On those days when you don’t know what to make for dinner, there’s always one thing that’ll have the whole family racing to the table. A good old pasta bake recipe might be simple, but it’s a classic for a reason.
You can’t go wrong when pasta’s involved, and over the years we’ve turned lots of our favourite recipes into hearty, healthy pasta bakes. Every recipe in this roundup freezes and reheats like a dream, so it’s well worth doubling up the portions and batch-cooking your way to an easy midweek meal on a busy day.
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Hunter’s Chicken Pasta Bake
To start us off on the tastiest possible note, we need to talk about our Hunter’s Chicken Pasta Bake. Inspired by one of our favourite pub grub orders, it’s a comforting cheese-topped, BBQ chicken pasta dream!
On the table in just over half an hour, it’s surprisingly low in calories at only 284 per serving. There’s no missing out on the best bits either – we’ve loaded it up with tender chicken, salty bacon and the perfect amount of cheese to guarantee a melty, golden topping.
Portion up a serving, stash it in the fridge and reheat the leftovers for lunch the next day. There’s nothing better than cooking once and enjoying it twice!
We love these Airtight Glass Food Storage Containers with Lids for meal prepping. They’re safe to use in the oven and the freezer, which makes storing and reheating leftovers a breeze!
Chilli Pasta Bake
You might not think to dish up chilli con carne with a side of pasta, but when you turn it into a pasta bake, it all makes so much sense! This Chilli Pasta Bake recipe couldn’t be easier to rustle up, and it’s a hearty, satisfying, slimming-friendly dinner that the whole family will enjoy.
Packed with veggies, lean beef mince and kidney beans, we love hearing from our community how they make it their own – we know you love to sneak in extra veggies, or use up leftover chilli that you made earlier in the week.
Even if you’re making the chilli from scratch, it only takes 45 minutes to rustle up the whole pasta bake, and that’s including 15 minutes in the oven to let the cheesy topping get gloriously golden and crispy at the edges.
Chicken Kyiv Pasta Bake
We’re always in the mood for something creamy and garlicky, especially when it comes with a crunchy, breadcrumb topping. That’s why midweek meals don’t get much better than this easy-to-make Chicken Kyiv Pasta Bake.
It’s been super popular over in our Facebook group, and once you’ve tried it, you’ll understand why! We’re talking about a creamy, herby mushroom and chicken sauce, all mixed together with pasta and covered with breadcrumbs, cheese and parsley.
It goes without saying that the topping gets nice and crunchy in the oven, making it even more tempting to dig into!
Tuscan Chicken Pasta Bake
We’re not kidding when we say we can turn just about any recipe into a tasty pasta bake. When we saw how much you all loved our Creamy Tuscan Chicken there was only one way to make it even more delicious…
Pasta makes everything better, so this Tuscan Chicken Pasta Bake takes those gorgeous flavours to the next level. Easy, cheesy, and ready to dish up in less than an hour, it’s a crowd-pleaser that always deserves a spot on your weekly meal plan.
There are just 497 calories in every satisfying serving of chicken, pasta, spinach and sundried tomatoes. Trust us, this one tastes like sunshine!
Tuna Pasta Bake
A classic for a reason, we can’t put together a list of pasta bake recipes without mentioning a good old Tuna Pasta Bake. An oldie but a goodie from our very first cookbook, you can flick to pages 180-181 to find the full ingredients list and easy method.
This one is a budget-friendly dream, making the most of cupboard staples (and there’s even some frozen peas in there!). We’ve used cheese sparingly, to keep the calories low, but that doesn’t mean you miss out on flavour.
By doubling up with cream cheese in the filling, and grated Cheddar on the top, you get the perfect cheesy bite with every forkful.
Psst…grab a really fine grater like this from Amazon! It makes a little bit of cheese go so much further.
Pasta Bolognese Bake
Calling all spag bol lovers! We’ve mixed a slimming-friendly bolognese with any old pasta shape and topped it with reduced-fat Cheddar to make this Pasta Bolognese Bake. It’s oh-so-simple, and just as delicious as it sounds.
As always, we’ve hidden lots of finely chopped vegetables in the ragu-style sauce, so even the fussiest eaters at the table won’t have an excuse to complain! At 422 calories per portion, there’s plenty of room on your plate to add a slice of Cheesy Garlic Bread too…
To make this recipe even easier, you can cook it in a pan that’s safe to use on both the hob and in the oven! That’ll be one less pot to wash after dinner!
Chicken Tetrazzini
If you’ve never heard of Tetrazzini before, it’s an American pasta bake that’s usually made with spaghetti and diced chicken or seafood, all cooked in a buttery, creamy cheese sauce flavoured with wine or sherry.
It wasn’t easy to make this one slimming friendly, but we’re obsessed with the end result – this Chicken Tetrazzini tastes super indulgent, despite being just 435 calories!
Spaghetti in a pasta bake makes for a nice change, especially when you’ve also got a crunchy topping of cheesy breadcrumbs to dig into too!
Pulled Pork Lasagne
Does a lasagne count as a pasta bake? The thing is, our Pulled Pork Lasagne is too tasty to miss off this list! A mouthwatering change from a traditional lasagne, it’s a great way to use up pulled pork leftovers, but it’s also well worth the effort of cooking the pork from scratch just for this recipe!
A thing of beauty, we’ve layered up slow-cooked BBQ gammon, creamy white sauce and sheets of pasta, then topped it all with cheese and baked it in the oven until golden. All that, and it’s still just 448 calories per portion…
You’ll need a large, deep, ovenproof dish to make this recipe. Invest in a good quality one and it’ll last you for hundreds of lasagnes!
Pizza Pasta
Maybe we’ve saved the best pasta bake for last, but you didn’t think we’d forget about this Pizza Pasta recipe did you? You’ll only find this recipe in our Quick and Easy cookbook (turn to pages 110-111).
The perfect middle ground between our two favourite Italian-inspired foods, we love that you can switch up the pizza-style toppings every time you make this healthy pasta bake. Our classic recipe pinches the flavours from a pepperoni pizza, but if you’d rather go for chicken and mushroom, or ham and pineapple, we won’t judge you (much!).
Will you be making one of these pasta bake recipes for dinner tonight?
We’d love to hear what your favourite healthy pasta bake recipe is! Head on over to our Facebook group to drop in any photos, hints, tips, or stories about what you’ve been cooking lately. Everyone in the group will LOVE hearing from you!
Plus, don’t forget you can upload any photos you’ve taken of your pasta bakes or other recent meals to the PON gallery – you might even win some SWAG!
And, if you LOVE pasta, here are a few other articles you might find handy…
- 7 Easy Orzo Pasta Recipes
- Best Pasta Recipes for Batch Cooking
- 9 Vegetarian Pasta Recipe Ideas
- How to Cook Pasta
- Our Guide to Different Types of Pasta
