Mince pasta bake

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Cooking from scratch is something that I really enjoy. It can be a great, and simple, way to save some money from our household grocery budget. This mince pasta bake takes under 20 minutes to get prepared and in the oven – meaning I can get on with having a family friendly life during the witching hour.

Meal planning with mince is a great way to save money on groceries. Meal planning always helps me with my money saving challenges as groceries are one area you can cut back and save quite a few pounds every week!

With the recent price hikes in UK supermarkets it’s amazing the difference it makes now when you cook from scratch.

This meal is hearty, frugal and you can even use leftover slow cooker spaghetti bolognese or leftover meat from my 15 minute spaghetti bolognese if you want to batch prep meals.

I bet this recipe would work great with this salsa bechamel too!

If you decide this recipe is not for you then be sure to check out some of my other pasta bake recipes such as air fryer pasta bake and bacon, mac and cheese pasta bake.

Ingredients for mince pasta bake:

250g beef mince (I used 5%)

1 onion

2 stalks of celery

Mushroooms, carrots, peppers or any other suitable vegetables you want to add (clear out the fridge!)

300ml beef stock

30ml tomato puree

500ml passata or chopped tomatoes

2 tablespoons of basil

Salt & pepper

200g mozzarella

500g pasta (I used penne)

Method for my bolognese based pasta bake recipe:

Fry off the onion, celery and your other vegetables in a pan on the hob using a medium heat.

Add the mince and cook this until browned.

Add passata, beef stock, tomato puree, basil and salt & pepper. Bring to the boil.

Simmer for 15 minutes.

Cook your pasta while the bolognese is simmering. I often use penne for this recipe.

Turn oven on to gas mark 5 (190C/375F approx). Drain the pasta.

Add pasta and half of bolognese mixture to an ovenproof dish. Mix together.

Place into your baking dish or casserole dish.

Top with remaining bolognese mixture and then top with grated or cubed mozzarella.

Cook for 20-22 minutes.

Serve with air fryer garlic bread and a side salad. Yum!

As you can see this is a pretty straightforward bolognese pasta bake. It tastes delicious, is healthier than jarred sauces and is so simple to prepare. While this is cooking you have just enough time to wash up, prepare your sides and get ready to relax on the sofa for the evening!

Delicious serving ideas: Tear and share bread or homemade garlic bread with garlic butter

Want to make this dairy free?

You can use a freefrom béchamel sauce, instead of the grated cheese to make this dairy free with ease.

Alternative cheeses for this dish:

Grated cheddar cheese works very well for this dish if you don’t have grated mozzarella. Sometimes I’ll use a mix of cheddar cheese and mozzarella, as this gives a wonderful cheese pull but also lots of flavour too.

How to make minced beef pasta bake:

Note: All calorie information is for demonstration purposes only and is based on the specific uncooked ingredients that I used when creating the recipe.

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