Meatball Pasta Bake

With mini meatballs tucked away in gooey cheese and saucy pasta this meatball pasta bake is an ultimate comfort food for any night of the week. Who doesn’t love a cheesy baked pasta with meatballs?

Do you like Instagram recipes? I always thought no one would ever make a recipe from a caption but that’s not true. I find that people actually save the recipes and make them. It blows my mind because I personally can’t imagine cooking from a caption—they’re so small. But maybe I’m just wrong?

Anyway, this recipe. Mini little meatballs are rolled and put on top of orecheitte and the entire thing is topped with cheese. It’s not baked for a super long time but it is so, so good. I love it so much.

I feel like I need to make more pasta bakes!!

How to Make a Meatball Pasta Bake:

1. Portion out the meatballs. Combine all the meatball ingredients and use a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon to portion out the meatballs.
2. Cook the meatballs. Brown the meatballs in a large skillet with a little bit of oil. Once they’re cooked remove them and set aside.
3. Warm up the sauce. Heat up your favorite jar of marinara with some créme fraîche.
4. Add the pasta. Once the pasta’s cooked, transfer it to the pan of sauce and stir to coat.
5. Add meatballs and cheese. Place the meatballs all over the pasta then top with more cheese than you think you need.
6. Bake! Let it bake up until the cheese is melted and bubbly. If you want some golden brown on there place it under the broiler for 1-2 minutes afterwards.

Ingredients for a Pasta Bake:

The great thing about a pasta bake is that you can switch up just a few ingredients to work with whatever you have in your pantry.

• The meat: I used mini meatballs here but you could also brown some Italian sausage. grilled chicken could also work if you had that.
• The sauce: Use whatever your favorite jar of sauce is, and doctor it up if needed. I added the créme fraîche because I like the extra bit of richness and tang it gives to the dish.
• The Pasta: I used an orecchiette pasta here but any short pasta will do. Anything from a penne to a rigatoni would work in this dish.
• The Cheese: I don’t think that anything besides mozzarella would work here because it’s so melty but if you wanted to you could use less mozzarella and finish it with burrata when it comes out of the oven.

Tips and Tricks:

• You can freeze this! Just make the dish up until it needs to go into the oven. Transfer it to a freezer and oven safe pan and let cool before topping with the cheese and transferring it to the freezer. When you go to bake just be prepared to bake it for around 45 minutes to an hour for it to cook through from frozen.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe

Meatball Pasta Bake Recipe

Author: Adrianna Adarme

Meatball pasta bake is one of those ultimate comforting dishes. Mini meatballs tucked away in gooey cheese and saucy pasta make this a comforting weeknight meal.

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Pasta Bake

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 40 mins

Serving Size: 5 Servings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons Italian bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 pound ground beef (90%/10%)
• 1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan
• 1/4 yellow onion or red onion grated
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 large egg beaten
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 23-ounce jar of marinara or homemade
• 4 ounces crème fraîche
• 1 pound of pasta I used orecchiette, cooked to al dente
• 1 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs and milk. Allow to soak for 5 minutes. Add the ground beef, Parmesan, onion, garlic, dried oregano, salt, crushed red pepper and egg.
• Mix until combined.
• Using a tablespoon (or small cookie scoop—my favorite tool for meatballs), scoop out the meat mixture, forming meatballs using your palms. Repeat until you’ve worked through all of the meatball mixture.
• In a medium skillet, set over medium heat, add the oil. When hot, cook the meatballs for 2 to 3 minutes, flipping them and cooking on the opposite side for an additional 4 minutes. Transfer the meatballs to a bowl. Pour the marinara into the skillet, along with the crème fraîche and stir until smooth. Cook until warmed, about 5 to 7 minutes, seasoning the marinara sauce to your liking (I added a bit of crushed red pepper and some additional salt).
• To a large baking dish, add the cooked pasta, marinara sauce and toss until combined. Add meatballs atop the pasta and sprinkle with the mozzarella. Transfer to the oven to bake for 8 to 12 minutes, until cheese is nice and melty. Garnish with Italian parsley, if you like.

Notes

Tips:

• You can freeze this! Just make the dish up until it needs to go into the oven. Transfer it to a freezer and oven safe pan and let cool before topping with the cheese and transferring it to the freezer. When you go to bake just be prepared to bake it for around 45 minutes to an hour for it to cook through from frozen.

Equipment:

Le Creuset Braiser | Food Processor | Chef's Knife

Nutrition

Serving: 4g | Calories: 405kcal (20%) | Carbohydrates: 5g (2%) | Protein: 23g (46%) | Fat: 32g (49%) | Saturated Fat: 14g (88%) | Cholesterol: 99mg (33%) | Sodium: 663mg (29%) | Potassium: 323mg (9%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 2g (2%) | Vitamin A: 390IU (8%) | Vitamin C: 1mg (1%) | Calcium: 200mg (20%) | Iron: 2mg (11%)

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Looking for more pasta recipes? Here are some of my favorites:

• One Pot Summer Pasta
• Ramp Pasta
• Lasagna Roll Ups
• Payday Lobster Cherry Tomato Pasta