This baked rigatoni is full of ground turkey, veggies and – most importantly – cheesy goodness!
This recipe might not actually be new to the world, but it’s new to me! I present to you, the cheesy, meaty, nom-alicious Ground Turkey Baked Rigatoni.
The thing about baked rigatoni is that it’s easy to make, and if you’d prefer it without the ground turkey you can just omit it – and save yourself a couple steps in the process!
Ingredients for baked rigatoni
- Rigatoni: Rigatoni is the ideal pasta for this dish because it’s thick, hearty, and has ridges on the outside that help the sauce adhere to the noodles. It holds up well to thick, chunky, meaty sauces. If you don’t have rigatoni, you can use penne, fusilli or rotini.
- Unsalted butter: You’ll use this to coat your cooked pasta while it’s still warm. You can also use olive oil instead of butter.
- Ground turkey: Don’t want to use ground turkey? Swap it for your favorite meat, or leave it out! Italian sausage or ground beef are great as well.
- Onion and garlic: Because… flavor!
- Mushrooms: You can use canned mushroom stems and pieces, or you can use fresh mushrooms. I call for canned in this recipe because it’s an easy thing to keep on hand in your pantry, and my goal is for this to be easy!
- Spaghetti sauce: If you keep jars of spaghetti sauce in the pantry, grab your favorite. If you’d prefer to spend some time making your own, try a recipe like this one.
- Sweet basil: I love the flavor fresh basil leaves add to a baked pasta dish. You could also use Italian basil, which has slightly larger leaves and can be more aromatic than sweet basil if you want a little oomph.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese: Because we’re making this a hearty, cheesy dish! You could also add parmesan cheese and asiago cheese for a nice cheese blend.
How to make baked rigatoni
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Cook pasta according to the directions on the box until al dente, and drain. Coat in 1 tablespoon butter while it’s still hot, and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan. Crumble the ground turkey into the pan and cook on medium heat until it’s no longer pink. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Add onion and garlic, cook for 3 minutes.
- Add mushrooms, cook for another 3 minutes.
- Turn heat down to low. Add the sauce and basil, stir, and cover. Cook an additional 3-4 minutes. Stir occasionally if you see the sauce start to bubble, otherwise keep it covered.
- In a 9×13 glass baking dish (sprayed generously with nonstick cooking spray), pour in half the pasta, then all of your sauce and meat mix. Stir to mix, and then add the rest of the pasta and stir some more.
- Once you feel like it’s all adequately combined, top with the cheese, cover with foil, and pop it in the oven for 15 minutes on the top rack. For the last 5 minutes, uncover and broil (on low, if you have a setting for it) to brown the cheese on top.
Tips for the best baked rigatoni
- If you have the time and patience, shred the cheese yourself. It melts easier than the bagged, pre-shredded stuff.
- Want more veggies? Go for it! I love adding spinach, kale, artichoke hearts, or zucchini. If you’re leaving out the meat, adding more veggies is a great way to beef it up (pun totally intended).
- Want to add some spice? Add some red pepper flakes to the sauce for a little heat.
- You can assemble the dish ahead of time. If you want to prep ahead of time so all you have to do is pop it in the oven for dinner, you totally can. Prep everything in the baking dish and cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and keep it stored in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it.
- Broil for a few minutes! At the end of the baking time, uncover the dish and let the broiler brown the cheese and get it all hot and bubbly.
- Add fresh parsley. It does add a little flavor, but topping the baked rigatoni just before serving is really more about presentation and adding a dash of color!
Can you freeze baked rigatoni?
You can! Cover the unbaked dish with foil and plastic wrap (make sure it’s tightly sealed) and keep it in the freezer.
When you’re ready to bake, you can either let it come to room temperature or bake from frozen. If baking from frozen, add up to 30 minutes to the cook time.
After you’ve made this recipe, please consider coming back to share your experience with others by leaving a comment below with a star rating!
Ground Turkey Baked Rigatoni
This baked rigatoni is full of ground turkey, veggies and – most importantly – cheesy goodness!
Ingredients
- 1 pound rigatoni
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 pound ground turkey, can substitute ground beef or Italian sausage
- ½ cup onion, chopped (add more, if you prefer)
- 4- ounce can mushroom stems and pieces, can substitute fresh sliced mushrooms
- 1-24 ounce jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce, or your favorite homemade sauce recipe
- 1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons sweet or Italian basil, chopped
- 8 ounces mozzarella, shredded and divided
- Fresh parsley, optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Cook pasta according to the directions on the box until al dente, and drain. Coat in 1 tablespoon butter while it's still hot, and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan. Crumble the ground turkey into the pan and cook on medium heat until it’s no longer pink. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Add onion and garlic, cook for 3 minutes.
- Add mushrooms, cook for another 3 minutes.
- Turn heat down to low. Add the sauce and basil, stir, and cover. Cook an additional 3-4 minutes. Stir occasionally if you see the sauce start to bubble, otherwise keep it covered.
- In a 9×13 glass baking dish (sprayed generously with cooking spray), pour in half the pasta, then all of your sauce and meat mix. Stir to mix, and then add the rest of the pasta and stir some more.
- Once you feel like it’s all adequately combined, top with the cheese, cover with foil, and pop it in the oven for 15 minutes on the top rack. For the last 5 minutes, uncover and broil (on low, if you have a setting for it) to brown the cheese on top.
- Remove carefully, top with parsley (if desired), grab a serving spoon and dish it out. Enjoy!
Notes
Freeze: Cover the unbaked dish with foil and plastic wrap (make sure it’s tightly sealed) and keep it in the freezer. When you’re ready to bake, you can either let it come to room temperature or bake from frozen. If baking from frozen, add up to 30 minutes to the cook time.
If you have the time and patience, shred the cheese yourself. It melts easier than the bagged, pre-shredded stuff.
Want more veggies? Go for it! I love adding spinach, kale, artichoke hearts, or zucchini. If you’re leaving out the meat, adding more veggies is a great way to beef it up (pun totally intended).
Want to add some spice? Add some red pepper flakes to the sauce for a little heat.
You can assemble the dish ahead of time. If you want to prep ahead of time so all you have to do is pop it in the oven for dinner, you totally can. Prep everything in the baking dish and cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and keep it stored in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it.
Nutrition
Calories: 535kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 76mg | Sodium: 956mg | Potassium: 847mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 859IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 233mg | Iron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating!
psnama
Thanks, Leslie, for this amazing turkey recipe! I really liked your writing skills.
Regards,
psnama
Leslie Kiszka
I’m glad you both liked it! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment and rating, I really appreciate it!
Kelly Hubbard
Why doesn’t this recipe include nutritional info, such as calories etc? I’ve noticed the same for other recipes…unless I am blind .
Leslie Kiszka
Hi Kelly, it’s at the bottom of each recipe card under the pink heading that says “Nutrition”.
Joseph Donahue
This is an awesome easy fall dinner! I love the contrasting textures and flavors.
Joseph Donahue
Leslie Kiszka
So do I! I swear, the pretty colors just make it taste better :)
Tiffany
Great flavor, nice amount of cheese to pasta to meat ratio!!
Thank you for this recipe!!
Leslie Kiszka
Thanks for letting a comment, I’m glad you liked it!
Harold Burton
This is an awesome easy fall dinner! I love the contrasting textures and flavors.
Harold Burton
Deep Web
These look delicious, love the fact you made these with turkey. I think using turkey makes a little softer meatball, perfect for this time of year.
Leslie Haasch
I agree!
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Cushman
This was fantastic! Fast and simple. I sauteed my own mushrooms first and threw them in when you said to. The broiling for the last five minutes was key. Thanks and I look forward to trying another recipe.
lesliehaasch
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
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