Skip to Content

Zucchini Pasta Casserole

Zucchini Pasta Casserole with thyme. A super easy and healthy casserole that is easily gluten-free. With few ingredients (7 ingredients or less), dinner will be on the table in no time!

Zucchini Pasta Casserole with thyme. A super easy and healthy casserole that is easily gluten-free. With few ingredients (7 ingredients or less), dinner will be on the table in no time! Picture is plated single serving with full casserole in background.

If you’ve read my grandma’s baked ziti recipe, you’ll know that it used to be my go-to recipe.

I still find myself craving that dish often, so it was about time I start coming up with some variations on my favorite pasta casserole.

Since zucchini season is officially in full-swing, what better way to use a pound of it than in a delicious, cheesy pasta casserole?

Zucchini, onions and thyme pan roasted. Getting ready to add to the zucchini pasta casserole.

A short time ago, I thought I would try to go gluten-free. (I go through that phase every once in a while.) This time I think I survived a whole 5 days.

Because of this, I already had a variety of gluten-free pastas at hand. I actually love many gluten-free pastas because you don’t always feel like you’re missing out on the gluten! They have really stepped up their game.

(It’s the bread that gets me.)

So for this zucchini pasta casserole, I used a fusilli pasta made from brown rice and quinoa that I got at Trader Joe’s. I liked the idea of using spiral pasta (the root of the word fusilli comes from “spindle”) for this dish and I genuinely love the brown rice pasta.

My dinner guests couldn’t tell the difference in the pasta until I told them! I’ve thrown my friends some definite curveballs before so this one was fairly tame.

It is definitely THE pasta I would recommend if you want to keep this gluten-free, but you can use any noodles you want.

Gluten-free or not, you gotta admit saying “zucchini fusilli” pasta casserole is fun. (Hashtag: find pleasure in the little things.)

Zucchini Pasta Casserole with thyme. A super easy and healthy casserole that is healthy and easily gluten-free. With few ingredients (7 ingredients or less), dinner will be on the table in no time! Casserole before topping with cheese and baking.

Simply boil the pasta, and saute some oil, onion, zucchini and thyme while you’re waiting. Throw it together with some marinara sauce, top it with cheese, and bake!

I use my super big casserole dish for this (10×14) but a 9×13 should work fine. Any smaller than that and it’ll probably be pushing it. Or you can always split it up into two smaller casseroles.

Also, I say this feeds 8 but as with most things it depends on how large the serving is. 10-12 servings are possible, I just went with 8 to be on the safe side!

Zucchini Pasta Casserole with thyme. A super easy and healthy casserole that is healthy and easily gluten-free. With few ingredients (5 ingredients or less), dinner will be on the table in no time! Up close shot of pasta casserole.

Zucchini Pasta Casserole with thyme. A super easy and healthy casserole that is healthy and easily gluten-free. With few ingredients (7 ingredients or less), dinner will be on the table in no time! Picture is single serving of pasta casserole with a fork bite.

Yield: 8

Zucchini Pasta Casserole

Zucchini Pasta Casserole

Zucchini Pasta Casserole with thyme. A super easy and healthy casserole that is easily gluten-free. With few ingredients (7 ingredients or less), dinner will be on the table in no time!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. brown rice fusilli gluten-free pasta (or other pasta of your choosing)
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small white onion, diced
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 lb. zucchini, chopped into rounds
  • 3 cups marinara sauce(24 oz. jar)
  • 2 cups shredded cheese (I used an Italian blend)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. In a large pot, boil water. Add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes (or according to package instructions). Drain and set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large pan. Once hot, add the onion and thyme and cook for 2-3 minutes until onions are translucent.
  4. Add zucchini rounds to the onion mixture and cook for 7-8 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Remove from heat.
  5. In a casserole pan (9x13 or larger), place cooked pasta and spread to an even layer. Pour marinara sauce over pasta, top with cooked zucchini mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top.
  6. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 266Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 187mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 10g

Nutrition information is calculated automatically by an online tool at Nutritionix. It is not always accurate. Please use your own tools to check if you rely on this information.

Zucchini Pasta Casserole with thyme. A super easy and healthy casserole that is easily gluten-free. With few ingredients (7 ingredients or less), dinner will be on the table in no time!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Dej

Thursday 10th of January 2019

Would be better if the layers alternated

savor the best---Pat

Thursday 1st of June 2017

Hi, Kelly! That looks amazing, pinned to make it soon. :)

Kelly

Thursday 1st of June 2017

Thanks Pat, I hope you like it!

MK

Tuesday 30th of May 2017

Yum! I agree the bread will get you every time! This dish sounds wonderful and healthy. Can't wait to try it!

Kelly

Saturday 3rd of June 2017

Hope you like it!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Skip to Recipe