Zucchini Pasta Bake
A fuss-free vegetarian built around small pasta such as macaroni or fusilli, medium zucchini and grated cheese such as cheddar or gruyere — roughly 70 minutes start to finish, and rated medium to make. You'll find the full ingredient list (with a scaler to change the servings), 7 steps of method, substitutions, and ideas for what to serve alongside.
You'll mainly reach for oven and pan. At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Shopping list (3)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
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How to make it
- Preheat the oven to 190C (375F) and lightly grease a medium baking dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, crumble in the vegetable stock cube, and cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than the package time so it stays firm, then drain and set aside.
- Trim and coarsely grate the zucchini, toss it with a pinch of salt in a colander, and leave for 10 minutes before squeezing out the excess liquid with your hands so the bake does not turn watery.
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pan over medium heat, then soften the finely chopped onion for about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and the squeezed zucchini and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes until the moisture has evaporated.
- In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk until smooth, then stir in two thirds of the grated cheese and season with salt and pepper.
- Combine the drained pasta with the zucchini mixture, fold in the egg and milk custard, and tip everything into the prepared baking dish, spreading it level.
- Scatter the remaining cheese over the top and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the custard is fully set with no wobble in the center and the top is golden and bubbling.
- Let the bake rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing so it holds together, then serve warm with a green salad.
You'll use: Oven · Pan · Large pot · Saucepan · Whisk
Ingredient substitutions
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
- Milk
- any unsweetened plant milk · ½ cup evaporated milk + ½ cup water
- Eggs
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce (baking) · 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water per egg
Tips & common questions
How long does Zucchini Pasta Bake take to make?
About 70 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 7 steps and 12 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of butter?
Try olive oil (¾ the amount). See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Zucchini Pasta Bake vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Zucchini Pasta Bake is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Tiktok Viral Feta pasta.jpg by Gabbybratcher, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top — how we source recipes.