Turkey Pasta Bake
By: Mike, Posted: 4/21/2023
Need a yummy and cheesy dinner to fill you up? Try our Turkey Pasta Bake. It’s a simple recipe you can throw together any day.
Looking for similar dishes for dinner tonight? Try out our Chicken with Broccoli and Asparagus or a Baked Sloppy Joe Potato. These two options are super tasty and are sure to fill you up.
Our Turkey Pasta Bake
Need a yummy and cheesy dinner to fill you up? Try our turkey pasta bake. We have been enjoying this meal since Minda and I moved in together. It came together from having leftover pasta sauce we needed to use. We thru some rotini and the pasta in a casserole dish along with copious amounts of cheese and to our delight we now have a recipe for our turkey pasta bake.
Ingredients, Substitutions, and Additions
Ground Turkey – Try ground beef, chicken or pork. Most of the time we use ground turkey but sometimes we like to switch it up a bit.
Cheese – We also enjoy putting cream cheese into our turkey pasta bake. A good alternative would be to add some ricotta. Experiment with different types of shredded cheeses or even use sliced cheese in a pinch.
Dry Seasonings – Instead of using Italian seasoning try using a mixture of your favorite seasonings. Try dried basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram, rosemary and paprika. If you feel like a little bit of heat add some red pepper flakes.
Fresh Veggies and Herbs – Add some fresh basil, rosemary and thyme to enhance the flavor of the sauce. Add some bell pepper, carrots, celery, mushrooms, or black olives to hide veggies in your sauce. If you like spicy dice up some jalapeno or serrano and enjoy the burn.
Noodles – There are several different types of noodles that can be used. Mikes favorite is cellentani. Try farfalle, elbow, or penne. Really whatever you have in the cupboard will work.
Toppings – No pasta is complete without parmesan cheese. Grated, shredded, or shaved parmesan is perfect on top of your turkey pasta bake. Also try a couple drops of your favorite hot sauce to kick up spiciness.
Preferred Pairings for Turkey Pasta Bake
Our Turkey Pasta Bake goes perfectly with the following:
Bread – Sounds simple but some sliced French or Sourdough bread with a little butter is perfect with a Turkey Pasta Bake.
Parmesan Broccoli and Asparagus – Looking for some veggies to go along with dinner? Parmesan Broccoli and Asparagus is a yummy side to help get your daily dose of veggies in.
Side Salad – You can never have enough veggies with your dinner. A small side salad would go will with this dinner.
Turkey Pasta Bake Ingredients
- 1-24 oz Jar Spaghetti Sauce
- 1 pkg Rotini Noodles
- 1 lb Ground Turkey
- 1 Medium Onion, chopped
- 3 Cloves Garlic, minced
- 8 oz Colby Jack, shredded
- Nonstick Cooking Spray
- 2 tbs Olive Oil
- Pinch of salt (For Pasta Water)
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 tbs Italian Seasoning
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
Directions
Noodles and Prep
Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to it a rolling boil. When the water is boiling add a pinch of salt and the rotini noodles. Prepare the rotini noodles according to the packet’s instructions. When the rotini noodles are cooked save a cup of the pasta water and strain the pasta.
Cook the Meat
While the water is coming to a boil, start on the sauce. Bring a large pan up to a medium heat and add olive oil. When the oil begins to ripple, add onion and sauté 4-6 minutes. Once the onions are translucent, add in minced garlic and sauté an additional 2 minutes. Transfer onion and garlic to a small bowl and set aside.
Using the same pan, increase the heat to medium/high. Add ground turkey and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until browned. While turkey is browning, add dry seasonings. Return sautéed onion and garlic back to the pan along with your favorite pasta sauce and bring to a boil. When sauce begins to boil reduce heat to a low and simmer for 10 minutes, stir constantly to prevent sauce from burning. If you need to thin out your sauce add a small amount of the reserved pasta water.
Bake the Turkey Pasta Bake
Combine the cooked rotini and sauce. Spray a 9×9 casserole dish with nonstick spray. Take half of your pasta mixture and place it into our casserole dish. Evenly layer 4 oz of shredded cheese over mixture. Add the rest of the pasta mixture into the casserole dish. Evenly layer the rest of the shredded cheese on top of the pasta. Cover casserole dish with aluminum foil. Place casserole dish on the center rack in the oven. Bake turkey pasta bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes to brown the top layer of cheese. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Using a spatula plate desired amount and enjoy!
Hi, We are Mike and Minda. Thank you for stopping to take a look at our Kick’n Kitchen! We are a husband and wife team that have a love for food and cooking. Come with us on our journey of rediscovering recipes from our youth and find new recipes to fall in love with.
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Turkey Pasta Bake
Course: dinnerCuisine: Italian AmericanDifficulty: Easy6
servings10
minutes1
hour20
minutesNeed a yummy and cheesy dinner to fill you up? Try our turkey pasta bake. It's a simple recipe you can throw together any day.
Ingredients
1-24 oz Jar Spaghetti Sauce
1 pkg Rotini Noodles
1 lb Ground Turkey
1 Medium Onion, chopped
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
8 oz Colby Jack, shredded
Nonstick Cooking Spray
2 tbs Olive Oil
Pinch of salt (For Pasta Water)
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tbs Italian Seasoning
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a rolling boil. Add a pinch of salt and rotini noodles. Prepare rotini noodles according to the packet’s instructions. Save a cup of the pasta water to thin out sauce if needed.
- Heat large pan to medium heat, add olive oil. Once oil begins to ripple, add diced onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté an additional 2 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and set aside.
- Increase temperature to medium/high, add ground turkey. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until browned. While turkey is browning, add dry seasonings.
- Return onion and garlic to the pan and add your favorite pasta sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Optional, if you want to thin out the sauce add some of the reserved pasta water.
- Combine the cooked rotini noodles and sauce.
- Spray casserole dish with nonstick spray. Layer half of pasta mixture in casserole dish. Evenly spread 4 oz shredded cheese over the mixture. Layer remaining pasta mixture in casserole dish and evenly spread remaining shredded cheese on top. Cover your casserole dish with aluminum foil and place on center rack in oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove aluminum foil and bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is browned.
- Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
