This hearty baked rigatoni recipe is fast, flavorful, and on the table in minutes.
With just a handful of ingredients this easy rigatoni recipe has a zesty beefy tomato sauce tossed with rigatoni, sprinkled with cheese and baked until golden and bubbly.
- Loads of savory Italian flavors and rich pasta sauce.
- It’s easy to prepare and with a few ingredients.
- Baking pasta is a perfect way to blend the flavors and creates a delicious cheesy crust.
- This recipe is a great way to stretch ground beef, and it’s versatile.
- Add extra veggies and sauce to stretch the meal (and your budget) even further!
What You’ll Need for Baked Rigatoni
Meat: Use lean ground beef (80/20) for a delicious meaty sauce in this baked rigatoni recipe.
Pasta: I love rigatoni for all that meaty sauce to cling to. Try other hearty pasta shapes like ziti, rotini, or penne.
Sauce: This shortcut sauce levels up a jar of your fave pasta sauce (we love this brand). You can replace it with homemade marinara sauce.
Cheese: This casserole is topped with grated mozzarella; feel free to add Parmesan cheese, use pre-shredded, or swap in your favorite Italian cheese blend.
Variations
- Meat: Change the flavor by using ground turkey or Italian sausage. Short on time? Toss in some mini pre-cooked meatballs in Step 4.
- Veggies: Stretch the meal further with veggies—try chopped mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, or diced tomatoes.
- Cheese: Other cheeses to try are provolone, Monterey Jack, or a Mexican blend. Creamy ricotta can be added to the Sauce in Step 4 for an extra rich and creamy sauce.
How to Make Baked Rigatoni
- Cook ground beef with onion and simmer with the sauce (recipe below).
- Stir cooked rigatoni into the meat sauce and transfer to a baking dish.
- Top with cheese and bake until bubbly.
Serve with garlic toast and a crispy salad, and dinner’s ready!
- Cook the pasta until al dente (firm), as it will cook more as it bakes.
- Veggies can be added; be sure to cook them first so they don’t make the rigatoni watery.
- Swap out the cheese for what you have on hand. Pre-shredded cheese works just fine in this recipe!
Keep leftover baked rigatoni covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and reheat portions in the microwave.
How to Make Ahead
- Prepare this rigatoni pasta bake up to 3 days in advance.
- To freeze whole, baked, and cooled rigatoni pasta, line the casserole dish with foil before baking. This makes it easy to lift out once frozen, so you can reuse the dish and enjoy a hassle-free meal prep.
- Wrap the frozen casserole with more foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in a casserole dish in the refrigerator overnight before baking.
More Baked Pasta Dishes You’ll Love
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Baked Rigatoni
Baked rigatoni with meat sauce and cheese is easy to make and the perfect crowd-pleaser.
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Preheat oven to 350℉. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
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In a large saucepan brown ground beef and onion over medium heat, breaking up the beef as it cooks. Drain any fat.
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Add Italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper and cook 1 minute.
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Add the pasta sauce and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Set aside.
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Meanwhile, add rigatoni to the boiling water, and cook just to al dente according to the package directions (it will continue to cook in the oven).
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Reserve ½ cup pasta water and drain. Stir pasta water into meat sauce.
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Combine pasta and pasta sauce in a saucepan. Lightly grease a 3-quart baking dish, and transfer the pasta mixture.
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Cover with a lightly greased piece of foil and bake at 350°F for 15 minutes or until heated through.
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Uncover and sprinkle with cheese. Bake an additional 10 minutes, until cheese has started to brown.
To make ahead, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Bake at 350°F until heated through, about 30-40 minutes.
Calories: 418 | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 1088mg | Potassium: 832mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 864IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 195mg | Iron: 4mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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