My take on the viral Tik Tok recipe, herbed goat cheese and fresh spinach make this Baked Goat Cheese Pasta a healthy and easy weeknight meal!
A few months back, it seemed that all I saw over foodie social media was that baked feta pasta from Tik Tok.
Basically, people doused tomatoes in olive oil, spread them out in a baking dish, and placed a block of feta in the middle. Baked in the oven, the tomato juices and cheese mixed together for a decadent-looking pasta sauce.
I love the idea of the recipe. Simple, clean, and tasty. But I love the creaminess and saltiness of goat cheese, and found that you can use less of it than feta and still get a nicely balanced sauce.
No need for all of that olive oil, either. Most recipes I saw called for around 1/2 cup of olive oil. One tablespoon was just enough to provide some flavor and help with caramelizing the tomatoes.
HOw to make baked goat cheese pasta
The tomatoes are the star of the show, so make sure you use good ones. We’re just heading into prime tomato season, so now is the time to make this!
In a large baking dish, toss together the tomatoes, olive oil, a little bit of salt, pepper, dried basil and oregano (Italian seasoning could work, too). Add some red pepper flakes in you want a little kick.
Spread the tomatoes out and make room in the middle for a 5-ounce log of herbed goat cheese. Sometimes, this is labeled as “chevre.” I like the extra flavor that the herbs add to the recipe. You could definitely use plain goat cheese if you want, though.
Most recipes say to bake at 400F or about 40 minutes. I wanted to shorten that bake time, so I went with a higher heat and opted for the smallest tomatoes I could find–grape tomatoes.
If you use a larger variety, like cherry tomatoes, you may need to increase your bake time. You want them slightly browned and beginning to burst.
While the tomatoes and cheese are baking, cook up your pasta and reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water. We’ll use that to help the sauce come together. You probably won’t use the whole 1/2 cup, but better to have too much than not enough.
I did a couple of other things differently. Some recipes have you adding garlic cloves to roast with the tomatoes. I liked the pungent flavor of adding fresh garlic right when the dish come out of the oven.
I also added some baby spinach for color and nutrition. This saves me from making a side salad, and I think it adds a lot of flavor and body to the sauce.
All you have to do at this point is toss in your cooked pasta and a little bit of that reserved water. Mash the tomatoes down with a spoon as you’re mixing, and a magical sauce will start to develop!
I was skeptical about how this all would come out, but I have to say that it is absolutely fantastic. The goat cheese adds just enough creaminess and flavor. Goat cheese and tomatoes are a match made in heaven, and everything is better with pasta!
More recipes like Baked Goat Cheese Pasta
If you’re looking for more 30-minute meals, check out these other great recipes:
I’d love to hear from you if you make this recipe! It makes my day when you share your pics on Instagram and tag me (@litecravings). Don’t forget to use #litecravingsrecipes to make sure I see it. If I don’t get a chance to scroll through my tags quickly enough, I won’t see your post. I always make a point to look through the hashtags, though, so I’ll see it there!
Baked Goat Cheese Pasta
Ingredients
- 24 ounces grape tomatoes*
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- 5 ounce log of herbed goat cheese
- 8 ounces dried short, whole wheat pasta (I used penne)
- 1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking water
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2-3 cup baby spinach leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F. In a large baking dish, toss tomatoes with olive oil, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Spread tomatoes into an even layer in the dish, leaving a small space in the center for the goat cheese. Add goat cheese and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
- While the dish is baking, boil your pasta in salted water according to package directions. I add about 1 tbsp salt to my boiling water.
- Before you drain the pasta, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water and set aside.
- Remove dish from oven. Add in garlic and spinach. Drizzle about 1/4 cup of the pasta water over the spinach and toss all ingredients together until spinach begins to wilt, cheese melts in the tomatoes, and a thick sauce forms.
- Toss in cooked and drained pasta. Add in more pasta water as needed to thin the sauce. Serve.
Delicious. Perfect. Easy
This was so easy and tasty! We liked it even better this way than with the feta! Thank you!
Easy, 30 min meal. I used my garden grape tomatoes omg. Delicious!!!
Love that! Such a great use of your garden.
Very yummy! I added in a squeeze of lemon at the end because it needed a little acid.
Easy and tasty one pan meal. Substituted spiralized zucchini noodles and quickly stir fried for 2-3 minutes in a teaspoonish of olive oil in a non stick pan just before the dish came out of the oven. It was a hit.
This was delicious, healthy, and easy to make. My husband thought it was a Hello Fresh meal (which he loves so it’s a compliment). I will be adding this to my regular recipe rotation for sure.
I totally take that as a compliment! Happy that you and the hubs liked it so much. 🙂
This is amazing! I make it for dinner and use leftovers for my lunches on days I work. It’s so good leftover. I spend the morning dreaming about it. Lunchtime can’t come quick enough. Haha. Another fabulous recipe! Thank you, Geri!
This was an easy to prepare, delicious meal! The switch to goat cheese is perfection! We served with chicken for a protein and couldn’t get enough. Thank you!
Hi Jessica, I’m so happy you enjoyed it – that goat cheese just adds the perfect amount of creamy tanginess, doesn’t it? I love the addition of chicken for some protein 🙂
HOLY YUM! I’ve made so many “lightened up” recipes from various blogs over the years and this was by far the best low calorie dish I’ve ever made! This was insanely delicious and so hard to believe it wasn’t 1000+ calories! And it was so easy too. My hubby said I found the “golden ticket” recipe with this one! Wish I had found it sooner 😁 Thanks, Geri!
Hi Jennifer! Thank you for the RAVE review! This one is an all-time favorite. There’s something about the way the goat cheese, herbs, and tomatoes come together to for a creamy, tangy, flavor-packed sauce that is just unbeatable. I’m thrilled you loved it 🙂
Made this tonight and the grandparents and toddler (and me!) loved it. I added in a few extra tomatoes and pasta, and we’ve got lots of leftovers!
The cheese I picked out wasn’t probably the best (it said herbed, but honestly wasn’t super flavorful), so I can’t wait to try it again with a better cheese!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! If you feel like there aren’t enough herbs you can always add some extra to bump up the flavor. I’ve used Basil and Oregano and they reinforce the flavors in the cheese/pasta really well.
I added some cooked chicken when I added the spinach. Very good!
Love this easy dish. We make it with full sized chopped tomatoes, basil and oregano from our garden with herb goat cheese. Today added chives too. We’ll see how that turns out. Great recipe to use 6 or more tomatoes ripen at same time.
So delicious. Changed nothing and will definitely make again.
Thank you, Karen!
When your picky teenage daughter asks to take what’s left for her lunch the next day, you know it’s a winner. This was our main entree, totally meatless meal, served it with sliced sourdough, toasted with herbed butter. No one missed the meat. Will make this again and again and again. Thank you so much for this recipe!
You are so welcome, Leslie! Thank you for letting me know – you made my day 🙂
Can you use other types of tomatoes??? I have some Roma one I need to use!
Absolutely! You might need to roast them a bit longer just because Roma tomatoes have more moisture. I’d probably cut them into quarters or dice them, but the flavor should be similar if you have nice ripe tomatoes 🙂
Could you do this recipe and throw Costco garlic shrimp in?! I am going to try it!
Yes! That would be delicious!