Easy Alfredo No Boil Pasta Bake – One Pot!

Posted on June 6, 2023 by Jennifer FIsher

This no-boil pasta bake is a family favorite dinner – my boys just love it. This one pot pasta recipe fills them up, it’s simple to make thanks to jarred alfredo sauce, and easy to clean up with only a single pot dirtied.

Make an easy vegetarian dinner easy and earn cheers of “yum” from the family with this easy no-boil pasta bake that uses a jar of alfredo sauce, dry pasta, veggies and a little cottage cheese for extra protein.

The time-saving beauty is that you don’t have to pre-cook the pasta – you just dump in the dry noodles of choice in a casserole dish with all the other ingredients. The liquids in the recipe cook the pasta to a perfect al dente right in the oven!

I recommend a shorter pasta like penne, bow-tie, corkscrews, shells. Have partially used bags of pasta in the pantry that need to be used up? If the noodles are of a general similar size, you can even mix them together. This make and bake recipe is a really pantry clearer.

Here’s a flash tutorial!

I have a family with mixed dietary preferences – several meat eaters and a vegetarian. While this is a vegetarian pasta recipe, it still has a great offering of protein – 23g per serving. The extra boost is from a cup of cottage cheese mixed in.

If the vegetarian isn’t home from college, I’ll mix in chopped rotisserie chicken or slow cooker shredded chicken I prep in big batch and keep in the freezer. For this recipe, I would suggest about 12 ounces to 1 pound.

As for pan choice, I suggest a 3.5-quart capacity Dutch oven with lid. If you don’t have a lid, you can seal a pot tightly with aluminum foil during the baking process. The pot will look very liquid-y before baking, but don’t worry — the pasta absorbs it all!

5 from 5 votes

Alfredo No-Boil Pasta Bake

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

55 mins

This easy vegetarian pasta dish is made all in one pot for convenience and easy clean-up! It's a family favorite that is creamy, cheesy and comforting. If you'd like . . . stir in 1.5 cups of shredded cooked chicken breast for a heartier meal.

Course: entree, Main Dish, Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: alfredo, one pot, pasta, rice noodles, vegetarian

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 440 kcal

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons minced garlic from jar
2 cups vegetable stock divided
8 ounces button mushrooms sliced
4 cups fresh baby spinach about 3 ounces
1 15- ounce jar alfredo sauce
1 cup 2% cottage cheese
12 ounces uncooked pasta like shells, bowtie, penne, corkscrews *
6 ounces shredded mozzarella

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 F.
In a 3.5-quart Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high. Add mushrooms and chopped onions; sauté for 4 to 5 minutes until softened. Add garlic and pepper, cook another 1-minute stirring constantly.
Lover heat to medium-low; add spinach and about ¼ cup of the vegetable stock. Add lid to pot for 1 minute to wilt spinach; remove lid and stir in with mushroom mixture.
Add remainder broth, alfredo sauce, and cottage cheese. Stir until combined. Add dry pasta, stir around until mostly submerged.
Bake in oven for 40 minutes (or until pasta al dente), stirring once at the half way point.
Remove from oven, stir again and then sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top. Cover with lid and bake an additional 5 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Recipe Notes

Watermelon Raspberry Quinoa Salad with Ginger Mint Dressing

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Jennifer FIsher

Summer is nearly here and this Watermelon, Raspberry, & Quinoa Salad with Ginger Mint Dressing is an easy-fix for upcoming pool parties, picnics and patio dining.

Fully-loaded, this watermelon salad won’t leave you hunger a few minutes later. It’s actually quite hearty with quinoa, sunflower seeds, feta cheese, loads of greens, juicy watermelon and raspberries.

Why I love this watermelon salad, other that the amazing taste: Fresh ingredients to fuel my adventures, no cooking, stunning as a side dish but hearty enough for a main course (especially if you add some shrimp or salmon!).

I love how watermelon is a refreshing and delicious addition to salads, providing a burst of sweetness, hydration and nutrients. It’s also a smart way to use up leftover watermelon, if you purchased a big one! By the way, check out this post on how to efficiently cut up a jumbo-sized watermelon fast.

*Ginger Mint Dressing, so fresh and fragrant!*

Let’s talk about the fresh, invigorating, and aromatic dressing. Ginger Mint Dressing is so simple to make with just a quick blast in a personal-sized blender. It’s also a smart way to tackle mint that likes to take over gardens this time of year. Now and then, I pull out my juice to make Ginger Juice (and store in small portions in my freezer). Check out my tips on Juicing Ginger Root. However, if I’m “out of stock,’ for convenience I just rely on bottled ginger juice or the little ginger juice shots you can buy in the fresh juice section of the produce department.

This Ginger Mint Dressing also makes an amazing marinade for fish and shrimp.

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

5 from 5 votes

Hydrate and invigorate with this juicy fresh salad featuring watermelon, raspberries and quinoa! The zingy ginger mint dressing is amazing. It’s a stunningly colorful side dish or add shrimp or salmon for a main dish.

Watermelon, Raspberry & Quinoa Salad with Ginger Mint Dressing.

Prep Time

15 mins

Total Time

15 mins

Hydrate and invigorate with this juicy fresh salad featuringwatermelon, raspberries and quinoa! The zingy ginger mint dressing is amazing.It’s a stunningly colorful side dish or add shrimp or salmon for a main dish.

Course: entree salad

Keyword: ginger, mint, quinoa, raspberries, summer, watermelon

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

3 cups baby spinach leaves
1 cup microgreens of choice
2 cups chopped watermelon
½ cup fresh raspberries
1 cup prepared quinoa
¼ cup crumbled feta
¼ cup sunflower seeds

Dressing

1 2- oz bottle ginger juice like Suja
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbs lemon juice
¼ cup mint leaves

Instructions

Add salad ingredients to bowl. Then add all dressing ingredients to small blender and process until mostly smooth. If you don’t have ginger juice, you can sub watermelon juice (from the watermelon prep run off) and a ½ teaspoon of finely grated ginger. Pour dressing over salad and gently toss. Best eaten same day as dressed – serves 4 as a side.

Watermelon Salad with Chamoy Dressing + More Spring Recipes

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Jennifer FIsher

Note: This post is sponsored by Watermelon.org. However, all opinions, comments and enthusiasm remain my own.

Hello to spring and howdy to watermelon salads! No more hot and heavy soups for supper, the weather is warming up, my mood is lightening up, and my plate is filling up with all the beautiful produce of the season!

Watermelon Salad, watermelon salad recipe, chamoy watermelon, chamoy on watermelon summer fruit salad, summer salad recipes with fruit, cutting watermelon — Making a savory-sweet watermelon salad is life . . . literally life, seeing as how many health benefits watermelon offers including vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytonutrients. Watermelon is cholesterol-free, fat-free, sodium-free, and has 80 calories per 2-cup serving. It contains nutrients that support heart health, like magnesium (6% DV) and phosphorus (2% DV). Each serving also has 25% DV of vitamin C which is important for growth and repair of tissues in all parts of your body. Perhaps my favorite thing about watermelon (other than the sweet taste and natural energy it provides for my training) is that 92% water which helps me stay hydrated.

Other reason to incorporate watermelon salad recipes into your life is that a watermelon salad is a quick and easy meal fix and completely customizable to suit your personal preferences.

ways to cut watermelon — **Quick and Easy. It** is NOT as hard or time consuming as you might think to cut a large watermelon. That’s a common objection I enjoy overcoming with friends, family and anyone who gives me drama about cutting up a watermelon. In fact, I’ve done a whole article and video showing my technique for cutting up a large watermelon in about 5 minutes.

If you still are intimidated or unmotivated about cutting watermelon for salads, buying it pre-cut in the produce department is the next best way. While this pre-prepped route is more expensive, you typically get very sweet melon as the produce department tends to pick the best watermelons for their point-of-purchase, prepped containers.

Check out this 30 second tutorial!

mix and match watermelon salad ideas — *Pin this for later!*

Customizable. Watermelon salads can be what YOU want them to be. Today, I’m sharing a recipe for Watermelon Spinach Salad with Chamoy . . .. it totally suits my love for spicy-sweet things and brings me joy. Chamoy is a Mexican condiment made from dried apricots, chile de arbol, hibiscus flowers, citrus, and other seasonings . . . and trust me, chamoy on watermelon is incredibly tasty and lights up every part of your taste senses.

For my chamoy watermelon recipe and watermelon salad recipes in general, it’s simple to swap out all the salad ingredients (except watermelon) for the items you prefer or have on hand. For example, instead of queso fresco, use blue cheese. Instead of pumpkin seeds, use pecans. Instead of Chamoy, use a balsamic vinaigrette. You get the idea. In fact, I’ve made a pin-ready chart (above) to give you inspiration for endless mix-and match watermelon salads.

Tips for Watermelon with Chamoy Salad

The yellow flowers are dandelions foraged from my lawn. All parts of this “weed” plant (except stems which taste bitter) are beneficial to consume, you can even use dandelion leaves in place of or addition to the spinach.

Dried apricots are tossed in the salad to enhance the apricot in the chamoy, but any other dried fruit would be equally delicious.
Chamoy can be found in the bottled condiment area of Mexican markets or larger grocery stores. You can also make your own (time consuming) or order it online. The consistency varies from very thick to very thin – look for something in the middle. If too thick, thin down a bit with juice from your watermelon!
Leftover chamoy is delicious used as a rim on cocktails or mocktails – watermelon margarita, anyone?!
Instead of the wedge presentation, the salad can feature watermelon cubes or watermelon balls
The recipe is easy to scale up or down, and you don’t have to get hung up on precise measurements
This salad is best consumed right after making to prevent wilting and sogginess..

Find more summer salad recipes with fruit (and watermelon) at The Fit Fork:

watermelon chia summer salad thefitfork.com

Watermelon Quinoa Salad with Salsa

watermelon tomato tajin salad thefitfork.com

Watermelon Jicama Salad with Tajin Honey Vinaigrette

grilled watermelon with balsamic cherry salsa

Grilled Watermelon Wedge Salad with Balsamic Cherry Salsa

And, Watermelon.org always has creative, delicious, nutritious watermelon salads (and 100s of other watermelon recipes). Here are three fruit and vegetable salads with watermelon that I’ve tried and LOVED:

Watermelon Pomegranate Toss Salad

Red Fruit Salad

Watermelon & Spiralized Cucumber Salad with Shrimp

5 from 4 votes

WATERMELON SPINACH SALAD with CHAMOY

Prep Time

10 mins

Total Time

10 mins

A big,juicy wedge is dressed up with pepita seeds, crumbled queso fresco, choppedapricots and chamoy sauce, a spicy-sweet Mexican condiment. It’s an amazingwatermelon salad to kick off Spring break, picnics in the park, runningoutside, and dipping toes in the pool season!

Course: entree salad, Side Dish

Keyword: chamoy, mexican food, tex mex, watermelon

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 wedge watermelon about ¼ to1/8 watermelon, depending on size
2 cups chopped watermelon
6 cups baby spinach
½ cup dried apricots chopped
½ cup crumbled queso fresco
¼ cup Chamoy sauce*
¼ cup pepita seeds
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Optional Edible flowers such as pansies or dandelion

Instructions

To make watermelon wedge, slice watermelon in half lengthwise, then slice that half lengthwise. This will give you a one-quarter wedge. If your watermelon is quite large, you may want to slice this quarter in half (to create a 1/8 watermelon wedge). I guestimate that the total amount of watermelon in the wedge is about 4 cups.
Chop up another 2 cups of watermelon in a bite-size pieces.
Sprinkle washed, dried spinach on platter, place watermelon wedge on top.
Spoon extra watermelon on spinach, around wedge.
Drizzle Chamoy sauce over top of wedge and onto greens.
Sprinkle chopped apricots, crumbled queso fresco, seeds and cilantro on top of wedge and around salad.
If desired, garnish with edible flowers for maximum spring-time effect!

Recipe Notes

*Chamoy sauce is a Mexican condiment sweet-spicy-salty condiment that can be found in most larger grocery stores, from an international market, or you can google the recipe and make your own (it usually features soaked dried: apricots and prunes, hibiscus leave, chile peppers, citrus and more).

Granola Honey Sweet Potato Fries

Posted on March 4, 2023 by Jennifer FIsher

Granola Honey Sweet Potato Fries! Pre-race carb loading (or every day munching) at it’s finest – all the good stuff, so easy! Based on a single-serve recipe on page 215 my Cooking for One for Dummies cookbook that can be ordered now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your other fine book retailer online or in person.

Looking for a quick and easy granola sweet potato recipe? Simple ingredients come together in minutes in an air fryer (or conventional oven) to make the tastiest, crunchiest, salty-sweet (swalty) fries around!! You’ll love recipe for one (or two)!

Baked or air-fryer sweet potato fries are one of my go-to side dishes the night before a big workout or race. Those healthy carbs from the sweet potato and honey give me energy and the prep method doesn’t make me feel heavy and gross with added oils I don’t need.

I was inspired to add honey and coarse sea salt to my fries after eating a similar dish at a steak house years ago before a 50 miles race!!! So yummy, and I know helped me make it through many of those miles in the first half.

Adding granola was just an “ah-ha” moment, when I was curious about adding a little extra texture and crunch. A box of salty-sweet granola made with oats, ancient grains, pecans and cinnamon was sitting out, so I sprinkled some on and it was like magic. You can use any granola you want, I just happed to have THIS ONE on hand.

BTW, I used a Crinkle Cut Potato Tool, but you can also just use a knife!

Sometimes I’m the only one in the family who wants a sweet potato for one, so I came up with this single-serve sweet potato fry recipe. With 368 Calories, 11g fat, 64g carb, 8g fiber, 5g protein, it’s pretty generous sized and can be split with a friend if not as hungry as I usually am!!

Looking for more impressive yet easy sweet potato recipes? Try my Mashed Rosemary Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Onions! Delicious!

Mashed Rosemary Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Onions

5 from 1 vote

Granola Honey Sweet Potato Fries for Air Fryer (or Oven)

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

12 mins

Total Time

17 mins

Looking for a quick and easy granola sweet potato recipe? Simple ingredients come together in minutes in an air fryer (or conventional oven) tomake the tastiest, crunchiest, salty-sweet (swalty) fries around!! You’ll love recipe for one (or two)!

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Keyword: granola, honey, sweet potato

Servings: 1

Ingredients

10 ounce sweet potato approx
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoon honey
¼ teaspoon Himalayan Sea salt
2 tablespoon salty-sweet granola of choice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F or Air fryer to 360F.
Wash, dry and cut sweet potato into 1/3” thick fry-sized pieces. Place wedges in pile on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil; toss to coat. Spread out in even layer on pan or transfer to Air fryer basket.
Bake for 25 min in oven or 12 min in air fryer, flipping half way. Will be done when turning crispy brown around edges and soft in center.
Let cool a couple minutes. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with honey, toss gently. Sprinkle with granola!

Recipe Notes

Granola Chocolate Bark (Small Batch with Low Carb Options)

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Jennifer FIsher

This easy-to-make chocolate nut butter candy will have your heart at first bite! It’s a small batch dessert recipe, but there is plenty to share with your sweetheart (or not)! And, only three ingredients! Visit the 15-sec video HERE!

Treat yourself (and a sweetheart) to this share-sized dessert that features only three ingredients (chocolate, nut butter, and granola)! Easy-peasy, the only ‘cooking’ is melting chocolate chips in the microwave! A fun Valentine’s Day treat, or for chocolate bark any day of the year! Low carb and sugar free options, very flexible.

Rich, creamy, and studded with your favorite granola (use plain packaged granola, a fancy granola with all the fixings, or your special homemade granola recipe).

Basically, a no-bake dessert (except melting chocolate chips in the microwave for about 1 minute), you’ll find this is a quick, easy, and uncomplicated way to soothe a chocolate-lover’s sweet tooth. Plus, you may already have all the ingredients in your pantry!

This small-batch recipe is featured in my newest book, Cooking for One for Dummies (which can be pre-ordered NOW, and releases March 8, 2023).

In the cookbook, I show the Granola Chocolate Bar spread out thinly, using a silicone sheet or parchment-lined loaf pan or free-form on a lined cookie sheet.

Today, for a Valentine’s treat, I thought it would be cute to do in a heart-shaped ramekin! This creates a “thicker” result. If going this route, use an approximate 10-oz Crème Brulé-style ramekin or two smaller 6-oz low-side ramekins. I’m kinda a ramekin collector freak, they are so fun and can be used for lots of smaller-scale recipes for one or two; using to hold prepped ingredients while making a recipe; for holding your everyday snacks for portion control.

Approximate macros for sugar-free chip version (will vary some based on nut butter and granola choices): 191 calories, 13g fat, 14g net carb, 3g protein

PRO TIPS FOR GRANOLA CHOCOLATE BARK

Tip 1: There is so much flexibility, you can mix and match ingredients to suit your dietary preferences (for example there are lots of swaps if looking for low carb dessert ideas):

Chocolate: I used sugar-free dark chocolate chips, but feel free to substitute traditional chocolate chips. Also, try milk chocolate, white chocolate, cinnamon chip and all the other flavors out there!
Nut Butter: The only real requirement is to use a natural-style nut butter and NOT the solid kind with hydrogenated fats and sugars. I used a cinnamon-flavored almond butter in my recipe today, but peanut butter, walnut butter, cashew butter, protein-boosted nut butters and most all types of blends will work!
Granola: For convenience, use packaged granola from your favorite brand. Of course, homemade granola is excellent too! If you don’t want to use granola, swap in an equal portion of things like coconut shreds, toasted chopped nuts, dehydrated or freeze-dried fruit pieces, little candies of choice, etc.

Tip 2: For less mess making granola bark, it’s highly recommended to oil the ramekin or, if using a baking sheet, use parchment paper or a silicone matt. You can also make in silicone candy molds, but I haven’t personally experiment with that.

Tip 3: Don’t skip the sticking in freezer step to firm up the chocolate bark before eating. Store leftovers in fridge.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Granola Chocolate Bark (Small Batch with Low Carb Options)

Prep Time

5 mins

Total Time

35 mins

Treat yourself (and a sweetheart) to this share-sized dessert that features only three ingredients (chocolate, nut butter, and granola)! Easy-peasy, the only ‘cooking’ is melting chocolate chips in the microwave! A fun Valentine’s Day treat, or for chocolate bark any day of the year! Low carb and sugar free options, very flexible.

Course: Dessert, Snack

Keyword: candy, chocolate, holiday, low carb, valentines day

Servings: 4

Calories: 191 kcal

Ingredients

1/3 cup chocolate chips sugar-free, if desired
¼ cup natural-style nut butter peanut, almond, cashew, etc.
½ cup of your favorite granola any type or your own toppings

Instructions

In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips on high in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
Stir in nut butter until smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture into a 10 to 12-ounce low ramekin*
Sprinkle granola evenly over the top of the chocolate mixture and press down lightly so that it stays put. Freeze for 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until the bark has firmed up.
Slice into pieces; store the leftovers in the refrigerator.

Recipe Notes

* Instead of a ramekin, spread chocolate mixture out thinly on a silicone mat (on baking sheet) before topping with granola. After freezing, break up into free-form pieces. You can also use silicone baking and candy molds for a different effect.

Approximate macros for sugar-free chip version (will vary some based on nut butter and granola choices): 191 calories, 13g fat, 14g net carb, 3g protein