Make this easy dinner recipe…Lasagna Bake with Penne Pasta. Dinner can be ready and on the table in 30 minutes. Easier than a traditional Lasagna Recipe.
PASTA LASAGNA BAKE WITH PENNE PASTA
One thing I love is an easy dinner recipe. When you have a family, things can get really busy. Sometimes I don’t have a lot of time to make dinner for the family and I need something that is quick and easy…but delicious. This Lasagna Bake with Penne Pasta is a simple recipe you can make in 30 minutes or less.
BAKED PASTA LASAGNA
My family loves Baked Pasta Lasagna…and even though Lasagna is pretty simple to make, sometimes you want to make something even more simple! LOL! We had Lasagna on the menu plan one night. After a busy day I got everything out to start dinner and realized I had forgotten to get some Lasagna Noodles. I did have some Penne noodles on hand so I modified my easy Lasagna Recipe a bit to make this quick and easy Lasagna Bake.
To my surprise, the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. They said they liked it even better than our usual Lasagna casserole recipe. Well…what do you know…I guess this Lasagna Bake will be making it’s way into our family’s recipe rotation.
WHAT NOODLES CAN YOU USE FOR LASAGNA BAKE?
You can use a few different types of pasta noodles for this lasagna bake. We like to use penne pasta. But you can use elbow macaroni, rigatoni noodles, rotini noodles or even regular lasagna noodles.
DO YOU BAKE LASAGNA COVERED OR UNCOVERED?
If you bake lasagna uncovered, the oven heat will quickly dry out your lasagna noodles, no matter how much sauce you’ve added. Make sure to always add a layer of aluminum tin foil over your baking dish, which will seal the moisture inside the baking pan while still allowing the dish to cook properly. If you want it a little crispy, just pull the foil off the last few minutes of baking.
CAN YOU FREEZE PASTA LASAGNA?
Yes! Lasagna freezes and reheats really well which makes it a great freezer meal. I love to double the recipe and make an extra pan of lasagna bake and store it in the freezer to pull out on a busy night! Because the flavors are given more time to meld together, reheated lasagna tastes delicious the second time around!
HOW DO YOU REHEAT BAKED LASAGNA?
If you are pulling the lasagna from the fridge to reheat let it sit on the counter while the oven preheats to 350 degrees and then bake the lasagna covered with foil for 30 minutes until it’s hot and bubbly throughout. Lasagna can also be reheated in the microwave if you are in a hurry!
If the Lasagna Bake has been in the freezer, you will need to let it sit out to thaw for an hour or two before placing the covered casserole dish into a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes.
COOKING SUPPLIES TO MAKE LASAGNA BAKE
- Stainless steel skillet
- Pasta Strainer
- Clip-On Pot Strainer
- Wooden Utensils
- Stainless Steel Pasta Server
- Rotary Parmesan Cheese Grater (restaurant style)
- Casserole baking dish
- Baking Pan
- aluminum foil
HOW TO MAKE PASTA LASAGNA BAKE
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 (12 ounce) package dry penne pasta
- 1-2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef or mild Italian sausage (or ground turkey if preferred)
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 (15 ounce) can tomato or marinara sauce
- ½ tsp. oregano
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with garlic
- (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or cheddar cheese)
- 1 cup Italian cheese blend
- salt and pepper (optional)
- fresh basil (optional)
- parsley (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
- Add pasta and cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until al dente; drain and set aside in a bowl. (If you want a softer noodle cook for the longer time).
- Heat oil in a deep, large skillet. Place sausage, onion and minced garlic cloves in the skillet and cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain excess fat.
- Stir in tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and oregano.
- Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Toss with cooked pasta, and place in a 9×13 inch baking dish.
- Sprinkle top of the mixture with mozzarella and italian cheese blend.
- Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted. (Cover with foil if you don’t want some noodles on the top to be hardened).
- Remove from oven. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley and fresh basil if desired.
BAKED PENNE PASTA
Go ahead and try it out for yourself. Feel free to make any adjustments to the spices so that it fits your family’s tastes. You can always change up the cheese blends, add some parmesan cheese, throw in some vegetables such as spinach or mushrooms, or add more spices.
Lasagna Bake with Penne Pasta
Make this easy dinner recipe...Lasagna Bake with Penne Pasta. Dinner can be ready and on the table in 30 minutes. Easier than a traditional Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 12 oz. penne pasta
- 1-2 tsp olive oil
- 1 pound mild Italian sausage or ground beef (or ground turkey if preferred)
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 15 oz. tomato sauce
- 1 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes with garlic
- 1 6 oz. tomato paste
- ½ tsp. oregano
- 1 tsp italian seasoning
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese or cottage cheese
- 1 cup italian cheese blend
- 1/2 c cup ricotta cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- fresh basil optional
- parsley optional
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
-
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
-
Add pasta and cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until al dente; drain. (If you want a softer noodle cook for the longer time).
-
Heat oil in a large, deep skillet. Place sausage, onion and garlic in the skillet and cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain excess fat.
-
Stir in tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, diced tomatoes, tomato paste and oregano.
-
Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-
Toss with cooked pasta, and place in a 9×13 inch baking dish.
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Sprinkle top with mozzarella and italian cheese blend.
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Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted. (Cover with foil if you don’t want some noodles on the top to be hardened).
-
Remove from oven. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley and fresh basil if desired.
MORE PASTA RECIPES
Sharing some more of our favorite pasta recipes below:
- Italian Macaroni and Cheese
- Spinach Artichoke Ravioli
- Crockpot Mac and Cheese
- Mac and Cheese Kielbasa
- Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Bang Bang Shrimp Pasta
- Spaghetti Carbonara
- Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo
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oh God lasagna. perfectttttt!!!
Great recipe for lasagna. I will try this at home today. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Freya
Thank you!
This looks delicious! In the recipe it says to use ricotta cheese. When do you put that into the food? Do you mix it in with the noodles or put it on top with the other cheeses? Thanks!
Thank you for making me aware of this mistake. You will mix it in with the sauce and seasonings. I fixed the recipe.
Thx so much for this recipe, it was just perfect for what I wanted to make since I wanted to have lasagna taste but not all the hassel & also had penne instead of lasagna noodles or rigatoni. I made it added chopped peppers & more spices to meat sauce & added cream cheese mixed with the mozzarella with beaten eggs to help hold together and put in middle of half of the layered pasta & meat sauce mix & added lots of mozzarella with some mix of other cheeses on top & it was delicious!! It was a winner, the family LOVED IT! So easy! Very satisfied! Genius ?
Yay! I am so glad to hear that! It really is so easy! I love all the additions you made to it! I wish my kids would eat peppers!!
I often run out of lasagna noodles as well, but I always have penne on hand, so I love this idea! I’m pinning it, my kids would love it!
Thanks Kara!
Oh yum!! My hubby and boys will love this!! Thanks for sharing!
Heather- I hope they enjoy this recipe!
LOVED this! The taste and flavor of lasagna but WAY easier! Thank you!
Becca- This is one of my go-to recipes on a busy night~
Becca- This is one of my go-to recipes on a busy night~
I added a container of cottage cheese for a more “lasagna” feel and it was awesome and so easy!
Carol- That sounds amazing. Trying that out the next time I make this!
Can everything be put together, then it refrigerated for a few hours before it is baked?
I’m interested in perhaps taking this to a friends house and baking it right before our dinner there.
I think that would be totally fine. I have frozen it before and it worked great.
I used low carb protein pasta, pasatta instead of toms and I used eatlean grated cheese and 5% fat mince beef and herbs ofcourse and it was lovely! Thankyou i will be making this regularly ❤️ and so quick and easy ❤️
Sounds delicious!
This is a good recipe, but, I am surprised that no one mentioned that your ricotta cheese measurement is way off, and that this ingredient is mentioned only on the actual recipe ‘card’. It’s not mentioned at all in the beginning write-up, in the first section of ingredients (the one with the fancy blue font), or in the instructions as to when it gets added. For beginning cooks or someone who has never made lasagna of any type, this could be confusing.
I used an entire 16 ounce bag of the only noodles I had and then used 20 ounces of a ‘cottage cheese’ that I made from tofu. If someone is using just 12 ounces of pasta, they would still need a 15-16 ounce tub of cottage or ricotta cheese if they are wanting something more like lasagna.
I also added a lot more herbs and spices than mentioned, mixed 1/2 cup each of the Italian Blend cheese and the mozzarella cheese into the whole thing, baked it for 15 minutes uncovered, pulled it out, topped it with the other 1/2 cup each of the Italian blend and mozzarella cheeses, and baked it for another 15 minutes.
It filled my 9X13 glass baking dish to the top but was definitely worth the extra time and ingredients!
Thank you for the suggestions.
Your Lasagna Bake is absolutely divine—the perfect balance of cheesy goodness and rich flavors!
Thank you so much! My entire family loves this recipe!
You’ve outdone yourself with this Lasagna Bake! It’s hearty, flavorful, and just the right amount of cheesy.
Jack- Thank you!
Grace- Thank you! It is a family favorite for sure!