Convenient and tasty Three Cheese Beef Pasta Bake is sure to become a family favorite. Layers of hearty pasta, gooey cheese, and tomato meat sauce are baked until golden brown!
Pasta with a tomato sauce is one of my favorite foods. When it comes together as quickly as this one does, well, that’s even better. I used a jarred sauce in this Three Cheese Beef Pasta Bake recipe. Find a good quality sauce and it’ll make your life so much easier!
If you follow me on Instagram, you know I received some Barilla products recently. I could not wait to start cooking with them. Pasta, I can confidently say, is my most favorite food. Seriously, I could give up meat easily. Heck, I could give up my beloved desserts, but I could not give up pasta!
I love this pasta recipe, I’ve been making it for years. I also love the short cut of using a jarred tomato sauce. You can taste the difference of Barilla® Sauce because it’s made with real vegetables. It has all-natural, quality ingredients like vine-ripe tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, and fragrant herbs.
I like to use fun pasta shapes in my casseroles, but you can use any shape you like or have on hand. Today I used Campanella! In Italian Campanella means little bell, or shaped like a bell or flower. They are like perfect for capturing meaty sauces.
Basically, there are five steps to this recipe
- Boil noodles
- Brown beef
- Mix cheeses
- Layer it
- Bake it
Really it’s that simple!
Another bonus, I make this pasta in the morning, because all heck breaks loose at my house after the boys get home from school! Then all I have to do is pop it in the oven and in 30 minutes we have a hot dinner. I have virtually nothing to clean up after dinner as well!
Three Cheese Layered Beef Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound pasta any shape will work. This will be about half a box.
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup onion chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 15.5 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
- 1 tablespoon beef boullion paste
- 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- 16 ounce ricotta cheese
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese fresh grated
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 2 large eggs beaten
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions to al dente. Toss with oil and spoon into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
- Cook ground beef, onion and garlic in a skillet until no longer pink, usually 5 to 6 minutes. Drain and return to skillet.
- Add spaghetti sauce, beef bouillon paste and tomato paste and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper.
- Combine ricotta, 1/2 cup parmesan, 1/2 cup mozzarella, and eggs. Spoon over pasta.
- Top with beef mixture.
- Sprinkle with remaining parmesan and mozzarella.
- Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until hot and bubbly.
Notes
Nutrition
This pasta would be great served with a crisp green salad!
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Julia says
Can u omit the ricotta
Paula says
Yes, you can substitute small curd cottage cheese. You can omit it completely without a substitute, but won’t taste the same or be as good. If you omit it without replacing with cottage cheese, you may want to add more sauce.
Deana says
Thank you for the wonderful recipe! I made this tonight and it’s delicious.
Lori says
This looks and sounds so yummy, however does anyone have a suggestion on what to substitute the 1 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated? I was thinking 1/2 cup more ricotta and 1/2 cup more mozzarella. I hate to change someone else’s recipe, but just can’t do the parmesan cheese, but I always make sure it is on my table so anyone can add it to their own serving. Thanks for sharing.
Sherri says
Are you putting the green can of Parmesan cheese on the table, because FRESH Parmesan cheese is not the stuff in the green can
geri says
i made this for my kids and couldn’t believe how much it made. My kids loved it, all 3 of them and they even asked for seconds, which is rare with my picky bunch(3, 6, 8). I used diced tomatoes and I couldn’t find the beef boullion paste, so I just used boullion cubes mixed with a little bit of water. It was so good. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks so much for this recipe.
Paula says
Thank you so much for telling me, Geri. My boys love it too, they want it every week. Pasta is my favorite.
Ashley says
I made this for dinner tonight. Super easy and very tasty, thanks for the recipe!
Paula says
so glad it worked or you! My family request it often!
Scotty B says
I can’t wait to try this. My 20 somethings will absolutely love it! I’ll have wine with mine though! 🙂
Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl says
Goodness gracious, one giant yum! I love a good cheesy pasta bake!
Maja @ The Cake Baby says
I love pasta and Barilla is my favorite brand. Plus, the dish you prepared looks amazing! I would definitely give it a try this evening 🙂
Nancy W. says
I give back by shoveling and cooking meals for elderly neighbors, and cooking meals for others when they are sick or have a newborn.
Paula says
That’s fantastic Nancy! I like feeding others too! Thanks for visting and commenting.
marcie says
This dish looks so cheesy and delicious, Paula!
Paula says
Thanks Marcie! Hope you’ve been doing well!
Erin @ Making Memories says
This is making me so hungry! Looks wonderful.
Paula says
Thank you! LMK if you try it, it was a hit here.
Heather @ Sugar Dish Me says
Love it Paula! Your cheesy pasta bakes are THE BEST.
Paula says
cheesy pasta would be all I would eat if I had a choice 🙂
Julie @ This Gal Cooks says
Love easy meals, Paula! Thanks for sharing!
tanya says
I too could give up meat, but I couldn’t give pasta or dessert! I love this dish Paula, my whole family would devour it in seconds!
Paula says
Thanks, Tanya!
Diane says
This would be a hit in my home! Pinned!
Deb@ Cooking on the Front Burner says
Looks great Paula! Being Italian I love pasta any which way! I like how easy this is too!
Carol at Wild Goose Tea says
Kind of like lasagna and that is more than kind of delicious. I see ricotta cheese and my eyes look heavenward in delight.
Yes, I agree this could easily become a family favorite, which would be great for the cook because it’s not that difficult.
Becca from It's Yummi! says
Oh my GOSH, this looks SO good, Paula!
Paula says
Thank you, Becca! I real-ly liked it too and it was so easy!
Peter @Feed Your Soul Too says
What’s not to like?! hamburger helper (and that is meant as a good thing) on steroids!
Paula says
exactly! 🙂
Zainab @ Blahnik Baker says
What a great campaign Paula! And this recipe is just comfort food at it’s best!! We enjoy pasta here and I am sure this will become a favorite soon.
Ashley | Spoonful of Flavor says
Love barilla products, they are always so fresh and flavorful! And I just love the cheesy goodness of this pasta bake!
Claire @ A Little Claireification says
This looks fantastic – everyone in my house would love this!! Pinned!
Cindy Eikenberg says
Paula, love the idea of having this made in advance!! We totally love anything with pasta, meat and cheese at our house and we could just totally dig in! Thanks for sharing and pinning! Hope you had a happy Easter!
Paula says
Thanks for visiting and sharing, Cindy. I did have a good Easter, the boys are still out of school today and I love spending time with them. Hope you had great holiday as well!
Kelly says
Love this pasta bake Paula! It looks incredible and so convenient with the jarred tomato sauce. We love using Barilla pasta and I can’t wait to try this dish out – my family would love it – pinning 🙂
Paula says
THanks so much Kelly! Have a wonderful week!