Pure comfort food, this Penne Pasta Bake recipe has a meaty, creamy sauce and lots and lots of cheese. It is perfect for a busy night, and is perfect for feeding a crowd.
While we always love pasta, penne pasta is one of my person favorites! If you love penne, too – check out this Sausage and Peppers Pasta, Penne with Butternut Squash and Sausage, or Key West Penne.
As a food blogger, it’s sometimes embarrassing to admit that my kids aren’t the most adventurous eaters. And by that, I mean they are picky.
While it is getting better as they get older, we still struggle sometimes. But there are a few things that they will all eat almost every time. Homemade pizza. Meatballs. Tacos. And pasta.
It’s a good thing that I like pasta too, because it becomes my go-to quite often.
But really – what’s not to love (for the whole family) in this dish? A meaty, creamy red sauce, pasta, and lots and lots of cheese. This is comfort food that I will totally get behind any day of the week.
Ingredients
- Penne Pasta: I think penne works best for this recipe because its shape holds the sauce well.
- Ground Beef: I like to use a lean ground beef so that I don’t have a lot of grease or fat. Fore more flavor, feel free to sub out part of the ground beef for sausage.
- Onion: This adds great flavor. A clove or two of minced garlic would be delicious, as well!
- Marinara Sauce: Make sure you use a marinara sauce that you really love. Don’t use straight tomato sauce, because the flavor will be lacking. I like to use a marinara sauce that has lots of Italian spices in it.
- Sour Cream: This is what makes the dish creamy. You can technically leave it out, but you’ll lose the creamy aspect, and that’s one of the things I love the most about this recipe!
- Provolone, Mozzarella, and Parmesan: Yes, it’s cheesy, and maybe that’s why my kids love it so much! I love the mixture of all three cheeses. And I love to use sliced Provolone – I feel like it makes it that much cheesier!
- Parsley: Not required, but I always love having something fresh and green added at the end!
How to Make this Penne Pasta Bake
PASTA: Cook your pasta until al dente. You don’t want to overcook it, otherwise it will be mushy once it is all combined and baked.
SAUCE: To make the sauce, cook the ground beef with the onion, then add the marinara and let it all cook together and simmer. Stir in the sour cream.
COMBINE: Stir the cooked pasta into the meat sauce.
ASSEMBLE: To assemble, you are going to have 2 layers of meat/pasta and cheese. Start by adding half of the pasta to your baking dish. Top it with half the provolone, (tearing the slices, if needed), then half of the mozzarella. Add the rest of the pasta, then the remaining provolone, mozzarella, then the parmesan.
BAKE: Bake the pasta until the cheese is melted, then top with parsley before serving.
Penne Pasta Bake Video
If you’d like to watch how to make this penne pasta bake, you can watch the video above.
Tips and Tricks
- You could technically use any pasta you want here, but I find that a short cut pasta works perfectly. I love penne because it becomes coated by the sauce so well. Plus, my kids like the best, so that is always a deciding factor!
- You can use shredded Provolone if you can find it, but I actually really like the slices of cheese in this recipe.
- This Penne Pasta Bake makes great leftovers!
- You can make this pasta bake ahead of time. Make it up until right before you bake it. Cover and refrigerate, then let it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking it. You may need to add a few minutes to the baking time. You will know when it’s ready when the cheese is melted and bubbling.
More Pasta Recipes
One Pot Ground Beef Stroganoff
One Pan Pasta with Bacon and Peas
Skillet Lasagna
Shrimp Pasta with Poblano Cream Sauce
Creamy Mac and Cheese
Tuna Casserole
Baked Spaghetti
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Penne Pasta Bake Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz penne pasta
- ½ lb ground beef
- ½ medium onion chopped
- 24 oz marinara sauce
- ½ cup sour cream
- 6 oz sliced Provolone
- 4 oz shredded or sliced Mozzarella
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan
- chopped parsley
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown the ground beef. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the spaghetti sauce and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the sour cream. Add the drained pasta and stir to coat.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a 2 quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour half of the pasta into the baking dish. Top with half of the Provolone and half of the Mozzarella. Pour the remaining pasta on top and top with the remaining Provolone and Mozzarella, and sprinkle the Parmesan on top.
- Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.
Clara says
I made this dish my family loved it and very easy to assemble will definitely make it again
Gordon Ramsay says
I really loved this recipe it is so easy and delicious !
I totally recommend this recipe to anyone
{FYI I am not Gordon Ramsay
but I can tell you this is one of my favorite recipes
have a good day!
enjoy!
Chris says
We used the general recipe, I had my daughter cook mild Italian sausage instead of beef. She added onion, and mushrooms. Once the sauce was in, we added a can of sliced black olives, 2 Tablespoons fresh basil, and 8 oz of ricotta cheese instead of Sour cream. We finished putting it together like it says and it turned out delicious!
Lanie Abejero says
I loved it! Thank you
AT says
Honestly this was pretty bland. I am a die hard pasta fan and I didn’t find this to be savoury in any way. Maybe adding bell peppers and zucchini would make it taste more flavourful. Otherwise its just has a saturated meat taste. Its a shame cause visually it looked delicious but ended up being meh. Won’t be making again.
Joan says
I’m making a vegan GF version. Unlike the user “AT”, I know how to adjust recipes to the flavor I know I like (spices, use them how you usually do). Sorry they gave you a 3 star, that was dumb of them.
Briana Bujanowski says
I ran across this recipe and I decided to make this for dinner last night for me and my family. It turned out AMAZING and everyone loved it! I will definitely be making this again! Thank you for the delicious recipe!
Miss B says
Too much cheese, not enough sauce, needs 1-2 cloves of garlic cooked with the onion and season the beef with salt and pepper. With those modifications and adding a little Italian seasoning to the beef, then it was 5 stars! BTW – I had to add at least 12 more ounces of sauce to the onion, garlic and beef mixture, otherwise the pasta bake is way too dry with the amount of sauce called for.
Samantha says
I added a layer of broccoli… & Mushrooms, after cooking beef, w/onion, after draining
I used Mexican Cheese to Provolone.
Penne was vegetable.
This recipe is delicious 😋😋😋😋😋
I’m always trying to get fresh idea’s… THIS rates my family Cook Book!!! Yummy
Shandell says
I made this last night for 5 adults and everyone LOVED it! Plus there was plenty for leftovers!!!!!
Decca Smith says
my family and I loved this recipe. My dad is Italian he was brought up on Baked Ziti. He really liked this. Thank you
Priscilla Liu says
Just made this for the family and they love it!
Did it without Provolone, but was cheesy enough with just mozzarella & parmesan. Also substituted sour cream with cooking cream.
Nick Vannett says
I also have picky eaters and this has now become our go to as well! Thanks for sharing.
Fran from Indy says
My family loved this ❤️ easy and tasty 😍
Christine says
I thought it was a little dry. I love cheese but that’s all I tasted. My family wasn’t impressed either.
Marie says
It was kind of bland. I’m trying to think of a way to add some sort of spice to make it have some flavor.
Rosa says
This was so yummy and easy to make! My picky 2 year old gobbled it all up which he rarely does! Thank you for this quick easy recipe to help out a tired and uninspired mom 🙂
Deborah says
Yay! So glad I could be of help!
Laura Marsh says
This was great! I am on my second time to make this. We put it in 8 small baking dishes and baked it each night. Awesome!! Thanks for great food for working people.