Pasta bake is one of those ideal dinner ideas when you don’t know what else to make. And there’s a reason that pasta bakes are so popular. They’re quick to throw together, generally quite budget-friendly and always ridiculously tasty. Scoop your ladle into the tray to crack through the crisp cheesy topping, revealing delicate pasta and your favourite flavours. Sound pretty good? Here are some pasta bake recipes to get you started!
Pasta bake is easy to cook and even easier to clean up, making it a go-to delicious midweek meal. It’s also a crowd-pleaser for any occasion. It’s very versatile, with plenty of different types of pasta bakes to cater to just about all tastes. From classic tuna mornay and macaroni cheese, to pesto chicken or fetta and capsicum, this collection has the best pasta bake dishes.
Should you boil pasta before making these pasta bake recipes?
For most recipes, you need to cook your pasta in boiling water and drain it before adding it to the pasta bake. But it’s important not to overcook it, as the pasta will be cooked more in the oven. So for pasta bake recipes, you’ll usually cook it for slightly less time than you would if you were eating it straight away. For example, Julie Goodwin says to “cook pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water until just tender” in her pastitsio recipe. Whereas our ricotta and spinach pasta shell bake says to boil the pasta for 3 minutes first.
It does vary depending on the recipe though, so make sure you follow the method to get the best results – whether you like your pasta bakes creamy with lots of cheese or hearty with tomato and garlic.
Watch how to cook pasta perfectly

Pumpkin & sage gnocchi pasta bake

Tuna mornay recipe

Ricotta and spinach pasta shell bake

Buttermilk mac ‘n’ cheese

Creamy baked shell pasta

Chicken carbonara pasta bake

Leek and broccoli tuna pasta bake

Chicken and pesto pasta bake

Julie Goodwin’s pastitsio

Cauliflower, bacon and cheese pasta bake

Chicken and corn pasta bake

Pumpkin, ricotta and goat’s cheese lasagne

Creamy bolognese pasta bake

Chilli tuna pasta bake

Creamy tuna pasta bake

Salmon and broccoli pasta bake

Crunchy macaroni and cheese

Pasta al forno – Italian sausage pasta bake


Cannelloni straight-up


Cheesy-vegie pasta bake

Cauliflower and cheese pasta bake

Fetta and capsicum pasta bake

Chicken and risoni pasta bake

Spicy tuna pasta bake

Chicken, mushroom and asparagus creamy pasta bake

Chicken and pumpkin pasta bake

Salmon and spinach pasta bake

