Vegetable pasta casserole is a flavorful and cheesy easy-to-make recipe loaded with vegetables. It is a perfect dish for parties, potlucks, game days, or special occasions. Pasta is pressure cooked in the instant pot and then mixed with roasted vegetables, herbs, and pasta sauce. Pasta casserole is then baked to perfection after layering in a casserole dish and topping with cheese.

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Ingredients for veggie pasta bake
How to cook pasta in instant pot?
Do you cook vegetables before putting in casserole?
How to bake pasta casserole in the oven?
What temperature to bake pasta?
How long to bake pasta bake?
What to serve with vegetable pasta bake?
How do you store pasta bake in the fridge?
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Vegetable pasta casserole is an easy cheesy dish to make for dinner, special occasion, game days, potlucks or when you need to feed a crowd.

This cheesy veggie pasta bake is loaded with vegetables and full of flavor. It can be made in under an hour from start to finish with little prep work.

Ingredients for veggie pasta bake

As the name suggests veggie pasta bake uses a variety of vegetables and pasta. You can use at hand veggies such as mushrooms, broccoli, bell pepper, onions, baby corn, and zucchini.

Any type of pasta like penne, farfalle, rigatoni, shells, or elbow macaroni can be used to make vegetable pasta casserole.

To make it easy, store bought pasta sauce works well, but you can use homemade one too. A few herbs like oregano and thyme add flavor to the dish.

Cheese is an important ingredient to make baked pasta casserole. I personally like to use a combination of mozerrella, cheddar, and pepper jack to make it a little spicy.

Any pasta is incomplete without olive oil which is used to coat cooked pasta and for roasting vegetables.

How to cook pasta in instant pot?

Once I started using my instant pot to cook pasta, I have never used the traditional method of cooking it on the stovetop in boiling water.

I just love how convenient it is to cook pasta in the instant pot and how easy it is to make a variety of pasta dishes like baked broccoli pasta, mac and cheese, vegetable lo mein, pasta soup to name a few.

For cooking pasta in the instant pot, a ratio of 1 cup pasta to 1 cup of water works perfectly fine. With this ratio, there is usually no need to drain any excess water as there is none left.

For this recipe, I have cooked 1 lb or 4 cups of pasta with 4 cups of water and a teaspoon of salt. There is no need to add any oil while cooking pasta.

I like the pasta al dente and specifically for baked pasta, you don't want over cooked pasta as it continues to bake in the oven. Pressure cooking pasta for zero minutes works perfectly fine.

After closing and locking the instant pot lid, select high-pressure mode and reduce the time by pressing the minus (-) sign until it shows 0. Ensure that you turn the "keep warm" setting on to know how long it has been since pasta was cooked.

Once the instant pot will come to pressure, it will turn off. Allow the pressure to release naturally for about 4-5 minutes and then slowly release the pressure in a controlled way by moving the pressure knob to the venting position.

If you see starch coming out then move the knob to the sealing position, wait for about 10-15 seconds and again release the pressure by moving to the venting position. Continue this process until all the pressure is released and the silver pin drops.

Add some olive oil and coat the pasta by mixing it gently. This will prevent pasta from sticking to each other.

Do you cook vegetables before putting in casserole?

Roasted vegetables taste great in a casserole. I like to mix all the chopped vegetables with some oil, salt, and optionally black pepper and roast in the air fryer.

Vegetables are roasted in a preheated air fryer at 390 °F for about 8 minutes. The timing may vary depending on the quantity of the veggies and also on your preference.

If you like well done and more roasted veggies, you can cook them a little longer. If you like some crunch then you can cook them accordingly.

Roasting the vegetables in the air fryer while the pasta is being cooked in the instant pot saves a lot of time and manual effort of roasting on the stovetop.

If you prefer, you can also roast the veggies in the oven at 400 °F for about 10 minutes. As you are already going to use the oven for baking the casserole, you can roast the veggies in the oven too.

How to bake pasta casserole in the oven?

Once the pasta is cooked in the instant pot and the veggies are roasted, you can preheat the oven to 350 °F. While you are preparing the casserole dish, the oven will be preheated.

If you have used a 6 qt instant pot then you can mix the veggies and the pasta sauce in the pasta in the instant pot liner itself. Or you can use another mixing bowl if needed.

Add some herbs and seasonings like thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper to taste. Mix everything gently to ensure the pasta and veggies are well coated with the pasta sauce.

In a casserole dish, pour half the amount of pasta and level it. Top it with some shredded cheese and then layer the remaining pasta on the top of the cheese.

Now cover the pasta with a lot of cheese and depending on your preference. I like to use a combination of cheese like cheddar, mozzarella, and pepper jack for spiciness.

Finally, bake the casserole in the oven until the cheese melts and becomes bubbly and slightly brown.

What temperature to bake pasta?

All the ingredients including pasta and veggies are already cooked, vegetable pasta casserole is baked in a preheated oven at 350 °F.

The cheese will melt and become bubbly with a few brown spots. Baking at a higher temperature can make pasta and cheese lose their moisture.

How long to bake pasta bake?

All the ingredients in the vegetable pasta casserole are already cooked. Baking the casserole helps all the cheese to melt and it usually takes about 20-30 minutes for it to melt and brown.

What to serve with vegetable pasta bake?

Pasta bake can be served with a variety of bread like dinner rolls, French bread, garlic pull apart, and pumpkin bread rolls,

A variety of sides like roasted broccoli, sweet potatoes fries, roasted potatoes, and corn on the cob can be served as accompaniments.

How do you store pasta bake in the fridge?

Any leftover veggie pasta bake can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. When you are ready to serve, you can either reheat it in the microwave or in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 350 °F.

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Vegetable Pasta Casserole