
Baked Rigatoni Pasta
Recipe number two in my quest to stop eating out so much is this one for a baked rigatoni pasta dish.
This is a recipe I normally make for dinner every couple of weeks. So instead of making one batch I make a super-sized batch. This way I can freeze it and have it ready to go on those nights when we are tempted to run out and grab something to eat.
This is also a nice and easy pasta recipe that can be used as a babysitter meal for nights when my husband and I have our date night. Instead of ordering a pizza I can pop the baked rigatoni pasta into the oven before we leave and just have the sitter pull it out and serve it to the kids when the timer goes off.
Easy, and gives me a little more money for date night!

Baked Rigatoni Pasta
Ingredients
- 48 oz Rigatoni pasta 3 16oz boxes
- 3 jars Spaghetti Sauce
- 2 lbs. Sweet Italian Sausage casings removed
- 2 lbs. Mozzarella Cheese shredded
- 24 slices Provolone Cheese
- 3 tsp Dried Oregano optional
- 3 tsp Basil optional
Instructions
- In a very large stock-pot bring to boil enough water to cook pasta according to directions on the package.
- Cook pasta till just al dente or even ever so slightly undercooked as the pasta will absorb some of the extra sauce. You don't want mushy pasta.
- In a large skillet (or I use my electric frying pan) brown and crumble the Italian sausage, drain and rinse to remove extra fat.
- Add sausage back into skillet and add spaghetti sauce to the pan.
- Add optional herbs and spices to jazz up your sauce - this is optional but I like to sometimes add a little dried oregano and basil to mine.
- Cook sauce and sausage for about 10 minutes until sauce is hot.
- Drain pasta and add it back into your large stock-pot, pour spaghetti sauce and sausage over cooked pasta and stir to combine.
- Divide pasta into four 11 3/4 inch by 9 3/8 inch aluminum foil pans (I purchase my pans at the Dollar Tree 2 for $1.00)
- Sprinkle each pan of pasta with 1/2 lb. of shredded mozzarella cheese and then top with 6 slices of provolone cheese.
- Label each pan with instructions on how to cook. I simply wrote on a 3x5 index card "Baked Rigatoni Pasta with the date - Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour"
We cooked one pan for ourselves for dinner that night and froze the other three pans for a later date.
Easy! It took about 5 minutes more to make 4 batches of a yummy pasta dish than it did to make just one batch. We usually serve this with a side salad and some garlic bread.
Notes – this baked rigatoni pasta recipe is very adaptable. Are you gluten free? If so use some gluten free pasta and a GF pasta sauce. Can’t have dairy? Omit the cheese or use a lactose free cheese. If you are a vegetarian omit the sausage or use a meat free alternative.
I do recommend you try that homemade sauce in the crock-pot. That is super tasty, loaded with healthy veggies and is gluten free, dairy free, vegan, low fat, low sodium. It is my preferred sauce any day over jarred sauce.
Check out more delicious recipes!
I do this alot! Sloppy joes, Chili, spag sauce, lasagna roll ups.Super quick when my always hungry teens want a “snack” or when the exrtas show up.
HI! Great and easy recipe!! Can this go directly from Freezer to oven? OR do you have to take it out the night before…
Thanks!