20 Minute Baked Tortellini
This Cheesy Vegetarian Tortellini Bake comes together in about 20 minutes, with less than 10 ingredients, and all in one pan! It’s ideal for a busy weeknight when you’re short on time but still want to get a hot meal on the table!
You Will Love This
- Refrigerated pasta is my favorite short cut to getting dinner on the table in no time! Did you know you don’t have to boil or cook tortellini?! You can just bake it! Whether it’s Easy Ravioli Lasagna, Baked Ravioli with Sausage, Tomato Tortellini Soup or Pesto Tortellini Pasta Salad, refrigerated, cheese filled pastas are my jam! They’re the perfect way to get that fresh, homemade flavor without all the work!
- It’s so quick and easy! This is the perfect simple weeknight dinner when you’ve only got a few minutes to throw something together. There is no chopping, dicing, or slicing required for this baked tortellini. You literally just add all the ingredients to a large oven-safe pan and bake! It doesn’t get much easier than that!
- It’s a delicious Meatless Monday meal that your family will love! If you’re trying to add more meat free meals to your family’s monthly dinner rotation – this recipe is a great place to start! It’s loaded with familiar flavors of pasta and spaghetti sauce and topped with ooey gooey mozzarella cheese. Your family will never even miss the meat in this dish!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Fresh Spinach – I love the adding fresh spinach to my tortellini. It wilts right into the sauce so it’s barely there but you know you’re at least getting some veggies!
- Spaghetti Sauce – I definitely don’t make homemade every time! Although, I do love to make a double batch of my Vegetarian Bolognese and then freeze it so I’ve got it on hand for meals like this. But, jarred spaghetti sauce is going to work just fine in this recipe! Our family’s favorite is this brand.
- Dried Herbs – Dried oregano and dried thyme are my two favorites but you could use Italian Seasoning in their place as well. Feel free to sub with fresh thyme or fresh basil if you prefer.
- Parmesan Cheese – Parmesan adds a delicious salty, nutty flavor to the baked tortellini.
- Refrigerated Tortellini – Use your favorite store bought refrigerated tortellini. Cheese, meat, or mushroom filled will work great in this baked tortellini recipe!
- Whole Milk Mozzarella Cheese – Part skim shredded mozzarella will work as well but I love the flavor that whole milk mozzarella brings to the dish.
Instructions
Add spinach, tomato sauce, water, oregano, thyme, Parmesan, tortellini, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper to a large skillet casserole dish.
Stir everything together and toss until it’s well combined.
Sprinkle the tortellini mixture with shredded mozzarella cheese.
Cover with a lid or a tight-fitting piece of tin foil. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tortellini is cooked al dente and the sauce is bubbly.
Remove lid/foil and broil for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese on top starts to turn dark golden brown. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and enjoy!
Tips
- You can use refrigerated or frozen tortellini for this easy cheesy baked tortellini. I prefer to use this brand of refrigerated tortellini as it seems to have more flavor and it cooks quicker than frozen. If you do choose to use frozen tortellini, just plan to increase the baking time by 5-10 minutes (possibly more) so that the frozen tortellini has time to warm through entirely.
- You could also use the shelf-stable boxed cheese tortellini, however, I would recommend cooking it according to package directions before adding it to the rest of the ingredients and baking. Boxed tortellini has a considerably longer cook time (usually 9-10 minutes) than refrigerated or frozen tortellini (which usually cooks in 3-4 minutes) so it’s helpful to give it a head start by cooking it first.
- Switch up the ingredients based on what you’ve got on hand. I like to call this tortellini casserole a “clean out the fridge” meal. Replace the fresh spinach with leftover roasted veggies you need to use up. Use fresh mozzarella in place of the shredded mozzarella if you’ve got it on hand. Replace the dried herbs with fresh herbs if you’ve got those. Feel free to customize this recipe based on your family’s taste or what you’ve already got in your kitchen! If you want to add some ground beef or Italian sausage for extra protein, you totally can! Just mix it right in with the marinara sauce for an easy meat sauce. You could also add some sautéed onion and minced garlic for an extra boost in flavor!
Make-Ahead, Storage, Freezing, and Reheating
- Make-Ahead: This baked tortellini is the perfect make ahead meal! Throw it together when you have time, cover it tightly and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking. Let it sit out on the counter for about an hour to come to room temp before baking. You may need to add some additional baking time to account for the cold temp.
- Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezing: If you’d like to freeze this baked tortellini before baking, wrap it tightly with foil or saran wrap and place inside of a large freezer-safe Ziploc bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then let it sit out on the counter for about an hour to come to room temp before baking. Plan to add some extra baking time to account for the cold temperature.
- Reheating: Reheat leftovers in a 350 degree oven until warmed through or zap it in the microwave in 30-60 increments until heated through.
Pair Tortellini With
- Easy Homemade Garlic Bread
- Caprese Tomato Mozzarella Garlic Cheese Bread
- Quick & Easy Olive Cheese Bread
- Garlic & Herb Olive Oil Bread Dip
- Greek Orzo Salad
FAQ
Yes! The best part about this baked tortellini casserole is that you don’t have to boil the pasta before you bake it! The moisture from the sauce and spinach is going to provide the perfect environment to cook the tortellini perfectly al dente! That’s what makes this baked tortellini perfect for an easy dinner.
Not as long as you might think! In just about 15-20 minutes you can have this tortellini casserole fully cooked and ready to eat! The sauce will be bubbly, the cheese melted, and the tortellini perfectly al dente!
Nope! In this easy tortellini casserole recipe you don’t need to boil pasta in a large pot of salted water, drain it, or worry about the hassle of dirtying all the extra dishes! The refrigerated tortellini goes right into the casserole uncooked and comes out al dente.
You’ll know the tortellini is done when it is tender but still has a toothsome bite. This is called al dente and it’s the best way to enjoy pasta! Cooked pasta should be soft but not mushy.
Family Favorite Pastas
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Cheese Tortellini Bake
This Cheesy Vegetarian Tortellini Bake comes together in about 20 minutes, with less than 10 ingredients, and all in one pan! It’s an ideal weeknight dinner for when you’re short on time but still want to get a hot meal on the table!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
- 24 oz. jar your favorite spaghetti sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 20 oz. package refrigerated cheese tortellini, uncooked
- 8 oz. shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese
- Kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
- fresh chopped parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees.
- Add spinach, spaghetti sauce, water, oregano, thyme, Parmesan, tortellini, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper to a large baking dish.
- Stir until everything is well combined.
- Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Cover with a lid or a tight-fitting piece of tin foil.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tortellini al cooked al dente and the sauce is bubbly.
- Remove lid/foil and broil for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese on top starts to turn dark golden brown.
- Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and enjoy!
Notes
You can use refrigerated or frozen tortellini for this pasta dish. I prefer to use this brand of refrigerated tortellini as it seems to have more flavor and it cooks quicker than frozen. If you do choose to use frozen tortellini, just plan to increase the baking time by 5-10 minutes (possibly more) so that the frozen tortellini has time to warm through entirely.
You could also use the shelf-stable boxed cheese tortellini, however, I would recommend cooking it according to package directions before adding it to the rest of the ingredients and baking. Boxed tortellini has a considerably longer cook time (usually 9-10 minutes) than refrigerated or frozen tortellini (which usually cooks in 3-4 minutes) so it’s helpful to give it a head start by cooking it first.
Use your family’s favorite spaghetti sauce. I definitely don’t make homemade every time! Although, I do love to make a double batch of my Vegan Spaghetti Sauce or my Vegetarian Bolognese and then freeze it so I’ve got it on hand for meals like this. But, jarred spaghetti sauce is going to work just fine in this recipe! Our family’s favorite is this brand.
Switch up the ingredients based on what you’ve got on hand. I like to call this tortellini casserole a “clean out the fridge” meal. Replace the fresh spinach with leftover roasted veggies you need to use up. Use fresh mozzarella in place of the shredded mozzarella if you’ve got it on hand. Replace the dried herbs with fresh herbs if you’ve got those. Feel free to customize this recipe based on your family’s taste or what you’ve already got in your kitchen!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8 of the dish
- Calories: 290
- Sugar: 2.3 g
- Sodium: 641.1 mg
- Fat: 6.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 36.3 g
- Fiber: 2.5 g
- Protein: 20.9 g
- Cholesterol: 38.4 mg
Maybe would have been a good recipe if the tortellini was pre boiled, but as it was, I kept it in the oven for 40 minutes before giving up, sticking it in a cast iron pan for five minutes, and then when that didn’t work, throwing the whole thing out. I was having a pretty good day until this recipe happened.
I’m so sorry this recipe didn’t turn out for you, Fern! I can imagine how frustrating that was. My first thought is that perhaps you used shelf-stable tortellini instead of refrigerated? Refrigerated tortellini would have been fully cooked through or even possibly over-cooked after 40 minutes in the oven. Cooking it in a pan for *another* 5 minutes would have surely resulted in over-cooked pasta as well. What brand of tortellini did you use? I’d recommend using the brand I have linked in the notes section of the recipe card.
Ok so I had no red sauce and only had a small bag of fridge pasta and a container of rana alfredo. So same concept just smaller amount and diff sauce. I added frozen broccoli. Cooked as directed. Came out perfect. Cannot wait til tmrw as I’m making the original version after I get the ingredients. This is a winner of a recipe. No dishes to be done either if you use a dollar store aluminum pan which I did. Thanks for this! I normally will make things with frozen pasta but never was sure how to use the refrigerated kind.
Rana alfredo is my favorite brand!! I’m so glad you liked this recipe and it worked well with the alfredo sauce. I might have to try that next time!!
When using the Alfredo did you still add the water or skip that step?
Good question! I would try it without adding water but I’d add extra alfredo sauce. I don’t think the original commentor will see this question and I didn’t make it with alfredo sauce so I can’t answer the question as expertly as I’d like but that’s what I would do!
I had to add sweet Italian sausage and ground beef or the men won’t eat it. The ladies had seconds and the guys had thirds, it was that good! Served it with Caesar salad and Garlic bread.
That sounds like a delicious meal, JB!
If I wanted to add some onion and garlic to this as mentioned, (and maybe some mushrooms) how much would you use? Thanks in advance!
I’d recommend a small yellow onion, diced, 4 cloves of garlic, minced and perhaps 8 oz. or so of sliced mushrooms. Great question, Lin!
Could I use already cooked tortellini. If so how much time would it bake for?
Sure! I’d reduce the cook time to just 5-10 minutes or until everything is warmed through and the cheese is melted. Great question, Courtney! This would be a delicious way to use up any leftover tortellini you might have.
I used a different brand of fresh tortellini that was stuffed with ground beef, so it took a little longer to cook, about 40 minutes. Otherwise, the spinach in the pasta sauce turned out so yummy!
I’m so glad to hear this worked well with ground beef stuffed pasta!
I made this for my grandkids tonight and they loved it!!! Easy and they liked it- Bonus Thank you for the great recipe.
I love to hear that, Debbie!
The cooking time was way off. I had to cook for 30 minutes, otherwise good recipe.
Everyone’s oven cooks differently. I’d recommend purchasing 2-3 oven thermometers and placing them in various places in your oven to see what temperature your oven is really cooking at.
Can I freeze this? Put it together and then freeze for the husband to cook in a couple weeks? Or should I bake now and then freeze?
I think you could definitely freeze this! I’d recommend either thawing in the fridge overnight before baking, or just adding extra cooking time to account for the frozen pasta. Great question, Jennifer!
I am going to make this dish -for 6 people and some left overs – I plan to cook 1lb of lean beef and 1 lb of Italian sausage (drain any fat) add onions garlic and herbs -get my large big lasagna dish and add the cooked meat, add 2 X 24 onz of marinara sauce, 2 packs of fridge cheese tortellini 8 onz of fresh shredded mozzarella, add some whipping fresh cream mix it all up – add more fresh mozzarella and shredded Parmesan to cover the top then cover with foil and bake – do I need to add water to the dish and if so how much ? How long would I bake this ?
Wow that sounds delicious Angela! I would add maybe 1/2 a cup of water and see how things look, just to account for the added meat. I would plan to bake it for at least 30 minutes and up to 45-50 minutes again to account for the added ingredients. I’d recommend checking it after 30 minutes and carefully plucking a tortellini out to see how cooked it is. You’re definitely going to be relying on your instincts for this variation as I’ve never tried it so I can’t give exact recommendations. Hope that helps! Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Fast and great for the family!
Woohoo!! I am so glad the family enjoyed this recipe, Jennifer!! I love to hear that 🙂 Thanks for leaving a review!