Ricotta cheese gives these dishes a delicious creaminess that will have you coming back for more. Ricotta isn’t just for lasagna. From ziti to four cheese pasta cheesecake, ricotta brings creaminess while keeping calories low. Incorporating ricotta is a great way to celebrate pasta and cheese without all that guilt.
1. San Giorgio Baked Ziti
San Giorgio baked ziti is perfect for feeding an army. It makes a big batch packed with cheesy and meaty flavors. It’s an excellent option if you have a lot of mouths to feed. It earns meaty flavors from ground beef mixed with pasta sauce and rich Italian seasoning. With an entire container of ricotta cheese, it’s delightfully creamy and satisfying. Keep some Tupperware containers handy because there are bound to be plenty of leftovers for lunch the following week!
2. Lemon Ricotta Pasta and Spinach
Are you looking for dinner fare that’s a little lighter and brighter? Pairing fresh lemon with light and creamy ricotta cheese and spinach is the perfect summer meal. Ricotta adds creaminess to the light lemon and olive oil base and dials up the protein content to keep it nice and filling. Pair with spinach for color and earthy flavors, and serve with bread or a nice summer salad.
3. Creamy Roasted Tomato Ricotta Pasta with Crispy Prosciutto
If you have an overabundance of cherry tomatoes from your garden, this pasta recipe puts them to good use. It incorporates roasted cherry tomatoes, fresh herbs, and a creamy touch from ricotta cheese. With salty and crispy fried prosciutto, it’s a simple dinner dish that’s hard to resist.
4. Meatless Baked Ziti
Meatless Monday never tasted so good! Your family won’t miss the meat with all that added cheesy goodness. With hearty Italian herbs and marinara, it lends bright, earthy flavors that pair well with creamy ricotta cheese. Top your meatless creation with plenty of gooey mozzarella cheese that bakes up golden and delicious in the oven.
5. Skillet Ricotta Pasta with Roasted Broccoli
If you crave mac and cheese but want to keep it healthy, ricotta cheese to the rescue! The creamy sauce in this skillet dish earns its smooth and creamy consistency from ricotta cheese and a pop of fresh lemon juice. To make this simple dish even more filling and flavorful, toss it with crispy roasted broccoli and garnish it with spicy red pepper flakes.
6. Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake
Spinach and ricotta are a match made in pasta heaven. This simple bake captures the essence of stuffed shells without all that time spent tediously stuffing! The spinach and ricotta base is creamy, earthy, and topped with marinara, pasta, and mozzarella cheese.
7. Chicken Ricotta Pasta
Are you on the hunt for a dinner dish that’s impossibly filling? Chicken, bacon, and mushrooms paired with pasta deliver fresh and meaty flavors that will leave you too stuffed for dessert. Pair creamy ricotta with parmesan cheese and dried herbs to harmonize those rich flavors. The best part? It comes together in 30 minutes, and there will likely be plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.
8. Classic Lasagna
Ricotta cheese and lasagna are made for each other. While there are tons of unique lasagna recipes milling about, sometimes dinner demands the classics. Infuse a simple homemade meat sauce between layers of tender lasagna noodles and creamy ricotta cheese. Baked with tons of mozzarella and parmesan cheese on top, even the picky eaters in your house will do a little happy dance of lasagna night!
9. Butternut Squash Pasta
Think you’ve tried every type of pasta dish that exists? Think again! For a truly unique pasta experience, pair tender pasta with butternut squash, a rich brown butter sauce, and toasted walnuts for a meaty crunch. Add dollops of ricotta cheese to your finished dish, and serve with a fresh garden salad.
10. Baked Pasta with Sausage and Ricotta
Hot Italian sausage works so wonderfully with an impossibly creamy ricotta mixture. The ricotta’s creaminess helps tame any overwhelming heat from the sausage for a decedent dinner dish that comes together in under an hour. If you want your pasta bright and flavorful, this spicy dish brings on the heat!
11. Mushroom and Spinach Pasta with Ricotta
Sometimes, it’s the simple recipes that deliver the most flavor. This mushroom and spinach pasta with ricotta are super simple and a great meal to make on a budget. It pairs bowtie pasta with a creamy sauce with lemon, pepper, and butter. Easy peasy! Add mushrooms and spinach for an earthy and meaty kick, and a dollop of ricotta blends all those rich flavors in harmony.
12. Pillowy Ricotta Gnudi
If you’ve never heard of gnudi, let me introduce you. It’s similar to gnocchi, only it’s made with ricotta cheese instead of starchy potatoes. Fun fact: Gnudi translates to ‘naked’ in Italian because it is similar to the filling of ravioli, sans the noodles. It delivers everything you love about ravioli (cheese, spices, and marinara) without the guilt of all that pasta.
13. One-Pot Lemon Butter Ricotta and Zucchini Pasta
It doesn’t get much easier than this one-pot pasta dish. Lemon, butter, and ricotta keep the sauce light and flavorful, and it marries perfectly with tender pasta and meaty zucchini. Infused with fresh herbs, it’s the perfect meal for a humid summer night (or a Tuesday).
14. Lazy Lasagna
Lasagna is terrific, but it’s not exactly a weeknight meal. If you want all of the flavors of lasagna but are short on time, lazy lasagna is like a deconstructed lasagna bake. Just dump all the ingredients into a baking dish and cook until it’s golden and bubbly.
15. Four Cheese Pasta Cheesecake
If the Cheesecake Factory knows anything, it’s cheese! This four-cheese pasta cheesecake copycat recipe doesn’t shy away from cheese. It incorporates mozzarella (in all its wonderful forms), parmesan, and ricotta cheese in a rich pasta sauce with penne noodles. With all that cheese, no one will notice that it’s meat-free!
16. Lemon Ricotta Pasta with Shrimp
This bright meal looks like you spent all day in the kitchen but comes together in just 45 minutes. Tender shrimp adds color and light meaty textures that pair well with fresh ricotta, spinach, and a drizzle of lemon juice. It’s a great way to indulge in pasta on a hectic summer weeknight.
17. Turkey Florentine Pasta Bake
Give ground beef the night off with this turkey florentine pasta bake. It still delivers the classic rich and meaty flavors of meaty marinara but swaps in ground turkey to keep calories low. Paired with spinach, ricotta, and mozzarella, it’s sinfully creamy and rich without the need for red meat.
18. Eggplant and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta with Ricotta
Think of this robust dinner dish as a deconstructed eggplant parmesan. Chopped roasted eggplant and smokey sun-dried tomatoes add meaty flavors that work so well with creamy ricotta and mozzarella cheese. This dish comes together in just 20 minutes and is sure to be a crowd favorite.
19. Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo
Spincach and ricotta rotolo is like lasagna and cannaloni, only better. The spinach and ricotta mixture infuse rich spices from nutmeg, cloves, and mozzarella cheese and cook in a rich tomato sauce. It takes a little extra time to roll your noodles, but trust me, it’s worth it!
20. Pasta with Ricotta and Peas
Are you looking for a lighter dinner dish? This pasta with ricotta and peas recipe is a great way to dine on pasta without needing an evening nap. It’s light and bright with earthy peas, pine nuts for crunch, and tender pasta. Those bright flavors combine beautifully in a bright lemon and ricotta sauce, perfect for a hot summer night.
21. Lemon Ricotta Pasta with Brussels Sprouts
It doesn’t get much better than flavorful and earthy Brussels sprouts in a rich and creamy lemon ricotta sauce. The Brussels sprouts and ricotta cheese flavors are so rich that the pasta almost takes a backseat. Almost. To marry those tart and creamy flavors, don’t forget a pinch of red pepper flakes for a bit of heat.
22. Spicy Roasted Pepper Rigatoni with Ricotta
This impressive dinner dish tastes like elevated restaurant fare, but it’s easy to whip together at home. Roasted red peppers deliver smokey and meaty flavors that pair well with rich ricotta cheese and crunch from pine nuts. To add more depth of flavor, add a dash of vodka to your sauce to take this dish over the top.
23. Classic Baked Penne Pasta with Ricotta
You can’t beat the classics. What’s great about this simple baked penne pasta dish is that it’s super affordable and insanely satisfying. It only has a few ingredients: penne pasta, sauce, ricotta, and so much mozzarella cheese. It’s the perfect go-to meal when you don’t know what to make for dinner. It’s delightfully cheesy and comes together in 30 minutes. Click on a star to rate it!
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