Baked Tortellini With Meat Sauce is a hearty, baked pasta dish made with tortellini and meaty pasta sauce that’s been coated in gooey melted cheese. From start to finish this only takes 30 minutes, making it a great option for a weeknight dinner.
Easy Cheesy Baked Tortellini With Meat Sauce
This Baked Tortellini With Meat Sauce is on regular rotation at my house! It’s super simple to make, quick to put together, and my kids and husband absolutely love it. The cheesy tortellini and hearty meat sauce make this a complete meal all on its own.
It doesn’t get much easier than a comfort-style pasta dish that uses store-bought tortellini and pasta sauce. But, this recipe can also be frozen to save you prep time on the craziest of nights. All you have to do is take it out of the freezer and pop it in the oven!
Why We Love This Recipe
- One-dish complete meal, it’s not essential to make sides
- Quick and easy to make
- Kid-friendly and approved
- A quick weeknight dinner that can be made ahead or as a freezer meal
- Easy grocery list
- Ready in 30 minutes
Ingredients
- Ground beef
- Garlic & Onion powder
- Italian seasoning
- Frozen Cheese Tortellini
- Cream cheese
- Pasta Sauce
- Mozzarella & Parmesan cheeses
Variations / Options / Add-ins
- TORTELLINI: You can use fresh or frozen tortellini in this recipe. The fresh tortellini will just take less time to cook. You can also use flavored tortellini, such as spinach tortellini, if you like.
- PASTA SAUCE: I prefer to use a pasta sauce with mushrooms as it adds a great flavor, and I love mushrooms. But, any style pasta sauce will work. Roasted garlic is also a delicious option.
- GROUND BEEF: Any kind of ground meat will work for this recipe. Chicken, turkey, pork, venison or even a meat alternative to keep it vegetarian would all work just fine!
- SPINACH: I have seen people adding spinach to this recipe. Though I haven’t tried it myself, I love baked spinach and I’m willing to bet it’s a delicious addition.
How to Make Cheesy Baked Tortellini
This recipe is so easy to prep. I’ve made it so many times that it usually only takes me 10 minutes to throw it together and then just 20 minutes to bake!
- Preheat the oven to 350 and bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook tortellini and drain.
- Cook ground beef with seasonings.
- Cut up cream cheese in chunks and add to the meat.
- Mix the pasta sauce with the cooked tortellini.
Pro-Tip: Be careful when you’re mixing the tortellini with the sauce. Mix slowly as the tortellini will have just been cooked and will be soft. It will break easily. - Add the meat and mix it all together.
- Put the mixture in a 9×13 dish and sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan over the top.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
Pro-Tip: For a better looking dish, you can broil the top of the cheese in the dish for a couple of minutes until the desired color is reached. Usually it takes about 2 minutes.
Storage Tips
Once the baked tortellini has cooled down it should be covered and kept in the refrigerator, until being heated up. It can keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Baked tortellini also freezes really well for up to 3 months!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This is a great dish to make ahead of time, especially if you plan to freeze it. It makes for a great freezer meal. Many times if I am making this I will double the batch and freeze one to pull out on a busy weeknight.
While this meal is a complete dinner in itself, I do love to make a couple of sides to go along with it. Typically, I serve it with garlic bread and a side salad. My go-to garlic bread are these Easy Cheese Stuffed Garlic Rolls but my family also loves this Cheesy Pull-Apart Garlic Bread.
Other Easy Casserole Recipes
Baked Tortellini (with Meat Sauce)
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 2 tsp italian seasoning
- 19 oz bag of frozen cheese tortellini
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 24 oz jar pasta sauce with mushrooms
- 1 cup mozzarella
- ½ cup parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Bring a pot of water to boil and add tortellini. Cook for 3 minutes then drain water.
- Add the ground beef and seasoning to a skillet, cook until no pink remains. Drain the fluid.
- Cut up the cream cheese into chunks and add to the ground meat.
- Mix the pasta sauce with the tortellini, carefully don’t overmix or break up the pasta.
- Add the meat mixture to the pasta and carefully stir until mixed well.
- Add to a 9×13 dish and bake uncovered for 20 minutes. It should have started to bubble on the sides now.
- For a better appearance broil the top of the cheese for a couple of minutes until the desired color is reached (about 2 minutes).
- Serve hot with garlic bread and a side salad.
The directions doesn’t mention the mozzarella or the parmesan cheeses at all. Do they get mixed in or do they get sprinkled on top prior to baking or do they get added after the pasta bakes for 20 mins?
This was so easy and delicious! I came here after trying your Oreo pie recipe that was a smash as well, now what to try next…