Vegetarian Pasta Bake with No Cook Noodles

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Vegetarian Pasta Bake! This one pot dish is NO BOIL! Just throw everything into a casserole dish and bake! Pasta, tomato butter sauce, cheese, and meatless Italian sausage are all you need.

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Pasta is my love language. Especially when covered in a silky tomato sauce and lots of cheese. It’s the one food that I almost always crave; the perfect combo of comfort, easy and absolute deliciousness.

It also seems like most of you love pasta as much as I do, considering that some of the top-rated recipes include my pasta fa*gioli recipe, arrabbiata sauce recipe, tuscan kale soup recipe, and my lemon chickpea orzo soup.

Even though it’s my dad who is Italian, it’s my Danish mother who has the same affinity towards pasta as I do. It’s my mom who creates some of my favorite pasta recipes and my mom who I call whenever I’ve got a recipe question. She might not have Italian blood, but that woman knows her way around the cucina.

Growing up, her signature dish was baked vegetable ziti. A dish I’ve made hundreds of times and have used to celebrate new life, mourn death, and feed many hungry, broken hearts. This pasta bake is my go-to freezer meal for new moms and it’s also the dish that I almost always have ready to go in my freezer whenever we need a ready-made dinner.

Vegetarian Pasta Bake with No Cook Noodles - Delish Knowledge (2)

Why we love this recipe

I love baked ziti but I don’t like the prep. Between slow-roasting the vegetables, making the homemade sauce, seasoning the ricotta and cooking the pasta it’s at least an hour process.

So when I saw this technique from Pinch of Yum, I knew I had to adapt that pasta bake to fit my needs. Very little prep and you don’t have to cook the pasta ahead of time? Sold.

I had visions of making lots of changes; doing a butter-free sauce, using vegan sausage and increasing the vegetables for this vegetarian pasta bake. But all of that ended up being more work- the exact opposite of what I intended. After all, I already own the world’s best baked ziti recipe; I needed something that could be put together for a weeknight and be just as delicious.

Therefore, I ended up keeping things mostly the same for this version of the vegetarian pasta bake. I lightened up the sauce, kept the vegan sausage and used baby spinach for extra greens. The result is a cheesy, creamy pasta dish that’s perfect for any just about any kind of gathering.

Vegetarian Pasta Bake with No Cook Noodles - Delish Knowledge (3)

Ingredients you’ll need to make a vegetarian pasta bake

8 ounces uncooked penne pasta. Yes, uncooked! That’s the real beauty of this recipe, the noodles cook in the sauce in the oven so you don’t have to cook them first. (Mom, I know you wish you knew this trick beforehand. I’m sorry for the hours and hours that you spent cooking the pasta first before assembling your famous baked ziti!)
1 (28 ounce) can of crushed, fire roasted tomatoes. I adore fire roasted tomatoes and feel strongly that they add a lot of flavor to this dish. However, if you like things mild, then I’d recommend using regular crushed tomatoes. Diced will not work the same way.
2 cups milk. Any milk will work, as long as it’s unsweetened.
1/3 cup melted butter. For a vegan pasta bake then choose a dairy-free butter. There are plenty of options on the market these days, but I’m partial to Earth Balance and Miyoko’s.
3 cloves minced garlic. My trick for mincing garlic is using a microplane so that the garlic melts into the sauce.
Spices: 1 teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder, 2 teaspoons dried oregano and¼-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper. Including crushed red pepper really depends on how spicy you like it.
1.5 teaspoons salt. Yes, I know it’s a lot, but I account for the salt that I’d use to season the pasta water if I was cooking it and then the salt I’d use in making the sauce. Also, this makes 6-8 servings, so you are dividing that salt by quite a few servings. All that said, if you want to reduce it then you can. I wouldn’t go below 3/4-1 teaspoon.
3 links (~9 ounces) sliced vegan Italian sausage. Field Roast is my favorite, but your favorite brand will do.
1 cup chopped spinach leaves. I think a leafy green works best here, but if you wanted to use a heartier veggie like chopped bell pepper, mushrooms or chopped zucchini, then I recommend adding them to the bake before placing in the oven.
¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese. I like the gooey coating of mozzarella cheese on top; a dairy-free cheese will work as will parmesan cheese. For an extra cheesy topping, you can use both mozzarella and then a grating of parmesan cheese.

Pasta Bake Substitution Notes

You can swap in almost any leafy green for the spinach, or you can leave it out entirely. You can also use a different cut of noodle– elbow, rigatoni, and the link will work.

I highly recommend the fire-roasted tomatoes as I feel like it gives this pasta bake plenty of flavor, but you can also use a favorite jarred marinara sauce. Rao’s and Vero Gusto are my favorites, but any will work! I grab Rao’s at Costco where it’s almost half the price of the grocery store.

Vegetarian Baked Ziti Instructions

I can’t even explain to you how easy this veggie pasta bake is. If you want to make it truly one pot, then you can even mix everything together in the casserole dish. This one is for lasagna lovers who don’t have time to make lasagna!

Preheat Oven

Turn oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix everything together

In a large bowl, mix together the pasta, tomatoes, milk, melted butter, garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, red pepper, salt and sausage.

Bake

Transfer to a 9×13 inch casserole baking dish, then cover tightly with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes, until penne is al dente.

Stir in Spinach

Remove the foil, stir, add in the spinach and stir again. Top with cheese and place back in the oven under the broiler. Let brown for 3-5 minutes, then remove from thee oven and let stand for a few minutes so the sauce can thicken.

How to Store for a Freezer Meal

This vegetarian pasta bake makes for a great freezer meal; so much so that I’ve rounded up this recipe plus 19 others in my Vegetarian Freezer Recipes for New Moms post.

There are a few ways that you can freeze this, but I recommend assembling the casserole and then wrapping tightly in both plastic wrap and aluminum foil before placing in the freezer for 3-4 months. To bake, cook right from frozen, extending baking time 25-35 minutes, until penne is al dente. No thawing required!

This pasta bake will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. It’s great the day of and the day after, but the pasta does become mushy the longer it sits in the fridge.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have to pre cook pasta before baking?

No! Not in this pasta bake recipe. Add the uncooked noodles along with the rest of the ingredients, and then bake as directed.

Should pasta bake be covered or uncovered?

When using uncooked noodles, the pasta bake must be covered. This allows the dish to steam as it cooks and retain enough moisture to ensure that all of the noodles become tender.

Can I use store bought pasta sauce?

Yes, you can use store-bought pasta sauce. You will need the equivalent of 28 ounces of sauce to make this recipe.

How do you keep baked pasta from drying out?

Make sure you are stirring all of the ingredients together before baking and covering the dish tightly with foil. If the dish is not covered, it will not steam properly and your pasta will dry out.

How do you reheat a pasta bake without drying it out?

To reheat, add a small amount of pasta sauce (or even broth or water) to the bake before recovering and warming in the oven. Depending on how much of the baked ziti is left, I usually add a tablespoon or two of water per 1-2 cups of leftover pasta. Then cover and reheat in the oven at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes until warmed through. The additional liquid will help the pasta not dry out, but don’t use too much or the pasta will become soggy. You can also add in extra cheese on top to help with moisture.

More Vegetarian Pasta Recipes

Cherry Tomato Pasta
Spring Vegetable Gnocchi
Fettuccini with Sweet Corn and Arugula Pesto
Spicy Penne Pasta
Spring Lasagna Recipe

Hope you love this one as much as we do! If you make it, make sure to come back to rate it and leave a comment. Your feedback helps other readers and seeing you make my recipes makes my day!

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