Cheesy Meatball Pasta Bake

This easy, cheesy Gluten Free Meatball Pasta Bake is the perfect family dinner. Gluten free penne pasta baked with a rich tomato sauce, meatballs, peppers and spinach and a crispy cheese topping. It’s a real crowd-pleaser and pure comfort food.

I absolutely love a cheesy meatball pasta bake – especially now I’ve nailed the best homemade gluten free meatballs.

Baked meatballs and pasta is just pure comfort food. And this baked pasta with meatballs recipe has a delicious tomato sauce and is packed with veg.

Most importantly, this cheesy meatball pasta bake has lashings of melted cheese on top with gorgeous crusty bits baked round the edges. Perfection.

If you’ve already tried my gluten free pasta bake recipe you have to try this next. It’s a great family dinner and even better served with gluten free garlic bread.

Most supermarket meatballs in the UK are gluten free (they are usually marked as such on the pack) but I highly recommend making your gluten free meatballs if you have time.

Ingredients

There’s a printable recipe card down below, but for the shopping list you’ll need the following ingredients for my cheesy pasta meatball bake:

• Meatballs: I use 16 beef meatballs in this recipe but you could easily use a pack of 12 split between four people for small portions (or kids). Or make your own homemade meatballs instead!
• Gluten Free Pasta: I’ve gone for baked penne with meatballs but any gluten free pasta shape will work. Most gluten free pastas work well as long as you follow the pack instructions for cooking and don’t overcook them. Of course, if you’re not gluten free then just use a normal pasta for this recipe.
• Cheese: I use mixed grated cheese but anything works well – use Cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan or any cheese you fancy.

For the meatball bake pasta sauce:

• Olive Oil: For frying. You can use a different oil if you prefer.
• Onion: I use a brown onion but have also made this with red onion and it’s just as good.
• Garlic: I use frozen chopped garlic for ease but you can use garlic paste or fresh crushed or minced garlic.
• Peppers: Use any peppers you like, I went for one red and one orange. If you don’t like peppers you can omit them or swap for something like chopped courgette or cherry tomato halves.
• Herbs: I use dried basil and oregano to flavour this sauce.
• Vegetable Stock Pot: Not all stock pots are gluten free so always check the ingredients lists before using. I have a guide to gluten free stock cubes too.
• Chopped Tomatoes: Using tinned tomatoes is a really cheap way to make a pasta sauce. Go for canned diced tomatoes, or buy them whole and chop yourself.
• Passata: This helps make the tomato sauce more ‘saucy’ so it doesn’t dry out in the oven when baking.
• Red Wine: Omit this if you don’t drink alcohol but I love the richness it adds.
• Fresh Spinach: This is optional but a great way to add some extra veg.

How to make meatball pasta bake

There’s a printable recipe card below with the method, but here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this cheesy meatball pasta bake is to make:

Cook the meatballs in the oven or air fryer as per the pack instructions. I usually pop them in a 180’C / Fan 160’C / Gas Mark 4 oven for 15-20 minutes, or in the air fryer for 12 minutes at 200C. Make everything else while they’re cooking.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the gluten free pasta for the instructed time on the pack (usually around 10 minutes). Once cooked, strain off straight away.

While the meatballs and pasta are cooking, make the sauce. Add the olive oil to a large pan and bring to a medium heat.

Next, add the onions and garlic and gently fry for 4-5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onions go soft.

Finally, add the chopped peppers and sprinkle in the basil and oregano. Mix well and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Pour in the tinned tomatoes, passata, red wine and vegetable stock pot. Stir well, bring to the boil and simmer for around 8-10 minutes.

Remove the cooked meatballs from the oven but leave the oven on. Turn it down to 180’C / Fan 160’C / Gas Mark 4 if not already there.

Add to the sauce along with the spinach leaves. Pour in the drained pasta and stir everything well.

Pour into an ovenproof dish (if your pan itself is not already ovenproof), spread out evenly and then top with the cheeses.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling up around the edges. Serve hot with garlic bread, green veg or a side salad.

Storing and Freezing

If you want to make this recipe ahead of time, I’d recommend making the meatballs and sauce and then cooking the pasta fresh when you want to eat it.

You can reheat any leftovers of this meatball pasta bake but gluten free pasta can break up a bit when reheated.

If you want to freeze this recipe, I’d again recommend freezing the sauce (with or without the cooked meatballs) and cooking fresh pasta each time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some FAQs about this cheesy meatball pasta bake recipe. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!

If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.