Cheesy baked rigatoni with ground beef is made with Italian spices and a creamy ricotta filling. It’s a great baked rigatoni dish for pasta night. Here you’ll learn how to brown the ground beef, whip together the ricotta filling, and bake it in two 9×9 casserole dishes, or one larger one. Let’s go bake pasta in the oven!
This cheesy baked pasta dish is great for feeding a crowd. Seriously – no one will leave hungry. It’s a great recipe for Italian Sunday dinners with the family.
Ingredients for baked rigatoni with beef
This recipe uses a pound of pasta called rigatoni. If you’re not familiar, this pasta has grooves on the side, making it easy for sauce to stick to.
Wondering which types of pasta you can substitute for rigatoni? See the “other ingredients for baked pasta dishes” section below.
The fillings are made with ground beef, onion, red pepper, garlic, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, pasta sauce or tomato sauce, and a few dried Italian seasonings.
How to make cheesy baked rigatoni with ground beef
Step 1. To start making this easy pasta dish with ground beef, heat a large pot of water on the stove to medium high and boil pasta as directed until cooked al dente. Do not overcook the pasta since it will finish cooking in the oven. Once finished, drain pasta and toss it in olive oil to prevent pasta from sticking.
While boiling the pasta, get a start on cooking ground beef and vegetables for the filling.
Step 2. Heat a large skillet on the stove to medium-high. Add olive oil and let it heat until the oil is hot and shiny. Add the ground beef, onion, red pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, and oregano.
Brown beef and vegetable mixture for about 10 minutes, breaking down beef as it cooks and stirring regularly until beef is thoroughly cooked and onions are translucent.
After the ground beef mixture is done, transfer it to a plate lined with a paper towel to remove excess grease.
Step 3. It’s time to preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Finish the cheesy baked rigatoni filling. Mix together the filling in a large bowl. Combine the cooked beef mixture, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of pasta sauce.
Fill the baking dish with pasta (about ¾ of the way full). Add filling ingredients and toss to combine. Top with ¼ cup pasta sauce and a layer of mozzarella cheese.
Step 4. Bake pasta for about 20 minutes until the cheese on top is melted.
Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
What to cook baked pasta in
This pasta will roughly fit in two 9×9 baking dishes or ONE 9×13 dish. I like to use a glass or ceramic baking dish, but a 9×9 inch metal pan works, too. You can easily choose a slightly larger casserole dish because it will be very packed in a 9×9 dish.
It’s possible you may have leftovers of the filling or pasta depending on the size of the baking dish for baked rigatoni.
You can always put any extra pasta and filling mixture in a smaller oven-safe dish to make in the future. Or freeze it. I do it all the time.
Have leftover raw ground beef? Make these ground beef burger patties – you can even vacuum seal burgers to cook sous vide style later.
Do you need to cover baked pasta with foil while it cooks?
No, I don’t find it necessary to cover baked pasta dishes with tin foil. Especially this baked pasta dish because it cooks quickly on the inside, so the top doesn’t usually burn. If I’m going to use foil it’s usually to cover it if we aren’t eating right away.
Turn this cheesy baked rigatoni with ground beef into a meal
Go all-out Italian and serve this baked pasta dish with popular fixin’s like garlic bread and a simple salad with Italian dressing (topped with sous vide chicken, perhaps!). Or make a tasty side dish like my best Caprese salad.
If you like this recipe, you’ll love these Italian stuffed shells with ground beef.
Add flavor with these tasty ingredient ideas for baked pasta
- Make this baked rigatoni with Italian sausage, leftover meatballs, sous vide chicken, or ground turkey
- Try another noodle-like baked ziti or penne pasta
- Add in olives, peas, or roasted cherry tomatoes
- Spoon two tablespoons of pesto into the sauce
Love pesto? See this tasty recipe for potatoes gratin with pesto.
Last tips for making this baked rigatoni dish
- Doubling the recipe. If I’m cooking for a crowd, I’ll make one large batch in a very large baking dish.
- Freezing this baked rigatoni pasta dish. If I’m making this ahead for two nights, I’ll make it in two 9×9” baking dishes. One we will cook and eat within a day. The other is frozen and will be moved to the fridge to thaw the night before baking it.
- Reheating baked pasta. When cooking straight from the refrigerator, the dish will be colder. Add 5-10 minutes to the bake time until the cheese on top melts completely.
Share your creation
I love seeing photos of delicious food. Add @sipbitego on Instagram to share all of your cheesy baked goodness with me.
Cheesy Baked Rigatoni With Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta rigatoni
- ½ tsp olive oil
Italian flavored ground beef filing
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- ½ onion diced
- ½ red pepper diced
- 2 tsp garlic minced
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp parsley dried
- ¼ tsp oregano dried
Cheesy filing
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese grated
- 1 ¼ cup Pasta sauce (or add Italian spices to a can of crushed tomatoes - see video) divided
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Heat a large pot of water on the stove to medium-high and boil pasta as directed until cooked al dente. While boiling, start cooking the ground beef filling. Do not overcook the pasta since it will finish cooking in the oven. Once finished, drain pasta and toss it in olive oil to prevent pasta from sticking.
- Heat a large skillet on the stove to medium-high. Add olive oil and let it heat until the oil is hot and shiny. Add the ground beef, onion, red pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, and oregano. Brown beef and vegetable mixture for about 10 minutes, breaking down beef as it cooks and stirring regularly until beef is thoroughly cooked and onions are translucent. Once done, remove from heat and strain on a plate lined with a paper towel to remove excess grease.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and set out a 9x13 baking dish. Mix together the filling for the stuffing. In a large bowl, gently combine the cooked beef mixture, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of pasta sauce. Fill the baking dish with pasta (about ¾ of the way full). Add filling ingredients and toss to combine. Top with ¼ cup pasta sauce and a layer of mozzarella cheese.
- Bake pasta for about 20 minutes until the cheese on top is melted. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Cover with tin foil if waiting to serve longer to keep it warm.
Video
Notes
- Doubling the recipe. If I’m cooking for a crowd, I’ll make one large batch in a very large baking dish.
- Freezing this baked rigatoni pasta dish. If I’m making this ahead for two nights, I’ll make it in two 9x9” baking dishes. One we will cook and eat within a day. The other is frozen and will be moved to the fridge to thaw the night before baking it.
- Reheating baked pasta. When cooking straight from the refrigerator, the dish will be colder. Add 5-10 minutes to the bake time until the cheese on top melts completely.
Sandy says
I added mushrooms and it came out just perfect.
Barb says
Tasted like my mom’s lagsana. Substituted leftover frozen meatballs instead of ground beef with spices. Family wants me to make again!