4-Ingredient Baked Tortellini
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Need a super easy 4-ingredient dish for dinner that everyone will love? Baked Tortellini (with sneaky spinach to up the nutrition) is it. You’ll find yourself returning to this comforting casserole on busy weeknights!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
Baked Cheese Tortellini is a vegetarian spin-off of my Baked Beef Ravioli.
It’s meatless but cheesy and oh-so-filling It’s also a great way to use up leftover fresh spinach and sneak in more nutrition into some comfort food.
Plus, we love using tortellini in recipes like our Crockpot Tortellini Soup with Sausage and Chicken Tortellini Soup. It’s a simple ingredient that adds a lot of heartiness without much effort.
Ingredients
Using only 4 ingredients (or maybe 5), you’ve got a family-pleaser for sure.
Ingredient Notes
- Marinara sauce – Buy it at the store or use our delicious and healthy Homemade Marinara Sauce.
- Frozen cheese tortellini – Look for the one with the fewest ingredients. There are also gluten-free ravioli available if needed.
- Baby spinach – Add in for extra nutrition. Be sure to finely chop it. If your kids will throw a fit about this, it can be omitted.
- Uncured pepperoni (optional) – Chop this up and add in for more flavor. We love Applegate Uncured Turkey Pepperoni.
How to Make Baked Tortellini
This recipe is so simple, I don’t even need many words to explain it. Follow the visual steps below!
How to Freeze Baked Tortellini
Like many of our amazing freezer meals, you prep this recipe all the way up until cooking it. Stop there and freeze it!
Freeze For Later: Cover the dish with foil. Label and freeze.
Prepare From Frozen: Thaw completely in the refrigerator (will take around 24 hours) and bake for 20-25 minutes covered and then another 10-15 minutes uncovered. This is shorter than the recipe below because the tortellini will be thawed.
FAQ
Yes! One reader said, “This recipe worked well with gluten-free tortellini. We used Wegman’s brand gluten-free egg pasta tortellini and everyone ate it up!”
Sure! It’s hard to mess this one up. Throw in your favorite fresh or dried herbs.
Yep! This is a great make ahead recipe.
Yes! With fresh tortellini, you will need to cut back on the cooking time. We’ve included that information in the recipe notes. And with dried tortellini, you just need to make sure the pasta is cooked through before serving.
The technical answer is yes, but it will cook unevenly and varies on cook time. We recommend fully thawing before cooking.
Did you make this? Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!
Baked Tortellini
This easy and oh-so-cheesy baked pasta is a great way to use up leftover veggies, likefresh spinach. Even your meat-lover will dig this one!
Ingredients
- 1 (24-ounce) jar marinara sauce (or 3 cups Homemade Marinara Sauce)
- 1 package (19 oz.) frozen cheese tortellini (look for the one with the least ingredients)
- 2 cups loosely packed baby spinach, finely chopped
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- Optional: 4 ounces uncured pepperoni, chopped (We love Applegate’s Uncured Turkey Pepperoni.)
- Optional: Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
**All these ingredients are already loaded in a custom Hy-Vee shopping cart for you here!**
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray an 8×8-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Spread thin layer of marinara sauce into bottom of baking dish. Arrange half of the frozen tortellini over the sauce, trying to get them in a single layer as much as possible. Top with 1/2 of the chopped spinach (and pepperoni), 1/2 of the sauce (use the back of a spoon to move the sauce around and make sure it covers all the tortellini), and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers in Step 2, ending with the last of the cheese on top. (Freezing instructions begin here.)
- Tent lightly with a layer of foil; try to avoid touching the cheese. (Tip: Spray with cooking spray on the inside of the foil to help prevent the cheese from sticking.)
- Bake for about 40-45 minutes until bubbly on the edges (if using fresh tortellini, bake 20-25 minutes). Take off the foil and bake about 10-15 minutes more, or until golden on top and hot throughout.
- Let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. Top each serving with grated Parmesan, if desired.
Freeze For Later: Spray an 8×8 inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Follow Step 2. Cover the dish with foil and a few layers of plastic wrap or foil. Label and freeze.
Prepare From Frozen: Thaw in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake for 20-25 minutes covered in foil and then another 10-15 minutes uncovered.
Notes/Tips
- If using fresh tortellini, this will only take about 20-25 minutes to bake.
- You can also make this with frozen cheese or beef ravioli, but you’ll have to make it in three layers instead of two so that each ravioli layer is flat and they aren’t overlapping. Then, bake covered for 45 minutes and uncovered for 15 minutes.
Making this for a new mom can it be baked from frozen or does it have to thawed?
Hi Min. So nice of you to make this for a new mom. We would recommend thawing. Personally, I have put it in the oven mostly frozen as the over is pre-heating. But it is hard to say how long it will take to cook and it can cook unevenly. So, to just be able to follow directions, thawing would be best!
Thanks for the reply. They did bake from frozen but had to add 1/2 hour to the cook time but it came out great, hot and tasty not dried out or unevenly cooked.
Really appreciate this feedback and the review. Glad to hear it worked out for you from frozen.
Your recipes never says to boil the pasta first but then in a comment I’d say you cooked the pasta, then froze it, then assembled? And in another comment you said you’ve used fresh, frozen, or dried tortellini. Just looking for clarification – do I need to cook the pasta before assembling or does the marinara creat enough liquid to cook them?
Hi Erin. Good question. You do not need to cook the pasta before assembly. Fresh tortellini will take less time than frozen.
Our whole crew (two adults, six kids) LOVED it! Very flavorful and easy to make.
That’s quite a crew and for everyone to love it is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing.
This recipe worked well with gluten free tortellini. We used Wegman’s brand gluten free egg pasta tortellini and everyone ate it up!
Great to know the GF tip, Elizabeth. Thank you! And thanks for taking the time to leave a review. Means so much to us!
Super quick and easy to make. I added pepperoni to help the kids get the spinach down. The whole family enjoyed it. Definitely a keeper and a repeat recipe!
Great! Yeah, the pepperoni definitely helps. 😉
Would it be possible to cook this and freeze the leftovers? I usually make large dishes, eat a portion for dinner and freeze the rest, nut this says to freeze before cooking.
You can certainly do that, but I will say the texture of the pasta won’t be great afterwards.
Can you add seasonings to it?
Sure! It’s hard to mess this one up. Throw in your favorite fresh or dried herbs.
Thank you ladies for this recipe. I made it tonight… with my daughter. It was delicious and she enjoyed learning how to make this meal with me.
What a great mama to be in the kitchen cooking with your daughter! Love to hear that this was a success for you.
Hi, is the cheese tortellini fresh, frozen, or dried? Thanks!
I have made it with all three! Just make sure they are cooked through when you finally take them out of the oven. Hard to mess this one up.
Thanks, Mary, what a helpful tip!
Yes, make according to directions and then freeze before baking.
Hi! I’m wondering if I can make this recipe and put it in the fridge until I make it the next evening. Do you think I should freeze it if I plan to make it within 24 hours? TIA!
I think that would be fine.