This Rigatoni Pasta Bake is a hearty and comforting casserole made up meat sauce, rigatoni pasta and cheese! Meal prep and freezer friendly ground beef casserole.
Table of Contents
I shared this recipe first on Spend With Pennies.
I know we’ve all been there.
It’s 4:59pm, you have a 1 year old on one hip and you’re wondering what to make with the ground beef you took out that can be done with your one remaining hand.
The good news? It doesn’t have to be this way.
The answer? This Rigatoni Pasta Bake.
A pasta bake can really be made of any pasta, and pretty much any sauce, and pretty much any protein or veggies or none at all.
This pasta bake is your new favorite ground beef casserole — made up of rigatoni, cooked just until al dente, a hearty tomato-based meat sauce, and loads of cheese.
If you ask me, casseroles have gotten a bad rep, but in reality they’re a busy mom’s best friend.
You can get all the food groups in one simple dish: protein, veggies, dairy, carbs. You can load it up with all kinds of flavor and sneak in all kinds of things your kids wouldn’t normally want to eat.
You can make it when you have time, stash it in the fridge or freezer, and then pop it in the oven to be ready whenever you need it. So simple, so flavorful.
How to freeze this Rigatoni Pasta Bake:
Like pretty much all ground beef casserole recipes, this Rigatoni Pasta Bake freezes wonderfully.
Simply cover in plastic wrap and then tin foil (to prevent freezer burn), label with the name and date, and pop it in the freezer.
When you’re ready to cook, place in the oven at 350 degrees F, covered only with foil, and bake until heated through, about 50-60 minutes (this can take up to 90 minutes, but you will need to keep an eye on it to be sure). If your baking dish is not freezer-to-oven safe, leave the dish out on the counter for at least 1-2 hours before placing in the oven.
How to prep it ahead:
To make this Rigatoni Pasta Bake ahead, simply prepare up to the point of baking. Cover in plastic wrap or foil, or a lid if your baking dish has one that fits tightly.
Stick it in the fridge up to 3 days, then pour ½ cup water over the pasta (trust me on this one!) and bake as per the instructions.
The reason I pour the water over is because as the pasta sits in the refrigerator, it soaks up more of the moisture. Adding water to the dish and then covering will help the pasta and sauce stay moist, and will result in delicious, saucy pasta and not watery pasta as you might think.
Variations of this Rigatoni Pasta Bake:
- To make this pasta bake dairy-free: simply swap the cheese for dairy free cheese or leave it out, and be sure to double check the rest of your ingredients.
- To make this pasta bake gluten-free: swap the regular rigatoni for gluten-free rigatoni or penne, and double check all of your ingredients.
- To bump up the veggie content in this casserole: add extra vegetables to the meat sauce while cooking. Mushrooms, zucchini, peppers or even shredded carrots go well in here!
- To lighten it up: opt for ground turkey or Italian turkey sausage in place of the ground beef, and use low fat cheese. Also be sure to look for a pasta sauce with no added sugar and recognizable ingredients.
Rigatoni Pasta Bake
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 5 cups tomato pasta sauce roughly 2 jars
- 500 grams Rigatoni pasta about 1 lb
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, stir and cook ground beef and onion over medium heat until browned and onions have softened. Drain any juices released.
- Add the Italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper and cook 1 minute.
- Add the pasta sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat, for 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil over high heat. Add rigatoni, reduce heat to medium-high, and cook just until al dente (it will continue to cook slightly in the oven).
- Reserve ½ cup pasta water and drain pasta. Stir reserved pasta water into meat sauce.
- Combine pasta and pasta sauce in saucepan. Pour into a lightly greased 9×13″ or similar baking dish.
- Cover with a lightly greased piece of foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until heated through.
- **Optionally, cover and refrigerate up to 2 days. Bake at 350 degrees F until heated through, about 30-40 minutes.
- Uncover and sprinkle with cheese. Bake an additional 10 minutes, until cheese has started to brown.
Nutrition Information
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Tried this recipe?
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Melissa Hartley says
Can I use tomato sauce instead of sauce in a jar? I also want to add a can of diced tomatoes. I sure wish I had some Italian sausage to add, that would give it a lot of flavor.
Thank you.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Melissa! I haven’t tried this with just using tomato sauce. It is a lot thinner than jarred pasta sauce so the consistency may be off. Hope you enjoy it!
Nicolette S says
This was so easy and fun to make! I did use two jars of spaghetti sauce (24 oz each) and noticed in the comments after the fact that I was only supposed to us 40 oz so I used 8 oz’s too much but it still turned out fantastic! I did sprinkle a bit of Parmesan cheese on top with the rest of the cheese cause we all love cheese. All in all, this is definitely a repeat recipe for my family!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Nicolette! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this review!
Bailey says
I love this recipe!! One of my favorites to make and it’s super easy to feed all my roommates.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Bailey!
Deborah says
Deadly an very nice to make.
Vyckie says
This recipe is simple, fast and delicious! I did add a little Parmesan cheese. My husband said it was a “do over recipe” he enjoyed it so much!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Vyckie!
Rena Pichcuskie says
Update!!!
I said I added Sausage to my casserole forgot to state that I Pre- cooked it first!
I did not add raw sausage.
Thanks
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Rena!
Rena Pichcuskie says
Hi Ashley,
I made this but added hot and mild sausage to it. Also the only pasta noodles I had on hand was Large Shells. It came out phenomenal!!! Thank You 🤗
Rena
Debbie Haynes says
This recipe sounds delicious! When do you sprinkle the mozzarella on top of the casserole?
Ashley Fehr says
Thank you! Step 9, as listed in the instructions
Laura says
This is so good! This is actually my go-to when making food for a meal train. It makes SO much and I always get great feedback on it. I love that it’s SO easy!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Laura!
Kelsey says
This is probably a stupid question but if you are making this to freeze for later, do you prep up until the point of baking and then cover and freeze or partially bake and then cool/freeze?
Ashley Fehr says
I would prep up to the point of baking and then cover and freeze.
sapat says
This isn’t a 1 star comment at all. I just have a couple questions before I make it.
I’m going to try this tomorrow night. I’d like to use ricotta as well. Do you think it would work if I put 1/2 the sauce in the baking dish, add plops of ricotta on top then add the rest of the sauce and parm?
*US – 5 cups is 40oz
I buy the smaller 24 oz jar for hubby and me. I have 1 of those and as it happens, I have a 14oz jar of pizzeria style sauce (same brand) with almost identical ingredients This would be 38oz combined. Would being short 2oz be a big deal?
Thanks!
Ashley Fehr says
2 oz shouldn’t be a big deal! If it beings to look dry, a splash of water or broth around the edge of the pan as it bakes can do wonders. Your plan with the ricotta sounds great!
Trish H. says
Made this last night and it was a big hit! I took the advice of another and only used one 32 oz. jar of marinara sauce, and added one 8 oz can of Hunts no salt added tomato sauce, so as not to have half a jar of sauce leftover. I already had diced onions in the freezer so cooked those with the beef. And used about a 1/2 tsp of dried minced garlic instead of the fresh only because I wanted to spare washing a knife and a cutting board. I also totally forgot to save the 1/2 cup of pasta water. Whoops! I did not sub in any extra liquid and it was still delicious.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Trish! I’m glad you liked it!
Hunter says
If you make your own pasta from scratch would you still cook it or just let it cook while it bakes?
Ashley Fehr says
I haven’t tried this with fresh pasta unfortunately. It does cook pretty quickly so you may be able to just cook it right in the sauce.
K says
Made with Italian sausage and ground beef for my grandson & his family of 5. Was a big hit! Sprinkled with Parmesan on individual servings. Will definitely keep in rotation for company dinners.
Ashley Fehr says
I’m so glad you liked it!
Jeana says
What kind of pasta sauce? The canned plain stuff?
Ashley Fehr says
Regular tomato pasta sauce that you would use on pasta. Plain won’t add much flavor.
Can I use sausage instead of ground beef says
Can I use sausage instead of ground beef
Ashley Fehr says
Yes, definitely!
Diane says
This was great! Very easy and like others said, the ingredients are common things that I usually have on hand. And makes a ton! Great for crowd or to freeze half. Thank you for recipe Ashley!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Diane!