This easy no boil pasta bake requires only 5 minutes of prep! It's a simple dump-and-bake weeknight meal that gets a delicious cheesy dinner on the table in under one hour.
This pasta bake is in our regular dinner rotation because it results in a creamy dish of cheesy pasta in tomato sauce with just one dish & no boiling water on the stove! This recipe is full of little tricks. I use the 24 ounce jar of marinara sauce to measure out the same volume of water to save having to dry my measuring cup. I've also swapped in vegetable broth for more flavor, but honestly it tastes second-helping-worthy just with water.
In testing, I found that the make-or-break step here is to make sure the pan is covered completely and tightly with aluminum foil to avoid any steam from escaping as it bakes. That's what cooks the noodles!
Let's Cook Pasta in the Oven!
My Tips for a Delicious Hands-Off Pasta Bake
- Use any small-shaped pasta (my faves are penne, macaroni, or rigatoni) so they stay completely covered in the liquid.
- In testing, I added some other veggies to add more flavor and the best that worked were chopped bell pepper, onion, and sliced mushrooms, if you have any of those on hand.
- Sometimes I stir in sliced chicken sausage or meatballs for more protein. Just make sure they're cooked first, since the bake time isn't quite long enough to cook them from raw.
Easy No-Boil Pasta Bake
developed & tested by:
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 ounces small-size dry pasta (such as penne, macaroni, or rigatoni)
- 24 ounces marinara sauce
- 24 ounces water
- 1 cup whole cherry tomatoes
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Pour the pasta, marinara sauce, water, cherry tomatoes, and minced garlic into a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish.
- Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, stir, sprinkle on the shredded cheeses. Return the pasta to the oven and bake uncovered for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the cheese melts. Enjoy!!
Notes
- Store cooled leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a few days.
Lyla says
YUMMM! I absolutely loved how simple this was and how delish it tasted. I added chopped sun dried tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes, and I also added some sliced olives. It turned out great!
Quinn says
I never knew you could cook pasta in the oven without boiling it! I had to give this a try, and I was so happily surprised at how well it turned out! Definitely saving this one to make on busy weeknights.