Feta Pasta Bake

Name: Feta Pasta Bake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Ingredients: 24 oz cherry tomatoes, halved; 12 oz feta cheese block; 1/4 cup olive oil; 4 garlic cloves, minced; 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes; 1 lb pasta (penne or rigatoni); 6 fresh basil leaves, torn; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/8 tsp black pepper

Viral TikTok recipe of cherry tomatoes and feta baked in the oven until the cheese melts into a creamy sauce, then tossed with hot pasta. Incredibly simple, impossibly delicious, and trending everywhere.

45 minEasyServes 4480 cal/serving

MediterraneanDinnerStovetop and OvenVegetarian

Cook this free in the appFree. No download, no account. The screen stays awake and each step can run its own timer.

Ingredients

24 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
12 oz feta cheese block
1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lb pasta (penne or rigatoni)
6 fresh basil leaves, torn
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2

In a large oven-safe skillet or baking dish, combine 24 oz halved cherry tomatoes, 12 oz feta cheese block block, 1/4 cup olive oil, 4 minced garlic cloves, and 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes.
3

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the tomatoes burst and the feta is creamy and begins to brown.
4

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook 1 lb pasta (penne or rigatoni) according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain.
5

Remove the baked feta and tomatoes from the oven and give it a good stir to break up the feta into a creamy sauce.
6

Add the hot pasta to the feta mixture and toss gently, adding reserved pasta water a little at a time until the sauce coats the pasta.
7

Top with 6 torn fresh basil leaves, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp black pepper to taste.
8

Serve immediately while hot.

Cook this free in the appCooking it now? The app keeps the screen awake and times each step. Free, nothing to install.

Keep this recipe

Prints the ingredients and method only.

Questions

What oven temperature does Feta Pasta Bake need?

For Feta Pasta Bake, the oven is set to 400 F (about 205 C) in step 1. The longest stretch at that heat is 30 minutes, in step 3.

Why save the pasta water for Feta Pasta Bake?

Step 4 reads: "Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain." The water is full of starch. Added back as step 4 directs, it emulsifies the sauce so it clings to the pasta instead of pooling in the bowl.

Is there a substitute for feta in Feta Pasta Bake?

The entry for Feta Pasta Bake calls for 12 oz feta cheese block. In its place: Crumbled queso fresco or ricotta salata is milder but behaves the same. For dairy-free, crumble firm tofu and marinate it in lemon juice and salt.

Can I make Feta Pasta Bake less spicy?

Yes. The heat in Feta Pasta Bake comes from 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes. For a milder plate, halve the red pepper flakes; nothing else in the method changes.

Is Feta Pasta Bake vegan?

No, though it is vegetarian. What keeps it from vegan is 12 oz feta cheese block. For fully plant-based entries, see the vegan dinner collection.

How long does Feta Pasta Bake keep?

Refrigerate what is left of Feta Pasta Bake within two hours and eat it within three days. Reheat covered in a 300 F oven until warmed through. The pasta keeps drinking the sauce as it sits; loosen it with a splash of water or stock.

Serve it with

Cook this free in the app

Textual Chef is 4,544 plain-text recipes, free to read and free to cook from. No account, no paywall, no ads, no life stories. Open this one in the app and each quantity sits inside the step that uses it, so you read once and cook.

Every recipe is curated or public-domain sourced, written to one template and checked before it publishes. Nothing here is a scraped blog post.

Cook this free in the appNo download needed. It opens in your browser. The kitchen tools (planner, shopping list, pantry, import) are $5.33 a month billed annually; the first 30 days are free.