Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake is a simple family dinner that combines pasta, tomato pasta sauce, cheese, cream, and vegetables into one comforting and satisfying meal. It’s an easy recipe that can be adapted to suit what you have on hand, with chicken added if you’d like a heartier option.
Everything comes together in a single baking dish, creating a deliciously creamy pasta bake with a golden cheesy topping. Perfect for busy weeknights, this is the sort of reliable dinner recipe you’ll find yourself making again and again.
Why this pasta bake is perfect for busy nights
You can never have too many easy family dinners. All too often meals include so much prep that it becomes too hard on busy weeknights. This recipe is lovely and quick and best of all super versatile.
Using in season vege and some convenient deli meats you can have dinner on the table in no time with not much hassle.
Easy ways to customise this pasta bake
This Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake is incredibly versatile and can easily be adapted to suit your family’s tastes and what you have on hand.
You can follow the recipe exactly as written, or add and omit ingredients as you prefer. For extra protein, try ham, salami, shredded chicken, or leftover roast turkey, making sure any deli meats are piping hot before serving. It also works beautifully as a meat-free meal.
I’ve purposely kept the vegetables simple and well hidden, so they blend into the sauce rather than standing out, making this a great option for even the fussiest eaters. If you’d like to add a few more vegetables, seasonal options such as halved cherry tomatoes, finely sliced capsicum, torn baby spinach, or freshly chopped basil or parsley would all work wonderfully too.
Ingredients used to make this pasta bake
The ingredients I have used today are as follows, the full recipe and method is further down the page.
- Pasta Shells
- Olive Oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Dried Herbs
- Carrot
- Courgette
- Tomato Pasta Sauce
- Cream
- Salt & Pepper
- Shredded Chicken
- Cheese
What type of pasta works best for this pasta bake?
The method is super simple, while you boil the pasta prepare the pasta sauce which is where all the flavour comes from. I use pasta shells for my pasta bake as their shape scoops up the sauce, but spirals or penne will do nicely as well.
Cook the pasta until only just al dente and reserve the water or leave in the water until ready to add to the sauce. While this is cooking you can prepare the sauce.
How do you make the creamy tomato sauce?
To prepare the pasta sauce, sauté the onion in some olive oil then add the garlic and dried herbs to infuse some flavour. Then add to this the grated carrot and courgette. I peel my courgette so that no green bits are visible for the fussy ones …
Once this has softened and changed colour I add my pasta sauce, salt and pepper and then the cream, stir this all together and then add the cold shredded chicken. Heat for just a minute or two.
How do you assemble the pasta bake?
Then add to this scoops of the pasta, I do this using a slotted spoon directly from the pasta in water, this way I add a little extra liquid to the dish so that it is not dry once the pasta is added.
Then add this to a baking dish and cover with grated cheese of your choice. You can also sprinkle over some dried herbs if you like. Then bake until golden brown and bubbling.
What should you serve with creamy tomato pasta bake?
You can serve this on its own as it already includes pasta, vegetables, and protein, making it a complete meal. If you’d like to stretch it a little further or are feeding a crowd, it pairs beautifully with a simple side salad or some warm crusty bread for mopping up the creamy tomato sauce.
More easy family pasta recipes to try
I hope you love this recipe, it really is quick, easy, and delicious! You can find many other easy family pasta dinners on my website. Listed below are some more of my favourites:
- Creamy Chicken & Bacon Fettucine
- Baked Feta Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes
Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta - Tomato & Basil Penne Pasta
Or some pasta salads that you could try which are perfect paired with BBQ meats in the warmer months are Easy Pesto & Feta Pasta Salad or my Summer Pasta Salad.
Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake Recipe
Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake
Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake is an easy family dinner made with pasta, tomato pasta sauce, cheese, cream, and vegetables for a comforting meal everyone will enjoy.
Ingredients
- 350 grams Pasta Shells (or penne, sprials etc)
- Water
- Olive Oil
- 1/2 Onion, finely diced
- 1 Tablespoon Garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Mixed Herb, dried
- 2 Carrots, peeled grated
- 2 Courgettes, peeled grated
- 2 or 3 Cups Tomato Pasta Sauce, 500-700 mls (I use 700 mls)
- 2/3 Cup Cream, 165 mls
- Pinch of Salt & Pepper
- 200 grams Cold Shredded Chicken (if using)
- 200 grams Grated Cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C Fan Bake
- Set aside a large lasagne or baking dish.
- Prepare half an onion by finely dicing, peel and grate the carrot and courgette. Mince the garlic if using fresh and shred your cold deli chicken and set this aside
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil, then add generous pinch of salt and the pasta shells and boil for 9-10 minutes or until just al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, in a large frying pan add a tablespoon of olive oil, heat over a medium heat and add the diced onion and sauté for a minute to soften
- Add to this the minced garlic and dried herbs and stir for a further minute
- Add to this the grated carrot and courgette and soften for 4-5 minutes stirring often.
- To this add the tomato pasta sauce, salt and pepper and cream and stir to combine and reduce the heat.
- Add the shredded chicken if using and stir through for around 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the pasta sauce from the heat. Using a slotted spoon add the pasta into the sauce mixture from the pasta and water, this way some of the pasta water is added to the mixture to enhance the sauce.
- Once all the pasta is added fold it through then pour this into a large baking dish
- Sprinkle generously with cheese and bake until golden brown and bubbling, approx 20 mins.
- Serve as is or with a fresh salad and some crusty bread.
- Enjoy!
Notes
This can be made with any deli meats, ham, salami, shredded chicken or turkey. Ensure your deli meats are piping hot at the end of the cooking time. You can of course have it meat free.
As optional extras you an add seasonal vegetables:
- Halved Cherry Tomatoes
- Finely sliced capsicums
- Torn Baby Spinach
- Diced Basil or Parsley
Nutrition Information
Yield 5 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 518Total Fat 30gSaturated Fat 16gUnsaturated Fat 14gCholesterol 107mgSodium 542mgCarbohydrates 33gFiber 4gSugar 7gProtein 26g
JustAMumNZ.com, occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although justamumnz.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
I really hope you love this Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake as much as we do. It is such a simple, comforting family dinner that’s perfect for busy weeknights, and one I know I’ll be making again and again.
I’d love to hear what you think if you give it a try, so be sure to leave a comment below. If you made any changes or added your own twist to the recipe, please share those too. It’s always wonderful to hear how others adapt recipes to suit their families, and you may inspire someone else to try a new variation.
If you give this recipe a go, I’d love to hear how it turned out for you in the comments. You can also leave a ⭐ rating in the recipe card above, it really helps others find and enjoy this recipe too.
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Happy baking,
Anna x
Mary says
Loved this. Got thumbs up from family and was quick, easy and really tasty.
Lynette Obst says
Love your easy recipes, particularly those we can hide the extra vegies in.