Description
Crowd-pleasing baked tortellini with a meat and marinara sauce is a delicious cheesy casserole with major flavor in only 10 minutes of prep.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 2–3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- Kosher salt and fresh-cracked black pepper
- 24 ounces marinara sauce (about 3 cups)
- 18–20 ounces refrigerated tortellini, uncooked, any variety
- 1 and 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Warm a large, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and onion. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the onion is softened and the beef mostly browned. Drain any excess fat.
3. Add garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes more, stirring well.
4. Stir in the marinara sauce, uncooked tortellini, and a little more than half of the mozzarella. Top with the remaining mozzarella and the Parmesan.
5. Cover tightly with foil, or a lid if your pan has one. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes.
6. Remove the foil or lid. The cheese should be melted, the tortellini tender, and the sauce bubbling. Test a tortellini from the middle to ensure doneness.
7. To lightly brown the top, if desired, broil for 1-2 minutes, watching carefully. Remove from the oven, let rest for 3-4 minutes, then sprinkle with chopped parsley or basil. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Want to add veggies? Stir in carrots, zucchini, or bell pepper with the beef, or add baby spinach before baking.
If you don’t have a large skillet, brown the meat in a smaller pan, then assemble in a 9×13 casserole dish.
For extra heat, serve with red pepper flakes.
To halve: cut ingredient amounts in half and use a smaller pan, or make the full recipe in two smaller pans and freeze one.
Make-ahead: assemble the dish, cover with foil, and refrigerate overnight or freeze up to 3 months. If baking from chilled, add 5-10 minutes to the bake time.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Main
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American-Italian
Keywords: baked tortellini, tortellini bake, casserole, pasta, cheese