No-Boil Pasta Bake Recipe
This quick and easy vegetarian No-Boil Pasta Bake takes just a few minutes to throw together and utilizes a combination of pantry staple ingredients including store-bought spaghetti sauce, dried spices, and boxed noodles along with plenty of mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses! The noodles will cook right in the oven which saves you time and energy making dinner!
You’ll Love This
- It could not be easier to make! This no-boil pasta bake is one of the most simple, straight forward, easy peasy recipes you’ll find on the blog. It’s perfect for those nights when you want a warm, homecooked meal, but don’t have the energy for a lot of prep work. Everything cooks in one pot which means you save time and leaves you with fewer dishes to do after dinner!
- It uses mainly pantry staple ingredients that you’ll likely have on hand already! The one thing we always have in the cupboard is boxed noodles and spaghetti sauce – which is a great dinner in itself! But sometimes, I want something a little extra special. And something that doesn’t require bringing water to a boil or dirtying a lot of dishes. This pasta checks all the boxes.
- You can clean out your fridge and add whatever leftover veggies you’ve got to this baked pasta! We almost always have half a bag of spinach hanging out in the back of the fridge or leftover in the freezer for smoothies – and spinach is one of the veggies that I can sneak into any dish and my daughter will eat it, which is why you’ll see it in a lot of my pasta dishes! However, any dark leafy green will work, otherwise, leftover roasted or grilled veggies are a great addition as well!
Instructions
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Add garlic, oregano, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute.
Add spinach, rotini, spaghetti sauce, water, pesto, Parmesan, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper.
Stir to combine. Cover tightly with a lid or tin foil.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the pasta is cooked al dente.
Top with freshly torn mozzarella and shredded Parmesan.
Broil for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is melted and turning golden brown.
Garnish with fresh basil and grated Parmesan and enjoy!
Tips
- To measure 24 oz. of water, just use the spaghetti sauce jar! After you’ve added all the sauce to the pasta, add the water to the empty jar, cover it with the lid and give it a few shakes to loosen any leftover sauce from the sides of the jar and add it to the pasta. This way you don’t have to dirty a measuring cup AND you get every last bit of spaghetti sauce out of the jar!
- You can use whatever cheese you’ve got on hand! 16 oz. of cheese TOTAL is the sweet spot, but feel free to use your family’s favorite in place of the fresh mozzarella and Parmesan. Sometimes I like to add a little extra bite and nuttiness to this baked pasta with sharp white cheddar cheese, but your favorite shredded cheese will do! Fontina, Havarti, Muenster, Monterey Jack, Gruyere, or even Gouda will all be delicious in this baked pasta!
- You can sub whatever kind of noodles you’ve got on hand for the rotini – just make sure it’s a short cut of pasta. Penne, farfalle, elbow macaroni, and rigatoni all work great. Longer cuts of pasta will work in a pinch, but the shorter cuts of pasta are going to work better and cook more evenly in a dish like this.
- Check the pasta after about 30-35 minutes of baking to see if it’s al dente. Carefully grab a noodle and see if it is tender, but still has a bit of toothsome bite. This is al dente – and the way you’ll know that your noodles are perfectly cooked! Once the noodles are al dente, top with the fresh mozzarella and broil for just a minute or two to get a melty, cheesy crust on top.
- This is a great recipe to let the kids help with! Let them measure out the ingredients, add them to the baking dish, and stir everything together. This no-boil pasta bake is the perfect simple recipe to get the kids involved in meal preparation.
Try these pasta recipes next!
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No Boil Baked Pasta
This quick and easy vegetarian No-Boil Pasta Bake takes just a few minutes to throw together and utilizes a combination of pantry staple ingredients including store-bought spaghetti sauce, dried spices, and boxed noodles along with plenty of mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses! The noodles will cook right in the oven which saves you time and energy making dinner!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2–3 cups chopped baby spinach
- 12 oz. uncooked rotini pasta
- 24 oz. spaghetti sauce
- 24 oz. water
- 2 tablespoons basil pesto
- 8 oz. shredded Parmesan
- 8 oz. fresh mozzarella
- Kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
Serve with:
- julienne-cut basil
- grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-low heat.
- Add garlic, oregano, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper.
- Cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute.
- Add spinach, rotini, spaghetti sauce, water, pesto, most of the Parmesan, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper.
- Stir to combine. Cover tightly with a lid or tin foil.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the pasta is cooked al dente.
- Top with freshly torn mozzarella and remaining Parmesan and broil for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is melted and turning golden brown.
- Garnish with fresh basil and grated Parmesan and enjoy!
- If you loved this recipe, please leave a 5-star rating and review below!
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
To measure 24 oz. of water, just use the spaghetti sauce jar! After you’ve added all the sauce to the pasta, add the water to the empty jar, cover it with the lid and give it a few shakes to loosen any leftover sauce from the sides of the jar and add it to the pasta. This way you don’t have to dirty a measuring cup AND you get every last bit of spaghetti sauce out of the jar!
You can use whatever cheese you’ve got on hand! 16 oz. of cheese TOTAL is the sweet spot, but feel free to use your family’s favorite in place of the fresh mozzarella and Parmesan. Sometimes I like to add a little extra bite and nuttiness to this baked pasta with sharp white cheddar cheese, but your favorite shredded cheese will do! Fontina, Havarti, Muenster, Monterey Jack, Gruyere, or even Gouda will all be delicious in this baked pasta!
You can sub whatever kind of noodles you’ve got on hand for the rotini – just make sure it’s a short cut of pasta. Penne, farfalle, elbow macaroni, and rigatoni all work great. Longer cuts of pasta will work in a pinch, but the shorter cuts of pasta are going to work better and cook more evenly in a dish like this.
Check the pasta after about 30-35 minutes of baking to see if it’s al dente. Carefully grab a noodle and see if it is tender, but still has a bit of toothsome bite. This is al dente – and the way you’ll know that your noodles are perfectly cooked! Once the noodles are al dente, top with the fresh mozzarella and broil for just a minute or two to get a melty, cheesy crust on top.
This is a great recipe to let the kids help with! Let them measure out the ingredients, add them to the baking dish, and stir everything together. This no-boil pasta bake is the perfect simple recipe to get the kids involved in meal preparation.
I made this but after 40 minutes in the oven there was entirely too much water still in the dish. What is the trick?
Hi Madeline! I assume that you kept baking it for longer then? How did it end up when it was done baking? Were the noodles cooked through when there was still liquid? If you baked it for longer, did the noodles continue cooking and the liquid evaporate? All ovens are going to cook differently (which is why the recipe instructions state: cook for 35-40 minutes or until the pasta is al dente) and many ovens display one temperature but are actually higher or lower once you test them with an oven thermometer. I’d love to hear how the pasta turned out once the pasta was cooked through and what an oven thermometer tells you about your oven temperature. My guess is that it just needs to be cooked longer and that your oven temp might be off a bit. Hope that helps!
Can you add mushrooms and zucchini
My only concern would be the liquid content of the veggies! If you want to add them you might be better off sauteeing them before and then adding them in halfway through or at the end. Both zucchini and mushroom release tons of water when they cook so I’d be afraid it would be too watery if you just add them to the pasta before cooking.
This turned out perfect! Everyone loved it!
I crumbled some cooked meatballs on one side for my meat eaters.
Has this recipe changed? I could have sworn Ive accessed this recipe before but cheddar was required and there was no instruction to heat the oil/garlic first. Unless I am losing it, which is possible 🙂 let me know, thanks!
I just updated it!!! Good eye 😉 I used to make it with white sharp cheddar and not saute the garlic!! I’ve found that I enjoyed it more with Parmesan and sauteed garlic, so I updated the photos and recipe card to reflect that. Of course, you are welcome to make with white cheddar and not saute the garlic and it will still be delicious!!! 🙂
There also used to be heavy cream right? Can you tell me how much?
I think it was a 1/4 cup!
Can I throw in some rotisserie chicken when adding the fresh mozzarella or can I add it when I first put it in the oven? Can’t wait to make this recipe!
Yes! Great idea – Just to ensure that it’s heated through, it might make sense to add it when you first put the pasta in the oven. Good question, Allison! Can’t wait to hear how it turns out!! 🙂
Can you cook this in a dutch oven with a lid rather than a casserole dish with foil cover?
Yes! I think that would work just fine! Same general concept and a similar dish so I don’t for see any issues. Great question, Barb!
Yum, yum, yum! This was sooooooo easy, and sooooooo good! Everyone really enjoyed it and before we’d even finished our meal they asked to me to make it again. And super easy to “change it up” a little by using different sauces, cheese and veggies. Thanks for a great recipe!!!
Yes – totally customizable based on what you’ve got in the cupboard! So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Diana. Thanks for leaving a review! 🙂