One-Pan Veggie Pasta Bake (Cheap, Cheesy, No Draining)
Cheesy baked pasta with veggies — one pan, cheap ingredients, done in 45 min.
This is the dinner for nights when you're tired, the fridge has a few sad vegetables, and you cannot face doing dishes. Everything — dry pasta, broth, veggies, cheese — goes into one oven-safe pan and bakes together. The pasta absorbs the liquid as it cooks, so there's no boiling water, no draining, and no second pot. It comes out creamy in the middle, golden and a little crispy on top. Expect a deeply satisfying, budget-friendly meal that genuinely tastes like you tried. Leftovers reheat beautifully, which makes tomorrow's lunch basically free.
Ingredients
- 2 cup dry penne or ziti pasta — uncooked — any short pasta works
- 2.5 cup vegetable broth — low-sodium preferred
- 1 cup canned diced tomatoes — with juices, one 14 oz can is fine
- 1 unit medium zucchini — diced into half-inch pieces
- 1 unit medium bell pepper — any color, diced
- 1 cup frozen spinach — thawed and squeezed dry, or a big handful of fresh
- 3 unit garlic cloves — minced or pressed
- 0.5 unit medium yellow onion — diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
- 0.5 tsp red pepper flakes — optional, for a little heat
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 0.25 tsp black pepper
- 1.5 cup shredded mozzarella cheese — divided — low-moisture, part-skim is cheapest
- 0.25 cup grated Parmesan cheese — the shelf-stable kind is totally fine here
Method
- 1 Preheat your oven to 400°F.
- 2 In a large oven-safe skillet or baking dish (at least 10 inches wide and 2 inches deep), combine the dry pasta, vegetable broth, canned diced tomatoes with their juices, zucchini, bell pepper, spinach, onion, garlic, olive oil, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper. Stir everything together so the pasta is mostly submerged in liquid.
- 3 Scatter 1 cup of the mozzarella over the top and stir it in slightly so some cheese is mixed through.
- 4 Cover the pan tightly with foil (or a lid if your skillet has one) and bake at 400°F for 25 minutes.
- 5 Remove the foil. The pasta should be nearly tender and most of the liquid absorbed. If it looks very dry, add a splash of water or broth; if it looks too soupy, that's fine — it'll thicken.
- 6 Scatter the remaining ½ cup mozzarella and all the Parmesan evenly over the top.
- 7 Return the pan to the oven, uncovered, for 8–10 more minutes until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and golden in spots.
- 8 Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving — this helps it set up and not burn your mouth.
Variations
- Add protein cheaply — Stir in one drained can of white beans or chickpeas before baking to boost protein and make it even more filling without adding much cost.
- Use whatever vegetables you have — Broccoli florets, frozen corn, diced eggplant, mushrooms, or canned artichoke hearts all work — just keep the total vegetable volume roughly the same so the liquid ratio stays right.
- Dairy-free swap — Use your favorite dairy-free shredded mozzarella and skip the Parmesan, or top with a handful of breadcrumbs tossed in olive oil for a crispy, cheesy-tasting crust without any dairy.
Notes
The key to no-drain baked pasta is the liquid ratio: 2.5 cups broth plus the tomato juices gives the pasta enough to absorb without going mushy. Different pasta shapes absorb liquid at slightly different rates — penne and ziti are most reliable. If you use a wider, shallower baking dish, check doneness at the 20-minute mark since liquid evaporates faster. The recipe works equally well in a 9x13 baking dish if you don't have an oven-safe skillet.
Equipment that helps
- Oven-safe skillet or deep baking dish — A 10-inch or larger oven-safe pan lets you mix, bake, and serve in the same vessel so you only have one thing to wash.
- Aluminum foil — Covering the pan for the first 25 minutes traps steam, which is what cooks the dry pasta through without any pre-boiling.
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