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!
This veggie packed rigatoni recipe is a family favorite!
This veggie lover’s baked rigatoni has been a reader favorite over the years and is the best vegetable pasta bake. It’s been made by thousands of readers and become a family favorite pasta recipe.
Packed full of tons of fresh veggies, hearty rigatoni pasta, and topped with the perfect mixture of mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Read the reviews and you will be convinced!
As a vegetarian, I’ve eaten quite a bit of pasta in my day, but this is one of the best I’ve ever eaten!
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
Step 1: Toss the cherry tomatoes with the olive oil and place them in an even layer on a baking sheet. Roast the tomatoes at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or until they start to wilt and burst. This brings out such a lovely flavor in the tomatoes!
Step 2: Cook your rigatoni according to instructions and set aside. While the rigatoni is cooking, start cooking your vegetables. In a large skillet, combine the onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, zucchini, garlic, dried basil, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Step 3: Sautee the vegetables on medium high heat for 12-15 minutes, or until the liquid is released and vegetables have started to cook down. Add the spinach and wilt for several minutes, continuing to stir.
Step 4: Add the pasta sauce and stir to combine it with the vegetables. We like to use Raos brand for the best flavor.
Step 5: 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 cup of the cheese mixture to the veggie pasta sauce and stir it up.
Step 6: Combine the cooked rigatoni noodles with the veggie pasta sauce and transfer the mixture to a greased 13 by 9 baking dish.
Step 7: Top the pasta with the remaining parmesan and mozzarella 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.
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.
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 rigatoni recipe.
I love pasta and when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it. I cooked it yesterday. The recipe is easy to follow and it doesn’t take a long time to cook.The only change I did was adding chicken to the pasta, my son likes it. It was DELICIOUS! Yummy recipe. “DELICIOSO” I will continue to cook it and I going to pass it to a friend who is vegetarian.Thank you. Happy New Year!
This is really good. Makes a lot of food. I didn’t cook the whole box of pasta as it seemed just too much. Glad I didn’t. There are just 2 of us so divided it and froze other half.
Y’all this is sooooooooooooooo freakin’ yummy!!! I was skeptical because I’m new to cooking vegetarian meals. I may have added more cheese than I should have lol but I’m sure it’s just as flavorful with less cheese. I’m thinking about add squash the next time.
I just made this for my family, and they loved it! My husband is always skeptical of dishes with no meat, but he loved it!!! Along with my picky 5 year old and 17 month old. Thank you so much for this recipe! I’m also not the best at cooking, but this meal was so easy! I may have put 1/2 of the spinach in that you called for, but it was just to ensure my 5 yr old would eat- next time I’ll include it all.
I made this yesterday for one of our “meat free” days. We’re newbies to the meat free cult, so I got the heavy eye roll from the family when I told what was for dinner. Long story short, there was none left at the end of the meal and they kept talking about it all night! Thanks for a great recipe (no changes made and none necessary, great as it is) I look forward to trying many more of your recipes in the near future.
This looks delicious! I am wanting to make this for my neighbor who is having a baby in a few weeks but will freeze it and give it to her as we are moving out of state soon. Should I bake it first and then freeze it?
This was absolutely delicious! Omg, we loved it so much. I left out the onion and only used 5 cloves of garlic. I loved how much cheese there was in this dish. Can’t wait to make this again.
We had family over for dinner and I made this dish and everyone loved it. I made a few substitutions based on a previous review. I roasted all of the veggies (except I Sautéed the spinach ) I used penne & Rao’s sauce bc that’s what I had and also used less salt, extra pepper, added paprika and chili powder for more flavor. overall this recipe was fantastic and even better the next day. We will make this on rotation for an easy dinner meal. extra bonus because I am not one to cook.
I love pasta and when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it. I cooked it yesterday. The recipe is easy to follow and it doesn’t take a long time to cook.The only change I did was adding chicken to the pasta, my son likes it. It was DELICIOUS! Yummy recipe. “DELICIOSO” I will continue to cook it and I going to pass it to a friend who is vegetarian.Thank you. Happy New Year!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Norman!
This is really good. Makes a lot of food. I didn’t cook the whole box of pasta as it seemed just too much. Glad I didn’t. There are just 2 of us so divided it and froze other half.
@Gayle, did this freeze okay?
@Heather, ive frozen this many times! It freezes great
@HeatherV, I want to freeze this and bring it to a friend-do you assemble it and then freeze, or do you cook it before freezing?
I think you could assemble, freeze, then when you go to bake it add the cheese on top.
@HeatherV, hi, I am wondering how long to bake after freezing?? Do you thaw to room temp? Thanks!
Made this tonight…so delish! Gonna double zucchini, spinach and green bell pepper for extra yumminess! Thanks for sharing
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Extra veggies always delicious!
Y’all this is sooooooooooooooo freakin’ yummy!!! I was skeptical because I’m new to cooking vegetarian meals. I may have added more cheese than I should have lol but I’m sure it’s just as flavorful with less cheese. I’m thinking about add squash the next time.
I just made this for my family, and they loved it! My husband is always skeptical of dishes with no meat, but he loved it!!! Along with my picky 5 year old and 17 month old. Thank you so much for this recipe! I’m also not the best at cooking, but this meal was so easy! I may have put 1/2 of the spinach in that you called for, but it was just to ensure my 5 yr old would eat- next time I’ll include it all.
Thanks for the lovely review Courtney! I’m so glad your family all enjoyed the recipe 🙂
I made this tonight and we loved it! I will definitely make this again and pass the recipe to family/friends!
I made this yesterday for one of our “meat free” days. We’re newbies to the meat free cult, so I got the heavy eye roll from the family when I told what was for dinner. Long story short, there was none left at the end of the meal and they kept talking about it all night! Thanks for a great recipe (no changes made and none necessary, great as it is) I look forward to trying many more of your recipes in the near future.
Thanks so much Kim, so glad you and your family enjoyed the recipe!
This looks delicious! I am wanting to make this for my neighbor who is having a baby in a few weeks but will freeze it and give it to her as we are moving out of state soon. Should I bake it first and then freeze it?
I think that would work just fine!
This was absolutely delicious! Omg, we loved it so much. I left out the onion and only used 5 cloves of garlic. I loved how much cheese there was in this dish. Can’t wait to make this again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Crissy!
We had family over for dinner and I made this dish and everyone loved it. I made a few substitutions based on a previous review. I roasted all of the veggies (except I Sautéed the spinach ) I used penne & Rao’s sauce bc that’s what I had and also used less salt, extra pepper, added paprika and chili powder for more flavor. overall this recipe was fantastic and even better the next day. We will make this on rotation for an easy dinner meal. extra bonus because I am not one to cook.