This cheap & cheesy Tortellini Casserole is a weeknight favorite done in 25 minutes with just 5 ingredients but lots of flavor. Just boil the tortellini halfway, then dump, bake and serve! It also heats up really well for delicious leftovers!
This Dish Got Me Through College
A big part of my college degree could be attributed to this one dish. I made it almost every week back then, when money was tight, an easy dinner recipe was pure gold, and all food needed to be lunchbox-appropriate.
And, knowing myself, it also had to be really tasty. This recipe sure ticks all the boxes, and there's good reason why I still make it at least once a month.
Here are the top reasons why I love it:
- It's quick - done in 25 minutes or less
- It's easy - just boil tortellini halfway, layer, and bake
- It's cheap - one serving comes out at $1-2
- It's so tasty, you'll want to make it all the time!
If you want to try another variation of this, I recommend my Gorgonzola Tortellini Casserole.
"Anything this easy could not be good. I was so wrong. My whole family flipped for this recipe! Loved the spicy creamy cheesy goodness! I was so shocked how easy and good it was. This is a keeper." - Joy
Just 5 Ingredients + a Bit of Butter (Or Oil)
A Note on Tortellini
I mainly use dried tortellini, and it's what I used for this recipe as well. You can also make this recipe with fresh or frozen tortellini.
If using dried tortellini, I recommend boiling it first. You can make this without boiling it first, but you will need to add more liquid, and it will take longer to cook.
If using fresh tortellini, don't boil it first.
For frozen tortellini, I recommend either thawing it first and not boiling, or just boiling it a minute so it's not frozen.
You can use any filling you like. I prefer ham & cheese, but it's also very tasty with pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, or just cheese.
Just Layer and Bake!
See notes above to determine whether you need to pre-cook your tortellini or not.
1. Choose Your Dish
Start by choosing an oven-safe dish to make it in. I like a smaller, round one (8 inches / 2 cm diameter across). You can also use a rectangular one that's about 10 x 7 inches (25 x 18 cm).
I find the dish comes together better in a smaller dish, in a larger dish it will be more spread out. But that also means if you want to double this recipe - you definitely can! Just use the larger dish.
Then grease it up, using butter, olive oil, cooking spray or something similar.
2. Layer
Add your ingredients in the following order:
- Tortellini
- Spinach
- Cheese & chili flakes
- Tortellini
- Spinach
- Cheeese & chili flakes
Then, finally, pour over the cream and push down any spinach or pasta that's sticking up.
3. Bake
Bake 15 minutes or so, until the cheese is melted and the top is golden and browned.
If it browns to much too soon: tent with foil for the remaining time.
If it's not brown enough after 15 minutes: raise the temperature and let it bake a few more minutes.
What to Do with Leftovers
Storing: Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Freezing: Store leftovers in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Reheating in the oven: Reheat the entire casserole in the oven, covered with aluminum foil, at 350ºF (175ºC) for 15-20 minutes, until heated through.
Reheating in microwave: Reheat in 1-minute increments, until heated through.
Recipe
Tortellini Casserole with Spinach (Tortellini al Forno)
Print RateIngredients
- ½ lb dried tortellini any filling; see notes for how to use fresh or frozen tortellini
- butter small amount for buttering the dish
- 1 large handful fresh spinach
- 1⅓ cups shredded cheese any kind that melts well
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes more or less according to taste
- 1 cups heavy cream half and half also works
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and cook the tortellini half as long as stated on the package.½ lb dried tortellini
- Butter a casserole dish that's either round and about 8 inches (20 cm) across or rectangular and about 10 x 7 inches (25 x 18 cm). The exact size is not important!butter
- Place half of the tortellini in the bottom of the dish, followed by half the spinach and half the cheese. Then add the rest of the tortellini, the rest of the spinach, chili flakes, and the rest of the cheese. Pour over the cream, and try to spread it out as much as possible.1 large handful fresh spinach, 1⅓ cups shredded cheese, 1 teaspoon chili flakes, 1 cups heavy cream
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly golden and the casserole seems mostly set. Serve as it is or with a salad.
Equipment (may contain affiliate links)
Video
Notes
- Dried tortellini: boil it first, halfway
- Fresh tortellini: don't boil it first.
- Frozen tortellini: either thaw it first and don't boil it, boil it just a minute so it's not frozen.
- Make it vegetarian by using vegetarian tortellini
- Bake time can vary with your oven. Tent with foil if it browns too much too quickly, and raise the heat if it's not browned after 15 minutes.
- Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days
- Store leftovers in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months
- Reheat leftovers in the microwave in 1-minute increments
- Reheat the entire casserole in the oven, covered with aluminum foil, at 350ºF (175ºC) for 15-20 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate and automatically calculated, and should only be viewed as an indication.
Phylli
This tasted great but I used 10 x 7" baking dish (where do you get a 10 x 7" dish?). I poured the cream over everything and it just went to the bottom of the baking dish and when I served it there was a lot of liquid on the bottom of the baking dish. It seems that you might want to use evaporated milk (maybe more than a cup to cover all the layers and put an egg and a little flour in with it to stabilize it. I'm not sure if I'll be making this again--as good as it tasted.
Emmeline Kemperyd
Hi Phylli! a 10 x 7 is the same as a 7 x 10, just depends how you write it 🙂 I'm sorry to hear that about the cream. Did the tortellini come out fully cooked anyway? Did you use dried and pre-boiled or fresh tortellini? It sounds like the casserole didn't get hot enough, so if you pre-boil the tortellini next time and add it hot you should not have this issue. I would not recommend using evaporated milk, egg or flour as it will not do anything to improve on the texture - and adding more liquid would just give you even more liquid at the bottom of the pan. /Emmeline
Melody W
Somehow I was surprised this dish had flavor (LOL I was expecting pasta in milk taste LOL) and turned out. It's just cream dumped over everything. 🤷♀️ *magic 😉
*I had 1 lb of frozen pasta and wanted leftovers so I doubled the recipe. I did cut up a couple packages of the u curvey-type sausage I had in the freezer (added after the cheese layer and made it a layer). Two cups of cream sounded like a lot; I did 1/2 & 1/2--it worked. A little confused on the bake time (seemed short) so I went with the 'when it seems set'. That took closer to a 1/2 hour bake for my bigger casserole dish; it was bubbly and didn't jiggle as much when I checked it; a little saucy, but not liquidy when we served. That worked! Served it with garlic toast and watermelon. It's a repeatable meal for sure. SO customizable! and EASY! Kids LOVED it and everyone ate it. WIN!
Emmeline Kemperyd
Hi Melody! Sometimes simple is all you need and cream dumped over anything usually makes it tasty 😉 It is a short cook time, achieveable thanks to pre-cooking the tortellini. But if you found a time that worked well for you, keep it! /Emmeline
GF Gramma
How much tortellini if it’s frozen? About twice as much? Thanks!
Emmeline Kemperyd
Hi! About 50-100% more should be good. You want 4 servings of pasta, so you can look at that as well. /Emmeline
GF Gramma
OK! I have made this twice now. I used a one-pound bag of gluten-free tortellini from the freezer section. But, the first time I made it, I mistakenly thought it called for spaghetti sauce...and I had thawed some that afternoon, anticipating making this recipe. So I added an extra layer to the recipe of spaghetti sauce over the tortellini. I also used half-and-half rather than heavy cream. The second time I made the recipe as written. I must say I really liked the version I made with spaghetti sauce best. My family felt that without it, it was just too cheesy and rich. The only kind of gluten-free tortellini available here though is cheese and spinach, so maybe that was just too much. And for my family, I think half-and-half rather than cream works best. Love this recipe with the spaghetti sauce though! I have sent it to my daughters for busy weeknights!
Trisha Murray
I just had to add a comment because I needed to share my joy, plus a few additions. Lol. Your recipe alone is literally one of my top 3 dishes I make for dinner. I am completely obsessed with the ease and how absolutely INCREDIBLE this is. Thank you so much for making one of my happy foods. I contemplated for months over adding the last part of my comment because I didn't want to offend you or feel like this recipe isn't enough on its own, so I truly hope you understand... I was on a huge cauliflower binge and was looking for recipes that I could easily add that too and that's when I first found your recipe. So long story short (short-ish, sorry I'm an obsessive talker and over detailer lol) if you ever want to "spruce" this recipe up, I highly suggest you try this if you like these ingredients. My version is something I literally make every single week. Follow the recipe exactly, but instead of spinach I add chopped cauliflower and artichoke hearts. I cook them each for a few minutes. The cauliflower I steam in a tiny bit of water for maybe 3-4 minutes. The artichoke hearts I buy small canned ones (for me personally I like a lot so I use 3-4 jars of food club 6.5 oz marinated and quartered) I separate all the leaves and fry them in fresh minced garlic for a few minutes. Anyway, I add them in the recipe in place of the spinach simply cuz I never have spinach on hand. However, right now, the reason I'm on this recipe again is because I finally bought fresh spinach and am adding that to the recipe with my additions so wish me luck lol. I will try to come reply to or update my comment with the feedback. I'm hoping itll only add to the flavors, but if it's too much I'll try to let you guys know. Like I said, if you like artichoke hearts and cauliflower I HIGHLY suggest it. There is something ridiculously special about these things with this recipe. It's seriously one of my fav dinners EVER. even my 6 and 9 year old kids love it, which is huge. Please let me know if you try it and tell me your opinion. Sorry for the book, if you make it to the end, you'll get an amazing dinner idea hah. Have the best day ever! Muah ,xoxo
Emmeline Kemperyd
Hi Trisha! THank you so much for your comment! I'm so excited this is one of you're favorites - it's definitely one of mine too, and has been for 15+ years at this point. Your additions sound delicious, and I'm not offended at all - I love when you take my recipes and make them your own. That's what I do with all recipes as well. No matter how good it is I can always tweak it to match my specific palate even better! /Emmeline
rick reed
Hello Added chopped garlic MMMMM
Diane H
I made this tonight, and it was absolutely delicious! I worried that it might be bland, but it was so flavorful! I left out the chili flakes, but it was still so delicious. Even my hubby loved it!! This recipe will definitely be put into the rotation!
Woode
I substitute ravioli instead tortilini and added mushrooms on each layer with the spinach, was gooood
JimmyB
This looks and sounds wonderful. I loathe spinach so am thinking of small broccoli florets. And I can't do spicy so will leave out the chili flakes. I can do a couple of drops of hot sauce. I keep thinking of so many variations that would be delicious. Mushrooms enhance most anything and some shredded chicken would be wonderful. Thanks for sharing such a versatile and EZ to prepare recipe.
Emmeline Kemperyd
Hi Jimmy! Love your suggested variations. I'm working on a blue cheese version as well that you might like... 🙂 /Emmeline
Carmen Murphy
I haven't cooked it yet reading the comments first but why not some goat cheese also??
Emmeline Kemperyd
That sounds very tasty!
Dee
I cooked the Totellini in tomato sauce and cream. I then added it to the oven dish and also added some finely cooped mushrooms 😊
Anya
I found some gluten free mortadella, prosciutto and parmigiano tortellini and made this recipe exactly as instructed and it came out so delicious!! My boyfriend isn’t gluten free but he also really enjoyed the dish. It was such a fun, quick last minute dinner to whip up. I will definitely make for friends and family in the future!
Dayna
This recipe was AMAZING and my family loved it ! I added some cherry tomatoes along the top layer.
My daughter is a picky eater so I made a mini one for her without the spinach and hot pepper flakes. Definitely will be making this again !
Debbie Schappert
sorry what does '2 dl cream' mean? 2 cups?
Emmeline Kemperyd
Hi Debbie! Dl is a metric measurement that's equal to 200 ml. If you want the measurements in US cups instead, just click the link that says "US Imperial" below the ingredient list and you will get it in those measurements instead. Let me know if I can help you with anything else!
Annissa
This recipe has me drooling! It looks like the perfect comfort food. I'm going to be dreaming about this one all night.
Emmeline Kemperyd
Oh yes, best and easiest comfort food! Hope you try it!
Joy Jones
Anything this easy could not be good. I was so wrong. My whole family flipped for this recipe! Loved the spicy creamy cheesy goodness! I was so shocked how easy and goodit was. This is a keeper.
Emmeline Kemperyd
Hi Joy! Thank you for your amazing comment, I am so happy you and your family enjoyed it! /Emmeline
Deepika
I have some dry tortellini, I was looking for recipes to try. This recipe is just what I need to make tonight.
Sara Welch
Gave this a try for dinner last night and it was a hit all around the table! So delicious and great for busy weeknights too!