The epitome of comfort food: fresh ravioli (no need to boil!) is layered with meatballs and pasta sauce, then baked to carby cheesy perfection.
This recipe came to me somewhat out of the blue and with very little planning. We happened to be visiting family on a cold day in Colorado, and I needed to cook something that would satisfy a large crowd. I wanted something with few ingredients, that could be assembled in advance, and that even picky eaters wouldn’t be able to resist.
Enter: baked ravioli. This recipe uses only FOUR ingredients. That’s it! With that said, I encourage them to all be quality ingredients, because if you use a mediocre pasta sauce or meatball, it won’t be able to hide very well.
What ingredients does this ravioli and meatball bake use?
-Fresh Ravioli
This is the ravioli you find in the refrigerator section of the store. I’ve made this many times and concluded that my favorite ravioli is butternut, but anything will work. You do not need to cook the ravioli. These will cook in the oven as long as they have enough sauce. If you want to use frozen ravioli, I would thaw them first, but not boil them. I haven’t tried using frozen ravioli, but I believe it will work.
-Cooked Meatballs
These are usually sold frozen. To make this, the meatballs are heated until warm, then sliced in half (or into thick slices if using large meatballs) and layered with the ravioli and sauce. My favorite meatballs are the beef ones from Costco, and the turkey ones from Trader Joe’s, but feel free to sub your personal favorite.
-Tomato Sauce
I cannot stress this enough: make sure you use a quality pasta sauce. Since this recipe uses very few ingredients, using a good sauce is imperative for the end result to be good. I strongly recommend Rao’s (available at Costco!) but other similar sauces will work.
-Cheese
Because every good baked pasta dish must be topped with cheese. I usually use a combo of shredded mozzarella and Romano, but Parmesan, cheddar, jack, etc. would all be good.
How to assemble:
I’m not sure if words or photos can explain how simple and delicious this ravioli bake is. I hope you love it as much as we did. Please let me know what you think!
Ravioli and Meatball Bake
The epitome of comfort food: fresh ravioli (no need to boil!) is layered with meatballs and pasta sauce, then baked to carby cheesy perfection.
Ingredients
- 17 oz fresh ravioli Any flavor! My favorite is butternut.
- 24 oz Rao's pasta sauce (1 jar) can sub other brands
- 20 oz meatballs about 5-6 cups
- 6 oz shredded cheese (Mozzarella, cheddar, jack, etc…)
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
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Heat the meatballs in the microwave until they are warm. Cut them in half then set aside.
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In a 9×13 in baking dish, add a thin layer of pasta sauce so the bottom is covered. Then top with a single layer of ravioli (using about half). Top with half of the meatballs and then 1/3 of the remaining pasta sauce.
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Repeat another layer of ravioli, meatballs, and sauce. (This should use up the remaining ravioli and meatballs. It is also possible to make more layers of ravioli and meatballs if you'd like.)
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Once completely layered, top with all of the shredded cheese.
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Cover tightly with aluminum foil. (I like to lightly spray the bottom side of the foil with cooking spray, so the cheese is less likely to stick.) Then bake at 375 for 25 minutes covered, and 15 more minutes uncovered.
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If the cheese hasn't browned, you can broil it for a few minutes at the end (be sure to watch closely!). Let it sit for a few minutes if you're patient, and then serve!
Other favorite cozy foods include:
This was amazing and so easy. I used all Trader Joe’s ingredients. Arugula & parmigiano ravioli, Italian style frozen meatballs, three cheese sauce, and a mix of grated parmesan and Mexican cheese mix for the top. Delicious dinner – thanks so much!
Thanks for sharing, Anna. I’m so happy to hear that you loved it!
Made with homemade meatballs & fresh mozzarella. Super yummy! Thank you 🙂