Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake is made with creamy ricotta and loads of spinach stirred through pasta, topped with pasta sauce, cheese and then baked until bubbly and golden. It tastes like a Spinach and Ricotta stuffed shells – but way faster to make!
Fabulous lazy Monday meal – made from scratch, using my cheeky “shake and pour” shortcut pasta sauce!
Spinach and Ricotta
Spinach and ricotta. We stuff things with it (Cannelloni, Rotolo, shells!), we layer things with it, we roll it up in puff pastry and we wrap it in pastry.
So why don’t we stir it through pasta bakes?
This is a lazy Monday meal I’ve been making for years. I know it’s a little different, but it really is tasty. It tastes like spinach and ricotta cannelloni or stuffed shells – but without the labour. 🙌🏻
Look at this pile of gooey, juicy deliciousness….no dry ricotta in MY pasta bakes!
Shake and pour pasta sauce!
Because this is a lazy meal, I make this with my shortcut homemade pasta sauce. It’s a shortcut recipe because I don’t cook it on the stove with sautéed onions and garlic like I ordinarily do. All I do is add pasta sauce flavourings right into a bottle of tomato passata, shake then pour it over the pasta bake.
To compensate for skipping the sautéed garlic and onions, I add extra flavours into the sauce. 🙂
Sub for tomato passata?
Tomato passata is pureed strained raw tomatoes, unflavoured. It’s sold in tall bottles in the pasta section of most supermarkets in Australia nowadays, and costs around the same as canned tomato. If you’re in the US or Canada, I’ve seen it at Walmart and here are a couple of Amazon – Mutti (excellent Italian brand I use) and Cento (a good value one). Or sub with what you know as tomato sauce.
What goes in Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake
Here’s a snapshot of the ingredients. For convenience, I use frozen spinach here but fresh can be used in a cinch.
As for the ricotta, any type will work here. Some are creamier and softer than others which makes it easy to mix into the pasta.
If yours is the thicker more crumbly type, it’s an easy fix – just stir through some of the pasta cooking water to loosen it up. The starch in the pasta cooking water will make the ricotta mixture bind better than using normal water or milk to loosen the mixture. The same effect as tossing pasta through pasta sauces right before serving – it’s called emulsifying the sauce (what a show off!😂).
This really does taste like a Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni* – without the fiddly stuffing of the cannelloni tubes. Because as much as we all love eating those stuffed tubes of pasta smothered in tomato sauce and molten cheese, nobody’s jumping off the couch to offer to help stuff them. Right?? 😂
So – are you feeling lazy today too? -Nagi x
* For those of you in the US & Canada – cannelloni is basically the same as manicotti, except the tubes are slightly smaller and smooth, no ridges. Just as tasty!
All things Spinach and Ricotta!
-
Baked Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo – and it tastes as spectacular as it looks!
And more big juicy pasta bakes
-
Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade Hamburger Helper) – OK, so it’s not baked, but it looks like a pasta bake!
-
Chili Mac and Cheese – ditto for this one 🙂
Watch how to make it
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Spinach & Ricotta Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 300g / 10 oz ziti pasta, uncooked, or other short pasta of choice
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese , shredded (or more! For topping)
Ricotta Mixture
- 1 lb / 500 g ricotta (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese , grated
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
- 350g / 12oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and excess liquid pressed out
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese , shredded
- 3/4 tsp salt & pepper
Shortcut Pasta Sauce
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 700g / 24oz tomato passata (1 standard bottle) (Note 2)
- 1 tsp EACH onion and garlic powder
- 2 tsp dried Italian Mixed Herbs (Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes , to taste (optional)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 2 tbsp water (if needed)
To Serve
- Parmesan cheese , grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
- Pasta Sauce: Pour out about 1/4 cup of the passata (to make room to add flavourings). Add the remaining Pasta Sauce ingredients into the bottle, screw the lid on and give it a shake.
- Cook pasta for time per packet MINUS 1 minute.
- SCOOP OUT 1 mugful pasta cooking water, drain and set aside.
- Ricotta Mixture - Mix Ricotta Mixture ingredients in a very large bowl. Use a splash of pasta cooking water if needed to make it creamy.
- Add pasta and stir to combine. Transfer to a heatproof baking dish.
- Top with Pasta Sauce, top with cheese. Loosely cover with foil.
- Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve while hot and fresh!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published September 2015, updated April 2019 with fresh new photos, new writing, new video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
Reaping the rewards of the Easter Egg Hunt!
PS Don’t worry, it’s a dog friendly Easter egg!
Thanks Nagi for another amazing recipe, everyone loved this. It reminded SIL of a great dish at our local Italian.
So much is potentially do-ahead which is another plus for me.
Agree, it’s delicious and easy. Thanks Nagi for yet another fabulous recipe 😊
This was fantastic. Followed the recipe as written and it was perfect. For those saying it is too watery I think the secret is making sure the spinach is squeezed of as much moisture as possible. I use chux wipes to wrap the spinach in and squeeze as much as possible out. Used gluten free pasta with no issues.
So easy, and delicious. Thank you, I love your recipes, and Dozer of course😉
Lovely. I double the pasta as otherwise it’s a bit too strong for my kids. Also bulks it out! I always freeze extra portions and it’s just as tasty that way!
I cooked this pasta dish today for a friend who is on a gluten-free, vegetarian diet. It was very good. I used baby spinach leaves that had just wilted, and they were good. I used San Remo gluten-free pasta. The dish was easy, and it made a lot. I’m hoping it will freeze, although I note that ideally, it should not be cooked before freezing.
If I was to add chicken, would you cook it first before baking?
Chicken might be a good addition but I definitely wouldn’t add it raw
Shredded leftover BBQ chicken would work quite well I think.
Beautiful make ahead dish. Added poached chicken breast for extra protein (teenagers and kids in the house!) Used the broth for flavour and creaminess. Thank you.
I made this for the first time tonight for the family and everyone LOVED it! First time in a long time that all family members approved! Simple, delicious and enough for leftovers!
OMG! Delicious and easy peasey. Thank you Nagi. Your recipes are always amazing
Yummy and easy dinner. Ricotta and spinach is always a lovely combo.
I did some homemade ricotta up (too lazy to go out in the rain to the shops) and everything else
Was in the pantry and fridge. Nagi does it again! A healthy vege alternative dinner i did oversalt the spinach unfortunately so will remember to go light on my salt
Thank you for a wonderful, easy recipe! Delicious!
Can silver beet be substituted for spinach? Have buckets of it in the garden!
Really nice dish , quick and easy for a midweek meal which has now become a family favourite. Thanks for the recipe delicious 😋
Recuperating from illness so my husband helped make this. He was exhausted (!!) but very happy with the result. So good. I didn’t have quite enough spinach so added some chopped salami. Thanks Nagi 🙂
I tried this recipe for the first time today and it was absolutely delish and so easy to prepare! I used cavatappi pasta and it was great in catching the cheesy spinach base. Many thanks, Nagi, for your wonderful recipes!
Absolutely delicious. Easy and adaptable e.g. added some extra chopped up mushrooms
If I was to add a meat to this, which meat would you recommend?
Chicken breast or beef mince works well with this dish.
Family and friends love this pasta bake! I just follow the recipe to the letter