No-Boil Creamy Vegan Pasta Bake with Zucchini

Name: No-Boil Creamy Vegan Pasta Bake with Zucchini
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 50 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil; 12 ounces gluten-free pasta (short-cut variety such as penne or rotini); 28 ounces jarred marinara sauce (I like Rao's the best); 1 cup filtered water; 1/2 large red onion, diced; 4. large cloves garlic, minced; 1.5 teaspoons fine salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; pinch of red pepper flakes; 1 medium zucchini, spiralized on blade C and roughly chopped; 1 batch homemade vegan cashew cream; 2 large handfuls fresh baby spinach; Optional: garnish with fresh parsley and/or fresh basil

5 from 10 reviews

By Elaine Gordon · Published Sep 23, 2020 (Updated Nov 27, 2023)

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26 Comments

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Gluten-Free Paleo Refined Sugar-Free Vegan

This hands-off creamy vegan pasta bake requires no boiling of noodles and is perfect for an easy weeknight dinner! Simply combine fresh zucchini, gluten-free noodles and marinara sauce in a baking dish and pop it in the oven. Just before serving, mix in a generous portion of homemade cashew cream and enjoy!

Vegan pasta bake in a white oven dish with a white background.

It's the weeknight meal you and the whole family deserve: delicious, comforting and filling, while also being so incredibly easy to make. This easy vegan pasta bake recipe is a weeknight dinner winner!

Serving pasta dishes for dinner has become routine in my household. It is a comfort food, makes for easy meal prep and don't require a ton of effort. But did you know that you can skip the large pot of salted water and just throw everything into a casserole dish to bake without any boiling?

This creamy vegan pasta bake is one of my all-time favorite vegan pasta recipes. Using my homemade recipe for cashew cream, no one would ever suspect it is a plant-based baked pasta with no cheese given its texture and flavor. But for a cheesier taste such as in my vegan mac and cheese, feel free to add nutritional yeast or a dairy-free cheese like vegan mozzarella. You can't go wrong!

Ingredients

For this vegan baked pasta recipe you will need:

Olive oil
Gluten-free short cut pasta (rotini or penne pasta)
Marinara sauce
Water
Red onion
Garlic
Fine salt
Black pepper
Garlic powder
Red pepper flakes
Zucchini (good source of vitamin A, fiber, potassium and carotenoids)
Homemade vegan cashew cream
Fresh baby spinach
Fresh parsley to garnish

See the recipe card for precise measurements and instructions.

Uncooked pasta bake mixed and ready to be baked. — *This recipes comes together in one dish, making clean-up a breeze!*

Instructions

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 13 x 9-inch rectangular baking dish with olive oil and set aside.

Step 2: Place dry pasta, marinara sauce, water, onion, garlic, zucchini and spices in the baking dish and stir well to incorporate.

Vegan No-Boil Pasta Bake ingredients in a casserole dish before baking.

Gluten-Free Vegan Pasta Bake in a white baking dish.

Step 3: Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes.

Step 4: Remove from oven and remove the aluminum foil. Stir in the vegan cashew cream and spinach while still hot. Serve immediately. Garnish with fresh herbs if desired.

Easy Vegan Pasta Bake with cashew cream on top prior to mixing in.

Vegan No-Boil Pasta Bake with spinach on top prior to mixing in.

Recipe Variations

The best part about this dish is that you can customize it based on your preferences or what you have on hand already. Add a bell pepper or cherry tomatoes for some additional veggies. Throw in fresh basil or Italian seasoning for some additional flavor. And if you don't want to use cashew cream, vegan Alfredo sauce is a great option for a white sauce to mix in for creaminess. This recipe accommodates all!

Storage

You can store any leftover pasta bake in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh for up to 5 days. Simply reheat in the microwave or oven and enjoy! This veggie pasta bake actually tastes even better the next day.

Close up of the vegan pasta bake in a white dish. — *Made and served all from the same dish, this recipe couldn't be easier!*

I especially love how easy this recipe would be to make and deliver to a friend. You could assemble everything but the vegan cashew cream, spinach and fresh herbs, and deliver it with cooking instructions. It would be perfect for a friend or family member who has just moved or had a new baby, someone who is feeling under the weather, or to comfort a loved one navigating some rough times. I always think food is the best gift!

Frequently Asked Questions

I have gone through all of my reader's comments on this post and added some helpful tips and tricks to make sure this vegan pasta recipe with zucchini always tastes amazing.

Which gluten-free pasta is the best?

My favorite pasta for this gluten-free pasta bake is made by the brand Jovial, which you can find in most grocery stores. Your favorite brand would work great here, though. You can even use regular pasta if your family eats gluten. The beauty of this pasta casserole recipe is just how versatile it is.

What marinara sauce can be used for this recipe?

This recipe calls for a 28-oz jar of your favorite marinara sauce. I always grab Rao's when I need a good store-bought sauce! If you want to make your own tomato sauce, I provide instructions in my chunky tomato basil spaghetti recipe using just olive oil, tomato paste, tomatoes, vegan butter, garlic, salt and pepper. Both options produce a flavorful, savory, and hearty vegan pasta bake!

How do you ensure that the pasta gets cooked in the oven?

Make sure you seal the baking dish as tightly as you can with aluminum foil before baking. If too much moisture escapes during baking, your pasta bake could come out dry and undercooked.

After baking for the first 45 minutes, remove the casserole dish from the oven and taste test one of the cooked pasta noodles. It should be perfectly cooked and al dente. If the pasta is dry or too hard, then add a splash more water, mix well and bake for another 5-10 minutes. Repeat if necessary until pasta is cooked through.

close up shot of the cooked and served pasta bake. — *A weeknight dinner your family will ask for again over and over!*

Vegan Creamy Pasta

A huge contributor to the perfect texture in this pasta bake comes from my homemade vegan cashew cream! This creamy sauce adds so much delicious flavor to all of your favorite dishes, and it makes this no-boil pasta bake absolutely out of this world.

Using soaked cashews, the cashew cream also adds plant-based protein in addition to other important nutrients. You definitely don't want to skip the addition of this cream to your pasta mixture!

More Pasta Recipes

This creamy pasta bake recipe is vegan, soy-free, grain-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, raw and nut-free. If you give it a try, please let me know! Leave a comment below, rate it above, and tag a photo @eatingbyelaine so I can see your delicious vegan creamy pasta bake creations!