Pure comfort food, this Penne Pasta Bake has a meaty, creamy sauce and lots and lots of cheese. It is perfect for a busy night, and is perfect for feeding a crowd.
As a food blogger, it’s sometimes embarrassing to admit that my kids aren’t the most adventurous eaters. And by that, I mean they are picky.
Well, I shouldn’t include them all – Camden will pretty much eat anything I put in front of him. That kid can eat. In fact – this meal? I think he ate 3 servings. More than I did. More than his dad did. Definitely more than his brother and sister. But I’d say it’s pretty impressive when a child can out eat his mom and dad.
We still struggle most nights with his big brother. I promised myself before I became a mom that I wouldn’t become a short order cook. But there are a few things that he will eat almost every time. Homemade pizza. Meatballs. Sometimes tacos. And pasta.
It’s a good thing that I like pasta too, because it becomes my go-to quite often these days.
But really – what’s not to love (for the whole family) in this dish? A meaty, creamy red sauce, pasta, and lots and lots of cheese. This is comfort food that I will totally get behind any day of the week.
Tips for making a pasta bake
- You could technically use any pasta you want here, but I find that a short cut pasta works perfectly. I love penne because it becomes coated by the sauce so well. Plus, my kids like the best, so that is always a deciding factor!
- You can use shredded Provolone if you can find it, but I actually really like the slices of cheese in this recipe.
- This Penne Pasta Bake makes great leftovers!
- You can make this pasta bake ahead of time. Make it up until right before you bake it. Cover and refrigerate, then let it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking it. You may need to add a few minutes to the baking time. You will know when it’s ready when the cheese is melted and bubbling.
See how to make this Penne Pasta Bake here
More comforting pasta recipes
One Pot Ground Beef Stroganoff
Creamy Tomato Tortellini with Chicken and Bacon
One Pan Pasta with Bacon and Peas
Sloppy Joe Mac n Cheese
Cheesy Baked Cajun Pasta
Tools Used to Make this Penne Pasta Bake
You need a large skillet, and this is a great nonstick option. I also always love using a good cast iron skillet as well.
A good pasta pot is a great investment for your kitchen if you love making pasta.
You’ll also need a 2 quart baking dish for baking the pasta.
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Penne Pasta Bake
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 55 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
Pure comfort food, this Penne Pasta Bake has a meaty, creamy sauce and lots and lots of cheese. It is perfect for a busy night, and is perfect for feeding a crowd.
Ingredients
- 8 oz penne pasta
- ½ lb ground beef
- ½ medium onion, chopped
- 1 (24-oz) jar marinara sauce
- ½ cup sour cream
- 6 oz sliced Provolone
- 4 oz shredded or sliced Mozzarella
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan
- chopped parsley
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown the ground beef. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the spaghetti sauce and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the sour cream. Add the drained pasta and stir to coat.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a 2 quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour half of the pasta into the baking dish. Top with half of the Provolone and half of the Mozzarella. Pour the remaining pasta on top and top with the remaining Provolone and Mozzarella, and sprinkle the Parmesan on top.
- Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.
Recipe Notes:
Adapted from allrecipes.com
Nutrition information provided as an estimate only. Various brands and products can change the counts. Any nutritional information should only be used as a general guideline.
Nutrition
- Calories: 492
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 940 mg
- Fat: 24 g
- Saturated Fat: 12 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 42 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 29 g
- Cholesterol: 67 mg
Keywords: baked pasta, pasta bake
Colleen @ What's Baking in the Barbershop?! says
I can see why this dish pleases everyone – it looks great!!
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness says
Love how easy this penne is! AND all that cheeseeeee…I would do anything for that cheese!
Cheryl Illinois says
Please re-consider being a short order cook for your son. My Mom would have been but dad forbid it and to this day there are foods I was forced to eat that I still HATE!! I would insist that he try everything that is put in front of him but if he REALLY doesn’t like it make a grilled cheese on ww bread and some tomato soup. Make sure he takes a vitamin supplement. Continue to offer him new tasty things that he MUST taste but then give him the same thing (grilled cheese etc) every time and eventually he may start eating other things as grilled cheese will cease to thrill him. Worth a try.
Chels R. says
This looks so much like the one we make, which is also from Allrecipes (love that site) and is fantastic! I’m kind of drooling over your baking dish 😉
Are kids sound like opposites. Grace and Eden are fantastic eaters, but Christian…oh my! That kid pushes us to our limits at any meal time. Last night, he wouldn’t even touch our dinner until he had Josh’s fork. And then, happy as a clam picking up pieces of enchilada and the heavens rejoiced and the angels sung because there wasn’t anymore screaming at our table, lol!
Elizabeth says
What a great recipe for a go to dish. It’s funny, our 11 month old eats more than our 3 year old. I think you’re striking the right balance with this dish by offering something that you know your children will like, but at the same time something your whole family can eat and enjoy.
We also eat as a family and will not make something additional for just the 3 year old. It just simply cannot be done. That being said, we don’t require her to eat anything. We fill up her plate with both things that we know she will eat and like and some new things. If she tries the new things great. If she only eats the things we know she likes, that’s fine too. I hate to make dinner time a struggle by requiring a bite of something. Everyone ends up the loser. However, if she finishes all of her peas and wants more before trying other things I say that I’m happy to give her more peas, but she needs to try a bite of “X”. She usually does and then she gets more peas. But, if she’d rather not have the bite then that’s fine too. But, I’m not making another meal in addition to the one I already did.
Deborah says
This is exactly what we do! I always have at least 3 choices on their plate, (what I made for dinner plus side dishes) so there is always *something* there that they will eat.
Sasha says
I make this dish all the time too. Baked pasta is just irresistible 🙂
Joel A. says
I love pasta especially when it’s loaded with meat and cheese cheese cheese and more cheese.
Averie @ Averie Cooks says
Hello gorgeousness! Pinned 🙂
Jennifer @ Mother Thyme says
I feel the same way. I struggle everyday with two little picky eaters too, but I know they would LOVE this!
Anna @ Garnish with Lemon says
My picky eater son is slowly branching out to new things, but it’s been 8 years of hard work. Can’t beat a recipe that makes the whole crew happy!
bev @ bevcooks says
I wish my face was living inside that right now.
Chelsea @ Gal on a Mission says
Looks so good, Deborah! I love baked pasta dishes because they are so easy and absolutely delicious! I want this for dinner!!
Pinned! 🙂
Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking says
Holy cheesy, mouthwatering goodness! I want all of that on my plate, like, right now.
Joanne says
I can definitely see this baked penne being a major crowd pleaser!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
Oh wow, this looks like pure bliss! So comforting, just what I need on these cold nights 🙂
ritika says
Heya hi..wot cn v use instead of beef..
If i hv make it for a vegetarian person..
Deborah says
You could just leave the meat out to make it vegetarian.
linda says
as a single mom of two boys – i didnt fix foods that they didnt like – there are plenty of choices – i still have deep seeded hatred for a step father and mother who made dinner time just plain miserable – you had to eat everything on your plate – good gawd – you wonder why there is obesity –
Deborah says
I definitely don’t make them eat everything on their plates. 🙂 But if I were only to make them what they would eat, I’d be making 3 different dinners each night, or just serving up chicken nuggets at every meal haha. That’s why I love this recipe – it’s one of the few that all 3 kids will eat!
Cindy says
Does anyone know if this can be made ahead of time and put in the freezer?
Deborah says
I haven’t tried it, but I would guess that it would work well as a freezer meal. Let me know if you do try it!
Himalayan says
This looks super tasty. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Leilani says
Hi, this looks delicious! I think part of the recipe was deleted though…
Deborah says
Thank you so much for pointing that out! I have no idea what happened, but it has been fixed. 🙂
Jessica says
Wheres the recipe? I’m going crazy looking for it, help!!!
Deborah says
I’m so sorry – there was a widespread problem and sites were messed up. It is there now!
Laura Marsh says
This was great! I am on my second time to make this. We put it in 8 small baking dishes and baked it each night. Awesome!! Thanks for great food for working people.
Rosa says
This was so yummy and easy to make! My picky 2 year old gobbled it all up which he rarely does! Thank you for this quick easy recipe to help out a tired and uninspired mom 🙂
★★★★★
Deborah says
Yay! So glad I could be of help!
Christine says
I thought it was a little dry. I love cheese but that’s all I tasted. My family wasn’t impressed either.
Marie says
It was kind of bland. I’m trying to think of a way to add some sort of spice to make it have some flavor.
★★★
Fran from Indy says
My family loved this ❤️ easy and tasty 😍
★★★★★
Nick Vannett says
I also have picky eaters and this has now become our go to as well! Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Priscilla Liu says
Just made this for the family and they love it!
Did it without Provolone, but was cheesy enough with just mozzarella & parmesan. Also substituted sour cream with cooking cream.
★★★★★
Decca Smith says
my family and I loved this recipe. My dad is Italian he was brought up on Baked Ziti. He really liked this. Thank you
★★★★★
Shandell says
I made this last night for 5 adults and everyone LOVED it! Plus there was plenty for leftovers!!!!!
★★★★★
Samantha says
I added a layer of broccoli… & Mushrooms, after cooking beef, w/onion, after draining
I used Mexican Cheese to Provolone.
Penne was vegetable.
This recipe is delicious 😋😋😋😋😋
I’m always trying to get fresh idea’s… THIS rates my family Cook Book!!! Yummy
Miss B says
Too much cheese, not enough sauce, needs 1-2 cloves of garlic cooked with the onion and season the beef with salt and pepper. With those modifications and adding a little Italian seasoning to the beef, then it was 5 stars! BTW – I had to add at least 12 more ounces of sauce to the onion, garlic and beef mixture, otherwise the pasta bake is way too dry with the amount of sauce called for.
Briana Bujanowski says
I ran across this recipe and I decided to make this for dinner last night for me and my family. It turned out AMAZING and everyone loved it! I will definitely be making this again! Thank you for the delicious recipe!
AT says
Honestly this was pretty bland. I am a die hard pasta fan and I didn’t find this to be savoury in any way. Maybe adding bell peppers and zucchini would make it taste more flavourful. Otherwise its just has a saturated meat taste. Its a shame cause visually it looked delicious but ended up being meh. Won’t be making again.
★★★
Lanie Abejero says
I loved it! Thank you
★★★★★
Chris says
We used the general recipe, I had my daughter cook mild Italian sausage instead of beef. She added onion, and mushrooms. Once the sauce was in, we added a can of sliced black olives, 2 Tablespoons fresh basil, and 8 oz of ricotta cheese instead of Sour cream. We finished putting it together like it says and it turned out delicious!