No Boil Pasta Bake {Gluten-free}
This gluten-free, no-boil pasta bake is weeknight magic! It’s made with gluten-free pasta, ground beef, and spinach and requires zero boiling.
On those nights when you really don’t want to spend a ton of time in the kitchen but want a delicious home-cooked meal, no-boil pasta is exactly what you need! All you need is to prep this easy dish and bake it in the oven, and you have a delicious casserole-style dish that everyone will love!
This no-boil pasta bake is the perfect quick dinner, made with protein, veggies, and gluten-free pasta!
Table of contents
Why you’ll love this no-boil pasta bake
- No boiling is required. You don’t have to boil the pasta for this dish on the stove! It’s essentially “boiled” in the oven, so you can skip the step of standing in front of the stove and babysitting the pasta.
- Protein & veggies. I love a one pan meal that you can pack with both protein and veggies like my unstuffed cabbage roll. This recipe uses a pound of ground beef for protein, and spinach for added veggies, so you can rest assured that this is a complete meal!
- Dairy optional. Unlike a recipe like baked ziti, you don’t need the cheese to complete this meal, but of course, it’s nice 😉
Recipe Ingredients
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
- Gluten-free pasta. I personally love the Jovial rice pasta!
- Ground beef. You can also use ground turkey or ground sausage.
- Tomato sauce. You can sub my veggie pasta sauce for nightshade-free. Keep in mind that the color may vary.
- Chicken broth. This adds much more flavor than just water.
- Spinach.
- Shredded cheese. You can substitute dairy-free cheese or omit for DF! It really doesn’t need the cheese.
- Chopped parsley. This is to top the pasta bake.
How to make the No-Boil Pasta Bake
Here are the simple steps, with photos, to make this recipe. Find full instructions in the recipe card.
Step one. Grease the baking dish and add the uncooked pasta.
Step two. Add the cooked ground beef.
Step three. Add the broth, sauce, and seasonings.
Step four. Stir well, ensuring the pasta is submerged. Cover and bake.
Step five. Remove the cover once the pasta is baked.
Step six. Add the spinach and stir to wilt.
Step five. Top with shredded cheese and return to the oven.
Step six. Allow the cheese to melt and serve topped with chopped parsley.
Tips & Tricks
- Switch up the protein. This recipe would also be great with chicken (like in my no-boil chicken alfredo pasta bake) ground turkey, or sausage.
- Watch the cook time. The cook time may vary depending on the variety of pasta that you use, so be sure to test the pasta about 3/4th of the way through the cook time to gauge how much more or less time you’ll need. If you need more time, simply add more cook time and more liquid, if the pasta cooks more quickly, use less liquid.
Recipe FAQS
You can for sure make this recipe without cheese! It doesn’t need the cheese, but of course, the cheese adds something extra. If you’re dairy-free you can omit the cheese altogether, use a vegan cheese, or simply stir in some nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor.
I find spinach to be the easiest, but you can also add vegetables like broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, etc.
You can use cassava pasta, though it does stick a lot more than the regular pasta, so be sure to grease the dish very well.
You likely can, though the cook time may vary. You may have to adjust the liquid levels or the cook time.
Other gluten-free pasta recipes to check out…
If you tried this No Boil Gluten Free Pasta Bake or any other recipe on my blog please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
No Boil Pasta Bake {Gluten-free}
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Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 12 oz gluten-free pasta, sub cassava pasta for AIP, see notes
- 1 lb ground beef, cooked
- 15 oz can tomato sauce, sub 2 cups of nightshade-free marinara or Daylight veggie pasta sauce
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 cups spinach
- 1 cup shredded cheese, sub dairy-free cheese or omit for DF
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F and grease a 9×13″ casserole dish with olive oil.
- Add the pasta, ground beef, chicken broth, tomato sauce, broth, basil, oregano, garlic, onion, salt and pepper to the casserole dish. Stir to combine, making sure that the pasta is mostly covered by the liquid.
- Cover the casserole dish and transfer to the oven. Allow to bake for 40 minutes.
- Remove the cover and carefully add the spinach to the pasta, stirring until the spinach wilts. Top with cheese if desired and return to the oven for 4-5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Serve topped with fresh parsley.
So just to be clear, you don’t cook the ground beef beforehand?
You do cook the ground beef, but don’t cook the pasta beforehand!
You have figured out it the perfect ratio to make this quick, easy and delicious! Thank you
So glad you enjoyed this recipe!!
This recipe has become a household favorite! So delicious! I’m going to be making this for a family that just had a baby. I’m going to make it first thing in the morning, refrigerate it, and then deliver it to the family later in the evening. How would you suggest reheating this pasta bake?
I’m so glad! You can always microwave it, but you can also reheat it in the oven under the broiler for a few minutes!
Is the pasta precooked? The recipe doesn’t say. TY
Nope, you don’t need to boil the pasta beforehand!
Fast, easy and delicious! It was even good leftover! This will for sure be on our rotation!
So glad you all enjoyed!!
Can this be mixed the night before & stored in fridge to bake the next day? Wondering if GF pasta would do ok with this method.
I wouldn’t as the pasta may soak up some of the liquid. You can brown the ground beef the night before, and then the rest of it is really quick to combine!
Did you brown the ground beef before you mixed with pasta?
Yes, I brown the meat before adding it to the bake.
Made this tonight! Added veggies – zucchini, red pepper, cherry tomatoes, sundried tomatoes. Used rice pasta. Put in nutritional yeast. Then did sliced fresh mozzarella on top after 40 mins and baked that for 5 min. So delicious!!!!!!!!
Yum, sounds great!!
Could I freeze this for an easy postpartum meal?
The cooked pasta may not freeze very well, but let me know if you try it!
My family LOVED this recipe!!! So easy to make and my husband and 3 kids raved about it. Thank you so much! They even ate the spinach with no complaints…miracle!
So glad your family enjoyed!!
This is the easiest weeknight meal! Going on my list of absolute favorites!
This is super easy and my whole family loved it-was such a treat! I made it with cassava noodles and added some raw goat milk cheese. My dad told me he would pay me to make it for him again and he’s usually more picky!
YUM!
Can I omit the tomato sauce?
I wouldn’t recommend omitting the tomato sauce, but you can substitute Nomato Sauce for a nightshade-free option. My recipe for Nomato Sauce can be found here: https://unboundwellness.com/nomato-sauce/
Just made this after seeing you make it on IG. Sooooo good my husband and I both had seconds and I made it easily while holding my baby. Yummm!!
So glad you enjoyed!
Hi would this no-boil technique work with cassava Jovial pasta?
You can, though it does stick a lot more than the regular pasta, so be sure to grease the dish very well.
You can use Jovial Cassava pasta, though it does stick a lot more than the regular pasta, so be sure to grease the dish very well.