Baked Feta Pasta – TikTok Viral Recipe - Living Smart And Healthy

Substitutes for Feta Pasta

Cheese: Feta is the traditional cheese used in this dish, you can also try using goat cheese, ricotta, or even a blend of different cheeses.

Cherry Tomatoes: While cherry tomatoes work well in this recipe, you can also use other types of tomatoes such as grape tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, or roma tomatoes.

If you're not a fan of tomatoes, use roasted red peppers or sun-dried tomatoes instead.

Veggies: Add vegetables such as sliced zucchini, eggplant, or bell peppers, along with the cherry tomatoes while roasting.

Protein: To make the dish more filling, add cooked chicken, shrimp, or sausage to the pasta. Simply cook the protein separately and stir it in at the end.

For Spicy: If you like it spicy, add cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes or some chopped jalapeno peppers.

Pasta: While short pasta shapes like penne or fusilli work best for this dish, you can use other shapes like rigatoni, farfalle, or macaroni.

Herbs: Fresh or dry herbs such as Thyme, oregano, or Italian seasoning add great flavor. Add fresh herbs like basil, parsley, or chives for extra flavor and freshness.

Pro Tips

Here are some pro tips to make your TikTok Baked Feta Pasta even better:

Feta Cheese: Always opt for a block of feta instead of crumbled feta. The block melts more smoothly, creating a creamier sauce that coats the pasta perfectly.

Don’t Overcrowd the Tomatoes: Make sure the cherry tomatoes are spread out in a single layer in the baking dish. This helps them roast evenly and release their juices, enhancing the flavor of the sauce.

Pasta: Ear-shaped pasta or flat pasta such as Conchigliette (shells), Orecchiette, and Farfalle make a great candidate for this recipe, as those little nooks catch so much sauce.

However, feel free to use the pasta of your choice, and cook it as per the package directions.

Reserve Pasta Water: Before draining your pasta, save a cup of the cooking water. Adding a splash of it to your sauce will help thicken it and bring everything together beautifully.

The consistency of the sauce is quite creamy, use the reserved cooked pasta water to adjust to the desired consistency.

Broil: While baking the tomatoes, and feta cheese impart a nice flavor to this dish. I like to take it a step further and broil it at the end for a few minutes. I think the charred tomatoes and feta cheese add such a depth of flavor.

Add Fresh Herbs at the End: While dried herbs are great for roasting, add fresh herbs like basil or parsley after baking for an extra burst of flavor and color.

Add Veggies for Extra Flavor: To boost nutrition and flavor, toss in some veggies like spinach, zucchini, or bell peppers before roasting.

Season to Taste: Don’t be afraid to adjust the seasonings. Taste the sauce after baking and add more salt, pepper, or a pinch of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper to suit your taste.

Lemon (Optional): Adding lemon juice and lemon zest helps balance the sweet flavor of the tomatoes, and the saltiness of the feta cheese. It also adds a nice refreshing flavor to this dish.

Olive Oil: Use good-quality extra-virgin olive oil. Olive oil adds a nice flavor and creaminess to the sauce.

Serve Immediately: This dish is best enjoyed fresh and hot out of the oven. The creamy sauce will be at its best right after it’s tossed with the pasta.

How to cook pasta in an Instant Pot

Cooking pasta can be very tricky, especially in an Instant Pot (pressure cooker). Here’s how I cook pasta in an Instant Pot:

For Instant pot cooking, add enough water to cover the pasta. Reduce the cooking time to “half” what is recommended on the box of the pasta, followed by a quick pressure release.
I do not recommend using the broth for this recipe unless the broth you are using has no added sodium (salt) in it. Since, feta cheese is heavily salted, try to avoid any additional sodium.
Normally, I add salt while cooking pasta. However, for this recipe, I did not add any salt while cooking pasta, as the feta is quite salty, and adding salt to pasta would just make it way saltier.
Reserve some of the cooking pasta water, to adjust the consistency of the pasta. Pasta thickens over some time.