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    Home » Recipes

    Turkey Spinach Pasta Bake

    Published: Dec 1, 2022 by Sonila · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    This Turkey, Spinach Pasta Bake with penne pasta is one of my kids favorite dinner casseroles. I usually make it the week after Thanksgiving with turkey leftovers but once in a while, I’ll make it with rotisserie chicken too. This casserole is filling, has protein and lots of veggies. Plus all the Mediterranean flavors and no butter, put it in the healthy column for me which is a bonus when you have kids:).

    A casserole dish with baked penne pasta, covered in cheese and garnished with fresh parsley.
    Turkey & Spinach Penne Pasta Bake

    Ingredients for this Penne Pasta Bake

    Here are the ingredient I use for this recipe. Hope it helps make your cooking a lot easier.

    • Leftover Turkey or Rotisserie Chicken – I use poultry for this recipe, it adds protein and usually leftovers make the process so much easier for a busy weeknight dinner.
    • Spinach – you can add a lot of spinach and it will wilt, so it won’t change flavor much but it will add a lot of greens to your dinner.
    • Green peas – usually I use frozen green peas.
    • Fresh parsley – I use fresh parsley for both cooking and garnishing, so usually I tend to use a whole bunch.
    • Seasonings – feel free to customize the seasonings to your taste but I usually use Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, salt and black pepper.
    • Garlic – how can you cook a Mediterranean pasta dish with no garlic?
    • Onion – 1 yellow onion finely diced usually works
    • Tomato paste – yes I love to make my own tomato paste and tomato sauce, but for this dish I use canned and it works great! After All I’m trying to put dinner on the table in between kids activities and homework.
    • Penne pasta – I tend to make recipes where I use the whole box of pasta so I use one box of penne pasta (1 lb or 16 oz).
    • 1 cup stock (chicken stock or turkey stock)
    • Cheese – mozzarella and parmesan but I tend to substitute a lot if I don’t have these 2 available.
    Some of the ingredients shown next to each other: spinach, tomato paste, green peas, onion, olive oil, turkey meat, garlic, fresh parsley and a little container with salt, spices and herbs.
    Some of the ingredients listed for making this casserole

    Process Of Cooking This Baked Pasta Casserole

    Let’s break down the process so it makes cooking easier. Assuming you’re using leftover chicken or leftover turkey and also assuming you are using canned tomato paste.

    • dice or shred the turkey meat or chicken meat
    • cook pasta to 3 minutes less than what the box says is al-dente. So if the box says 10 minutes al dente, cook for 7 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, drain the pasta and set aside.
    • saute onions and garlic in olive oil until fragrant and translucent.
    • add tomato paste and seasonings to onion and garlic. Then add green peas, turkey, pasta water, seasonings and stock. Mix everything well.
    • add spinach at the end
    • after a minute or two when spinach has wilted, add penne pasta (or your favorite pasta).
    • pour everything onto a casserole dish (usually a 8×11 would be perfect)
    • bake covered in aluminum foil for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Uncover and add cheese, bake for another 10 minutes until cheese starts to bubble.
    • Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with your favorite side salads and dinner rolls.
    Cooking Turkey
    Adding Spinach
    Casserole all set up and ready to bake.
    Casserole Ready to Bake

    Substitutes and Variations

    This dish and recipe is very forgiving not only in ingredients but also quantities. As long as you don’t lose track of salt and seasonings involved, everything else will be fine:).

    • Pasta – I like to use a tubular type pasta for this recipe. My favorite is penne pasta but you can use rigatoni, ziti etc.
    • Spinach – you can use baby kale instead of spinach.
    • Turkey – you can use leftover turkey after Thanksgiving but also ground turkey is an option. You just have to brown the turkey really well. Also, rotisserie chicken is my favorite to use when baking this dish.
    • Cheese – besides mozzarella and parmesan I have occasionally used swiss cheese, Granaand Jarlsberg cheese. Go for real Parmigiano-Reggiano if you can or Grana Padano.

    Additional Tips

    One of the favorite things to do with this casserole is to set up the night before. I cover the casserole and refrigerate it. Then next day, I just stick in the oven and bake it for 20 minutes covered, add the cheese and continue baking for 10 minutes uncovered.

    I love to serve this casserole with a simple green salad with lots of romaine lettuce or arugula.

    This casserole has 8 servings, so two full dinners for may family of 4. I usually set it up on a Sunday, bake it Monday evening and we eat dinner with this dish Monday night and Wednesday night. Refrigerate the leftovers for 2 days in an airtight container.

    I haven’t tried freezing this baked pasta dish, but if you do please let me know in comments how does it hold up.

    A casserole dish with baked pasta and cheese shown from above. There's a kitchen towel next to the dish and the dish itself is garnished with fresh parsley.

    Turkey, Spinach Pasta Bake

    Sonila
    This Turkey, Spinach Pasta Bake with penne pasta makes for a delicious, filling and easy to make family dinner. You can use turkey or rotisserie chicken to make this dish. Kids have no idea how many hidden veggies are in this dinner:).
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 20 mins
    Cook Time 30 mins
    Total Time 50 mins
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine American, Mediterranean
    Servings 8 servings
    Calories 484 kcal

    Equipment

    • 1 Porcelain baking dish

    Ingredients
      

    • 16 ozs penne pasta or pasta of your choice
    • 2-3 cups roasted turkey or chicken
    • 3 cups spinach
    • 1 yellow onion
    • 3 garlic cloves
    • 1 cup fresh parsley about 1 whole bunch
    • 1.5 cups green peas frozen is ok
    • 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
    • 0.5 tsp crushed red pepper add more for a spicy dish
    • 1 tsp sea salt
    • 0.5 tsp black pepper
    • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
    • 1 cup parmesan cheese
    • 1 cup chicken or turkey stock
    • 2 tbsps olive oil
    • 2 tbsps tomato paste

    Instructions
     

    • Dice or shred the leftover turkey or chicken.
    • Cook penne pasta to 3 minutes less than al-dente, so if instructions say 10 minutes for al dente, cook 7 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, drain the rest.
    • While pasta is cooking, add olive oil to a large pot. Saute onions and garlic until translucent and aromatic at medium high heat. Use a wooden spoon to mix often so onions don't stick to the bottom.
    • Add turkey to onions. Mix then add tomato paste, parsley, salt and seasonings. Add green peas and mix really well.
    • Add 1 cup of pasta water and 1 cup of stock to incorporate all ingredients. Cook few minutes then add spinach.
    • Once spinach has wilted, add pasta into it and mix again.
    • Pour everything into the baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes covered at 350 degrees F. Uncover the dish as seen in the video, add both cheeses on top. Bake for another 10 minutes, this time uncovered.
    • Garnish with fresh parsley, wait 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy it with a big salad:).

    Video

    Notes

    • you can cook this dish in 50 minutes from start to end if you’re using leftover turkey from Thanksgiving or rotisserie chicken. 

    Nutrition Label

    Nutrition Facts
    Turkey, Spinach Pasta Bake
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 484 Calories from Fat 135
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 15g23%
    Saturated Fat 7g44%
    Trans Fat 0.01g
    Monounsaturated Fat 6g
    Cholesterol 63mg21%
    Sodium 884mg38%
    Potassium 577mg16%
    Carbohydrates 52g17%
    Fiber 4g17%
    Sugar 5g6%
    Protein 34g68%
    Vitamin A 2298IU46%
    Vitamin C 26mg32%
    Calcium 351mg35%
    Iron 3mg17%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 484kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 34gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 63mgSodium: 884mgPotassium: 577mgFiber: 4gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 2298IUVitamin C: 26mgCalcium: 351mgIron: 3mg
    Keyword Baked pasta, baked pasta with turkey, penne pasta
    Tried this recipe?Mention @mediterranean_latin_love or tag #mediterraneanlatinloveaffair!
    Can this baked pasta casserole be made gluten free?

    Yes this baked pasta casserole can be gluten free. I used regular penne pasta for my recipe, but you can replace regular penne pasta with gluten free penne pasta. There are several brands in the market that provide gluten free pasta. One of the most prominent options in US markets is Barilla Gluten Free Penne pasta. At Whole Foods and smaller pasta stores, you can find additional less known brands but with great gluten free options. Those pastas are made with anything from Chickpea flour to rice flour and even quinoa flour. Just awesome options!

    How do you keep baked pasta soft or moist?

    First step is to boil the pasta few minutes less than al dente. Then when placing the casserole for baking, you have to cover the casserole with aluminum foil or another over safe cover. This will keep the steam inside the casserole and prevent the pasta from drying out. Only remove the cover the last 10 minutes after covering everything with cheese.

    What pasta types are good with this Turkey baked pasta recipe?

    Any tubular pasta would be delicious in this casserole. My favorites are penne, rigatoni, ziti etc. Any pasta really with some hollow space in between tastes great because the hollow space would be filled with the delicious filling that has veggies, poultry and spinach. So each bites would deliver all the flavors at once!! Yum:).

    If you would like to save this recipe for later, please save the below image to your boards in Pinterest. Let me know in comments if you have any questions or feel free to tag me in social media with your version of this recipe:). Thank you so much for reading my blog!!!

    Instagram: mediterranean_latin_love or Twitter: MediterrLatin or Facebook: Mediterranean Latin Love Affair.

    An image prepared for Pinterest, it shows a picture of a white casserole dish with baked pasta and a serving utensil. Pasta is garnished with fresh parsley.  There's a title bar on top of the picture and a website link bar at the bottom.
    Baked Penne Pasta with Turkey and Spinach

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    Filed Under: Main Dishes, Mediterranean Food, Recipes

    About Sonila

    Mom of 2, wife, engineer, food blogger & recipe creator! Sonila was born in Albania, her heritage inspires her Mediterranean recipes while that of her husband the Latin ones. Sonila has 2 degrees in Engineering from University of Miami.

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    Sonila Zarate
    Sonila Zarate

    Mom of 2, wife, engineer, food blogger & recipe creator! Sonila was born in Albania, her heritage inspires her Mediterranean recipes while that of her husband the Latin ones. Sonila has 2 degrees in Engineering from University of Miami.

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