Made into a one-pot meal, this simple baked feta pasta is a leveled-up version of the creamy, delicious, trendy TikTok dish that’s taking over the internet!
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This recipe is…
Though baked feta pasta is taking the internet world by storm right now, we actually feel like our version of it is totally leveled up — here’s why:
Most baked feta recipes call for baking the feta along with the cherry tomatoes, olive oil, and spices, and boiling the noodles separately (while everything else is in the oven). Once the noodles and the feta + cherry tomato bake are done, these recipes call for mixing the two together. OUR recipe, though, calls for baking EVERYTHING (noodles, feta, cherry tomatoes, everything!) together so that you don’t have to worry about the extra step of boiling noodles separately. This makes the entire process completely fuss-free and basically hands-off!
If you’re looking for more easy, no boil pasta bakes, try our Chicken Alfredo Bake, sausage pasta bake, and our chicken pesto pasta bake. If you’re looking for a really delicious, special, more hands-on pasta recipe, be sure to try our stuffed pasta shells.
Where did Baked Feta Pasta start?
Good question! We first saw baked feta pasta when our friend, Yumna Jawad of Feel Good Foodie, posted it on her website (you can find her recipe HERE). Yumna said that she learned about this recipe from Grilled Cheese Social who heard about it from a viral recipe called #uunifetapasta that was made famous in Finland by Liemessa but originally shared by Tiiu.
Ingredients Needed
To bring this creamy feta pasta bake together, you’ll need…
- 12 ounces of dry pasta (penne, bowtie, rotini, or elbow are all great choices!)
- 3 cups of broth or water
- 1 (8-ounce) block of feta cheese
- 1 pint of cherry tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- ½ teaspoon of sea salt (plus more to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
- 2 minced cloves of garlic
- ¾ ounce of fresh roughly chopped basil (approx. a ¼ cup)
How To Make Baked Feta Pasta
The process is simple, and that’s what we think makes this recipe so great! Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Add the block of feta to the baking dish – place the block of feta cheese in the middle of the dish.
- Add pasta + broth – add the dry pasta to the baking dish (around the block of feta), pour the broth over top the uncooked pasta, and carefully stir the pasta and broth together (being careful not to bump any noodles under or on top of the feta) to make sure that all of the pasta is submerged in the liquid.
- Add the cherry tomatoes, EVOO, salt, and pepper – sprinkle the cherry tomatoes over top of the noodles and drizzle everything with the EVOO, salt, and pepper.
- Cover tightly + bake – cover the baking dish with foil as tight as possible, and bake at 400°F for 40 minutes.
- Add the garlic and basil + stir – once finished baking, remove the foil, add the minced garlic and fresh basil, and stir everything together until well combined. Serve and enjoy!
Serving and Storage Tips
This pasta is best served right out of the baking dish, but reheated leftovers are also really tasty! Store any leftover baked feta pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
The bursting cherry tomatoes in this recipe pair beautifully with the feta cheese, as does the garlic and basil! If you want to round out your meal with a protein + side salad, you’ve got a couple of options! You can…
Press the easy button – keep things super and hands-on cooking time minimal simple and purchase a rotisserie chicken and bagged side salad.
Make your own – while your feta pasta bakes, throw in some chicken thighs to bake alongside it (then slice and serve them over top the finished pasta)! While everything is baking, make a quick arugula salad.
The recipe will work with crumbled feta, but it’ll definitely yield a less creamy, melty texture. For best results, we definitely recommend using a block of feta if possible!
This totally depends on what healthy means to you! If your body tolerates dairy well, then feta cheese is a really delicious option that’s loaded with protein and calcium. As with any cheese, though, it does come with a higher fat content (though lower than many other cheeses) than many other protein-rich foods.
Whether it’s the healthiest cheese or not, we’re not totally sure (that’s truly variable from person to person), but it does tend to be lower in calories than other cheeses. While it may be lower in calories, though, it’s actually higher in sodium than many other cheeses. Feta cheese also contains significant amounts of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), a super nutritious fatty acid.
More Favorite Pasta Recipes
Baked Feta Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 ounces penne pasta rotini, bowtie, or elbow pasta will also work
- 3 cups chicken broth or water
- 1, 8- ounce block of feta cheese
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 0.75 ounces about 1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Place the block of feta in the center of a 9×13 inch baking dish, then pour the dry pasta around the feta.
- Pour the broth over the uncooked pasta, then carefully stir the pasta with the broth (making sure not to stir the feta in with it), to make sure that the pasta is fully submerged in liquid.
- Sprinkle the cherry tomatoes over top of the noodles, then drizzle over the olive oil and salt and pepper.
- Cover the baking dish with foil as tight as possible, and bake at 400 F for 40 minutes.
- Once finished baking, remove the foil, add the minced garlic and fresh basil, and stir everything together until fully combined. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Make sure you use a block of feta cheese, not crumbled feta.
- For gluten-free, we recommend Barilla or Jovial pasta
Nutrition
Loved how quick and easy this dish was to put together! The only this is, I used the gluten free pasta brand banza and the pasta didn’t hold up well. Sort of fell apart and became more mushy. Still tasted good. Not sure if it was the pasta brand. Maybe because it’s gluten free?
We used gluten-free pasta too, Patty, but my guess is that because it is chickpea pasta (not just regular gluten-free pasta), it had a harder time staying together. I’ve used that pasta a lot actually (not for this exact recipe), and find that the noodles do tend to fall apart easier than other pastas!
I like the Banza pasta in things like spicy marina with meat balls and veggie chili mac n cheese (no meat, only beans and pasta). It holds up well in those dishes, and I was even able to freeze the chili mac. Otherwise, I find that the Banza pasta doesn’t reheat well and doesn’t do well in one pot dishes.
I made this recipe and it came out good. I’ve made the original baked feta where you mix in the cooked pasta after the feta is baked. But recently I’ve been making all my pasta one-pot pasta. My mom is Italian and I’m not sure if my Italian grandmothers would approve but I’m tired of boiling pasta and have been experimenting. So this Fed&Fit recipe sounded really good to me. I made it as written but used less liquid and still had to remove some at the end of cooking when the noodles were done. I added garlic at the beginning, red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning. Also I added spinach at the end to up the nutrients. Sometimes I add chick peas of cannellini.
But one of the reasons I love the original roast feta recipe is that I love any roasted veggies especially cherry tomatoes roasted in olive oil and garlic. So I think next time I may roast some tomatoes separately so that they get golden and less mushy. I’ll still cook some with the noodles.
Other than that, I love the ease of not having to boil pasta noodles. Thanks for the recipe.
Such great feedback, Laura! Thank you for sharing this with us!
Replying to my reply.
My kids are grown, so I made a half recipe of this for the second batch. Used an 8×8 pan and 1/2 the recommended broth. I put Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes in before the broth. The broth nicely covered the noodles in the smaller pan.
I have celiac, so appreciate Cassie’s GF tips. I’ve been using Jovial Brown Rice GF pasta for a few years and love it but my son loves the Barilla best so sometimes I use that.
I roasted the cherry tomatoes in a separate pan with garlic cloves and oil, combined everything at the end with fresh baby spinach mixed in and 1/2 can of chick peas.
Even though I’m GF, I still love my pasta. Thanks again for the one pot recipe.
Thank you so much for following up on this, Laura! We appreciate your tips and tricks!!
Sooo delicious – added tuna! This will definitely be a regular on our weekly menu. Thank you!
Ooh, great addition, Janene! We’re so glad you enjoyed it!!
Could you add some spinach into this to get in some greens and keep it as a one-pot meal?
I would think so, Jill! We haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why not!
Made this tonight and it was INCREDIBLE. Rest assured, readers: the 3 cups of broth – even though the pasta (bowtie for me) wasn’t completely submerged – was sufficient; the pasta cooked perfectly.
I added some tomato-basil chicken sausage at the end with the garlic and basil and it was the perfect addition. I can’t wait to make this again!
So glad you loved this one, Liz!!! What a great idea to add that sausage – I bet it was delicious!
My mom and I made this bake for Mother’s Day and it was SO good. We used Jovial gluten free pasta and it held up beautifully for those of you wondering! We’re thinking of adding roasted chicken, pancetta, or maybe browned Italian sausage at the end next time – this would be fabulous with some meat mixed in but is also great as is. Thank you for this SUPER easy recipe! 🙂
We are so glad you enjoyed this one, Josie! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!!
This is so easy and SO delish!
So glad that you enjoyed this one, Holly!!! Thank you for sharing this with us!
I used Jovial bow tie pasta and had to use 4 cups of broth to ensure my noodles were covered, but the end result was delicious, and couldn’t have been easier! On the table in less than an hour! Thanks for another great, easy recipe. Looking forward to the new book!
Wahoo!! That’s so great to hear, Libby!
I made this recipe using herb goat cheese and brown rice pasta from tjoes and came out GREAT!
Awesome! So glad to hear that, Nikki! Thank you for letting us know!
Yay! I was wondering about the brown rice pasta from TJ in this dish. Glad to know it holds up!
I used TJ brown rice pasta and it completely disintegrated. Still tastes yummy but certainly no pasta shape left.
Just made this tonight, it was great and super easy. Only thing was I had to add an extra cup of chicken stock to have my pasta be completely submerged. It was not too liquidy. Sprinkling some chili flakes on right before serving was super yummy too! I will definitely make this again. It seems like it would be pretty easy to customize as well, if you wanted to add meat or other veggies or something. Would be fun to play around with this recipe but its delish as-is!!
So good to know, Alee! Thanks for sharing this with us + we’re so glad you enjoyed it!
Will this freeze well? This seems like an easy recipe to make and keep in the freezer before my 3rd baby arrives 🙂
Would love to know! I’m a teacher and trying to make some meals ahead of time for the first few weeks of school!!
Hi Mollie! Yes, this and all of our no boil pasta bakes freeze well. Hope that helps in preparation for back to school time! Thank you for all you do as a teacher. -Team F&F
Hi Chelsea! I’m so sorry we didn’t get back to you sooner. This absolutely freezes well. Hope you are resting and recovering well! -Team F&F
I’ve made this “trendy” dish before, but was curious if baking it with the dry pasta would be just as good, so I tried it tonight! I used vegan feta (which works wonderfully) and grain-free Jovial pasta along with BB SGP spices…it was delicious!! The pasta didn’t hold its shape much, but it did not compromise the taste! Also tossed in a couple of handfuls of arugula after it was baked to add some green to it!
Amazing! So glad to hear it, Denise!
Has anyone tried this in an Airfryer/Convection oven? I’m trying to figure out how to convert the cooking time.
We haven’t, Crystal! Would love to know how it works if you try it though!
This looks great! Could you add a protein like chicken? I have a rotisserie chicken I’d love to shred and add to this but don’t want to mess with the outcome!
We haven’t actually tried adding the protein in the bake itself, but adding shredded rotisserie chicken to the finished pasta would be delicious!
Will be making this soon can i use vegan feta and vegetable broth as am a vegan i love pasta soooooooooooo much perfect for my after office meals will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
Yes, please let us know how it works with vegan feta!! We hope you love it!