Mushroom & Caramelized Onion Pasta Bake
with White Cheddar & Crispy Parmesan Panko
- Milk
- Wheat
In this crowd-pleasing dinner, a cheesy pasta bake is made restaurant-worthy with the addition of caramelized onions and earthy mushrooms. A crunchy panko and Parmesan cheese topping makes for the perfect contrast. It's a comforting meal that’s as ideal for a quick weeknight dinner as it is for your next dinner party.
Ingredients
1 unit
Onion
2 unit
Scallions
4 ounce
Cream Sauce Base
(Contains: Milk)
2 tablespoon
Cream Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
6 ounce
Cavatappi Pasta
(Contains: Wheat)
1 cup
White Cheddar Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
4 ounce
Cremini Mushrooms
6 tablespoon
Parmesan Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
¼ cup
Panko Breadcrumbs
(Contains: Wheat)
1 unit
Mushroom Stock Concentrate
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Cooking Oil
Pepper
Olive Oil
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Sugar
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Adjust rack to top position and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Wash and dry produce. • Trim and thinly slice mushrooms (skip if your mushrooms are pre-sliced!). Halve, peel, and thinly slice onion. Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens. • In a small bowl, combine panko, half the Parmesan, a drizzle of olive oil (large drizzle for 4 servings), salt, and pepper. Set aside.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and slightly crispy, 5-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. • Turn off heat; transfer to a plate. Wash out pan and set aside to cool slightly.
• Once water is boiling, add cavatappi to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. • Reserve 1⁄2 cup pasta cooking water (1 cup for 4 servings), then drain.
• Heat a large drizzle of oil in pan used for mushrooms over medium-low heat. Add onion and scallion whites; cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and softened, 8-10 minutes. • Reduce heat to low. Add 1 tsp sugar (2 tsp for 4 servings) and a splash of water. Cook, adding additional splashes of water as necessary, until onion is caramelized and jammy, 1-2 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper.
• To pan with onion mixture, add mushrooms, cream sauce base, and stock concentrate. Cook, stirring, until simmering, 1-2 minutes. • Stir in cream cheese, cheddar, remaining Parmesan, and 2 TBSP butter (4 TBSP for 4 servings) until melted and combined. TIP: If sauce seems too thick, stir in reserved pasta cooking water a splash at a time until sauce reaches desired consistency. If pasta isn’t finished cooking, ladle pasta water directly from pot. • Season with pepper to taste.
• Stir drained cavatappi into pan with sauce. • Transfer pasta and sauce to an 8-by-8- inch baking dish (9-by-13-inch baking dish for 4 servings). Evenly sprinkle with panko mixture. Bake on top rack until panko is golden brown, 2-4 minutes.
• Garnish pasta bake with scallion greens. Serve directly from baking dish.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the rich, savory taste with sweet caramelized onions balancing the mushrooms and cheese 🧀.
- Ease of prep: Some found it easy to make, while others noted caramelizing onions took longer than the recipe suggested.
- Suggestions: Consider adding extra vegetables like spinach or peas for nutrition; broil briefly at the end for extra crispiness.
- Portions: Generous servings; many had leftovers which reheated well the next day.
- Texture: The crispy panko topping provided a nice contrast to the creamy pasta, though a few found it too cheesy.
Reviews from our home cooks
This was absolutely delicious! The caramelized onions added a perfect touch of sweetness that balanced beautifully with the savory mushrooms. The pasta was creamy, comforting, and full of flavor. Loved the crispy topping too-gave it a great texture contrast. Definitely one of my favorite HelloFresh meals so far. Would happily reorder!
Love this higher protein. Added some veg (spinach, pumpkin, toasted walnut) and spice (mixed pepper and nutmeg in the cream sauce, truffle salt in the panko), and kept an eye on the salt overall, and took the time to really caramelize some onions (time, not sugar!) but the basic recipe is good! Cream cheese and all. I liked my variation and its stretched portions, and am glad that you leave room for preferences and experience, but this is a winner. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
WOW, delicious. Sweet onions and mushrooms with panko topping and the correct blend of cheeses made thus outstanding. And not difficult to put together.
Delicious! Easy to make (though I think it's easier to combine cooking the mushroom with the onions/scallions).
I really don't like that the "cream sauce base" has no listed ingredients. Part of the reason I cook at home is to know what is going into my food. I also find it annoying when a recipe calls for "caramelized" onions and only gives 10 minutes to cook them. I ended up just caramelizing the onions myself using an ATK recipe in a separate pan while cooking the rest of the ingredients.
This is creamy, savory, and cheesy all at once! Maybe have garlic bread or a salad come with it and it would be even better!
Delicious. We had leftovers and it was even better. I saved the noodle water from the first meal and it worked to separate the noodles in the microwave.
Super tasty but my onions did not carmelize in the time stated in recipe.
Unreal. Spend extra time caramelizing the onions- it's worth it.
Delicious, but slightly grainy texture, which I think is a me issue, May need to keep heat lower.
