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One Pan Baked Cheesy Basil Pasta. The perfect dish for nights when you’re craving a slow-baked pasta, but also need something simple and easy to prepare. Dry pasta tossed with olive oil, herbs, and topped with lots of bell peppers and cheese…so delicious! The secret to this one-pan pasta? Cooking the pasta in water right in the baking dish. No boiling water, no extra pans! This dish is great to serve any night of the week. Fancy enough for Friday night, but easy enough for any ole’ weeknight. It’s delicious and looks pretty on any table. Bonus…everyone LOVES a GOOD baked pasta.
Tonight feels like we could all use a good pasta dish to get us through until Friday night. I know it’s only Thursday, but it’s already been such a full week, and this is my comfort food. I’ve been looking forward to sharing this recipe with you guys for quite some time, and today’s the day. Mainly because I love it and am excited for you to try it out. But also selfishly, because I now get to make this again today for IG stories.
SO EXCITED for tonight’s dinner. This is one of my all-time favorite recipes.
Jumping right into things today because, well, we have pasta to mix up and enjoy!
The Inspiration.
The reason I love this recipe so much is simple, I drew inspiration from my dad’s Friday Night pasta that he’d often make when I was a kid. We’d call it Friday Night Pasta Dish because he’d make it almost every Friday night. It was, and still is, one of my mom’s and my favorite dishes.
This is Dad’s pasta, just made in a much simpler way and with a shorter cut of pasta. And you guys, it’s so delicious. My dad even said that he likes this variation better. I think it’s the short-cut pasta that he loves. Me personally? I’m all about the cheesy peppers on top…best part of this dish.
Here are the details.
This One Pan Baked Cheesy Basil Pasta is the perfect dish for when you are busy and have practically zero time to put any effort into dinner. Kind of what I call the effortless dinner.
So…you ready for this? Add every single ingredient to a large baking dish (the deeper the better). Add water, then cover the dish and bake. No boiling water, no pots, nothing fancy at all.
Once everything is mixed up in the baking dish, simply add the water right into the dish. I know it may seem odd, but trust me, it works. Just cover with foil and bake until that cheese is bubbly. Cooking the pasta together with the herby oil saves you from additional prep work and having to break out another pot. Not sure about you guys, but I’m all about fewer dishes.
So easy to create, and with such a DELICIOUS outcome.
A few notes.
First, you’ll want to use a shorter cut of pasta for this. Since we’re cooking the pasta all together in the baking dish, the short cut is able to cook more evenly. I love using a fun squiggly shape, but you can use any short-cut pasta you love!
Second, be sure to use a baking dish that’s large enough to fit all your ingredients. Since we’re tossing the pasta right into the baking dish, it’s easier if your dish is on the larger, deeper side. You will have less mess this way.
Also key? The sun-dried tomatoes. You’re going to use both the tomatoes and that oil left behind in the jar. Between the herbed oil and the sweet tomatoes, you’ll get so much flavor from this one ingredient.
And lastly, the cheese! My dad always used more mozzarella and parmesan cheese than you ever thought a pasta dish could have…but it’s essential to creating the dish. I used a combination of melty mozzarella, cheddar, and parmesan. ‘Tis a delicious combination and “classic” to what my dad would use when I was growing up. But feel free to use whatever cheese you have on hand.
All cheese is good cheese.
And lastly, the bell peppers. Oh, the peppers. They make this pasta dish really shine. My dad would pile them high on top of the cheese, then let them roast in the oven low and slow on top of the pasta. The outcome?
Thin slices of roasted bell peppers. A slight char on the edges are my personal favorite way to cook these. So delicious.
It’s going to feel like A LOT of peppers, but trust me here. The peppers will roast as the pasta cooks and they’ll slowly shrink down, slow roast, and become ridiculously delicious in the process.
As soon as you pull the pasta out, top with lots and lots of fresh basil…also very important. When the basil hits the hot pasta, you’ll immediately smell it and it is wonderful.
As mentioned above, I’m already so excited to recreate this today on Instagram. This is such a beloved pasta dish for our family. And the best part is just how easy it is to prepare. The prep time is very minimal and leaves you with zero extra dishes.
An hour after starting, you’ll have a gloriously cheesy baked dinner all ready. ‘Tis perfection.
Oh, and add lots of grated parmesan on top to finish!
Looking for other fun pasta dishes to make? Here are some favorites.
Creamy Bacon Tortellini with Charred Broccoli
One Pot Baked Spinach and Artichoke Mac and Cheese
One Pot Spicy Alla Vodka Pizza Pasta
Lastly, if you make this One Pan Baked Cheesy Basil Pasta be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
One Pan Baked Cheesy Basil Pasta
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 319 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes, oil reserved and drained
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried dill
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 pinch each kosher salt and black pepper
- 1/3 cup halved kalamata olives
- 2 tablespoons sliced pepperoncini (optional)
- 1 pound short cut pasta
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2-3 red bell peppers, very thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- fresh basil, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. 2. Drain the sun-dried tomato oil out into a 9×13 inch baking dish. Add the olive oil, basil, oregano, parsley, dill, and a pinch each of red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Toss in the chopped sun-dried tomatoes, olives, pepperoncini. Add the dry pasta and toss with the oil, making sure the pasta gets fully coated in oil and herbs. Pour over 2 1/2 cups water. Stir to combine. Push down on the pasta to submerge it. 3. Add the mozzarella and cheddar, then layer on the bell peppers and parmesan. It will seem like a lot of peppers, but they cook down in the oven. 4. Rub the underside of a piece of foil with oil. Tightly cover the baking dish with the foil, oiled side facing down. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from the oven and top with fresh basil.
4 stars for convenience and the idea, 3 stars for taste. I would recommend amping it up with broth instead of water and fresh herbs instead of dried. Makybe even add garlic but then we give up convenience! I didn’t have sundried tomatoes so I used a jar of artichokes and they added the depth/salt/oil needed. Agree with comments to go 3 cups of water as the tops that weren’t submerged are a bit raw but overall super pumped about the idea as a jumping off point and I love you TG!
Hey Sarah,
Sorry you did not love the recipe, let me know if I can help in anyway. xTieghan
My boyfriend and I made this together and it was the PERFECT Sunday dinner 🙂 thanks Tieghan!
Hey Sarah,
Thanks a bunch for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed! xTieghan
This was great! I did end up having to you use way more than 2.5 cups of water in order to submerge the noodles, but everything else I kept the same. Delicious!
Hey Liz,
I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed. Thanks so much for giving it a try. Have a great week! xTieghan
I’ve made this recipe twice…love the flavors..sundried tomatoes and red peppers are totally addictive. One problem: 1st time I made it according to directions, using a thick short pasta. Pasta on top never really got cooked through, even though I di try to submerge it. Second time I increased water to 3 cups and baked pasta, alone and covered for 20 minutes before adding toppings. Finished baking 25 more minutes. Again, delicious, but more like lasagna. Any suggestions? Should I pre cook pasta? If I do that, should I reduce water.
I appreciate any help. it’s really a spectacular dish…would love to get it right.
Hey Linda,
I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed. Thanks so much for giving it a try. Sorry I guess I am not sure what you are asking…it’s a pasta bake, so similar to lasagna. Have a great week! xTieghan
simple and oh so good.
Thanks so much!!
Hi Tieghan!
This recipe is awesome. I love it when recipes are so easy to put together mid week and only use one dish! Already made this twice… it’s that GOOD! Thanks fo sharing such a yummy recipe that I can have in my back pocket.
Hey Jacqui,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
I had asked earlier about the amount of oil to use, and you said from the jar, but what size jar did you use? I have a couple of different sizes.
Hey Tina,
I used an 8.5 ounce jar, but this recipe is really flexible, so a little more or less will not affect it:) I hope you love the dish! xTieghan
I made this tonight for dinner and it was delicious! I was concerned about using GF pasta after reading previous comments but decided to give it a try. I used Jovial brown rice fusilli pasta and increased the water to 3 1/2 cups – it was perfect! My husband suggested adding some artichokes next time.
Hey Wendy,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, it makes me so happy that it was enjoyed. Happy Friday! xTieghan
i really wanted to fully enjoy this but majority of the pasta was raw 🙁 i used a 9×13 dish and put 2 1/2 cups of water so i’m not sure what i did wrong …. other than that it was really delicious
So sorry Grace! Was there anything you may have adjusted? Was your pasta submerged in the water? Let me know how I can help! xTieghan
This recipe didn’t really work for me. I followed the instructions exactly but a lot of the pasta was uncooked and even the pasta that was cooked was dry. It had great flavour though and since I love pasta it was still pretty good 🙂
Hey Emily,
So sorry to hear this, let me know if I can help in anyway! xTieghan
I just made this for dinner and it was absolutely delicious! I saw that someone didn’t have success with gluten free pasta, I used Jovial GF fusilli and it worked perfectly with a minor adjustment. I cooked covered for 55 minutes and broiled uncovered for 10 minutes and it was perfect.
Hey Carrie,
Thanks a bunch for making this recipe, I am delighted it was enjoyed!! xTieghan
What a wonderful dish, reminds me of a dish I used to make for my family years ago. Love that this can be done in one pan. So flavorful and cheesy. Thanks for a fabulous recipe. Oh the leftovers are even better the next day:)
Hey Lynn,
Thanks a bunch for making this recipe, I am delighted it was enjoyed!! xTieghan
Made this tonight, it was delicious but I definitely wanted some garlic flavor in there. I’m garlicohilic. Will make again but with lots and lots of garlic. Thank you for the recipe!
Hey Casey,
I am so thrilled this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for giving it a try!! xTieghan
We made this for dinner tonight and it was outstanding! We served it with a mixed green salad on the side. Love having meatless entrees for a change and this one was super satisfying! Already looking forward to delicious leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Will definitely make this again!
Hey Mary Ellen,
I am so thrilled this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for giving it a try!! xTieghan
I’ve made a similar recipe for over 30 years. My kids loved it and one way to get them to eat vegetables. I usually poach cubed chicken breasts in olive oil. Once done and lightly browned, I remove the meat and sautee lots of onions, lots of garlic, and lots of red peppers in olive oil and butter. Basil is my favorite herb, so lots of it goes into the pan right before serving. I made mine with cooked linguine. It’s one of those dishes suitable for veggies. Mushrooms? Halved cherry tomatoes? Asparagus? And topped with lots of grated parm or romano.
Hey Linda,
Thanks a bunch for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad it was enjoyed! xTieghan