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Cheese Tortellini Bake

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4.9 from 7 reviews

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! 

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 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

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Add spinach, spaghetti sauce, water, oregano, thyme, Parmesan, tortellini, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper to a large baking dish. 
  3. Stir until everything is well combined. 
  4. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.
  5. Cover with a lid or a tight-fitting piece of tin foil.
  6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tortellini al cooked al dente and the sauce is bubbly.
  7. Remove lid/foil and broil for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese on top starts to turn dark golden brown.
  8. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and enjoy!

Equipment

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