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One Pan 4 Cheese Sun-Dried Tomato and Spinach Pasta Bake…for nights when you’re craving Italian, but also need something simple and easy to prepare. Rigatoni pasta baked in a sun-dried tomato sauce that’s cheesy and so delicious! The secret to this one-pan pasta? Cooking the pasta in red wine. No boiling water, no extra pans! This is the perfect fall and winter dish to serve any night of the week. But is equally awesome for your next Saturday night dinner. It’s delicious and looks pretty on any table…not to mention that everyone LOVES a GOOD baked pasta. This pasta dish will be your new go-to!
It’s about this time every year, that I really lean into those recipes that I know my family will love most. The week before Thanksgiving is usually when family members begin to slowly arrive…my brothers, cousins, all the girlfriends, and a few other strays that always seem to trickle in.
This year, things are looking pretty different, just my siblings and cousins (who kind of became siblings when my aunt passed). Even though our gathering will be smaller, I still wanted to keep some of my same traditions alive. Enter this pasta. It’s one of those recipes that feeds a crowd, and definitely one of those dinners that makes everyone happy.
I love serving a simple baked pasta on everyone’s first night back home for Thanksgiving and or Christmas. I usually add a side salad and some beer bread. It’s always the perfect dinner to welcome everyone back home during the days leading up to Thanksgiving. It’s easy for me to prepare, and the perfect simple but delicious dinner. It pretty much says, “welcome home for the holidays, cozy up, and stay awhile”.
Such a cheesy line, but I’m all about cheesy these days.
Since so many of our holiday plans are different, I wanted to share a recipe that would give everyone that same feeling of comfort. Nothing really beats a home-cooked meal, but I figure if you can’t go home, why not bring a little of “home” to your kitchen.
I mean, right? Yes, yes. Of course. Thankfully this is easy to prepare, so whether you love cooking or are just a beginner in the kitchen, this is easy enough that we can all recreate it…
Hello to one pan and done.
Here are the details.
This is a pasta I’ve been making for a while now. It’s the recipe I fall back on when I’m busy and have zero time to put in any effort for dinner. Kind of what I call the effortless dinner.
You ready for this? Add every single ingredient to a large baking dish. 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 sauce saves you from additional prep work and having to break out another pot. Not sure about you guys, but I am all about fewer dishes.
Easy, right? YES. But yet the outcome is DELICIOUS.
Here are some keys for success.
First, you want to use a short cut pasta for this. Since we’re cooking the pasta all together in the baking dish, the short cut is able to more evenly cook. I love using rigatoni, but you can use any short cut pasta you love!
Second, the red wine. Of course, if you don’t drink wine you can omit this and swap for chicken or vegetable broth. Make this work for you. But if you do enjoy wine, use the wine. It adds a richness that really compliments the sun-dried tomatoes within the sauce.
And that brings me to the tomatoes. I like to use a mix of crushed tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes. The sun-dried tomatoes are KEY for adding flavor to this. 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 just one ingredient.
And lastly, the cheeses! Four types of cheese are better than one…right? Of course. I used a combination of melty fontina cheese, asiago, parmesan, and sharp provolone. ‘Tis a delicious combination, but feel free to use whatever cheese you have on hand. All cheese is good cheese.
And that is it. This takes only about an hour to prepare. Then you’ll have cheesy baked pasta ready for eating….and your kitchen will still be semi-clean! But even more importantly, it’s going to smell like an Italian grandma’s kitchen. It’s an amazing aroma, and trust me, this rigatoni tastes even better. Think saucy, but still heavy on the pasta, with a good amount of seasonings and herbs. The wine and tomatoes add a hearty richness, and all that cheese on top…well that’s the best part!
You see, you can’t go wrong with a baked pasta like this. My one tip? To make this dish fancy…ish, serve it topped with fried oregano and a bottle of red wine. Perfect for these long November and December nights.
Looking for other easy pasta bakes? Here are my favorites:
One Pot 30 Minute Creamy Tomato Basil Pasta Bake
Slow Roasted Mushroom Pasta with Crisp Rosemary Chickpeas
Roasted Red Pepper Alla Vodka Pasta with Cheesy Oregano Breadcrumbs
Lastly, if you make this One Pan 4 Cheese Sun-Dried Tomato and Spinach Pasta Bake, 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 4 Cheese Sun-Dried Tomato and Spinach Pasta Bake
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 473 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed san marzano tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes oil drained, but reserved
- 1 (10 ounce) pkg frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess liquid
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- kosher salt and black pepper
- crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 cup red wine or chicken broth
- 1 pound rigatoni pasta
- 1 cup cubed fontina cheese
- 1 1/2 cups grated asiago cheese
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded provolone
- fresh basil, parsley, or oregano, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Oil a 9x13 inch baking dish. 2. To the baking dish, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes...plus 3 tablespoons of the oil left in the jar, the spinach, garlic, basil, oregano, red wine, and 1 1/2 cups water. Season with red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Add the dry pasta, fontina cheese, asiago, and parmesan, tossing to coat. Push down gently on the pasta to submerge it. Sprinkle the provolone evenly over top. 3. Rub the underside of a piece of foil with oil. Tightly cover the baking dish with the foil, oiled side facing down. Bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake another 15- 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from the oven and top with fresh herbs.
A group of friends got together at the last minute- we needed comfort food. I searched recipes on your site and found this. Your description was EXACTLY what I was looking for. I ran to the store, put it together, popped it in the oven, and served it an hour later. Everyone raved about it. Not one bite left in the pan. Thank you for an easy but over-the-top delicious dinner.
Hey Lynn!! Love to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for giving it a try! xT
My family loved this. I used a bag of shredded cheese, described as an Italian blend (inexpensive & works well). I used 16 ounces of spinach (yay veg!) and finely chopped the sun dried tomatoes (the ones in oil are a must). I also poured a little extra low sodium chicken broth on top just to make sure the noodles were in enough liquid before throwing cheese on top. With this recipe, you kinda have to eyeball the pan before it goes in the oven, just to make sure there is enough liquid in it. I would imagine that the amount of liquid in the spinach varies in every dish, and that impacts the recipe. For folks that said the noodles were crunchy, they need more broth. It is a great quick recipe for busy days and hungry kids.
Hey there,
Happy Friday!!🍉🍓 Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try and your comment, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! xx
My go-to meal for having company over for dinner. This is always delicious, though I find it does need the extra half cup of water or broth. Have made with shredded chicken or spicy ground sausage added before cooking. Love it!
Hi Amanda,
Happy Memorial Day!!🇺🇸🎆 I am thrilled to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! xT
Yummy! I had a half pound of Italian sausage that I browned and then tossed in fresh spinach instead of frozen. Mixed this into casserole with rest of ingredients. I did need to bake a little longer so noodles could absorb about a half cup of extra water I added after reading reviews. Will make this all the time.
Hey LuAnn,
Awesome!! Thanks a bunch for trying this dish and your comment, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xT
I love this recipe! I know it’s kind of hit or miss for some people reviewing, but I think it has to do if you love tomato heavy dishes or not. For me this recipe reminds me of childhood breadsticks and red sauce, but elevated. It’s also so easy which I really appreciate for weeknight meals. I’ve made it many times since it’s easy to keep the ingredients as pantry staples!
Hey Maxwell,
Wonderful!!🌴🍍 I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review, love to hear that it turned out well! xx
This was so easy. I ended up adding 3 cups of water based on other reviews and it was perfect. A great recipe for busy nights. I would probably add some kind of meat and maybe simply the cheeses to just mozzarella and parm. Definitely making again.
Hey Lauren,
Fantastic!!🐣 Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your comment, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xT
My family and I love your recipes and we’ve been cooking them non stop over the holidays, but this one was kind of lackluster. Followed recipe exactly except some cheese subs, and added half cup of chicken broth (along with wine and water), because few reviews said pasta was still crunchy. My pasta was perfectly al dente, but my complaint was flavor was lacking. Not enough salt (that’s my bad), but everything was super mild and meh. Next time, I’ll double the basil and oregano measurements as well as the sun dried toms.
But 5 stars for ease of cooking though. Took me 10 min to put everything together and 5 min for clean up. Gotta love that for sure! Thanks Tieghan
Hey Ash,
Thanks for giving so many recipes a try and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear this one wasn’t a big hit:) Let me know if you give it another try! xT
Hi Tieghan,
I’ve made this before and it is delicious! I thought for sure it called for burrata cheese melted on top? Some of the pictures also look like it has clumps of a melted cheese on top?
I’m making for Christmas dinner, could you let me know please! Thank you, love ALL your recipes!
Dawn
Hey Dawn,
Thanks so much!! Hmmm, are you use it was this recipe? I’ve never change this one. But if you wanted to add burrata you could definitely do that! Happy Holidays! xT
Just made this and it was DELICIOUS!!! I am making this as well as the white wine mushroom pasta for Christmas which also has spinach. Is there anything else I can substitute the spinach with, either in this dish or the white wine one? Thank you!!
Hey Anna,
Perfect!! ⛄️ I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for trying it out! You could use kale in place of the spinach. xx
Followed to a T, except for 1 cheese substitution. Just not good. No flavor other than acidic canned tomato and boiled down red wine with a little cheese. Gave me heartburn. Save the money of buying all these ingredients. Only plus is that it was still edible.
Hi Mary,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
I followed this recipe exactly and it was the worst pasta dish I’ve ever had. 50 percent was crunchy and inedible and the rest had a sour taste to it. This was a waste of ingredients. We put the whole 9×13 in the trash.
Hi there,
So sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed. Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx
I have made a lot of your recipes over the last three months and they all have been fabulous. I will be honest and say that this has been my least favorite to date. A very expensive dish to make with deli cheeses and even though I tried to cover my noodles some of them were hard after baking even though I followed the recipe. The crushed tomato/tomato paste base wasn’t my favorite either.
Hey Shelley,
I appreciate you giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xT
oops! my bad. I had both window open because I was also making the “One Pot Sun-dried tomato pasta with whipped ricotta”!! My comment was about that!!! Sorry
Lol no worries!!
Hi Tieghan,
You are my favorite chef on Pinterest. My whole family loves you!
This is a delicious dish and you are so right about the creamy ricotta. That is a game changer. I don’t think you could attain the creaminess with actual cream.
The only thing I did differently was this: I had to use 5 cups of water instead of 3.5. I cooked the pasta for 16 minutes without the lid, and stirring often. Then I put the lid on and cooked the pasta for 10 more minutes and then it was perfectly cooked and the right amount of liquid remaining in the pot (not much but not dry either). I finished the dish exactly as you said. (I do live at 7,300 feet so this probably affects the cooking time.) Thank you for the continued yumminess !!
Hey Samuela,
Wonderful!!❄️ Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, I am so glad it was a winner:)
Hi, I’m wanting to make this for a holiday party, but I’ll be traveling with the pan so I want to cook the pasta and the sauce in advance and assemble at home with only baking needed when I arrive. Do I need to adjust the liquid amount? I’m interested in the flavor of red wine addition, but should I simmer the sauce to cook off some of the liquid and make the sauce thicker? Thanks for any recipe adjustment tips!!
Hi Megan,
So sorry, I am not sure what you are wanting to do. Can you just make through step 3 up until the baking point, keep covered while traveling, and then bake when you are ready to serve? I think that would work best for you! xx