Hearty Baked Penne Pasta
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Baked Penne Pasta has it all.
Delicious dinner recipe? Check. Freezer friendly? Check. Makes a lot of leftovers? Check. Approved by all ages in the family? Check. Feeds a large group of people? Check. Easy to make? Check!
This Baked Penne Pasta Recipe is an easy, kid-friendly dinner idea. It makes a HUGE batch, so it’s great for large groups too. In addition to that, you can turn it into a freezer meal.
Video Tutorial: Baked Penne Pasta
Watch how easy it comes together!
Ingredients Needed
As you can see from the video above, Baked Penne Pasta is made in a few stages. Here is what you’ll need for each step.
Ingredients for the Meat Sauce
- Olive oil
- Diced onion
- Minced Garlic
- Ground beef (or one pound ground beef & one pound Italian sausage) Here is where you can find meat you can trust.
- 1 can whole tomatoes, with juice
- Canned tomato sauce
The Rest of the Ingredients
- Seasonings
- Whole wheat penne pasta
- Whole milk ricotta cheese
- Mozzarella cheese, grated
- Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
How to Make Baked Penne Pasta
Make the Meat Sauce
After sautéing some diced onion and garlic, you will brown your ground beef. (Here is where you can find meat you can trust, btw.)
After the ground beef is browned, drain off some fat and add in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning.
Let it simmer on low for about 25-30 minutes.
After that, remove 3 to 4 cups of the sauce to a different bowl to cool down. You’ll see why in a bit.
Cook the Pasta
After you get that sauce a-simmerin’, start multitasking.
Start to boil your pasta. Follow the instructions on your box for cooking it al dente.
Once it’s cooked, drain.
Make the Creamy Filling
While pasta is boiling you can whip together your creamy cheese filling.
In a large mixing bowl, combine ingredients for the filling: ricotta, egg, mozzarella, parmesan, salt, and pepper. Give it a good stir.
Mix the Pasta with the Creamy Filling
Add the cooked and drained pasta into the large bowl with the cheese mixture.
After the pasta and cheese mixture is combined, add in that cooled pasta sauce.
Once you’ve mixed that together, you have a delicious, gooey mess.
Assemble the Casserole
Pour the pasta into a baking dish.
Now top it off with remaining pasta sauce.
Now finish it off with a layer of mozzarella.
You know what comes next… bake it!
Pro Tip
This recipe makes a HUGE batch. If you have a lasagna dish, use that. If not, you might consider splitting the batch between two 9×13 dishes.
Freeze one for later!
Variations of This Recipe
- Use cooked and diced chicken or ground turkey! It could be a great way to use up a rotisserie chicken.
- Add veggies! Try I love to toss in raw spinach, sautéed mushrooms, cooked zucchini, or sautéed bell peppers.
- You don’t have to use penne pasta. You can substitute with another similar short pasta shape.
How to Freeze Baked Penne Pasta
Freeze For Later: Follow the recipe right up until baking it. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, foil or a lid. Freeze.
Prepare From Frozen: When ready to cook, you have two options:
- Thawed: Thaw in the fridge (may take up to 48 hours) or thaw in the microwave on defrost setting. Bake at 375 degrees F according to Step 11 in the recipe.
- Frozen: If cooking directly from frozen state, cover with foil. Place the frozen casserole in the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Once it comes to temperature, bake for about 1 hour and 20-40 minutes, until heated through and bubbly. Remove the foil the last 20 minutes.
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What to Serve with Baked Penne Pasta
This recipe plays nice with others. Here are some side dish ideas:
Goodness, I need to make a batch after writing this post. I’m hungry!
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 Penne Pasta
Freezer Friendly Baked Penne Pasta Recipe. Easy, kid-friendly dinner idea. Great for large groups too.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 pounds ground beef (or one pound ground beef & one pound Italian sausage) Here is where you can find meat you can trust.
- 1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes, with juice
- 2 (14.5 ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- 1 pound (16 ounces) whole wheat penne pasta
- 1 tub (15 ounces) whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1–1/2 pounds mozzarella cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add diced onions and garlic and saute for several minutes, or until starting to soften.
- Add ground beef and cook until browned. Drain off fat, leaving a bit behind for flavor and moisture.
- Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Stir and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.
- After that time, remove 3 to 4 cups of the sauce to a different bowl to cool down.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Begin to boil your pasta. Make sure to undercook it a tad–especially if freezing!
- In a separate bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, 2 cups of the grated mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, and a dash of salt and pepper.
- Drain the pasta and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking. Pour it into the bowl with the cheese mixture and barely mix it together.
- Add the cooled meat sauce that you set aside earlier and toss to combine.
- Dump the pasta mixture into a large greased casserole dish or lasagna dish. (NOTE: I ended up using a 9×13 AND a 9×9 dish to fit all of it!) Spoon the remaining sauce over the top, then top with remaining mozzarella cheese. (Freezing instructions begin here.)
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbling. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving. Hint: Sprinkle chopped parsley over the pasta before serving!
Freeze For Later: Follow the recipe through Step 10. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, foil or a lid. Freeze.
Prepare From Frozen: When ready to cook, you have two options:
- Thawed: Thaw in the fridge (may take up to 48 hours) or thaw in the microwave on defrost setting. Bake at 375 degrees F according to Step 11 in the recipe.
- Frozen: If cooking directly from frozen state, cover with foil. Place the frozen casserole in the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Once it comes to temperature, bake for about 1 hour and 20-40 minutes, until heated through and bubbly. Remove the foil the last 20 minutes.
Notes/Tips
Where We Get Our Beef: We get our beef from ButcherBox. The beef is grass-fed and curated from trusted farms. We highly recommend this service to source healthy meat–like uncured bacon, chicken, and wild salmon–and have used it for years ourselves.
Looking for more ground beef recipes?
Check out our Top 10 Ground Beef Freezer Meals!
Do you think the pasta would work correctly in a pyrex glass dish that is 10x14x2.5″? Information on the bottom says it is 5 quart. Since you put your pasta in a 13×9 (3qt) and a 9×9 (2qt) I think it might work. It might be too deep with less cheese topping per serving. How do you think using the 5qt dish would affect cooking time?
Did you have to bake your two size casseroles on one shelf or two and then transfer the casseroles halfway through baking?
I think that size would work great! Cooking time should be about the same. I bake my two dishes on different racks for more even baking (allows more hot air to circulate around each one). I don’t worry about switching them around. This recipe is honestly kind of hard to mess up. Just keep an eye on it and make sure it gets bubbly around edges. If it starts to brown too much on top, cover with foil. I hope this helps!
Lol over the pant-less cooking courtesy of a 2 year old, I can totally relate to the attempts to stay clothed with a toddler hanging off you! This recipe looks delish, comfort food at its best, will rate once I’ve made it!
Thanks, Grace. You get it!! Ha!
Can’t wait to try this! But I have some questions, because I live overseas and these canned products are not readily available – can I use fresh tomatoes instead of whole canned ones? If so, about how much fresh? And about how many cups for the marinara sauce and ricotta cheese? (I make these myself, so I’m not sure how much the cans are translated into cups). Thanks!!
Could you make this vegetarian, without the meat? I have a picky eater who won’t eat pasta with meat in it.
Yes, absolutely!
Perfect for college students or someone who really does not know how to cook
★★★★★
Totally!
Hi 🙂 I want to gift this to a family friend who just lost his wife. He lives alone, so I would probably give him half of the recipe in a smaller container. Do you know if this would change the baking time or temp? Ty!
Hi Emily, that is so sad but I’m thankful you are there. Food speaks a thousand words. I don’t think you will need to change the temp or the time on this one. Just watch it and make sure it’s bubbly on the sides and warmed all the way through. Since everything is already pre-cooked in it, you’re just wanting it to get nice and hot.
Made this for my mom’s birthday and she loved it! Very delicious <3
★★★★★
Awesome, thanks for the feedback, Marissa. 🙂
What is the calorie count per serving?
I’m sorry. We don’t provide that information at this time.
I’m looking to make this for my daughters high school basketball team. Could this be made in a crock pot? And if so, Would you cook the noodles as indicated in the recipe? How long in the crock pot? Thanks
I don’t think this would be a great crock pot recipe. Check out our meals for large groups for ideas that might be a better fit: https://thrivinghomeblog.com/20-meals-that-feed-large-groups/
I’m excited to make this recipe! Due to schedule issues, I’d like to make it a couple days ahead of time. Would it be safe to stay in the fridge for 2-3 days prior to baking or would you recommend freezing and thawing?
Thank you!
PS – I’m so happy to have found your website. Thank you for what you two are doing. It is so helpful and encouraging to have women like you who are honoring God and sharing your gifts with others!
Yes, 2-3 days in the fridge should be just fine. Thank you for your kind words and encouragement, Laura. Makes our day!
I prepared this dish on a Thurs afternoon, refrigerated til Saturday when I baked it for a party. It turned out great! I had some leftover and froze in containers with two servings. Defrosted in refrig and reheated beautifully. Delish recipe. 🙂
Wonderful to hear that, Cathy!
This was a great recipe! I made it with my mom and our whole family enjoyed it. Also, it made a lot so we could save some for the next night.
Rachel and Polly: I love what you do! I think that it is so great that you do what you love and what you are good at while honoring God. Keep it up!
Wow, thank you for the nice comment, Mika. Our goal is to share all of this–recipes, parenting articles, reviews, etc–to truly help others and glorify God. Makes me happy to know it’s helping you. 🙂