An easy recipe for Meatball Pasta Bake. Family comfort food at it’s best and ready in 30 minutes!
A pasta bake has to be the ultimate comfort food and a great way to feed a family that’s cheap, simple and kid-friendly too.
Apart from cooking the pasta on the hob, the rest of the cooking is all done in the oven, making it a brilliant hands-free recipe that let’s you get on with your evening.
Ideal for busy mid-week dinners!
The first step is to add meatballs to an oven dish and bake for 15 minutes.
I used shop bought meatballs to make this recipe as quick and easy as possible.
But you can of course use homemade meatballs too, whichever works best for you.
Whilst the meatballs are cooking, add pasta to a pot of boiling water on the hob and cook according to the package instructions, less one or two minutes.
It’s best to undercook the pasta a little so that it’s al dente as it will cook a bit more when added to the other ingredients in the oven.
The cooked pasta then gets added to the dish with the meatballs.
Make a cheat’s marinara sauce with passata, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika and oregano.
Chuck all of those ingredients straight into the oven dish and mix well.
Finish off with grated cheese. I use a mix of grated cheddar and grated mozarella but feel free to use your favourite cheese combo!
Put this back into the oven for 12-15 minutes until bubbling and golden.
Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve up to your hungry brood!
I serve this with a portion of veggies such as peas (easy to cook from frozen in the microwave!) and some garlic bread.
If you liked this recipe you may also enjoy my Bolognese Pasta Bake
Easy Meatball Pasta Bake
Prep Time: 3 minutes- Cook Time: 27 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 1x
Category: Dinner
Cuisine: Comfort Food
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
An easy recipe for Meatball Pasta Bake. Family comfort food at it’s best and ready in 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 340g meatballs
- 300g pasta
- 500g passata
- 75ml hot beef stock
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 50g grated cheddar
- 50g grated mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c fan.
- Add the meatballs to an oven dish and cook for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime cook the pasta on the hob according to package instructions, less 1 or 2 minutes. It’s best to cook the pasta al dente as it will continue to cook when it goes in the oven.
- Once cooked, drain the pasta and remove the meatballs from the oven.
- Add the pasta to the meatballs along with the passata, hot beef stock, Worcestershire Sauce, smoked paprika and oregano.
- Add in about a quarter of the grated cheddar and mozzarella and mix well.
- Top with the remaining grated cheddar and mozzarella and return to the oven for 12-15 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and golden.
- Serve with a portion of veggies and garlic bread.
Notes
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up the 2 days and reheated in the microwave.
Leftovers can also be frozen. Defrost in the fridge overnight and heat thoroughly before eating.
Nat says
Hi! Do you think this recipe would work using your hidden veg sauce ? the only reason I ask is i know the kids really love that sauce and I know they would be more likely to eat it.
★★★★★
Vicky says
Absolutely!! What a great idea,please let us know how it goes.
Shannon Saunders. says
Really good! This went down very well in Saunders household last night.
★★★★
Vicky says
Fantastic! thank you for taking the time to come back to us.