This veggie lover’s baked rigatoni is packed full of cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic, mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, and spinach. A hearty and delicious vegetarian dinner!
Today’s recipe is all about pasta, veggies, and cheese.
Three of my favorite things!
This veggie lover’s baked rigatoni is a vegetarian’s dream come true and one of the best pasta bakes.
It’s one of my favorite vegetarian recipes along with my Vegetarian Baked Ziti.
Packed full of tons of super fresh veggies, hearty rigatoni pasta, and topped with the perfect mixture of mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
While I love a good 10 minute cream cheese pasta, if you have a few extra minutes for dinner, I promise this crazy delicious pasta is worth the time! It’s one of our favorites along with this creamy mushroom pasta.
Just like my Roasted Vegetable Pasta, roasted veggies are the star of the show here.
As a vegetarian, I’ve eaten quite a bit of pasta in my day, but this one is possibly the best I’ve ever eaten!
Rigatoni is also a fun change from the pastas I regularly buy.
We love it in this spinach artichoke pasta bake too.
Made this for a friend who is a vegetarian and she loved, I have to admit I saved some for us and we loved it too!!! It is super easy to make and rated me “good buddy” points making her think that I spent a huge amount of time slaving over the kitchen, I call that a win win!!
Thanks for sharing the recipe, it is a keeper! – Lynn
This recipe is a favorite of ours now!
My mission was to create a deliciously cheesy pasta that was heavy on both flavor and veggies so that it didn’t sit as heavy as other pastas can on my stomach.
We’re going all in on this pasta with cherry tomatoes, onions, fresh garlic, mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini and spinach!
A true veggie lover’s perfect pasta recipe.
How to make veggie lover’s baked rigatoni
First, toss the cherry tomatoes with the olive oil and place in an even layer on a baking sheet.
Roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or until tomatoes start to wilt and burst.
This brings out such a lovely flavor in the tomatoes!
Cook your rigatoni according to instructions and set aside
In a large skillet, combine the onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, zucchini, garlic, dried basil, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Sautee the vegetables on medium high heat for 12-15 minutes, or until liquid is released and vegetables have started to cook down.
Add spinach and wilt for several minutes, then add the sauce and stir to combine.
Add the cooked tomatoes to the sauce with the other veggies and stir.
Mix the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses together in a bowl.
Add 1 cups of cheese mixture to the sauce/veggie skillet and stir.
Combine rigatoni with sauce/veggie skillet and transfer mixture to a 13 by 9 baking dish.
Top with remaining cheese, then bake until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown, serve and enjoy!
I love the texture and firmness of rigatoni, and it doesn’t get soggy quickly when baking, making it perfect for this pasta bake.
Beautifully symmetrical pasta with tons of veggies and crispy pieces of cheese on top.
It’s what my dinner time dreams are made of.
Freaking delish! We are new to the world of veggies but this dish here let’s me know what we’ve been missing! I followed the directions and it came out perfect!
I used a blend of mozzarella and parmesan on top of the pasta and cooked it just long enough for the cheese to melt and start to get a little browned on top.
Those browned bits will be your favorite bites!
If you want it more browned on top, simply broil the pasta for the last 1-3 minutes, watching closely.
Broiling is great for getting the cheese nice and browned and crispy.
I love this recipe! We are trying to eat vegetarian every other day. This meal is filling and satisfying. – Kasey
This makes a huge 13 by 9 casserole dish and we enjoyed the leftovers for several days.
Serve as is or with some red pepper flakes on top if you like a little heat!
You can’t go wrong with this delicious pasta.
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Veggie Lover's Baked Rigatoni
Veggie Lover's baked rigatoni packed full of delicious vegetables and two kinds of cheese. A delicious vegetarian pasta recipe!
Ingredients
- 5 oz container of fresh spinach (or 4-6 cups of loose spinach)
- 10 oz container of cherry tomatoes
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 portobello mushroom caps, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium zucchini, diced
- 9 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 lb rigatoni pasta
- 25 oz pasta sauce (I used mushroom flavor)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 ¾ cups grated parmesan cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Toss cherry tomatoes with ⅛ cup of olive oil and place in an even layer on a baking sheet
- Roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or until tomatoes start to wilt and burst
- Cook Rigatoni according to instructions and set aside
- In a large skillet, combine onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, zucchini, garlic, dried basil, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- Sautee on medium high heat for 12-15 minutes, or until liquid is released and vegetables have started to cook down
- Add spinach and wilt (2-3 minutes)
- Add sauce and stir well
- Add the cooked tomatoes to the sauce with the other veggies
- Mix the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses together in a bowl
- Add 1 cups of cheese mixture to the sauce/veggie skillet and stir
- Combine rigatoni with sauce/veggie skillet and transfer mixture to a 13 by 9 baking dish
- Top with remaining cheese
- Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 375Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 1283mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 6gSugar: 9gProtein: 19g
Cathy
Friday 18th of November 2022
I made this for a meal train for some new parents. It made more than what I needed for a 9x13 pan. I would use less pasta, I used 400g but would put less in next time. I had a small zucchini but it should really be a medium as the recipe suggests. I think it could use a bit of Italian seasoning. It was delicious as there was enough to make a small casserole dish as there was more than enough for the 9x13 pan. I would used regular button mushrooms instead of the portobello as they were expensive. I used a whole head of garlic, about 12 cloves. I would recommend this it is very hearty and was good for a cold winters night.
Pam
Saturday 12th of November 2022
Such delicious flavors! I did make a few changes . I didn't have cherry tomatoes so I guessed the amounts & roasted roma tomatoes and roasted garlic. I reduced the pasta amount to 10 ounces per other comments. I used 3 tsp dried Italian seasoning instead of the basil and I added a 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes. I made this ahead and refrigerated it. I cooked it at 350 for 45 minutes. My husband and I both give it 5 stars !!
Diane Hebel
Thursday 10th of November 2022
This was really tasty and filling! I left out the peppers and replaced them with chopped asparagus. Cut back on the garlic by two cloves. Used a Vodka Cream sauce and wow! My husband loved it. Will make again for sure!
Vada Meadows
Friday 14th of October 2022
This is genuinely the best rigatoni I’ve ever had in my life and I constantly go back to this whenever it’s cold outside or whenever I’m craving a hearty meal. Thanks for sharing such an amazing recipe!
Kelly
Sunday 9th of October 2022
Oh my goodness I've had this pin saved for a long time and finally made this pasta bake tonight and it was SO worth the wait! So so easy to make and my daughter loved it too, definitely going to make this again and again!