This No-Boil Pasta Bake is going to be your new go-to easy to make dinner. Whether you are in a crunch for time, or don’t want the hassle of having a bunch of dishes, this meal is perfect! This easy plant-based dinner a quick meal everyone loves.
Set it, and forget it, until that timer goes off, and you are sure to have a delicious meal that can feed you and leave you with leftovers for the week, or perfect for large families, as well!
What ingredients do I need?
- water
- coconut milk
- spinach
- jar of marinara
- bow tie pasta
- garlic
- onion
Garnish:
- ribboned fresh basil
- vegan Parmesan (a grated look or I’d grate a block of Violife Parmesan)
What does no boil mean?
Traditionally, when we make pasta, we have to boil a pot of water, wait a few minutes until we see it start to bubble, pour in the pasta, and then frantically run to the stove top when we see the water start to boil over (just me?!).
With this dish, you don’t have to worry about stirring the pasta and watching the water, it simply all goes in one dish and into the oven, making it perfect for the person who doesn’t have an endless amount of time to babysit their dinner.
How long does this take to cook?
After about 40 minutes of being in the oven, stick a fork in the dish to make sure the pasta is ready. This dish can take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour to be cooked and ready to be served. When your dish is done, you can garnish it with fresh basil and parmesan on top.
Substitutions
The great part about this No-Boil Pasta Bake (no dairy!) is that you can truly add your own customizations to it.
I use onions and spinach, but you could also add in peppers, broccoli, zucchini, peas – really anything! If you are adding in more vegetables, just make sure to adjust your liquids accordingly. You can also have fun with the pasta shape and type that you prefer.
Use rotini, rigatoni, ziti, or even elbows. Just note that the cook time may be slightly varied depending on the shape and what your pasta is made out of.
A few important tips:
- Use a can of full fat coconut milk for a richer creamy texture! This is different than the coconut milk you’d find in the dairy section in a carton.
- Make sure the pasta is fully submerged in the water/coconut milk mixture before baking. This will ensure the pasta cooks and does not get left crunchy.
- If you are gluten-free, feel free to use gluten-free pasta.
- Want to pair this with a protein? It would go great with breaded air-fried tofu.
- Use a 9×13 casserole dish for this recipe. I like this one from Amazon.
Other recipes you will love
No-Boil Pasta Bake (dairy-free!)
the ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 jar 32 oz marinara
- 2 cups spinach
- 16 oz bow tie pasta
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 onion diced
Garnish
- ribboned fresh basil
- vegan pamesan
instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F. and grab a large casserole dish.
- Mince garlic and dice onion and add to bottom of the casserole dish. Then add the coconut milk, marinara and water then mix well.
- Pour in bow tie pasta and spinach then mix again. Make sure pasta is completely submerged.
- Bake uncovered for 45 minutes – 1 hour until the water is absorbed/pasta is fork tender. Taste test at the 40 minute mark.
- Once pasta is tender take out of oven.
- Garnish with fresh basil and parmesan and serve fresh!
We just made this for our family of 4, we added 2 red/yellow bell peppers because we only had a small amount of spinach. Also seasoned before baking with a little garlic powder and vegeta (European all purpose seasoning) and it is delicious! Very easy and feeds a family with lots leftover!
This dinner was amazing but it took almost 2 hours at 375 degrees. I’m going to up the temp to 425 and check it after an hour and see if that’s better. Wouldn’t change a thing, it was so good that my kids had 2 helpings. OH and I added 2 packs of Tempeh for protein.
Epic!! This turned out wonderfully!! I tried it twice! The first time as it and the second time I used leeks and mushrooms instead of spinach, and subbed the coconut milk with silken-tofu-based cream. Both were amazing and felt so hearty! I was worried the silken-tofu cream would make it feel a little dry but it didn’t.
I actually like this way better than boiling pasta. Something about mixing and baking made this more consistently flavorful and wholesome.
I cannot wait to see this recipe in a second book! hahaha
Thank you, Danielle!
Thanks for making it! I love those substitutions!
I absolutely love this recipe! thank you so much for sharing!!!