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One Pan Meatball Casserole is one of those dump it and forget it family favorites that everyone loves. It makes a great freezer meal and I've adapted it for the slow cooker and instant pot.
One pan dishes are the kind of recipes that motivate me to make dinner. I love the thought of few dishes and easy prep! Some of my favorite one pan meals include Easy Beef Stroganoff, Cottage Pie, and One Pan Jambalaya.
This is one of those magical dinners where uncooked noodles, sauce, and meatballs are all added to a casserole dish and baked together in the same pan! It doesn't get much easier then that, and it's the type of warm and comforting meal that everyone in your family will love!
Ingredients you'll Need:
- Uncooked ziti pasta: or penne noodles
- Marinara sauce: homemade or store-bought
- Milk: makes it creamy, but additional water or broth can be substituted.
- Water
- Spices: garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and salt
- Cooked meatballs: I like to use my homemade chicken meatballs.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Optional toppings: parmesan cheese and fresh chopped herbs (such as basil, oregano, and parsley for garnish)
How to Make Meatball Casserole:
- Mix. In a large baking dish stir together uncooked pasta, marinara sauce, water, milk, spices and meatballs.
- Bake. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 425 degrees F for 40 minutes.
- Stir and check. Check the pasta—we want it to be al dente (firm, but almost perfectly cooked). If it’s still too hard, cover the dish and return to the oven for a few minutes.
- Add cheese. Sprinkle mozzarella over the top and bake uncovered at 425 degrees F. for 5-10 more minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving, to allow the sauce to thicken up.
Want to make a smaller batch? Cut the recipe in half and bake in an 8’’ or similar size dish.
Can I use frozen meatballs? I suggest thawing the meatballs first, so that everything bakes in as quick of time as possible. If you bake the dish with frozen meatballs it will take longer to bake.
Slow Cooker: Prepare as directed, but leave out the milk and add an additional 24 oz jar of marinara sauce. Be sure the ziti noodles are covered with sauce. Cook on HIGH for 2 – 2 ½ hours, or LOW for 3 ⅓ -4 hours or until pasta is tender. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top during the last few minutes of cooking and return the lid to allow the cheese to melt. Optional: place under broiler for a few minutes to toast the cheesy top.
Instant Pot: Here is my very similar Instant Pot version. https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/instant-pot-penne-pasta-with-meatballs/
Make Ahead Instructions: This meatball casserole can be assembled completely the night before, but I wouldn’t do it any sooner than that or the noodles may have a mushy texture after baking.
Freezing Instructions: Prepare the meatball casserole up until baking. Cover with a double layer of aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge before baking, or to bake from froze, baked covered for 1 hour and 30 minutes, and uncovered for 15-20 minutes longer.
CONSIDER TRYING THESE POPULAR DINNER RECIPES:
- Beef Stroganoff
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Crock Pot Baked Ziti
- Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas
- Italian Grilled Cheese
- Gourmet Baked Mac N Cheese with Bacon
- Crispy BBQ Chicken Wraps
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One Pan Meatball Casserole
Ingredients
- 16 oz. package uncooked ziti pasta
- 24 ounces marinara sauce
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoons Dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Meatballs, , fully cooked, thawed
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella , (or Italian blend cheese)
- Optional: Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped herbs (such as basil , oregano, and parsley for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a 9x13 inch baking dish stir together uncooked pasta, marinara sauce, water, milk, spices and meatballs.
- Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes.
- Uncover; stir. Check the pasta for doneness. We want it to be al dente (firm, but almost perfectly cooked). If it’s still too hard, cover the dish and return to the oven for a few minutes.
- Sprinkle mozzarella over the top and bake uncovered for 5-10 more minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving, to allow the sauce to thicken up.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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HAVE YOU TRIED THIS RECIPE?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
Desperate for a new dinner idea, I tried this one with homemade (simpler, versatile) meatballs. They were frozen but I defrosted most of the way before using them. I’m using TJs Roasted Garlic Marinara. Betting the sauce makes a huge difference. My husband and I have a pretty high bar for good food, but it’s cold and rainy out…fingers crossed that this becomes a new answer to “Aaack! What’s for dinner tonight?”
My pasta is still underdone (15 minutes extra so far). I used penne rigate instead of ziti and I’m wondering if the slight difference in pasta thickness is affecting my bake time. I also felt I needed to add about a cup more liquid/wine/tomato sauce to make sure there was enough liquid for the pasta to absorb.
Just tried this tonight and WOW!!! This is delicious and a keeper for sure! I definitely want it a little more saucy. But the fl is great and I had no problem with the pasta cooking. It was per. Great recipe!! Thank you!
I tried this today with the half measurements and my husband loved it! I do have some questions, though:
– I personally prefer a more liquid-y sauce, and this one is thick (nothing wrong, my personal taste) so if I added more liquid at the beginning of the recipe, would the pasta just keep absorbing it? In other words, would it be better to just add more sauce at the end (which I did)? I notice some comments are about par-boiling the pasta.
– Also, I make my own meatballs and freeze with just some basic seasoning like garlic powder and seasoning salt because I also use them in dishes that aren’t Italian. They seemed sort of bland in this Italian dish, so would it be best to add Italian seasonings to the meatballs before freezing or would that be too much?
Thanks in advance! I’m probably old enough to be your grandmother, but trying new recipes for us empty-nesters!
Yikes! I must have done something wrong. Followed the directions exactly, but noodles were crunchy when served 🙁 (AND I had even baked it for 15 extra minutes….
Could you use zucchini noodles instead and adjust the cooking time
Sure, but I haven’t tested it so I can’t say the cook time. I’d thaw the meatballs first so the zucchini noodles don’t get overcooked before the meatballs are warm. I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Yes! Or spaghetti squash noodles.
So simple and yummy. I veganized it by using beyond meatballs, almond milk and vegan parm. I used brown rice pasta and should have cooked it only 35 minutes, pasta was a little mushy but still very edible!
Thanks for leaving this comment! I bought beyond meatballs, and you inspired me to try this recipe! I used beyond meatballs as a sub for meatballs, oat milk as a sub for dairy milk, and an oat milk bechamel mixed with violife mozzarella as a sub for the mozzarella cheese. Oh, and I also mixed quite a bit of nutritional yeast into the tomato sauce, which I strongly recommend to anyone, vegan or not. And this recipe was soooo good. I will definitely be making this again.
Oh my goodness this is good and easy!! I did have a problem with my pasta being hard…. any suggestions?
Par boil the pasta first a few minutes before adding to the pan. I did and it turned out great. I boiled them for about 5 minutes.
After the 40 minutes my past was still quite hard. I think I will par boil the pasta. Other wise I need to make a double recipe next time. It’s fantastic.
I made this casserole exactly by the instructions and it was delicious. I used a 1 pound package of Italian meatballs. There were eight meatballs in the package, but I split them up and made 16 meatballs. If I make this again, I will create even smaller meatballs, just to make sure there is some meat in every bite. My only suggestion is to use a little more sauce. I suggest a jar and a half of marinara. Otherwise it’s great!
Use ground meat then that would give you enough meat. 🙂
Its was great the whole family loved it.