This Easy Cheesy Baked Tortellini is simple and delicious too. Tortellini, bacon, cheese, basil, & spinach fill this recipe and make it irresistible and perfect for dinner any night.
Baked pastas are my jam! There’s something about putting all the ingredients in a casserole dish and baking it that creates the best flavor. Whether it’s this baked tortellini, baked spaghetti, or a chicken alfredo bake, it’s always a winner in our house.
extra Cheesy Goodness
Who here loves an easy dinner recipe? We are all about them and have realized that pasta recipes are the kids’ favorites. Today’s recipe is a Cheesy Baked Tortellini that the whole family enjoyed.
We’ve always loved Tortellini and have used it in so many recipes here on the site (including our Italian Tortellini Soup and Tortellini Salad). We knew we’d love this recipe considering that it’s covered in cheese, bacon and spinach. And because the tortellini is already filled with cheese, it’s kind of a no-brainer to love this double-cheesy baked tortellini goodness.
Make and bake
We’ve already established the fact that Cheese Tortellini on it’s own is delicious, and turning it into an even cheesier, more delicious dinner idea is going to earn you major kudos with the family. Here is how you make baked tortellini casserole.
TORTELLINI. Cooking tortellini as directed on the package.
SAUCE. Cook bacon and cut up. Reserve bacon fat from pan. Add garlic and cook for a minute or two. Add flour to the pan and whisk for a minute, then add milk and mix until smooth. Lastly, add salt, pepper, lemon juice and basil and bring to a simmer.
COMBINE. Drain tortellini and add back to the pot. Turn to low heat and add spinach and most of the mozzarella, Parmesan cheeses and bacon. Add sauce and stir until well combined.
BAKE. Add to an 8×8 or 9×9 dish. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and bacon. Cover your dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
What can I use instead of bacon? If you’re not a fan of bacon you can substitute it with another meat such as ham, pepperoni, italian sausage, chicken, turkey bacon, sauteed shrimp. Also, the recipe calls for saving the bacon grease. Since you will not have bacon grease to use when sauteing the garlic use 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil.
Make it ahead!
As if this recipe wasn’t already amazing, the fact that it’s a perfect make ahead meal is even better! Just follow the recipe steps up until it’s time to bake. Cover with with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for 1-2 days then bake. To freeze: Cover with plastic and again with aluminum foil. Label and freeze for 3-4 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bake.
We really hope you love this cheesy, flavorful baked tortellini. We know you can buy tortellini with meat inside, so we think we’re going to try that next time. Either way, it’s a keeper recipe for sure. 😉
For more Cheese Tortellini recipes, try:
- Italian Tortellini Soup
- Cheesy Garlic Tortellini Pasta
- Tomato Tortellini Soup
- Spinach And Tortellini Salad
- Steak And Tortellini Salad
Cheesy Baked Tortellini recipe
Ingredients
- 1 12 oz. cheese tortellini package (or any kind of tortellini)
- 4 bacon strips
- 3 tsp. minced garlic
- 2 TB flour
- 2 cups milk
- 3/4 tsp salt
- pepper
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 2 cups frozen spinach, chopped
- 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese grated
- 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 2 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add tortellini and cook as directed on the package.
- Cook bacon and cut up. Reserve bacon fat from pan. Add garlic and cook for a minute or two. Add flour to the pan and whisk for a minute. Add milk and mix until smooth. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice and basil and bring to a simmer.
- Drain tortellini and add back to the pot. Turn to low heat and add spinach and most of the mozzarella, Parmesan cheeses and bacon. Add sauce and stir until well combined.
- Add to an 8x8 or 9x9 dish. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and bacon.
- Cover your dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Video
Going to make this tonight. How many people does this dish serve?
Being in an 8×8 dish, it won’t feed to many. If you have a family of 6 or more, I would maybe double and put in a 9×13. Hope that helps!! Thanks so much for giving it a try!!
Looks so creamy and comforting!
It is!! I hope you’ll give it a try!! Thanks for stopping by!
Can I use monterey jack cheese not mozzarella cheese?
I personally haven’t, but I’m sure it would be fine 🙂 Let me know what you think. Thanks so much!
Hi, I used mozzarella cheese I dint want to try to use monterey jack cheese and my husband loved it. Your recipe is wonderful and thank you so much.
I’m so glad you both liked it!! Mozzarella would be great 🙂 Thank you!!
I wish I could eat some but my baby allergy to dairy products through my milk so I will try others your recipe that I can eat ^_^
Could I use frozen spinach, and how much? I’m trying to clean out the freezer. ☺
Yes, you could. The small box would work. I don’t know off the top of my head the ounces, but equivalent to 2 cups. Just squeeze the water out. Good luck and hope you like it!
Recipe was delicious few changes I made the sauce separate Because i use bacon bits cooked ahead of time so i made a roux with butter instead thenadded garlic milk and seasonings then added half the cheeses and cooked the pasta 2 minutes shy of cooking and added sauted mushrooms And added more cheese because I love cheese so I basically added 1 and 1/4 cups of cheese in total
Those additions sound great! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing!
My whole family loved this recipe. Only thing I did different was up the garlic and add onion. Will definitely be making it again. Thanks for the recipe! And your pictures of it are beautiful! ????
Oh, you are so sweet! Thank you for trying it and letting me know!
Will this be good with chopped prosciutto instead of bacon?
I haven’t tried, but I bet it would taste great. Let me know if you try it 🙂
This was a little too cheesy but other than that DELICIOUS. Great recipe thanks ????
Thanks so much! You could use less next time for sure! Glad you liked it!
Where can I find nutritional information on this?
I’m sorry I don’t have it. You would just need to find a site that will tell you, once you’ve put in the amounts of ingredients or google 🙂
Type Tortellini into Pinterest’s search bar and hundreds of recipes appear. For some reason I chose yours and it did not disappoint! The whole family loved it.
So glad you chose mine! I’m happy that you liked it 🙂 Thank you so much!
Easy to make and sooooo good! It’s one of my daughters top food requests.
Woohoo! Love to hear that! Thank you for letting me know 🙂
Who doesn’t love tortellini?!
Right?! I know I do! Thank you!
Havent made this yet – do you thaw spInach ahead of time or add to pan with cheeses frozen? Im just cOnfUsed based off the instructions. Thanks!
I like to just thaw it a little & I wrap it in a towel & squeeze it, to drain it, then chop. Hope that helps!
Made this recipe many times. All my guests and family. Want to know if this could be frozen either after fully cooked or before
I think it could before or after. If it is before, I would thaw it a little or it may need a little more time 🙂
Easy and super tasty …I added some chicken witch did not need it but I had it to add so I did , definitely will make again!
Great idea!! Glad you liked it! Thank you for letting me know!
Used turkey bacon, skim milk and shredded Cheeses instead of grated. Loved it !
Sounds perfect! Thank you for sharing that! I will have to try that sometime 🙂
This was great. I added Ground itLian sausage.
Question. Once it has been baked can i Freeze It or does it not freeze well after baking. Thanks
So glad you liked it! I haven’t tried freezing it, after it’s been baked, but if you are, I would cover with plastic wrap & aluminum foil & freeze. Thaw out & bake. I wouldn’t know an exact time, since it’s already been baked & I haven’t tried.
Looks better then it tastes. Not much flavor. More garlic, bacon, salt, maybe heavy cream
I’m sorry the recipe didn’t turn out as well as you had hoped. Thanks so much for sharing your suggestions!
Delicious
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
In the video it shows fresh spinach, but the recipe calls for frozen spinach. If I wanted to use fresh spinach how much should I use?
You could use two heaping cups of spinach and it should be enough. If you love spinach, you could add a little more as it will cook down a bit in the oven.