Baked Feta Pasta has become a major viral trend across the globe and is being called the “TikTok pasta.” Watch the video tutorial and you’ll be amazed how the feta cheese turns into a creamy pasta sauce.
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We love easy pasta casseroles from Baked Ziti to Chicken Tetrazzini and of course Classic Lasagna. If you are a fan of pasta recipes, this Baked Feta Pasta is a must-try!
Baked Feta Pasta Video Tutorial:
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What is Feta Pasta?
Baked Feta pasta is a brilliant way to create pasta sauce. You bake a block of feta in a casserole dish together with tomatoes, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and a little salt and pepper. Once the tomatoes burst and cheese starts melting, you pull it out of the oven and mash the cheese into a creamy pasta sauce that melds with olive oil and juicy tomatoes.
This is our spin on this Baked Creamy Feta pasta with tomatoes and asparagus because my daughter loves the asparagus and my son swoons over those roasted tomatoes.
Origin of Feta Pasta
The Baked Feta pasta craze was started in 2019 by Tiiu Piret and Liemessa, two bloggers from Finland. Liemessa’s recipe was then adapted in the US by Grilled Cheese Social which went viral on TikTok and became a major trend.
Ingredients for Baked Feta Pasta
- Tomatoes – cherry or grape tomatoes work great.
- Asparagus – we added it for more veggies but you can omit if desired.
- Olive oil – an extra virgin olive oil has the best flavor.
- Salt and pepper – a little goes a long way since the cheese is naturally salty.
- Feta cheese – block-style feta is best and will give you the creamiest consistency. Greek or French Feta cheese is slightly creamier but USA Feta made from cow’s milk also works great.
- Pasta – short pasta is easier to mix in (see our favorite varieties below).
- Parsley – use a generous 1/4 cup or substitute with fresh chopped basil.
- Garlic – Add half while baking and the rest as soon as it comes out of the oven.
The Best Pasta to Use
We use short pasta for feta pasta because it is much easier to stir and combine with the cheesy sauce. Use only 8 to 10 oz or it will overwhelm the sauce. These are some of our favorite options:
- Row 1: Penne, Rigatoni, Fusilli
- Row 2: Gemelli, Trottole, Cavatapi
Pasta Cooking Tip: The key to a great pasta casserole is to cook the pasta until it is al dente in salted water according to package instructions. Use at least a Tablespoon of salt in your boiling water.
How to Make Baked Feta Pasta
This recipe couldn’t get any easier. Your veggies and sauce bake together in the oven while your pasta boils on the stove, then you marry them together and you have an incredible baked Feta Pasta.
- Prepare veggies – in a 9×13 casserole dish, combine tomatoes, asparagus, 1/3 cup olive oil, half of your minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine and create a space in the center.
- Add Feta cheese – place an 8 oz block of feta cheese in the center and drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil and some black pepper. Bake at 400˚F for 30 minutes, until tomatoes start to burst.
- Cook pasta – about halfway through the baking time, start cooking your pasta in a pot of salted water until al dente according to package instructions. Reserve 1/2 cup hot pasta water.
- Add garlic and herbs – remove the finished casserole from the oven, add finely chopped parsley and remaining minced garlic and use the back of a spoon to mash the cheese into the oil and juices released from tomatoes.
- Add pasta – drain the pasta and add it to the hot cheesy sauce and toss to combine.
Pro Tip: To make the pasta creamier or saucier, add hot pasta water to reach desired consistency. If the water cools down, warm it up in the microwave until steaming hot.
Common Questions:
You can replace asparagus with chicken tenders. My sister made this with a pound of chicken tenders, roasting them in the same pan with the cheese and tomatoes.
I don’t recommend substituting tomatoes since their juice helps for the sauce. We haven’t found anything that works as well as tomatoes.
The oil is important to forming the right saucy consistency. I would not recommend reducing the amount of olive oil.
Yes! One of the things I love about feta pasta is that it reheats well. Unlike a heavy cream-based sauce which can separate, this one reheats creamy. Add a splash of pasta cooking water or filtered water to keep it moist when reheating in the microwave.
This is one of the easiest ways to prepare a rich-tasting pasta. If you try baked feta pasta with your own spin on it, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Serve With
We love to serve Baked Feta Pasta as a main course paired with lean proteins and these simple sides:
Creamy Baked Feta Pasta
Ingredients
- 4 cups cherry or grape tomatoes
- 8 oz asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil , plus 1 Tbsp to drizzle over cheese
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 8 oz block Feta Cheese
- 10 oz penne pasta
- 4 garlic cloves, finely minced, divided
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, or basil, finely minced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400˚F. Add tomatoes and asparagus to a 9×13 casserole. Add 1/3 cup olive oil, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 1/4 tsp salt. Toss to combine. Make a space in the center and place your 8 oz block of feta in the pan. Drizzle the top with 1 Tbsp olive oil and another sprinkle of black pepper. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes until tomatoes start to burst.
- About halfway through your baking time, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add pasta. Cook according to package instructions, stirring a few times to keep the pasta from sticking. Drain pasta (reserving some cooking water if you decide to add it later).
- After 30 minutes, the tomatoes should burst and start to release their juice. Remove from the oven and immediately stir in remaining minced garlic and parsley and toss to combine. Use the back of a large spoon to press the cheese into the olive oil and stir until cheese is well dispersed in the dish.
- Stir in drained cooked pasta. Add reserved pasta water if desired. Serve warm. Be mindful of those tomatoes (the juicy centers can be very hot if you eat them right away). Add reserved hot pasta water as desired for saucier pasta.
Absolutely delish!!! I used herb and garlic cream cheese. Added some prawns towards the end of cooking time
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Laureen!
Simply delicious and easy! Have made it a few times now. Some varations: cream cheese (didn’t have feta in the fridge), add browned italian sausage, green beans, used cooked sausage or mushroom tortellini instead of penne. Thanks for a great recipe to use up the abundance of cherry tomatoes from my garden!
This. Is. So. Freaking. Delicious! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe Natasha!
Happy to hear you’re enjoying it!
I love this recipe and have made it many many times! However, my daughter isn’t terribly fond of feta cheese… Do you have any ideas for what other cheese might possibly work in this recipe? Thank you!
Hi Caroline. Some of my viewers have reported using cream cheese or Boursin cheese.
Delicious. Made it more than once. So easy and yet so fancy looking)))
I love this recipe!!! Have made it several times!!! Delicious every tine!!!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Cheryl!
I have probably made this at least 10 times and my family loves it. Today is my grandson’s ninth birthday and this is what he requested for his birthday dinner. Thanks, Natasha.
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me. Happy birthday to your grandson!
Another incredible recipe, Natasha !!
Only thing i added was a bit of browned sausage. It was so good.
Thank you
This was incredibly easy and delicious. I added cooked chicken to it after I tossed the pasta in and used a basil/tomato feta cheese because I couldn’t find plain feta. Everyone loved it!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Sallie!
We love this dish and it is fun to make and makes for a nice presentation. However it was a bit acid taste ing from the tomatoes, how might we remedy this?
to make and makes for nice presentation. The acid from the tomatoes was a little much this last time I made it.
Hi Mary! It depends on the tomatoes- some are more acidic than others. I have not had this be a problem with using sweet cherry/grape tomatoes. Common things that are added to tomato sauce or soup when it’s too acidic are a sprinkle of sugar or some baking soda (you can research this online to see how to do it).
Made this tonight & was wonderful thanks for sharing with us
I cannot emphasize how much I love this recipe. I love adding mushrooms and/or kielbasa sausage to this and it’s so yummy! I posted a photo after making it for my husband and me the other night, and now my parents and in-laws want me to make it for them too!
This was so easy and delicious! I added rotisserie chicken from the store and it was delicious!
Thank you for sharing! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the Creamy Baked Feta Pasta!
This one’s great! I’ve followed the recipe and it’s perfect as is. Love it, thank you for sharing!
I’m so glad you loved it! Thank you.
I followed the recipe completely and my family loved it. I made this a 2nd time for friends and they thought it was yummy. I passed the recipe onto my niece and it is now part of their recipe routine as well as mine. Thank you for all the great recipes.
That’s wonderful, Jen! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
We love this recipe, and we’ve made it at least 5 times now. Tonight I decided to add a basket of sliced mushrooms (roughly 1/4” thickness) to the tomato asparagus cheese mixture at the very beginning. The mushrooms are a wonderful addition to this recipe. 👍
That’s sounds great! I’m so glad you loved it. Thank you for sharing.
This was delicious! I added a whole Chopped zucchini to my veggies and 8 chopped chicken andoullie sausages and it was amazing! I did have to cool it a little longer since I had so many veggies in there but it was totally worth it! My husband and I finished it off in 2 days!
Great idea, Desiree! I bet this is so good with zucchini! I’m so glad you enjoyed it
Would this be good served cold? Sounds like it could be good either way. I just made it! Delicious! Love your recipes! From South Carolina.
Hi Gail! If you prefer it cold, I think so. I haven’t tried it. I’m glad you loved that recipe.
How do you think a sprinkling of fresh basil and capers prior to serving would be?
Hi Judy, I believe that can be added by personal preference. I would try it as is first and then add it to see you how you like.