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.

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.

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

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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

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Add remainder broth, alfredo sauce, and cottage cheese. Stir until combined. Add dry pasta, stir around until mostly submerged.
5. Bake in oven for 40 minutes (or until pasta al dente), stirring once at the half way point.
6. 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