this easy dish comes together quickly and is both kid & adult friendly making it a perfect weeknight meal. customize it in any way you see fit to work for the preferences in your household!
Let’s be honest. We all need an arsenal of quick and easy weeknight dishes to choose from each week, am I right? Especially with back-to-school season upon us when schedules tend to fill up and fill up QUICK.
I love this dish because it’s simple, it’s providing grains, veggies and protein without much effort on your part at all! It takes all of 5 minutes to pull together and then it just needs to bake in the oven.
It’s perfect for those nights when you walk in from work, completely exhausted and don’t even have the brain space to think about dinner, let alone pull it together.
The other thing I love about this is that you can completely customize it to make it work for you (or your family, roommates, etc.). If you’re a household full of meat eaters, you can add some cooked ground beef, sausage, shredded chicken or choose a meat-filled ravioli.
You can also toss some veggies in to bake along with the ravioli. If you like spicy sauce, go with an arrabbiata, if you’re more into mild, choose your favorite marinara.
Whatever you prefer, I promise this will be a go-to weeknight dish. It’s quick, easy and filling. Even better, it doesn’t make a ton of dishes so you don’t have to spend the rest of the evening cleaning up! A total weeknight dinner win if you ask me!
easy spinach & cheese ravioli bake
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 – 55 minutes (depending on method used)
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
- Category: dinner
- Method: baked
Description
this easy dish comes together quickly making it a perfect weeknight dinner. you can also customize it to work for the preferences in your household!
Ingredients
- 1 20-28 ounce package of frozen spinach & cheese ravioli (or any kind you prefer!)
- 1 25.5 ounce jar of your favorite marinara, pasta or tomato sauce
- 2 cup shredded mozzarella (don’t buy the pre-shredded kind, these often have anti-caking ingredients in them which means they don’t melt as well as a block cheese that has been hand shredded by you. It’s a a slight pain but it makes a big difference in the final product!)
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- Optional for topping: freshly chopped basil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Layer 1/2 – 3/4 cup sauce into the prepared baking dish then add about half of the frozen ravioli in a single layer over the sauce.
- Add another 1/2 – 2/3 cup sauce followed by 1/2 the shredded mozzarella.
- Layer the remaining ravioli on top in a single layer (it’s okay if there is some slight overlap) then finish with the rest of the sauce, mozzarella and parmesan.
- Cover the entire dish with foil then bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake an additional 15-20 minutes until sauce & cheese are bubbling and the center is hot.
- Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with freshly chopped basil just before doing so.
Notes
- You can use fresh or frozen ravioli & cook al dente prior to assembling. If so, bake for just 10-15 minutes at 350°F (or until the cheese is melted, browned & bubbly). Note that this method does add steps and additional dishes.
Keywords: pasta, casserole, lasagna, vegetarian, weeknight meal, dinner
This looks amazing! Is there any way to prepare it ahead of time and freeze it to cook later?
Hmm, that’s a good question. I’ve never tried doing that so I’m not sure what I would recommend. Cooking then freezing & reheating pasta can be a bit tricky so I would have to experiment with it to give you a good rec! If/when I do, I’ll be sure to update you!