Saucy Pork & Penne Casserole
2x the delicious servings!
- Wheat
- Milk
Get ready for a filling, crowd-pleasing baked pasta casserole that everyone will love. In it, you’ll find Italian-spiced ground pork, spinach, and tender penne in a rich tomato sauce. A topping of toasty panko and melty mozzarella creates a crisp, cheesy crust. Once the pasta bake is done, straight to the table it goes, ready to feed the hungriest of eaters. The time you save on this big-batch meal means freeing up that much more time to hang with the fam! Big Batch: This recipe is double the typical servings, providing 4 servings and 8 servings for a 2 person and 4 person box respectively.
Ingredients
5 ounce
Spinach
12 ounce
Penne Pasta
(Contains: Wheat)
20 ounce
Ground Pork
1 tablespoon
Tuscan Heat Spice
28 ounce
Marinara Cup
1 unit
Milk
(Contains: Milk)
1 teaspoon
Chili Flakes
1 cup
Mozzarella Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
½ cup
Panko Breadcrumbs
(Contains: Wheat)
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
1 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
2 teaspoon
Olive Oil
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. • Once water is boiling, add penne to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. Drain.
• While pasta cooks, heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. • Add pork* and cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. • Season with Tuscan Heat Spice, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
• Stir marinara sauce and half the milk (all for 8 servings) into pan with pork. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce begins to bubble, then remove from heat. • Stir in spinach and as many chili flakes as you like. Cover pan until spinach wilts. Stir in half the mozzarella. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
• Transfer drained penne to a 9-by-13- inch baking dish (two 9-by-13-inch baking dishes for 8 servings). • Carefully pour sauce over pasta and stir until sauce is evenly distributed.
• Evenly top pasta mixture in baking dish with panko, remaining mozzarella, and a large drizzle of olive oil. • Bake until panko is browned and crispy, 12-15 minutes.
• Divide casserole between plates or serve family style directly from baking dish.
Ground Pork is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 160°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many enjoyed the dish, though some found it a bit bland. Adding extra herbs, garlic, or spices can boost the flavor profile.
- Ease of prep: Customers praised the simplicity, with many noting it was super easy to make and great for feeding a crowd.
- Suggestions: Consider reducing pasta amount for a saucier dish. Adding fresh garlic, basil, or extra cheese can enhance flavor.
- Leftovers: The large portion size was perfect for multiple meals, with some successfully freezing extras for later.
- Reheating: A splash of milk when reheating helps prevent dryness. Some found baking made the pasta too dry.
Reviews from our home cooks
This was a tremendous hit with the whole family! We did have to make several adaptations to get it within our heart patient's saturated fat parameters, but I'm getting pretty good at that these days. The recipe was so simple and adjustable, I may use it as a template for lots of other quick casseroles when we need enough dinner to feed guests and don't have a HelloFresh box that's big enough.
This recipe was absolutely delicious. Honestly number 1 favorite so far!! It's super easy to make, and makes so much! I will absolutely be looking for this recipe in the future!
This was a huge meal as advertised. To reheat I just added a splash of milk and microwaved the leftovers. It heated well and was not dry the next day. Great flavors and I love the bread crumb crunch on top.
Was plenty for 6 with plenty of leftovers. Made half spicy n half regular both a big hit!
It was delicious and hearty. My husband got a little heavy handed with the red pepper flakes but if not for that I would have loved it even more.
Delicious! I wish it came in 2 serving size but it was so good I didn't mind all of the leftovers.
I cooked it up in 2 batches and saved one of them for later in the week.
I was nervous trying a new recipe, and would've benefited from suggested salt and pepper amounts.
Like other pasta dishes I have gotten similar to this, it would have been very dry if I'd cooked it according to directions. Knowing this, I only used one package of pasta and only 2/3 of the meat. I left out the milk (really? Milk??) It was perfect this way, nice and saucy just like the name of it says. If I had used all of the pasta it would have been way too dry. We had enough for 2 nights of generous portions.
A lot of food. A bit bland but otherwise very good. Can't eat like this all the time though.
