20 Pasta Bake Recipes for Comfort Food Tonight, and Leftovers Tomorrow
From lasagna to a quick baked tortellini, these cozy baked pastas are everyones' favorites.
Justin Walker
If we were ranking comfort foods, pasta bake recipes would probably take the top spot. With their crispy edges and bubbling interiors, they satisfy like no other dish can. And while lasagna noodles and ziti may get all the limelight, there are plenty of other pasta shapes that are right at home in a baking dish.
Ranging from rich and decadent to light and nutritious, these pasta bakes are hard to resist. There are old-school classics like tuna casserole and turkey tetrazzini mingling with new-school favorites like baked shells with broccoli and ham, bathed in a cheesy, cauliflower-based sauce. Another plus? Most of these recipes can be prepped ahead and baked when it's time to eat. So preheat your oven and get some water boiling: it's pasta bake time.
Related: Quick, Easy, and Delicious Pasta Recipes Ideal for Weeknight Dinners
Baked Penne With Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Loaded with chopped chicken, sliced mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, and provolone cheese, this Italian-inspired bake is perfect for when you're craving something hearty and packed with flavor. Even better, the recipe makes enough for two separate meals, so you can stash one in the freezer for later.
Creamy Baked Ziti
This meatless main leans on cream cheese for richness and couldn't be easier to pull together. Serve with a big green salad to balance out the creaminess.
Lasagna With Meat Sauce
Brie Goldman
A blend of ground beef and Italian sausage bulk up the meat sauce in this classic-for-a-reason lasagna. Three cheeses—mozzarella, ricotta, and Parmesan Reggiano—add creamy perfection while no-boil noodles make assembly a breeze.
Spinach Manicotti in Creamy Tomato Sauce
A clever trick for stuffing the pasta tubes (spoiler alert: pipe it!) makes baked manicotti easier than ever to pull off while a touch of cream in the marinara adds just the right amount of richness.
John Legend's Mac and Cheese
Andrea Araiza
We have Grammy- and Oscar-award-winning musician, actor, and music producer John Legend to thank for this baked macaroni and cheese recipe. The key to achieving cheesy bliss in every bite? Alternating layers of noodles and cheese in the baking dish.
Creamy Baked Tortellini With Spinach
Nico Schinco
Our baked tortellini recipe employs a few tricks to pull together a super satisfying dinner in no time: We stir a bit of cream cheese and adobo seasoning into a quick-cooking turkey ragu to enrich its flavor and texture, then sneak in a hefty amount of spinach to up the vegetable quotient. The best part? It's on the table in 35 minutes flat.
Very Vegetable Lasagna
Rather than simply sneaking a bit of produce into the filling, this vegetarian lasagna recipe ups the ante by replacing some of the noodles with planks of zucchini. Very vegetable indeed.
Chicken-and-Gnocchi Bake With Broccolini
Baked pasta recipes are not just about noodles—here, pillowy gnocchi are tossed with shredded chicken, tender broccolini, and a mixture of Gruyère and Parmesan cheeses. A pack of store-bought gnocchi and a rotisserie chicken make this dish extra easy.
Tuna Casserole
Rachel Marek
To keep our tuna casserole from drying out, we make a quick, creamy sauce from sauteed onion, chicken broth, and milk, then fold in al dente pasta, canned tuna, and peas. A crunchy topping of panko and Parmesan turns golden brown in the oven while the savory noodle mixture bubbles underneath.
Three-Cheese Skillet Lasagna
Make a quick, garlicky tomato sauce and break lasagna noodles into pieces, then layer both in a skillet with ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheeses for a more casual, scoopable twist on lasagna.
Sausage-and-Kale Stuffed Shells
Put in the work ahead of time and be rewarded with a satisfying supper at a later date. In this made-for-the-freezer recipe, a blend of wilted kale and spicy sausage adds nutrients, flavor, and heft.
Baked Shells and Broccoli With Cheesy-Creamy Cauliflower Sauce
In this lightened-up pasta bake, an easy cauliflower sauce—enriched with salty pecorino cheese—coats a combination of whole-wheat shells, smoked ham, and broccoli, while a handful of whole-wheat panko breadcrumbs adds a final touch of crunch.
Baked Ziti With Sausage and Bechamel
Creamy bechamel sauce and savory Italian sausage are layered with noodles in this decadent baked ziti recipe. While a bit more labor-intensive than other baked pasta recipes, it'll all pay off when you pull this stunner out of the oven.
Noodle Kugel
Noodle kugel is typically served during the Jewish holidays, but this sweet and savory bake is good enough to whip up as an anytime side or brunch dish. In this version, chopped Granny Smith apples add a little something extra, while sour cream and cream cheese bring the velvety richness.
Baked Broccoli-and-Artichoke Shells
Rather than stuffing the pasta shells, we combine them with crisp bacon, broccoli, and artichokes and bathe the whole thing in a creamy cheddar cheese sauce. A sprinkling of crispy panko and a 20-minute stint in the oven later, a seriously delicious dinner is served.
Tuna-Noodle Casserole With Cauliflower
We give tuna casserole a lighter look by swapping in pappardelle noodles and adding an entire pound of cauliflower (which cooks alongside the pasta to cut down on dishes). There's no cheese in this version, just a creamy sauce kicked up with a few dashes of Tabasco.
Baked Rigatoni With Mini Meatballs
There's no mixing or kneading required to make the mini meatballs in this fun rigatoni recipe; instead, we remove spicy Italian sausage from the casings and roll it into balls, which then simmer in a quick tomato sauce. Hearty, easy, and cheesy, it's sure to please kids and adults alike.
Famous Lasagna
One bite of this layered masterpiece and you'll know why this dish got its name. To speed up the process, you can swap in a jar of store-bought marinara for the homemade meat sauce and no-boil noodles for dry.
Chicken Tetrazzini
White wine, thyme, mushrooms, and frozen peas add flavor and heft to this light and lovely chicken tetrazzini recipe. Make it your own—or simply use up the ingredients you have on hand—by switching up the herbs or incorporating a mix of cheeses.
Baked Spaghetti and Mozzarella
Par-cooking the noodles keeps them from turning to mush while this simple, garlicky spaghetti recipe does its thing in the oven. We love the mild flavor that fresh mozzarella, which is chopped and scattered on top, contributes to the dish.
Read the original article on Martha Stewart.
