Cheesy Meatball Pasta Bake - delicious and lean homemade beef meatballs in a rich tomato sauce all stirred into fusilli pasta, topped with cheese and baked in the oven until melted and golden for a perfect family meal.
My kids love meatballs and I like to make my own homemade ones regularly, varying how I serve them just to make it a little different each time. Today it was a simple rich pasta sauce, stirred into some cooked pasta, topped with two different cheese and then baked in the oven until golden and melted. Delicious!!
Calories in Cheesy Meatball Pasta Bake
This recipe serves 4 and is 520 calories per serving.
If you're looking for more recipes by calories, you'll find plenty of options grouped by calorie range here: Slimming Eats Low Calorie Recipes
If you're following a calorie-controlled diet or a healthy eating plan, it's important to calculate your daily calorie needs using a reliable calorie calculator. The calorie counts provided are estimates and can vary depending on the exact ingredients and portion sizes you use. Using your own calculations helps ensure you're meeting your individual needs. A calorie calculator can help you make informed choices and stay on track with your goals.
See the recipe card for full nutritional estimation.
Ingredients Notes
To make this recipe you will need the following ingredients:
- Extra lean ground beef: Keeps the meatballs lean but still full of flavour. You can also swap for another ground meat if preferred.
- Breadcrumbs: Helps bind the meatballs together and keeps them nice and tender.
- Egg : Helps hold the meatball mixture together.
- Onion, celery, carrot and garlic: This classic mix adds lots of flavour to the sauce and gives the pasta bake a lovely savoury base.
- Fresh parsley, onion powder, chilli flakes, Herbs de Provence, salt and black pepper: These all help build flavour throughout the dish, seasoning both the meatballs and the sauce really well.
- Olive oil spray: Used for sautéing the vegetables while keeping the recipe lighter.
- Tomato paste : Adds a concentrated tomato flavour and helps give the sauce richness and depth.
- Plum tomatoes: Forms the main base of the sauce. San Marzano are a great choice if you can get them, as they have a naturally rich sweet flavour.
- Passata: Adds extra tomato flavour and helps create a smooth, rich sauce.
- Chicken stock: Helps create the sauce and adds extra depth of flavour as everything cooks together.
- Maple syrup: Just a little helps balance the acidity of the tomatoes. You can use a granulated sweetener or honey instead if preferred.
- Fusilli pasta: Perfect for holding onto all that delicious sauce, but any pasta shape you like will work.
- Mozzarella: Adds that lovely melted cheesy topping and gives a nice bit of stretch.
- Cheddar: Adds extra cheesy flavour and helps give the top a lovely golden finish.
Once you've gathered all the ingredients and prepared them accordingly, you're all set to create this easy and delightful recipe.
See the recipe card for specific quantities and instructions
Variations and Substitutes
This meatball pasta bake is really easy to adapt, so you can switch things up depending on what you have on hand.
- Use gluten free pasta and gluten free breadcrumbs if you want to make it gluten free.
- Swap the ground beef for ground chicken, turkey, pork or Italian sausage meat for a different flavour.
- Use a meat-free mince if you want a vegetarian version.
- Fusilli works great, but other pasta shapes like penne, rigatoni or farfalle work just as well.
- Add extra vegetables such as mushrooms, zucchini, bell peppers or spinach for a boost of veg.
- Stir through some peas or sweetcorn if you want to make it a little more family friendly.
- Use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock if preferred.
- Swap Herbs de Provence for Italian seasoning or a mix of dried oregano and basil.
- Add a pinch more chilli flakes if you want a little extra heat.
- Mozzarella and cheddar can be swapped for other cheeses such as parmesan, reduced fat mozzarella or a four cheese blend.
- For an even richer sauce, add a splash more passata or a little light cream cheese stirred into the sauce before baking.
Sides Suggestions
This pasta bake is already quite filling with the meatballs, pasta and cheesy topping, so I like to keep the sides simple. A crisp side salad is perfect, whether that is a mixed salad, chopped cucumber and tomatoes or just some leafy greens served in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves to.
If you prefer something warm, steamed or roasted vegetables work really well too, such as broccoli, green beans or courgette. Adding some extra veg on the side is always a great way to bulk out the meal and make it feel a little more balanced.
Storing, Freezing and Reheating
Storing - Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The flavours are great the next day, making this perfect for easy lunches or another quick dinner.
Freezing - This pasta bake freezes well too. Allow it to cool fully, then freeze in portions or as a whole bake in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Reheating - Reheat in the microwave until piping hot, or warm in the oven covered with foil until heated through. If reheating a larger portion in the oven, you can add a splash of stock or water if needed to loosen the sauce a little.
More Meatball Recipes
If you love meatballs here are some other delicious recipes you can make:
- Chicken Meatballs in Hoisin Sauce
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Meatball Pasta (Gluten Free and Dairy Free)
- One Pot Turkey Swedish Meatball Pasta
- Lamb Meatballs with Mint Gravy
- Moussaka Meatballs
- Lamb Meatball and Bean Curry
- Easy Chicken Meatball Cassoulet
- Chicken and Mango Meatballs with a Spicy Mango Sauce
- Porcupine Meatballs
- Firecracker Chicken Meatballs (Instant Pot and Stove Top)
- Coconut Beef Meatball Curry
- Buffalo Chicken Sweet and Spicy Meatballs
- Southwestern Turkey Meatballs
or if you would like more recipe ideas - head on over to the FULL RECIPE INDEX where you will find over 900 delicious recipes with calories and you can search by meal type, ingredients, course, diet and more.
All recipes on Slimming Eats have estimated nutritional information for your convenience.
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Recipe Card
Cheesy Meatball Pasta Bake
Cheesy Meatball Pasta Bake - delicious and lean homemade beef meatballs in a rich tomato sauce all stirred into fusilli pasta, topped with cheese and baked in the oven until melted and golden for a perfect family meal.
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 450g (1lb) of extra lean ground beef
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons of fresh finely chopped parsley
- ½ teaspoon of onion powder (granules)
- pinch of chilli flakes
- 30g (1oz) of breadcrumbs
- 1 medium egg
- ¾ teaspoon of salt
- pinch of black pepper
For the pasta bake:
- Olive oil Spray oil
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 stalks of celery, finely diced
- 1 carrot, finely diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 teaspoons of Herbs de Provence (or can use Italian seasoning)
- 5 tablespoons of tomato paste (puree)
- 400g of Plum Tomatoes (San Marzano are best)
- ½ cup (120g) of passata
- 1 cup (240ml) of chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons of maple syrup (or can use a granulated sweetener if you prefer)
- 250g (9oz) of uncooked fusilli pasta (or use any shape you prefer)
- 60g (2oz) of mozzarella, freshly grated or torn pieces
- 60g (2oz) of cheddar, freshly grated
- salt and pepper
Instructions
For the meatballs:
- Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl. Spray hand with spray oil and then form the mixture into 16 equal sized meatballs. Place on a tray lined with parchment paper.
- Place in the oven and bake at 200c, 180c fan, 400f or gas mark 6 for 10 minutes. remove and set aside.
For the pasta bake:
- Spray a frying pan with olive oil spray
- Add the onion, garlic, celery and carrots and fry for about 6-8 minutes until really softened.
- Sprinkle in the herbes de provence and add the the tomato puree and stir until all combined.
- Add the plum tomatoes and break up with the back of a wooden spoon, add in the passata, maple syrup and stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, then drop in the meatballs, cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until sauce is lovely and rich.
- Preheat oven to 200c, 180c fan, 400f or gas mark 6
- Cook pasta in a pot of boiling hot salted water until al dente, then drain.
- Add the pasta to a large baking dish, pour in the sauce and meatballs and mix with the pasta to combine.
- Sprinkle with the mozzarella and cheddar and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden on top.
- Serve and enjoy (I like to sprinkle the top with some finely chopped parsley and a pinch of black pepper (both totally optional).
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1 SERVINGAmount Per Serving Calories 520Total Fat 22gSaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 12gCholesterol 96mgSodium 947mgCarbohydrates 54gFiber 6gSugar 11gProtein 27g
Nutritional information, points etc are an estimate and is to be used for informational purposes only. Ingredients can vary greatly from brand to brand and therefore it would be impossible to give accurate information. It is always advised that you calculate by the ingredients you use.
Kathy says
I will use my plant based sausages (very low fat) but use the rest of the recipe. Thank you.
I love the books.
Carlie says
Made this tonight, it was spot on. Everyone enjoyed it thanks so much, we do love your recipe's
Cleardee1 says
Is the cooked dish ok to freeze? If so how can you reheat it best? In the microwave for how long?
Noreen Nudds says
Made this tonight, OMG it was so delicious
Must make again tomorrow for the two sister's, i promised I would make it for them. I only sent them a photo of it and they said yes please if they tasted it I'd have to make it all week.
I just love every recipe you have on the site. So easy to make and very low syns. thank you for sharing them.
Noreen
Linda Creswell says
This was so tasty. The sauce is lovely and I've used it as a base for other dishes too. Thanks.
Caroline says
I made this last night. It was delicious. It went down a treat with everyone.