Beefy Cheese Tortellini Bake

Beefy Cheesy Tortellini Bake is loaded with tortellini, marinara sauce, and mozzarella cheese for an easy pasta dinner that the entire family will love!

Nevertheless, despite being immersed altogether of this great recipe inspiration, sometimes I flat-out don’t know what to form for dinner. And on those occasions, I open the freezer, stare inside, and hope that something speaks to me.

Beefy Cheese Tortellini Bake

This exact scenario played out a couple of weeks ago and, frantically flagging me down on the freezer shelf from between a bag of peas and a box of chicken breasts, was a package of cheese tortellini. And it had been squawking, “Turn me into something good!”

Dinner doesn’t get far more effortless than pasta + sauce! But actually it does, because for this recipe, I didn’t even need to dirty another pot by boiling the tortellini separately. I simply ran it under some warm water during a colander before adding it to the meat sauce then everything cooked up all at once within the oven.

INGREDIENTS :

• 1 pound ground beef
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, optional
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 (24-ounce) jar marinara/pasta sauce
• 1 (22-ounce) package frozen cheese tortellini
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS :

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 3-quart baking dish and set aside.
2. In a large pot set over medium heat, brown ground beef and garlic until meat is no longer pink, breaking it up and stirring frequently. Drain fat. Season meat with garlic powder, dried basil, dried parsley, dried oregano, dried thyme, crushed red pepper flakes (if desired), and salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
3. Stir pasta sauce into cooked ground beef. Pour frozen tortellini into a colander and run under warm water for a minute to slightly thaw. Drain and stir tortellini into meat sauce.
4. Remove pot from heat and stir in half of the grated mozzarella. Transfer tortellini/meat sauce into the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining grated mozzarella and sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for about 20 minutes more, or until hot and bubbly.

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