Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake is made with creamy ricotta and loads of spinach stirred through pasta, topped with pasta sauce, cheese and then baked until bubbly and golden. It tastes like a Spinach and Ricotta stuffed shells – but way faster to make!
Fabulous lazy Monday meal – made from scratch, using my cheeky “shake and pour” shortcut pasta sauce!
Spinach and Ricotta
Spinach and ricotta. We stuff things with it (Cannelloni, Rotolo, shells!), we layer things with it, we roll it up in puff pastry and we wrap it in pastry.
So why don’t we stir it through pasta bakes?
This is a lazy Monday meal I’ve been making for years. I know it’s a little different, but it really is tasty. It tastes like spinach and ricotta cannelloni or stuffed shells – but without the labour. 🙌🏻
Look at this pile of gooey, juicy deliciousness….no dry ricotta in MY pasta bakes!
Shake and pour pasta sauce!
Because this is a lazy meal, I make this with my shortcut homemade pasta sauce. It’s a shortcut recipe because I don’t cook it on the stove with sautéed onions and garlic like I ordinarily do. All I do is add pasta sauce flavourings right into a bottle of tomato passata, shake then pour it over the pasta bake.
To compensate for skipping the sautéed garlic and onions, I add extra flavours into the sauce. 🙂
Sub for tomato passata?
Tomato passata is pureed strained raw tomatoes, unflavoured. It’s sold in tall bottles in the pasta section of most supermarkets in Australia nowadays, and costs around the same as canned tomato. If you’re in the US or Canada, I’ve seen it at Walmart and here are a couple of Amazon – Mutti (excellent Italian brand I use) and Cento (a good value one). Or sub with what you know as tomato sauce.
What goes in Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake
Here’s a snapshot of the ingredients. For convenience, I use frozen spinach here but fresh can be used in a cinch.
As for the ricotta, any type will work here. Some are creamier and softer than others which makes it easy to mix into the pasta.
If yours is the thicker more crumbly type, it’s an easy fix – just stir through some of the pasta cooking water to loosen it up. The starch in the pasta cooking water will make the ricotta mixture bind better than using normal water or milk to loosen the mixture. The same effect as tossing pasta through pasta sauces right before serving – it’s called emulsifying the sauce (what a show off!😂).
This really does taste like a Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni* – without the fiddly stuffing of the cannelloni tubes. Because as much as we all love eating those stuffed tubes of pasta smothered in tomato sauce and molten cheese, nobody’s jumping off the couch to offer to help stuff them. Right?? 😂
So – are you feeling lazy today too? -Nagi x
* For those of you in the US & Canada – cannelloni is basically the same as manicotti, except the tubes are slightly smaller and smooth, no ridges. Just as tasty!
All things Spinach and Ricotta!
Baked Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo – and it tastes as spectacular as it looks!
And more big juicy pasta bakes
Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade Hamburger Helper) – OK, so it’s not baked, but it looks like a pasta bake!
Chili Mac and Cheese – ditto for this one 🙂
Watch how to make it
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Spinach & Ricotta Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 300g / 10 oz ziti pasta, uncooked, or other short pasta of choice
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese , shredded (or more! For topping)
Ricotta Mixture
- 1 lb / 500 g ricotta (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese , grated
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
- 350g / 12oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and excess liquid pressed out
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese , shredded
- 3/4 tsp salt & pepper
Shortcut Pasta Sauce
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 700g / 24oz tomato passata (1 standard bottle) (Note 2)
- 1 tsp EACH onion and garlic powder
- 2 tsp dried Italian Mixed Herbs (Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes , to taste (optional)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 2 tbsp water (if needed)
To Serve
- Parmesan cheese , grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
- Pasta Sauce: Pour out about 1/4 cup of the passata (to make room to add flavourings). Add the remaining Pasta Sauce ingredients into the bottle, screw the lid on and give it a shake.
- Cook pasta for time per packet MINUS 1 minute.
- SCOOP OUT 1 mugful pasta cooking water, drain and set aside.
- Ricotta Mixture – Mix Ricotta Mixture ingredients in a very large bowl. Use a splash of pasta cooking water if needed to make it creamy.
- Add pasta and stir to combine. Transfer to a heatproof baking dish.
- Top with Pasta Sauce, top with cheese. Loosely cover with foil.
- Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve while hot and fresh!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published September 2015, updated April 2019 with fresh new photos, new writing, new video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
Reaping the rewards of the Easter Egg Hunt!
PS Don’t worry, it’s a dog friendly Easter egg!
I have been looking for a ricotta & spinach recipe for ages that is straightforward, freezer safe and YUM! I served this family-style (casserole dish in middle) and froze the remainer in individual tart tins (easier to defrost then bake) for fancy date night; both worked better than expected. I have also experimented with adding Parma ham and walnuts! Diolch!
I’m so glad you loved it Jen, sounds like you nailed it!
This was amazing! I used the recipe exactly, except I made it into a lasagne instead of a pasta bake. So delicious, and really easy and quick to throw together.
Perfect Megan!!
I was so utterly excited to try this dish, I followed the recipe exactly, but unfortunately, my dish came out dryer than an ogre’s toenail. ☹️
How would I avoid that without disturbing the flavor? I put in 1/2 cup of pasta water. 🤷🏼♀️
Hi Lana, that’s definitely not right, sorry you had issues here. What kid of ricotta did you use? – N x
I used the “traditional”, not the extra smooth.
My oven is convection. Would that be a factor?
Hi Lana, was it creamy? I talk about this in the recipe notes – N x
Hi Nagi,
Yes, it was (the ricotta) creamy. And everything going in, was seemingly perfect; saucy, creamy and cheesy. 😃 I tasted it before baking it and it was Devine. 🤷🏼♀️ Please help?
My family tried this tonight, they loved it (my son is currently in a food coma), love how easy it was to prepare.. plus lots of leftovers..
That’s awesome!!
Thanks nagi fir ur spinach and ricotta was amazing
I’m so happy you loved it Joyce!
Hi nagi thanku for the receipe spinach ricotta pasta family enjoyed it very much was amazing x
Awesome Joyce, I’m so glad it was a hit!
For the ricotta mixture is it 3/4 tap salt plus another 3/4 tsp pepper?
Yes, that’s correct – Enjoy!
Big hit in the household. Everyone loved it and even more so the next day.
Wahoo!
I seem to remember milk in the ricotta mix. Or is my memory playing tricks on me?
Hi Ling, It’s not needed – N x
Hi Nagi ☺️ Just wondering, if I use fresh spinach out of my garden approximately how much (ie grams) would I need of leaves? Sorry if someone has already asked. Can’t wait to try this and use up my influx of spinach!
Hi Ellen, I would say about 300g – the same as frozen but just reduce a little of the weight to count for water loss when squeezing out frozen spinach. It will look like a lot but once wilted down should be the equivalent of frozen – N x
I just tried this recipe tonight. It turned out amazing. I’m a total fan of Nagi’s “cheat” sauce. I’d like to make a bunch of it to freeze for spaghetti or manicotti. But this recipe gave me all the delicious taste of three-cheese lasagna or manicotti without all the work. Thanks again, Nagi!
You’re so welcome Claudia!!!
Yet another amazing recipe from you Nagi. Thank you so much for your time and effort. 🙂
You’re so welcome Mihi!
Previously tried the cannelloni version of this recipe, which was worth the effort & delicious. This simpler version was equally delicious, the lesser effort was appreciated.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Owen!
Hi Nagi,
It was wonderful. I used 1 box of chopped spinach and 1 box of creamed spinach. Everyone loved it !! Thanks for another goodie <3
Wahoo! I’m so glad you loved it!
Super Easy to make and very Tasty! Thankyou for another Great Recipe xo
Cooking is always exciting when you have such a Fabulous, easy to understand Food Blog as yours 😊
Thankyou for your very big labour of love
You’re so welcome Cathy!!
Hi Nagi!
What brand of frozen spinach do you use?
I use to use one that had lovely big bits, but they’ve taken it from the shelves! 😞
Now all the others I’ve tried are chopped way too tiny.. Yours looks chunky!
Thanks!
I made this today and just used the leaves of a whole English Spinach chopped up roughly and mixed through the Cheese mixture. It worked great
Hi Nagi
Can this spinach and ricotta pasta pasta bake be made the day before and cooked next day?
Thanks
Hi Barb, yes you can definitely do that – N x
Wow, this was delicious!!! There isn’t a recipe I haven’t tried that has failed, you have made a world of difference to my enthusiasm about cooking, excited with every new recipe.
*have
Please tell your Mother that I love her recipes as well. I lived In Misawa, Japan for four years and I find here recipes are wonderful. In Japan, Bentos are quite popular as a fast food. I use to buy one that was fish on some seaweed over a bed of rice with a small amount of sauce. the sauce was wonderful. If your mother knows how to make this recipe, will you please share it with us. Thank you.
Thanks so so so much Redonia!
Hi Nagi. I have been making your recipes for a while now, and I find that I love everything that I have made! The Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake is one of my favorite. It is even better the next day. Thank you so much for the time you devote in sharing your talents with us.
You’re so welcome!