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This vegetarian pasta bake, aka meatless baked ziti is full of zucchini, mushrooms, spinach and melty cheese makes for the ultimate healthier comfort meal. This dish is kid friendly and a family favorite here.
Why Make This Vegetarian Pasta Bake?
It is chock-full of veggies! With mushrooms, spinach, zucchini this meal is nourishing and full of feel good ingredients.
It is allergy friendly! You can make this recipe vegan, and gluten-free. Just use appropriate noodles and skip the cheese.
Kids love it. I make this for my friends and their family whenever they visit and all ages seem to love this.
Perfect for meal prep. This dish lasts a good amount of time in the fridge and gets better with time. So you can prep it for the week.
Ingredients Needed
Spinach. This adds green to the dish and also keeps in moist when you bake it!
Goat cheese. This tangy cheese offers the perfect flavor elevation the vegetarian pasta bake needs! You can sub it for Mozzarella.
High quality seasonings. This recipe relies heavily on tasty seasonings like Italian seasoning and thyme. Make sure you have some fresh herbs to add in this sauce and bring it alive.
Veggies! I always go for mushrooms and zucchini in several of my dishes. If you aren’t a fan of one or the other you can swap it out for peppers, broccoli or any other seasonal squash.
How To Make This Recipe
Step one: Chop up all the veggies and start to boil your pasta. Be sure to salt the water its the only time to season the pasta.
Step two: Add olive oil to the pan and start to sauté all the veggies expect for spinach. This will be added later. We want the onions and mushrooms to soften a bit before adding in sauce.
Step three. Add in red sauce! Use a ladle to fill sauce jar up halfway with pasta water and add that to the mixture to spread the sauce and make it yummy. Add in the spinach at this point.
Step four. Once pasta is cooked add it to the pan and make sure everything it coated well. Take our a 9×9 pan or larger and pour pasta into the dish. Set oven at 375. Stir in goat cheese and cover dish with foil. Bake on middle rack for about 45 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted on top.
FAQs And Expert Tips.
Be sure to cover the pasta with tinfoil before baking to see moisture in and create a marriage of flavors!
Best noodle shapes for vegetarian pasta bake: ziti, penne, rigatoni.
Be sure to chop your veggies into bite sized pieces and similar sizes so they cook evenly.
No, buffalo mozzarella, mozzarella and feta would be a great alternative for this recipe.
Yes, broccoli or peppers would be a great addition or substitute
Yes, just skip the cheese all together and you have a plant-based meal.
yep! and I suggest it 😉 I like to add jalapeño or red pepper flakes to the sauce while it cooks on the stovetop.
Related Recipes:
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Vegetarian Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta
- 1 25 oz jar of your favorite pasta sauce, * read notes
- 3 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 cup crumbled goat cheese, *
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ tbsp thyme
- 2 cups zucchini
- 1 cup mushrooms
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1½ tbs chopped garlic
- 3 cups fresh spinach
Instructions
- Chop up all the veggies and start to boil your pasta. Be sure to salt the water its the only time to season the pasta.
- Add olive oil to the pan and start to sauté all the veggies expect for spinach. This will be added later. We want the onions and mushrooms to soften a bit before adding in sauce.
- Add in red sauce once onions are translucent. Use a ladle to fill sauce jar up halfway with pasta water and add that to the mixture to spread the sauce and make it yummy. Add in the spinach at this point. fold mix to soften the spinach.
- Once pasta is cooked add it to the pan and make sure everything it coated well. Take out 9×9 pan or larger pour pasta into the dish. Set oven at 375. Stir in goat cheese and crumble some on top, cover dish with foil. Bake on middle rack for about 45 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted on top. Serve with salad or veggies of choice!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Sooooo good! I make enough for the whole week and I feel like it gets better each night!
I feel the same way! It seems to get more flavor as it sits! Enjoy
Wow, simply delicious! My entire family cannot get enough of this dish!
Such a great and easy alternative to spaghetti. The kids love it!
Love that! I prefer this pasta bake over spaghetti myself 🙂
Family approved! I love the vegetables in the sauce!
We have been making this one since you posted it over a year ago (love the more organized look btw). This is a family favorite. love the goat cheese in it
Never thought to use zuchinni on a baked pasta … it was SO GOOD. What a great idea
Made this for friends last night – added ground beef. Wow it was really good. We polished off the whole pan. Saving it for future.
Hi Bailey. This is our favorite recipe from you. We have been making it for a few months now. We always add in eggplant too. Try it some time!
One of the best pasta bakes I’ve made. Yum!