5 Best No Boil Pasta Bake Recipes - Fed & Fit (2024)

If you’re looking for an easy-button solution to dinner (without ANY compromise of flavor), we’ve got you. These no boil pasta bake recipes are as delicious and effortless as it gets!

Table of Contents

  • What is a pasta bake?
  • Pasta Bake Recipes
    • Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
    • Easy No Boil Pasta Bake with Sausage
    • Baked Feta Pasta
  • Video
    • Pesto Chicken Pasta Bake
    • Easiest Oven-Baked Mac and Cheese

What is a pasta bake?

Glad you asked! Pasta bakes are the all-star of the easy dinner arena. Each of these recipes calls for dry pasta and a few other flavor-boosting ingredients (think: feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and fresh basil for the Baked Feta Pasta) that combine in a casserole dish and cook in the oven together. Yes, you read that right. The DRY (uncooked) pasta goes into the oven with all of the other ingredients and comes out perfectly cooked and delicious. How great is that?!

Pasta Bake Recipes

From creamy chicken Alfredo to mac and cheese, there’s a pasta bake for everyone on this list. Find all of our no boil, easy-button pasta bakes below.

Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake

5 Best No Boil Pasta Bake Recipes - Fed & Fit (1)

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces of penne pasta
  • 30 ounces of alfredo sauce
  • 1 ½ cups of chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • 1 ½ pounds of chicken breast
  • 8 ounces of sliced mushrooms
  • 1 tablespoon ofBalanced Bites Italian Blend(or 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning + 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • ½ teaspoon of pepper
  • Parmesan cheese, for garnish
  • Fresh parsley, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven.Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Season the chicken.Cube your chicken into approximately 1” pieces and season it with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
  3. Prep the pasta.To a 9×13 casserole dish, add the pasta, alfredo sauce, chicken broth, and lemon juice. Stir to combine, then add the chicken and mushrooms and give the ingredients one more stir to ensure everything is well incorporated.
  4. Cover and bake.Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes.
  5. Garnish.Remove the foil carefully, the steam will be hot! It may look like a lot of liquid, but the alfredo will set after a few minutes. Top with parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.
  6. Serve and enjoy!

Easy No Boil Pasta Bake with Sausage

5 Best No Boil Pasta Bake Recipes - Fed & Fit (2)

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces of penne pasta
  • 24 ounces of red pasta sauce (your favorite)
  • 1 ½ cups of chicken broth
  • ½ cup of heavy cream or milk
  • 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon of pepper
  • 12 ounces of pre-cooked Italian chicken sausage, sliced into ½-inch coins
  • 9 ounces of frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed of excess liquid
  • 1 ½ cups of shredded Italian cheese

Instructions

  1. Add the ingredients to a 3-quart, 9×13 baking dish.Simply add all ingredients but the spinach and cheese (so, noodles, sausage, broth, pasta sauce, seasonings, and heavy cream) to a 9×13 inch baking dish.
  2. Stir them together.Mix everything together in the dish until the sauce is fully combined, then spread into an even layer.
  3. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil.This is important! The foil needs to be on very tight to make sure that the pasta can steam. If too much steam gets out, the sauce will start to evaporate and the pasta won’t cook properly.
  4. Bake for 40 minutes.Once the pasta is covered, bake it at 400 F for 40 minutes.
  5. Stir in the spinach and top with cheese.After 40 minutes, you’ll remove the pasta from the oven, take off the lid, and stir in the spinach. We opted to add the spinach in at the end so that it doesn’t wind up brown and overcooked. Then, sprinkle the cheese over top.
  6. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.Return the pan to the oven to bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is browned and bubbly, then remove from the oven and serve!

Baked Feta Pasta

5 Best No Boil Pasta Bake Recipes - Fed & Fit (3)

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces of dry pasta (penne, bowtie, rotini, or elbow are all great choices!)
  • 3 cups of broth or water
  • 1 (8-ounce) block of feta cheese
  • 1 pint of cherry tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon of sea salt (plus more to taste)
  • ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
  • 2 minced cloves of garlic
  • ¾ ounce of fresh roughly chopped basil (approx. a ¼ cup)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Add the block of fetato the baking dish– place the block of feta cheese in the middle of the dish.
  3. Add pasta + broth– add the dry pasta to the baking dish (around the block of feta), pour the broth over top the uncooked pasta, and carefully stir the pasta and broth together (being careful not to bump any noodles under or on top of the feta) to make sure that all of the pasta is submerged in the liquid.
  4. Add the cherry tomatoes, EVOO, salt, and pepper– sprinkle the cherry tomatoes over top of the noodles and drizzle everything with the EVOO, salt, and pepper.
  5. Cover tightly + bake– cover the baking dish with foil as tight as possible, and bake at 400°F for 40 minutes.
  6. Add the garlic and basil + stir– once finished baking, remove the foil, add the minced garlic and fresh basil, and stir everything together until well combined. Serve and enjoy!

Video

Pesto Chicken Pasta Bake

5 Best No Boil Pasta Bake Recipes - Fed & Fit (4)

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces of penne pasta
  • 22 ounces of pesto
  • 1 ½ cups of chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • 8 ounces of mozzarella pearls
  • 1 ½ pounds of chicken breast
  • 8 ounces of sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained
  • 1 tablespoon ofBalanced Bites Italian Spice Blend(or 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning + 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • ½ teaspoon of pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven.Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Season the chicken.Cube your chicken into 1” pieces and season with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
  3. Prep the pasta.To a 9×13 casserole dish, add the pasta, pesto, chicken broth, and lemon juice. Stir to combine, then add the chicken and sun-dried tomatoes and give the ingredients one more stir to ensure everything is well incorporated. Finish it off by placing the mozzarella pearls evenly throughout the dish.
  4. Cover and bake.Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes.
  5. Serve and enjoy!Remove the foil carefully, the steam will be hot! Serve and enjoy!

Easiest Oven-Baked Mac and Cheese

5 Best No Boil Pasta Bake Recipes - Fed & Fit (5)

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces of elbow pasta
  • 3 cups of milk
  • 1 teaspoon of sea salt
  • 4 tablespoons of butter
  • 1 teaspoon of dried parsley
  • ½ teaspoon of garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper
  • 4 ounces of cream cheese
  • ½ cup of heavy cream
  • 3 cups of shredded cheese
  • ½ cup of bread crumbs

Instructions

  1. Preheat the Oven– preheat the oven to 300°F.
  2. Combine the Pasta, Milk, and Salt– add the pasta, milk, and salt to a 3-quart baking dish and stir to combine.
  3. Add Some of the Butter– slice two tablespoons of cold butter and place over top of the macaroni + milk mixture.
  4. Cover and Bake– cover the dish with a fitted lid or aluminum foil as tightly as possible (this is important…the tighter the better!), then bake for 30 minutes.
  5. Combine the Butter, Breadcrumbs, and seasonings– while the macaroni bakes, combine the other 2 tablespoons of butter (this time melted), ½ cup of breadcrumbs, 1 teaspoon dried parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.
  6. Stir in the Cheese– after 30 minutes, remove the macaroni from the oven and take off the lid or foil covering. Stir in the cream cheese, heavy cream, two cups of shredded cheese and the black pepper.
  7. Top + Bake– sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese over top of the macaroni and cheese, followed by the breadcrumbs, then return to the oven and bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes, until the breadcrumbs and cheese are browned on top.
  8. Serve + Enjoy!

Click below for more information on each recipe (and our very best troubleshooting tips!).

Easy No-Boil Pasta BakeBaked Feta Pasta Recipe (No-Boil!)Pesto Chicken Pasta BakeEasiest Oven-Baked Mac and Cheese (Dump-and-Bake!)

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5 Best No Boil Pasta Bake Recipes - Fed & Fit (2024)

FAQs

Should you boil pasta before pasta bake? ›

Most pasta bake recipes require you to pre-boil your pasta until it's not quite cooked through and then finish it in the oven. But for days when you can't face another pot to wash up or just need something delicious and comforting but minimal effort…well this is the recipe for you!

Can you bake fresh pasta without boiling first? ›

Use my simple no-cook method of precooking the pasta. Just soak the pasta in warm salted water before adding it to the other ingredients and sliding the mixture into the oven. Presoaking is a way to begin hydrating the pasta and washing away some of its starch, even as the salt in the water pre-seasons the pasta.

Can you use any pasta sauce for pasta bake? ›

It's so easy and inexpensive to make your own, but if you're pushed for time, any shop-bought tomato-based pasta sauce will be fine. I will admit to using these quite regularly! Just check the ingredients list first – it should be short and all ingredients should be recognisable!

How do you keep pasta bake from drying out? ›

Cook them just until they are slightly underdone or "al dente." They will continue cooking in the casserole, and overcooked pasta can absorb too much liquid and become mushy, leading to a dry casserole. Lack of Sauce: Casseroles need enough sauce to keep the ingredients moist.

What must be done to pasta before baking it? ›

Dried pasta needs to be par-boiled, then drained before using it in baked dishes. Just boil for half the time specified on the package. There is a type of dried no-boil lasagna sheets that don't require par-boiling, but they need extra water added to the sauce.

Can I put dry pasta in the oven? ›

PREHEAT oven to 425 degrees. COMBINE uncooked pasta, 1 jar of Sauce and 1 jar of water in a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Cover with aluminum foil. BAKE 30 minutes.

Can I cook raw pasta in sauce? ›

Cooking pasta in the sauce instead of in boiling water will increase the amount of time it takes to cook through. It's a good technique to use if you want to delay serving your pasta for a few minutes. Make sure to keep the sauce thinned out with pasta water as the pasta finishes cooking if you use this method.

How long should fresh pasta sit before boiling? ›

If your dough is too sticky, place your dough on a flat floured surface, dust with flour and leave to dry for 15 minutes. Once cut into shapes, you can leave the pasta to dry for a further 15 minutes before adding it to boiling water.

Can you cook pasta in an air fryer? ›

It is possible to cook pasta in an air fryer, and “pasta bakes that just need the baking part should be fine”, says Ailsa Burt. “But I wouldn't use an air fryer to cook pasta dishes with lots of sauce.”

How do you thicken pasta bake sauce? ›

Cornstarch: Make a slurry of half water, half cornstarch and whisk until smooth. Cornstarch is a powerful thickener, so start by whisking in no more than 1 tablespoon of the mixture per 2 cups of simmering sauce; stir and simmer for 2 minutes, check the thickness, and repeat with more slurry as needed.

Can you cook pasta directly in tomato sauce? ›

You may already know you should be using your starchy pasta water to thicken up your sauce, but you can take that logic one step further and cook your pasta straight in the sauce, as recommended by Epicurious.

What is the best pasta shape for pasta bake? ›

For Baked Pasta Dishes

As for picking the perfect pasta shape, we recommend choosing a short cut—like Penne, Shells or Rigatoni—with hollow middles, twists or scoop-like shapes to capture all the goodness of your baked pasta: sauces, small ingredients and melty cheeses galore.

Why is my pasta still hard in pasta bake? ›

Before you try to fix your pasta, you'll need to figure out whether it's overcooked or undercooked. Pasta that is soft and mushy is usually overcooked, while if it's crunchy and hard, this is a good indication that you haven't cooked it for long enough.

Why does my pasta bake go hard? ›

Why is my pasta bake dry? Pasta absorbs liquid from the sauce as it cooks. If there's too much pasta and not enough sauce, you can end up with a dry bake. It's best to follow the recommended amounts in the recipe for a pasta bake that's just right.

How much should I boil pasta before baking? ›

To avoid mushy baked pasta, seriously undercook the pasta in its boiling phase. Perry lets the pasta boil for just five minutes before draining it well and tossing it in the sauce. Because the pasta's going into a hot sauce in a hot oven, it'll continue to cook long after it's been drained.

Do you start pasta in cold or boiling water? ›

Cold-Start Pasta Is Faster and Uses Less Water

In our tests, 1 pound of dried pasta started in 1 quart of cold water cooked up just as nicely al dente as the same type of pasta started in 4 quarts of boiling water (our conventional method).

Does it matter if you use hot or cold water to boil pasta? ›

In fact, starting your pasta in cold water has a myriad of benefits: It takes less energy to heat, it takes less time since the noodles come to a boil with the water, and you end up with concentrated starchy cooking water that gives a silky, creamy finish to pasta sauces.

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