sauces (look for “San Marzano” or “DOP” on the label — brands like Rao’s, Carbone, or Cento work well) have lower acidity and a sweeter, more concentrated tomato flavor than standard domestic tomato sauce. That sweetness balances the salt in the mozzarella and pepperoni. You can use any marinara you have, but if you use a thin, acidic supermarket sauce, the beans will taste like beans in ketchup. One step up in sauce quality is the highest-leverage upgrade in this recipe.

The Cheese Pull Problem (and How to Get It)

Pre-shredded mozzarella contains potato starch and cellulose anti-caking agents that prevent the protein strands from aligning as they melt — you get clumps of softened cheese rather than a clean pull. Shredding from a low-moisture mozzarella block takes 90 seconds and produces a completely different result: a smooth, bubbling, golden layer that stretches when you scoop. That’s the cheese pull in the videos. It’s not the beans that make this photogenic — it’s the cheese, and the cheese requires a block.

The Smitten Kitchen Original (for When You Have 15 Extra Minutes)

Deb Perelman’s version, which is what the whole TikTok phenomenon is built on, starts with a soffritto: sauté a diced onion, two celery stalks, and a carrot in olive oil until deeply browned — 10 to 12 minutes. Add garlic and a splash of white wine, wilt in a handful of torn kale, then add crushed tomatoes and broth, and simmer the gigante or cannellini beans in it until the liquid reduces. Top with mozzarella and parmesan, bake at 475°F for 10 to 15 minutes.

The soffritto is the reason the original tastes noticeably deeper and richer than the 25-minute weeknight version. The caramelized vegetables — especially the carrot’s natural sweetness — do to this dish what a long-simmered sauce does to any Italian braise. If you have 40 minutes and want something that tastes like you spent 2 hours, the original is it. If you have 25 minutes and a jar of Rao’s, the quick version in this recipe is genuinely excellent.

What to Serve With It

Pizza beans are a complete protein-and-vegetable meal in the skillet, but the broiled cheese and thick sauce call out for something to scoop with. Crusty ciabatta or focaccia is ideal — you drag it through the bottom of the pan and pick up the sauce that the beans left behind. If you’re keeping carbs lower, a simple arugula salad with lemon and olive oil alongside does the same palate-clearing work.

For another one-pan, high-protein Italian weeknight dinner, the viral TikTok creamy Italian sausage orzo is the pasta version of the same formula. The Tuscan white bean pasta is the double-bean route: beans inside the pasta sauce rather than underneath.

Viral TikTok Pizza Beans

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