This Pasta Bake recipe is an easy make-ahead meal that can be made with ziti, rigatoni, or penne. It’s filled with a meaty marinara sauce and topped with a cheesy ricotta mixture and mozzarella cheese.
Be sure to serve this with a side of my garlic bread with cheese.
Nothing beats a cheesy, meaty pasta bake recipe. This is my go-to recipe for feeding a crowd because it’s easy to make ahead of time, there are a variety of pasta choices, and it always leaves people feeling satisfied.
The pasta is smothered in plenty of meaty marinara sauce and topped with a cheesy ricotta mixture along with mozzarella cheese. Every bite is filled with flavor. Let’s get into everything you need to know!
How to Make a Pasta Bake
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Cook pasta for 2 minutes less than al dente.
- Combine the Ricotta, Parmesan, 1 whisked egg, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and set aside.
- Cook ground beef and onions in a large skillet. Drain grease and add seasonings.
- Add marinara sauce and heat through. Combine pasta with 3/4 meat sauce and add to a 9×13 inch casserole dish.
- Top with dollops of ricotta mixture and remaining meat sauce. Cover and bake at 375° for 20 minutes.
- Remove cover and increase to 400°. Top with mozzarella cheese and bake uncovered for 10-15 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with garlic bread with cheese.
Make-Ahead Method
- Cook the meat/onions/seasonings as outlined and then remove from heat. Add the marinara sauce and stir to combine. Let cool.
- Boil pasta and assemble casserole as outlined.
- Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- Add an additional 10 minutes of covered baking time. (Bake covered at 375° for 30 minutes. Add the cheese and bake uncovered at 400° for 10-15 minutes.)
- You can also freeze the assembled casserole. Let it defrost in the fridge for 24 hours prior to baking.
Pro Tips
- This recipe uses a lot of sauce, you can choose to use less if desired but the pasta absorbs a surprising amount of sauce while it bakes. I linked to my go-to marinara sauce in the tools section below, or you can make my homemade marinara sauce.
- Ziti, Penne, and Rigatoni are all tubed-shaped pastas that cling on to the sauce well and are best for this recipe. I prefer to get the ‘rigati’ version which means that the outside has ridges, which help them cling on to the sauce even more.
- Feel free to use any variety or combination of ground meat including ground pork, veal, sausage, and/or beef.
- It’s best if you can use fresh mozzarella and Parmesan cheese from a block and shred/grate it yourself at home. This will make it much creamier and flavorful than using packaged cheese.
Storage
Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- Rao’s Marinara Sauce– Always my marinara sauce of choice, it’s restaurant worthy.
- 9 x 13 baking dish The perfect size for almost any pasta bake/casserole recipe.
- Silicone Spatula– Easy for gently combining cooked pasta with the sauce.
- Box Cheese Grater– Always shred cheese from a block for creamy/melty results. Bagged shredded cheese contains cellulose and prevents it from melting as well in soups/sauces.
- Measuring spoons I love that these are magnetic. They keep my drawer neat.
Try These Next
- Smothered Chicken
- Ground Beef Stroganoff
- Chicken Spaghetti
- Buffalo Chicken Pasta
- Taco Pasta
- Creamy Bacon Pasta
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![A white plate with penne in a meat sauce topped with cheese and fresh parsley.](jpg/pasta-bake-recipe-f2-200x200.jpg)
Pasta Bake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Pasta, ziti, penne, or rigatoni
- 1 cup Ricotta cheese
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 1 egg, whisked
- 2 ½ cups mozzarella cheese, separated
- 1 lb. ground beef, see notes
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon EACH: Salt/Pepper
- 1 teaspoon EACH: Onion powder + Italian Seasoning
- 2 (24 oz.) jars marinara sauce, I recommend Rao's brand or homemade
- Fresh Parsley, to garnish
Instructions
- Note: This recipe uses a lot of sauce, but the pasta absorbs a lot of it when it bakes. We don’t want dry pasta.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Combine the Ricotta, Parmesan, egg, and 1 cup (not all) mozzarella cheese and set aside.
- Begin boiling the pasta water while you cook the meat for the sauce. Cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than al dente, then drain. (Be sure to time it exactly so that you don’t end up with mushy pasta.)
- Cook and crumble the ground beef and diced onions over medium-high heat. Drain grease. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, salt/pepper, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add the marinara sauce. Stir to combine and heat through. Remove from heat.
- Combine the drained pasta with about ¾ of the sauce mixture and transfer it to a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Add dollops of the ricotta mixture over the top, then the rest of the meat sauce.
- Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Remove and top with remaining 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese. Increase oven temp to 400 and bake uncovered for 10-15 more minutes, until the top begins to bubble and brown.
- Garnish with parsley and serve with garlic bread with cheese.
Notes
Ziti, Penne, and Rigatoni are all tubed-shaped pastas that cling on to the sauce well and are best for this recipe. I prefer to get the 'rigati' version which means that the outside has ridges, which help them cling on to the sauce even more.
Feel free to use any variety or combination of ground meat including ground pork, veal, sausage, and/or beef.
It's best if you can use fresh mozzarella and Parmesan cheese from a block and shred/grate it yourself at home. This will make it much creamier and flavorful than using packaged cheese.
Make-Ahead Method:
- Cook the meat/onions/seasonings as outlined and then remove from heat. Add the marinara sauce and stir to combine. Let cool.
- Boil pasta and assemble casserole as outlined.
- Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- Add an additional 10 minutes of covered baking time. (Bake covered at 375° for 30 minutes. Add the cheese and bake uncovered at 400° for 10-15 minutes.)
- You can also freeze the assembled casserole. Let it defrost in the fridge for 24 hours prior to baking.
OMG this is amazing! I use JD sausage and a little extra ricotta because…why not? Rao’s definitely takes it over the top! Last week I made this and it was gone so fast I didn’t get enough so I’m back to make it again, haha! Thank you, as always, for sharing…you always make me look like a great cook!
Hiii Maureen!! I am sooo happy that you love this Pasta Bake and are back to make it again!!! I applaud your decision to add extra ricotta!! And you can’t go wrong with using Rao’s, it’s almost a must! 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review, I appreciate it so much!! -Stephanie 🙂
This was so perfect I came back to leave a review!
I’m sooo happy to hear that Valerie, thank you so much for taking the time to come back and review the recipe, I SO appreciate it!! 🙂 -Stephanie
This was delicious!! Thank you for sharing your recipes.
It’s my pleasure Susan, I’m so happy you liked it! Thanks so much for the great review!💖
I made the easy bake recipe but without ricotta cheese, today I plan to make the same but with ricotta cheese for my son in laws parents, hopefully they like it.
Fingers crossed, I think it’ll be a hit!❤️