Easy Dump-and-Bake Vegan Pasta
This easy dump-and-bake vegan pasta has pizza flavors and is perfect for nights when you only have 10 minutes to mix everything in a pan and put it in the oven! Easily customizable for families of different diets, too. No more making two dinners!
As many of you know, I’m a health coach and recipe contributor for the coaching business, PlantWhys. Ali, the founder, has been creating dump-and-go casserole recipes for the PlantWhys YouTube channel, which you should check out! Her pizza pasta is a quick meal that is perfect for nights you need to get dinner going in a hurry. It’s 10 minutes of prep and 40 minutes of hands-off time in the oven. This is my version of it. I love to add pesto and vegetables!
What Do I Need to Make this Dump and Bake Pasta?
You really only need five basic ingredients: pasta, water, marinara sauce, Italian seasoning, and salt! You need to bake it covered, but if you don’t have foil you can use a baking sheet to cover it, instead! Saves foil.
Optional Ingredients
Tofu
Crumbling in extra firm tofu adds protein and looks like cheese, but you can skip it if you’re really tofu-averse. I recommend trying it though, even if it’s the first tofu recipe you’ve ever tried! It makes the meal much more nutritionally balanced than pasta alone.
Nutritional Yeast
You can add nutritional yeast for even more nutrients and a cheesy flavor (again–I recommend you try it even if it’s your first time or you haven’t liked it in the past!). I unfortunately usually skip it as my husband gets a headache from nutritional yeast (there is a subgroup of people like that). However, my kids seem to love anything that has nutritional yeast in it. It adds depth of flavor like cheese would. This is my favorite brand of nutritional yeast. Even though it might seem a lot more expensive than cheese, it lasts much longer and actually much less money than that much cheese.
Pesto
What takes this pasta over the top is some pesto. In the summer, I love to grow tons of basil in my garden from seed. I harvest it and make lots of oil-free nut-based pesto in my food processor, then freeze it in a muffin tin in 1/2 cup amounts. Once frozen, I transfer the pesto pucks (you can tell my blog post is not written by AI, they would never come up with “pesto pucks!”) to a ziplock bag. Then, throughout the year I can heat up some pesto to add to pasta such as this, or add a ton of zip to a homemade pizza or sandwich.
You can also just buy a jar of pesto! They can be hard to find totally vegan, but sophisticated grocery stores will often carry it in the pasta sauce section.
Vegetables
Lastly, adding as many chopped vegetables as you can adds flavor and nutrition to this easy casserole. Best of all, this is where customization comes in. If your family is split, you can add mushrooms, zucchini, and peppers for example, to one half and not the other. Or olives on one section and not the other. One meal, and everyone’s happy! You can even add mozarella, feta, or parmesan cheese to one part if your family isn’t all plant-based.
FAQ about Dump and Bake Vegan Pasta
How many servings does this recipe make?
It makes a 9×13 inch pan, which is about 5-6 hearty servings. If you cook for one or two, you can enjoy leftovers or freeze it.
Can I freeze the pasta casserole?
Yes! It freezes well. I’d put it in individual servings and thaw them out or microwave them one at a time. Souper Cubes are perfect for this!
What could I serve with this?
Serve this casserole with a big green salad, such as this Pear Pecan Green Salad(I make it at Thanksgiving but also all year round!) or a really yummy Caesar Salad!
Roasted broccoli is an easy side, as well. I love to dump out a bag of frozen broccoli onto a baking sheet, spray with a little avocado oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast it alongside the casserole for 30 minutes. Roasted frozen broccoli is delicious!
A fruit is always a great addition, too. Just chop up whatever is in season.
How do I reheat leftovers?
I use the microwave, but you could also heat up a serving or the whole pan in the oven at 400 for about 10 minutes.
Can I use gluten-free pasta?
I haven’t tested it yet, but I’m pretty sure any pasta will work, including gluten-free or legume pasta. Just make sure you use a full 16 ounces (some GF pasta comes in 8 or 12 oz packages) to absorb all the moisture. Once I test it, I’ll update this!
Could I add other protein besides tofu?
Yes! Add 1 cup of cooked lentils, or 1 cup of TVP, or 1 cup of broken-up soy curls. They will absorb the sauce and water as it cooks. Make sure soy curls or TVP are completely submerged in liquid before you bake, or else they will be crunchy. You could also crumble up some plant-based burgers (either black bean or faux meats like Beyond or Impossible Burgers).
If you love easy pasta recipes, try these, as well!
Vegan Greek Pasta Salad (I make this one so often!)
Summer Harvest “Parmesan” Pasta
The easiest lunch ever: Plant-Based Parmesan Pasta
Easy Dump-and-Bake Vegan Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 oz whole wheat pasta
- 1 jar (25-32 oz) pasta sauce or marinara sauce
- 3 cups water
- 1 16-oz package extra firm tofu, drained (optional)
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 TBSP Italian seasoning
- 3 TBSP nutritional yeast (optional)
- 1/2 cup basil pesto (optional)
- 2 cups chopped vegetables such as mushrooms, zucchini, olives, spinach, bell peppers, onions, etc. (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- In a 9x13 inch baking dish, dump out the box of pasta. Add the water, entire jar of pasta sauce, pesto (if using), nutritional yeast (if using) Italian seasoning, and salt. Drain the tofu and crumble it on top in small pieces. Stir it all well.Add chopped vegetables to all or part of the casserole (if your family is like mine, you have some people who will eat certain vegetables and others who won't, and this is easy to customize half-half). Stir the vegetables in and press the pasta down into the liquid as much as possible.If you're feeding a mixed-diet family, you could top with meat or cheese on part of it for those who want that. Then you can all eat the same meal together but honor differences!
- Cover with foil or a metal baking sheet (low-waste option). Bake for 40 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. Let cool at least 5-10 minutes before eating, as the pasta absorbs more liquid as it cools.
- Serve with plant-based parmesan if you'd like, red pepper flakes, and steamed vegetables or a salad on the side.
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This was delicious. My 13 year old asked for this to be added to the regular rotation (and he didn’t notice the mushrooms which he usually won’t eat!). Added French lentils and pesto, and used crushed tomatoes and extra spices rather than marinara. Loved the tofu “ricotta”.
If a 32oz jar of pasta sauce is used instead of a 25oz jar do the 3 cups of water need to be adjusted? Thanks!
I don’t find it necessary to adjust the water, it just is more saucy or tomato-y with a bigger jar of sauce, but hardly much difference at all as the pasta absorbs so much liquid.
Best baked pasta recipe I’ve ever made. I used the large 770ml Costco size jar of sauce which is equivalent to 26 ounces. I added 1/2 cup of TVP that I hydrated beforehand so it wouldn’t absorb the sauce and result in dry pasta. I added the nutritional yeast as you suggested and it resulted an amazing flavour and texture to the sauce. This recipe is a keeper! I’ll never go back to cooking the pasta first and then putting it all together to bake. Your method is much easier and turns out even better as everything bakes together.
“Definitely make again mom!” – every one of 6 kids.
Excellent super fast and easy dinner!
So glad to hear that, Laura! Thanks so much for the comment, my friend! <3