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.
Just popped two pans of this in the oven, everyone is wanting to try it so i thought id give it a chance. taking to a potluck and hope it turns out good!
I hope you all love this recipe!! Enjoy!
Oh Natasha…I am writing to you from the funny farm because I completely lost my mind over this dish – HAHA, just kidding! I am still in the afterglow of inhaling two helpings, and trying to restrain myself from a third. What a knockout recipe! Thank you so much for sharing your version, and for always putting up videos that make me drool and laugh.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Linda!
Found it abit dry – but overall a good taste! And once again an easy family meal.
Thanks for your comments and feedback, Trish. Did you also add the pasta water?
Hi. Can I use quartered roma tomatoes instead of cherry or grape?
Hi Christine, I’ve only tried it with cherry and grape, but that may work. If you experiment, I would love to know how you like that.
Absolutely delicious. I Made it with low carb pasta purchased on amazon by The Great Low Carb Bread Company.
Yum! That’s so great, Leslie! I’m so happy you enjoyed that.
FINALLY!!! I’ve been wanting to try this unique recipe ever since you posted it. It did not disappoint: fun, easy and delicious!! My husband and I ate far too much but enjoyed every bite. Thanks again for giving us another great recipe.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Connie! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
So easy! So tasty! I had to use crumbled feta and it worked just fine.
Hi Allison, I’m glad it turned out great!
Once I saw the ingredients in this recipe I knew I would love it. Natasha you did not disappoint. When a recipe is this good AND this easy well……..
I’m happy that you loved this recipe, Janine! Thanks for your great review and feedback.
Another easy-to-make recipe with delicious result 👍👍👍 I added chicken and half a block of feta and it came out wonderful. Thoroughly enjoyed eating this pasta dish! (Hubby always reminds me to post a comment and note of thanks to you Natasha!)
The perfect meal! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Maria!
Absolutely love this recipe! I was wondering if campari tomatoes would be ok to use?
Hi Ashlan, I haven’t tested that but Campari are larger and would take longer to burst which is why I would recommend cherry or grape tomatoes.
Great recipe! Will be making this again. We roasted prawns separately and stirred in with the pasta, over the top fantastic! Thank you 🙏
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
I wanted to like this so bad and I don’t know what went wrong but it had a very bitter, vinegar flavor!
I followed the recipe exactly.
Hi Ann, was your cheese possibly expired, or did you accidentally add vinegar instead of olive oil? There should be no vinegar or bitterness in this recipe with the ingredients here.
Ann Marie,
Look through each and every ingredient in the recipe very carefully.
Then check expiration dates on the ingredients you used.
Whenever I follow a recipe, I will constantly check and re-check as I go, just to be sure I added absolutely everything, and followed every step accordingly.
(Recently I was in a hurry and accidentally forgot to add milk to my mashed potatoes…and I make those all the time!)
Again, no matter how familiar we think we are with a recipe, it’s always a good idea to take a minute to re-read the ingredients and steps as we go.
Would this be good cold? I’m hosting a baby shower and need make ahead dishes. This looks fantastic but, I don’t want any last minute preparations.
Hi Donna, I haven’t tried it cold, but the recipe truly is best fresh, but because I made a ton of baked feta pasta when I was developing this recipe, we were able to reheat for a couple of days and microwaved it with a sprinkle of water over the top. It reheated well. See the Common Questions section titled: Does feta pasta reheat well?
Absolutely fantastic! I We loved this . And the best part is that it warmed up great ! Thanks Natasha … you’re recipes are great !
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Debbie!
I love this recipe!! I used feta cheese that had sun dried tomatoes and basil in it. I didn’t use any salt as the feta is salty enough and that was fine.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Wow Natasha…another winner! This was just perfect! I heard people complaining earlier today that the viral baked feta recipe was really bland and overhyped. Obviously they didn’t use your recipe! I ate wayyyy too much. Haha!
I’m so glad you gave this a try, Wendy! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
This was a hit with my fam of 4. One of a few dishes that everyone loves…I loved the ease and versatility. I served it with an easy baked pesto chicken and roasted veggies. Everything in the oven at once and easy clean up – love that!! Next time I’ll add shredded rotisserie chicken and sliced Italian sausage. Can’t wait to dig in to more of your recipes
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Cass! I’m so happy you enjoyed that.
I finally had a go tonight and my 2 boys (husband and son 😂) who happened to be the 2 pickiest eaters in the world were delighted by the taste! We all enjoyed it. I pan fried some chicken breast strips because they won’t fit in my oven dish and immediately put them in with the rest when they were done from the oven. Then added the pasta. I was a bit worries with the amount of oil but they were just fine. Thank you, Natasha!
I’m so happy you all loved the feta pasta! Thank you for sharing that with me and I love that you added the chicken.
I made this dish for dinner last night. It was easy, it was so fragrant, and it was soooo delicious!!! It’s a MUST try and will be made many times to come. I’ve already decided to serve it at our next book club gathering. YUM!!!!!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Mark!
I made this Saturday night. Oh wow! So easy and delicious – my new favorite pasta dish. I didn’t have fresh parsley or basil so I used Italian seasoning. Yummy. I will surely put this in my regular meal rotation.
Thanks!
Glad you loved it! Thank you for sharing your great feedback with us.
Delicious
I’ve tried many of your recipes and they’ve all been great thank you
Great to hear that you’ve been enjoying my recipes, Alicia. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Fantastic! I will definitely make this again!
Thanks, Beth. Glad you loved the recipe!