Mushroom Zucchini Baked Pasta
This Mushroom Baked Zucchini Pasta is a simple dinner you can make any night of the week! It’s loaded with veggies and topped with cheese, so it will please everyone in your family.
If you are looking for more cozy dinner recipes, check out Baked Butter Lemon Pasta Without Cheese, Healthy Ranch Pasta Salad With Olive Oil, Ham Bone Soup, Pan Pizza Dough Recipe With Instant Yeast, or Butter Parmesan Pasta With Italian Sausage.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Mushroom Zucchini Baked Pasta
- Ready In: 35 minutes
- Makes: 8 servings
- Main Ingredients: pasta, zucchini, tomato sauce, mozzarella
- Flavor Profile: cozy, cheesy goodness
- Dietary Info: eggless, no seed oils, gluten free and vegan swaps available
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: cozy baked dinner everyone will love
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy and Flavorful: I love simple recipes with bold flavor and this organic pasta checks both boxes!
- Make Ahead: This is great make ahead dish. You can prep the dish and cover it with plastic wrap and store in the fridge and then just bake it off when you're ready to eat.
- Wholesome Comfort: This baked pasta is the epitome of comfort food! Lightly spiced with comforting Italian spices, creamy mozzarella, and tender ground beef is the best kind of comfort meal.
- Versatile: You can omit the ground beef for an easy veggie dish. Ground turkey or ground pork also make great options to easily use what you have on hand.
This is cozy, wholesome comfort that the whole family will love. When you want a healthy-ish dinner, this is it!
Also, try other healthy-ish twists on favorites like Healthy Sloppy Joe Bowls, Turkey and Lamb Burgers With Dill Sauce, Organic Meatloaf With Bone Broth, Healthy Beef Soup With Leeks, or Avocado Lettuce Wrap Burgers.
Ingredients
- Ground Beef: I use organic grassfed ground beef. But, you can use ground turkey or ground pork as well. You can even omit the meat completely for a veggie-forward pasta meal.
- Spices: I use organic oregano, thyme, rosemary, fennel seed, parsley, sea salt, black pepper, white pepper, and garlic powder to create an Italian spice that I use on the ground beef. But, if you have a favorite Italian seasoning, you can use this instead if you prefer to make even easier!
- Noodles: For this recipe, I used organic Gemelli noodles. You can use Penne or another type as well, totally up to you.
- Mozzarella: I prefer to buy the block and grate it myself, this allows me to avoid anti caking agents found in shredded cheese.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Easy Substitutions
- Use other veggies from your fridge to reduce food waste. Other great options include bell peppers, broccoli, squash, or spinach!
- You can use ground turkey, ground pork, or even omit the meat if you prefer.
- Make it gluten free by using your favorite gluten free noodles. I love the Food to Live organic chickpea pasta that is made with 100% organic chickpeas, it's so good!
- If you want to make this veggie-forward pasta dish dairy free or vegan, simply omit the meat and replace the mozzarella with your favorite vegan mozzarella. You can use nutritional yeast in place of parmesan and voilà!
- High Altitude — Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven to 400°F and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown.
How to Make Mushroom Zucchini Baked Pasta
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cook the noodles per the instructions on the package. Once cooked, add the noodles into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. While the noodles are cooking, in a large skillet add the olive oil, mushrooms, zucchini, and red onion.
- Sauté over medium heat until the onions are translucent, and the zucchini and mushrooms are cooked, about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add the veggies into the baking dish with the noodles.
- In a medium bowl, add the oregano, thyme, rosemary, fennel seed, parsley, sea salt, black pepper, white pepper, and garlic powder. Add the ground beef and mix to combine completely (you can use a spatula or your hands).
- Add the ground beef into the skillet and cook over medium heat until browned and fully cooked, about ten minutes.
- Add into the baking dish with the noodles.
- Reserve ¾ cup of the mozzarella and set aside. Add in the rest of the mozzarella and the tomato sauce to the noodles.
- Stir to combine completely.
- Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on top.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven to broil and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown. (If you're baking at high altitude, be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for high altitude baking instructions).
Serving Suggestions
- Lemon Rosemary Sourdough Bread makes a wonderful side dish!
- Sourdough Crescent Rolls are buttery and slightly sweet, perfect for an appetizer.
- Add some greens with the Simple Green Salad with Homemade Dressing.
- Quick and easy to make, Organic French Baguettes With Instant Yeast are a great homemade bread option!
Mushroom Zucchini Baked Pasta FAQ's
Yes! This is an amazing dinner to make ahead of time as it reheats very well. You can even cook the ground beef, noodles, and veggies and store in the fridge then put it all together when you’re ready to eat it. This also makes a great dinner gift. If you need to bring dinner to someone who’s had a rough day or week, is sick, or has had surgery or a baby this is a great recipe for that. Put it all together and just don’t bake it. Cover with plastic wrap and put a note on there with the baking instructions and it gives someone an easy dinner that is homemade with basically no work!
Yes, of course you can use different veggies if you prefer. Other veggies that would go well with this recipe would be yellow onion, bell peppers, or yellow squash.
Yes, if you don’t have mozzarella you could use cheddar in its place and it would still be good!
More Cozy Dinner Recipes
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Mushroom Zucchini Baked Pasta
Equipment
- 3-Quart Pot
- Cast Iron Skillet
- 9×13-inch Baking Pan
Ingredients
- 1 pound Gemelli noodles
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces baby Bella mushrooms (sliced)
- 1 large zucchini (halved and sliced)
- ½ red onion (sliced)
- 1 pound grassfed ground beef
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon fennel seed
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 8 ounces Organic Valley Mozzarella Cheese (grated)
- 5 cups tomato basil sauce
- parmesan (for topping)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cook the noodles per the instructions on the package. Once cooked, add the noodles into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
- While the noodles are cooking, in a large skillet add the olive oil, mushrooms, zucchini, and red onion. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are translucent, and the zucchini and mushrooms are cooked, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add into the baking dish with the noodles.
- In a medium bowl, add the oregano, thyme, rosemary, fennel seed, parsley, sea salt, black pepper, white pepper, and garlic powder. Add the ground beef and mix to combine completely (you can use a spatula or your hands).
- Add the ground beef into the skillet and cook over medium heat until browned and fully cooked, about ten minutes. Add into the baking dish with the noodles.
- Reserve ¾ cup of the mozzarella and set aside. Add in the rest of the mozzarella and the tomato sauce to the noodles and stir to combine. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on top.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven to broil and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown.
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Video
Notes
- Use other veggies from your fridge to reduce food waste. Other great options include bell peppers, broccoli, squash, or spinach!
- You can use ground turkey, ground pork, or even omit the meat if you prefer.
- Make it gluten free by using your favorite gluten free noodles. I love the Food to Live organic chickpea pasta that is made with 100% organic chickpeas, it's so good!
- If you want to make this veggie-forward pasta dish dairy free or vegan, simply omit the meat and replace the mozzarella with your favorite vegan mozzarella. You can use nutritional yeast in place of parmesan and voilà!
- High Altitude — Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven to 400°F and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown.
Nutrition
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I love making this for a dinner party as it’s so easy and serves a crowd!