This vodka sauce pasta bake is the ultimate in comfort food. Easy homemade vodka sauce is mixed with ziti, bacon, and cheese and topped with a crispy panko topping in this crowd-favorite main dish.
I’ve already told you about all the ways I’d like to consume this lightened up vodka sauce. Forget complementing food, I’ve been reduced to (or have graduated to?) sneaking spoonfuls straight after making it. And I mean straight – no pasta in sight.
Since I’m clearly looking for every opportunity to use this sauce, a pasta bake was a no-brainer. This vodka sauce pasta bake includes several of my favorite food items, such as pasta, bacon, and crispy panko, but first let’s start with the pasta.
Does anyone else have favorite pasta shapes? Shells are up there on my list for their sauce-retaining abilities, I’ve never met a rotini pasta salad I didn’t love, and those little twisties, gemelli? Rapidly climbing my list, too.
With this vodka sauce pasta bake I kept things classic and used ziti. Ziti rigati, technically, which is why you see the ridges. I guess it technically qualifies as a baked ziti dish, but I couldn’t dare call it baked ziti. For one there’s no ricotta, which is a baked ziti essential. Then, bacon? Not a baked ziti ingredient. I’d refer to this as a pasta bake so as not to have an unhappy audience on your hands, simply because they were expecting one thing and got another. Even if the “other” is equally-delicious.
Cooking for a crowd (or even just one other person) is all about managing expectations. 🙂
Next there’s bacon, because what doesn’t bacon make better? Same goes for the mozzarella. Then there’s this crispy panko topping, which is super simple to make and instantly upgrades whatever it is you’re scattering it over.
It’s just panko tossed with a smidge of olive oil, which is then dispersed over top of the pasta pre-bake. Is it socially acceptable to top all my food with crispy panko? Salads? Eggs? Maybe don’t answer that…
A crispy panko mixture makes leftover risotto cakes just perfect, and adds an extra layer of crunch to coconut macadamia crusted salmon. Panko bread crumbs are definitely one of my kitchen staples.
One very important step in this vodka sauce pasta bake is boiling the pasta. While I’m a huge fan of pasta recipes where you can skip the whole boiling thing before assembling (like this tortellini bake with spinach, easy baked ravioli with spinach and mozzarella, chicken parmesan gnocchi skillet…), it doesn’t work for the dried pasta here.
Since the pasta will cook additionally once it’s combined with vodka sauce and baked, you’ll want to boil your pasta until just underdone. Check out the recommended cooking times on your box of pasta (shapes differ). My box of ziti listed 8 minutes for al dente, 9 minutes for firm, and 10 minutes for tender. I boiled the ziti for 7 minutes, and found them the perfect firmness (not mushy at all) once this vodka sauce pasta bake was all baked up and ready to serve.
Recipe notes:
- Use your favorite pasta shape! Smaller shapes like ziti, penne, shells work well to hold the sauce and make it easy to scoop out servings.
- If you’re in a time crunch you can absolutely use store-bought vodka sauce, or even regular marinara sauce if you like. However I highly recommend my lightened up vodka sauce recipe. Feels good knowing how to make sauce staples at home!
- Once the cheese is melty and everything is heated throughout, you can also switch the oven to the broil setting to brown and crisp up the panko topping additionally.
Vodka Sauce Pasta Bake with Crispy Panko
Ingredients
- 16 oz your preferred pasta (I used ziti rigati)
- 1 1/2 cups vodka sauce (12 oz), more if desired
- 5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cook pasta until slightly underdone. I boiled the ziti for 7 minutes, which was 1 minute less than the box-listed "al dente" timing. Drain water, and return pasta to saucepan.
- Pour vodka sauce, cooked bacon crumbles, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese into the saucepan and stir until sauce evenly coats the pasta and all ingredients are combined.
- Pour pasta mixture into a greased 2.5 quart baking dish and press slightly to even out the top.
- Scatter remaining 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella and Parmesan evenly over top of the pasta.
- In a small bowl, stir together olive oil and panko bread crumbs. Scatter bread crumb mixture over top of pasta and mozzarella.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until cheese has melted and browned.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
Photos updated in June 2018.
tunie says
hi can i make this without bacon and can i make this ahead of time??
Alyssa says
You can absolutely leave out the bacon and make this ahead of time. Since it would be going into the oven cold from the refrigerator, it would just need some extra bake time to heat thoroughly.
Alyssa says
Looks amazing! Did you add parsley or something to the dish? It looks like there’s some flecks of green peeking out from underneath the panko. I’m going to try and make this over the weekend for my boyfriend & myself 🙂
Alyssa says
Hi Alyssa, thank you! Yup that’s parsley you see sprinkled over top, though you can also use fresh basil if you like. Technically it’s not necessary but I wanted a little contrast in the photos. I hope you enjoy!
Mechele Wright says
I prepared this last night and all of my family didn’t care for it. I bought vodka sauce, but this really should go on chicken riggies, not on pasta. So, just saying we didn’t care for it.
Stephanie Simmons says
This was one of the most delicious dinners we’ve had in a long time – thank you! 😀
Kylie Jenkins says
I love vodka sauce with penne and even will love it even more with your lightened up version! I think I actually have everything I need to make this already…thank you!
Chris @ Shared Appetite says
I LOVE SHELLS!!!! Shells and angel hair are my 2 faves. I love how extra sauce gets trapped inside the shells 🙂
And you went and added bacon and panko?!?! Oh my goodness when is dinner?!?! I want this immediately!
Jess @ WhatJessicaBakedNext says
This pasta bake look so, so good! Love the bacon and crispy panko topping- amazing! I definitely need to try this recipe out! 🙂
Tina @ Tina's Chic Corner says
OMG, I need this right now! I love everything about it…the lightend up sauce, hello bacon, and those crispy panko crumbs. I’m in pasta heaven. 🙂 I know the hubby would love this too!
Samina | The Cupcake Confession says
Okay, give me this for dinner every night and I WILL QUIT COMPLAINING FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! <3 This looks beyond DELICIOUS!
Alyssa says
Haha thanks Samina!
Ashley says
Yesss for pasta shells! They are one of my favorites too because they hold little wells of sauce : ) And that lightened up vodka sauce? Yeah, I’d be slurping that with a spoon too!
Alyssa says
Love those little wells of sauce! They give shells a serious edge over other shapes for that reason in my mind. 🙂 And I’m glad I’m not alone in wanting to indulge in the sauce sans pasta!
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely says
Dang this sounds delicious! I love that melty cheese and panko crust. That’s my favorite part of pasta bakes. I must make this soon!
Alyssa says
Ooh those are definitely my favorite parts of pasta bakes, too! It’s one of those dishes where I give myself the freedom to cram as much cheese as possible into it. With that mindset, how can you go wrong? 🙂
Nadia says
Trying this out for dinner tonight! Already had everything on hand. Just subbing the bacon for peas because someone in the house can’t eat bacon. Thanks for a delicious looking recipe!!
Alyssa says
I hope you enjoyed! That sub sounds great.
Helen @ Scrummy Lane says
Alyssa, I think I’m in love with this pasta! I thought the sauce sounded gorgeous when you posted it, and I’ve tried breadcrumbs on the top of pasta before and it worked so so well. Love the photos, too. I’m keen to make this so pinning for sure!!
Alyssa says
Thanks Helen! I think I’m in love with it, too. Any way I can combine my food loves (the sauce, mozzarella, bread crumbs, bacon) into one dish makes me a happy girl! 🙂
Cindy @ Pick Fresh Foods says
Yum! I love baked pasta dishes. They are so comforting and usually pretty darn delicious! I love your ingredients. Panko sounds great here ! I’m a shells fan and a fan of any other shape that holds a sauce 😀 Pinning!
Alyssa says
I feel the same way Cindy – baked pasta is such a comfort food. Thanks for the pin! 🙂
Terri says
What a delicious-sounding recipe!! I’m planning to try this out on Sunday for my company. It looks like like a real crowd pleaser!!
Alyssa says
Hi Terri! Thank you! It certainly was a crowd pleaser indeed. 🙂
Lilly says
Hi,
I tried to make this tonight and for some reason it was very dry and a little bland, I don’t cook much at all so I’m sure that I did something wrong, just curious where I might have gone wrong
Alyssa says
Hi Lilly, hmm if you used store-bought vodka sauce instead of the homemade linked to, I’ve noticed that some are less flavorful than I would hope for. That could be a reason for the blandness. Extra Italian spices may help to bump up the flavor in a jarred sauce. In the future to combat dryness, you might want to add more sauce when mixing everything up, and to keep a close eye on the pasta while it bakes so it doesn’t stay in the oven too long.
Deb says
A very appealing dinner recipe! All that melty cheese goodness wrapped around the toothsome pasta
is so scrumptious!
Alyssa says
Thanks Deb! Sauce, cheese, bacon, panko…it’s hard to pick a favorite element in this pasta bake. 🙂