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No Boil Cheesy Pasta Casserole

Thanks for sharing!

This dump and bake dinner has all of the flavor of your favorite pasta dishes with no time spent over the stove! It’s the perfect mix of pasta, cheese, sausage and sauce without any of the effort!

dinner plate with baked Italian style pasta casserole and broccoli.

This casserole is filling and delicious.  The best part is it has all of the flavors of lasagna without the prep work. You don’t have to boil the noodles or cook the sausage. 

Just dump it all in the pan and bake it to perfection! This pasta bake is sure to become a regular at your dinner table.

No boil pasta dishes are not exactly new to our kitchen, but I’m on a newfound mission to see how far we can take them!

We have had no boil baked macaroni and cheese several times and I’m always amazed how well it turns out. The noodles cook in the milk and the starch thickens the sauce perfectly.

pasta, raw sausage and chunks of cheese in baking dish with bowl of sauce in background.

So it seemed like it was about time to start applying that principle to more recipes. Because not boiling the noodles means less work and fewer dirty dishes!

We really enjoyed the creamy beef and pasta casserole I shared a while back. So I thought it would be fun to make something similar in a dump and go recipe.

This pasta bake takes the basic idea to the next level. It starts with uncooked pasta and raw Italian sausage.

pan of pasta baked in sauce with sausage and cheese ready for final topping

So the flavors are more in line with our favorite lasagna. Seeing as lasagna is a dish none of us can say no to, I knew it would go over big.

The dump and go method tweak means you are saving yourself a dirty saucepan and a skillet. Not to mention the time savings of not boiling the noodles or browning the meat.

Instead you just layer them along with dollops of ricotta in your baking dish.  Pour a mixture of sauce and water or broth o er the top to add the liquid.

casserole dish filled with baked pasta topped with melted cheese, ready to serve.

You cover the whole thing with foil and let the oven do the work for you. At the end, remove the foil and add some cheese.

Pop it back in the oven to finish it off and melt that cheese topping to gooey golden perfection. After a few minutes rest, it’s ready to eat.

Your family will think you went overboard but you barely had to lift a finger! Don’t worry though, I won’t tell them how easy it was.

serving of baked pasta scooped out of the pan

You can sit back and collect the compliments guilt free. After all you did get a delicious dinner on the table and that deserves praise no matter if there were shortcuts involved or not.

In fact you should probably get double kudos for being smart enough to make it happen! I’ll be proud of you if nothing else!

We love having a little garlic bread with dinners like this. Broccoli or a green salad will help round it out and turn it into a complete meal.

bite of baked pasta on fork ready to eat

As always, I love to hear about your ideas in the comments. Or tell me about your favorites on social media.

Have you ever made other no boil type casseroles? Tell me about your favorites if you have.

I’d love to try more easy dump and bake dinners like this. Let me know if you would too and I’ll work on more recipes to share with you.

More Pasta Recipes:

If you would like to try more no boil dinners, make a no boil pizza pasta bake. It has all of the flavors of pizza in a fun baked pasta form.

The Velveeta lasagna we grew up on is another wonderful option. It is a fun twist on a classic lasagna.

Or try making one pot skillet lasagna if you don’t want to turn on the oven. Check out my collection of pasta recipes for more dinner inspiration.

Love this recipe? Give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review in the recipe card below!

Yield: 12 Servings

No Boil Cheesy Pasta Casserole

Dinner plate filled with no boil pasta casserole and broccoli ready to eat.

This dump and bake dinner has all of the flavor of your favorite pasta dishes with no time spent over the stove. It's the perfect mix of pasta, cheese, sausage and sauce without any of the effort!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 24 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 16 ounces uncooked pasta
  • 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
  • 15 ounce container ricotta cheese
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F and grease a 9x13" pan.
  2. In a large bowl stir together the sauce, broth, garlic and oregano.
  3. Spread half of the pasta on the bottom of the prepared pan. 
  4. Break sausage into small chunks, distribute half of them over the pasta.  Dollop half of the ricotta around the pan.
  5. Repeat with the remaining pasta, sausage and ricotta.
  6. Pour the sauce mixture over the pasta. Cover tightly and bake for 50 minutes.
  7. The pasta should be al dente. If not, cover and bake a few more minutes. 
  8. Sprinkle with mozzarella and bake uncovered for 10 minutes.
  9. Let rest for 10 minutes then serve. 

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 401Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 44mgSodium: 935mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 21g

All nutritional information is estimated and will depend on the exact ingredients you use.

Did you make this recipe?

I'd love to see it! Share a picture on Instagram or Pinterest and tag me @carleecooks to let me know how it went!

This dump and bake dinner has all of the flavor of your favorite pasta dishes with no time spent over the stove! It's the perfect mix of pasta, cheese, sausage and sauce without any of the effort!

Thanks for sharing!

Shelly Jung

Friday 28th of October 2022

Do I need to brown the sausage before putting in baking pan?

Carlee

Friday 28th of October 2022

No, you don't have to. It will cook while everything else is cooking, however you can if you prefer.

John

Saturday 21st of August 2021

I made this using thin spaghetti and we really liked it the only problem was on the bottom of the baking dish some of the spaghetti was hard,do you have any idea why that happened. I will be making it again because we really liked it. I did use the chicken broth and the jar of sauce. Thank you for sharing your recipe.

Carlee

Sunday 22nd of August 2021

My guess is some of the pasta stuck together so the liquid wasn't able to get all the way around it. I usually use pasta that has a shape that naturally separates the pasta a bit. I think you could do it with spaghetti, but it might require a stir at some point to separate the pasta a bit. I am glad you liked it!

Lindsay Kate

Sunday 21st of March 2021

Carlee, thank you for this recipe. I actually used it for a virtual kids’ cooking club I help host. We paired it with garlic toast and a side salad. Total hit and very kid-friendly!

Carlee

Sunday 21st of March 2021

That makes me so happy! I am so glad everyone enjoyed it. And a virtual kids' cooking club sounds like a blast, what a fabulous thing to be involved in!

Rose

Friday 26th of February 2021

Dump and bake. Could there possibly be ANYTHING less appetizing when describing food? The dish sounds like a grease laden mess of cheese and pastacomprised of store bought sauce and the last minute addition of aromatics to try and give it the "homemade" feel. If you dislike taking the time to lovingly prepare a meal for your family, by all means just get them fast food.

Q

Sunday 28th of August 2022

@Rose, sorry but sounds great to me! Everybody can’t be like you 7 days a week! People out here trying the best they can….Geesh. Fast food….NOT

Lindsay

Sunday 21st of March 2021

@Rose,

If you feel the need to criticize and be rude and judgmental, then by all means just start your own blog. Nobody is forcing you to follow Carlee and use every single one of her recipes. Better yet, scroll on by and just hush if you can’t be nice.

Carlee

Friday 26th of February 2021

I actually do really enjoy cooking for my family. I also really enjoy cooking and baking from scratch. But as a busy working mom, I am painfully aware there aren't enough hours in the day sometimes. So I also like to share shortcut recipes that help to get a tasty meal on the table without a ton of effort. In the end, I believe it is the quality time spent around the table that matters more than the food that is served. That said, every time I make one of these dump and bake meals my family goes back for seconds. So the food isn't bad either. I wouldn't share the recipe if it wasn't something that we enjoyed. I understand everyone has different tastes and needs, so I am sorry if this recipe wasn't what you were after. I am sure there is one out there that will meet your needs.

Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies

Thursday 5th of March 2020

Next time the husband asks for lasagna, I am making this! I will love the time savings so much!

Carlee

Saturday 29th of August 2020

It's so much faster to get in the oven! I hope you love it!

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