One of the things I love most about pasta is how accommodating it is to any time schedule. Have a weekend to roll homemade dough and stuff pockets of ravioli with hand-pulled mozzarella? Go for it, baby. Have an afternoon to slow-cook a perfect meaty ragù? The rewards will be rich.
But let's say you need to prep dinner in 10 minutes or less. You can't even boil a pot of water in that amount of time — but pasta is still your friend! Meet the no-boil pasta bake.
Yes, this pasta casserole doesn't even require cooked pasta, just dried. It will take you 5 minutes to prep for the oven — no, I'm not exaggerating. Pour some dry pasta into a casserole dish, open a can of tomatoes, dump in some cheese and garlic — bang the whole thing into the oven. An hour later you'll find that you've done a magic trick: Hot, gooey, bubbling noodles and cheese. And it's totally homemade, with fresh, whole ingredients — just pasta and a few helpers. See how accommodating pasta can be?
This does take an hour to bake, but this time is totally hands-off; you can go do something else productive. The actual prep time for this is really very close to 5 minutes, especially if you aren't cooking chicken breasts specially for this recipe. I use frozen chopped chicken breasts or cooked chicken from the salad bar at the grocery store.
After that, this is just a matter of smashing garlic, opening up some diced tomatoes, and finding cheese and milk. The whole thing is topped off with a crunchy layer of green herbed breadcrumbs.
Top: The pasta bake just after coming out of the oven. See how gooey it is?
Below: The cold pasta after a night in the fridge; it's much firmer.
This recipe is very flexible; leave out the chicken, if you want a vegetarian dish. You can skip the final breadcrumb topping, too, to save time, but I like the crunchy breadcrumbs; my husband thought they had the crumbly, chewy texture (and herb-y flavor) of browned sausage. It tops off the casserole very nicely.
When this first comes out of the oven it will be gooey and bubbling — saucy and a bit soupy. As it cools it will firm up and thicken. After a night in the fridge this is a solid pasta casserole, able to be cut in wedges. Personally, I like it best straight out of the oven, although it does make fantastic leftovers too.
No-Boil Chicken & Tomato Pasta Bake
serves 4 to 6
8 ounces (1/2 pound) dried rigatoni pasta, uncooked
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast meat (omit for a vegetarian dish)
4 large cloves garlic, roughly minced
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 cups shredded cheese, such as mozzarella or a mix of mozzarella and provolone
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups milk * (see Note)
Cheesy Basil Topping
1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh herbs, such as basil, thyme, and sage
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
Heat the oven to 400°F and lightly grease a 3-quart casserole dish with olive oil. (Ideally you would use a heavy Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid, but you can also use a standard 9x13-inch casserole pan, tightly covered with a double layer of aluminum foil during baking.)
In a large bowl, mix the dried pasta, chopped chicken breast, minced garlic, and diced tomatoes (with their juices). Stir in the salt and a healthy quantity of black pepper. (If the tomatoes you are using have no salt in them, add an additional 1/2 teaspoon salt.) Stir in the shredded cheese and the Parmesan. Spread this mixture in the prepared baking dish and pour the milk over top. Cover the dish tightly. Bake for 50 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. Remove the dish from the oven and turn the oven up to broil.
Meanwhile, prepare the herb topping. In a small food processor or chopper, whiz the breadcrumbs, cheese, herbs, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, blending until the texture resembles wet sand.
Slowly remove the lid (or foil) from the casserole dish. Be careful, as steam will billow out. Spread the herbed breadcrumbs over the bubbling pasta and return the uncovered dish to the oven. Broil for 5 minutes or until the topping is toasted and crispy on top.
Take the casserole out of the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Eat with a green salad and a glass of red wine.
* Note: The more fat in your milk, the thicker and more luxurious this dish will be. I have only made this with whole milk, which worked very well. I see no reason why lower-fat milks would not work as well, but they may be soupier, with a thinner sauce, when you first remove them from the oven.
More Pasta Casseroles from The Kitchn
Pictured above, left to right:
• Pumpkin & Ricotta Pasta Casserole
• Goat Cheese and Swiss Chard Pasta Casserole
• Tomato, Broccoli & Mozzarella Pasta Casserole
More (not pictured above)
• Pastitsio (Greek Pasta Bake)
• Big-Hearted Macaroni & Cheese with Artichokes
• Easy Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
(Images: Faith Durand)
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This sounds good. I haven't cooked lasagna noodles in years. I just layer the dried noodles with the normal lasagna layers, cover the pan and bake for an hour. Looks like I need to broaden my pasta short-cut horizons!
Salad bar chicken? Gross. Why not just canned chicken breast?
@Salt Water the chicken at Whole Foods' deli is freshly roasted that day, which is a lot more appealing to me than something that has been in a can for who knows how long. But to each their own!
Canned chicken breast? Does that exist? Sounds revolting anyway.
Back to the recipe: looks good, though with so many ingredients, I'll have to test its hands-on-ness :)
@Faith- But canned tomatoes are OK?
Don't get me wrong, I use canned tomatoes all the time.
@Salt Water, I am more comfortable with them, yes! :)
@ aperocot- Yes, canned, white meat chicken does in fact exist.
This recipe sounds good and I'm going to make it but one reason it appeals to me is because it's seems like one of those Pantry Dinners, a term I use to refer to as something that I make with ingredients always on hand. Going out to buy 2 cups of diced chicken seems silly.
PS. I betcha after it's all said and done you won't be able to tell if the chicken was from Whole Paycheck or tinned.
I think the rotisserie chickens they sell at most supermarkets would work quite well for this too. They usually produce about 3 cups of chicken - you could reserve the remaining cup for salads or just up the chicken quotient in the dish!
Faith, when you say 2 cups mozz and provolone, do you mean 2 TOTAL or 2 each?
@Janus42 total; I'll add a note to that effect. And yes, the chicken is totally optional, and really you could use any moderate amount you have - 2 cups, 3 cups, no cups. :)
@Janus42- Good point. Whole rotisserie chickens can be had for 5 or 6 dollars on sale and you would have plenty of left over chicken for another meal.
Do no boil pastas make the dish more starchy and more carb dense?
Stacey Dolenti
wow, this does look easy. thanks!
how do you think it would do with something like sausage, which has a lot more fat in it?
Thanks Faith - the email with your post came just as was wondering (again) what to make my family for dinner tonight. I didn't have chicken or quite enough cheese, and I left off the topping, but my husband and two rather fussy boys all LOVED it. This will definitely become a regular meal for us - limitless variations too. It will be bacon and some sneaky veggies added next time. Oh, and I used skim milk - worked just fine. Thanks again!
Maybe dumb question but do I drain the tomatoes?
@Toby1Kanobe, no - leave all the juices in.
Looks tasty.
I make something similar, although my version is much more simple. I use 16oz of whole wheat rotelle, 1 jar of marinara, 1 jar of water, plus add-ins (I like to add spinach.) Cover with foil. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes, remove foil and cover with 2 cups of cheese. Bake 10 more minutes. This is great for when you are just too tired to really cook.
I made this tonight with a frozen chicken breast I sauteed before throwing it all together. I think rotisserie chicken would be great in this. It went over fantastic. I also added some salsa peppers and oregano.
I wish I would have had this recipe a year ago when I was in school and had to bring in two meals a day.
I tried. it's realy quick and i love taste.
I suggest Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina and better try.
It has amazing taste also.
http://chefrecipes.us/157/italian-baked-chicken-and-pastina.html
I doubled this recipe last night, nervous that the liquid-to-pasta ratio is based on a complex scientific formula (never baked dry pasta before)... but it turned out just fine. 1lb pasta, 2 cans of tomatoes, 4 c whole milk, and I added 30 minutes more baking time. I only regret I couldn't double the cheese (store... too... far... so.. tired...) I skipped the chicken and crusty top due to laziness too.
It came out of the oven pretty soup-y (probably due in part to not enough cheese) but thickened to casserole consistency as it cooled, so all is well. I packed it for lunch and am hopeful, as tomato sauce tends to be better the next day.
This is so easy! And I love how it easily it lends to improvisation. Thanks!
I'd really like to try this. I'm a little wary of no-boil pasta recipes since I always seem to end up with undercooked pasta. The worst is my mother in law's chicken casserole...the pasta on top always seems to be raw! And my husband and father in law never think there's anything wrong with it. Yikes. I hope this works for me.
i made this tonight and it is a keeper! i used sausage instead of chicken and considered skipping the topping but am so happy i didn't. the topping takes it to another level entirely. also, i used skim milk instead of whole and it's not at all watery or weird. i can't wait to switch up the cheeses and fillings...i'm obsessed with radicchio, speck, and smoked mozzarella together. next time!
Just made this tonight with crumbled sausage (store bought) instead of of chicken. Great subby, but the 1 tspn of salt was intensely salty esp with more salt in the topping. Next time, I'll just omit the salt and salt it to taste after its done. Overall a great idea!
This was really tasty and quite easy to make! Great flavor! I used quinoa pasta which worked well.
I made this and even without the milk and breadcrumb topping (Restricted diet), it was amazingly tasty! I cant wait to swap around ingredients!!!
I made this tonight, threw it in the oven, and then left to go to a meeting leaving my husband to put on the breadcrumbs and pull it out. When I came home he told me that the green breadcrumbs looked too much like mold for him to eat. Eating it coming back from the meeting I thought it was delish, though.
Mmmm made this tonight and it was GREAT. I added about 2 cups of spinach, which made it more colorful and fresh looking. For herbs in the topping, I used basil and parsley. I also added some ground red pepper to make it spicy.
We had it with salad and red wine, as per the instructions. Definitely a keeper!
made this with italian sausage, gluten free rotini and skim milk and it was fantastic! loved the topping (didn't have fresh herbs so used a little of dry)!!
I got this recipe from a friends blog a while back, and I love it. I've made it multiple times and it's so easy and DELICIOUS!. I made with 2% milk and it was not at all soupy, and I also added extra cheese and garlic. This always turns out well, and the bread crumb topping makes the dish!
This recipe has changed my life. I made it the other night using 2 percent milk, and it was amazing! It did take me about nine minutes to prep but I was talking to my wife while I was doing it.
However, the idea of not having to cook the pasta is revolutionary. What other recipes could I apply this principle? I already make lasagna where I don't cook the noodles (and I use regular noodles) and simply add an additional cup of water.
Could I make mac 'n' cheese using the same theory? I plan on trying other combinations of pasta recipes where I don't boil the pasta, add additional liquid, and a tight fitting heavy lid.
I don't know if I have ever said this before, but this recipe has changed my life. Thank you!
Do you think this could be done in a crock pot?
I made this last night, with two small changes: my grocery store only had horribly wilted basil, so I used 2 tbsp of Gourmet Garden basil paste in place of the fresh herb; I also used panko bread crumbs. I didn't have to dirty the food processor either - just stirred the topping together in a bowl. Delicious and time-saving!
I just made this tonight, and it was an absolute hit! I doubled it, chopped chicken breasts that I cooked earlier, used rotini pasta in place of rigatoni, made the topping with dried herbs that I had on hand, and only had the required tomatoes for a single go of the recipe, but truly it all turned out delicious. I baked it in a heavy dutch oven, and the family couldn't get enough of it. I love the avenue of boil-less pasta dinners that this has opened up! I am so pleased that the feature on pastas ended up in my inbox this morning.
Thanks for the recipe, Faith! :)