Save The first time I made baked feta pasta, I wasn't following anyone's viral recipe—I was just cleaning out my pantry on a Tuesday evening and found a block of feta that needed using. I tossed cherry tomatoes, sun-dried ones, and garlic into a baking dish with olive oil, nestled that feta right in the middle, and let the oven do the work. When I pulled it out thirty minutes later, the tomatoes had burst into this jammy, golden mess around the feta, and I suddenly understood why this simple dish had taken over everyone's kitchen. It wasn't fancy, but it tasted like summer in a bowl.
I made this for my friend Maya on a random Thursday when she mentioned being tired of complicated weeknight dinners. She watched skeptically as I dumped tomatoes and cheese into a baking dish, but the moment we sat down and she tasted it, she went quiet in that way that means food is doing something right. She's made it every week since, and now it's become our shorthand for "let's eat something good without thinking too hard about it."
Ingredients
- Feta cheese (200 g): This is your sauce base, so quality matters—look for feta that's creamy when soft, not chalky. A block works better than crumbles because it holds its shape until you're ready to mash it.
- Cherry tomatoes (500 g): They concentrate and sweeten as they roast, so don't skip the step of leaving them whole. The skins burst and release their juice right into the feta.
- Sun-dried tomatoes in oil (100 g): These add a tangy depth that fresh tomatoes alone can't achieve. Drain them well so you're not adding extra oil beyond what the recipe calls for.
- Garlic (3 cloves): Slice it thin so it roasts gently and turns sweet rather than bitter. Thick chunks will overshadow everything else.
- Red onion (1 small, optional): The acidity cuts through the richness beautifully, but if you skip it, the dish is still complete.
- Short pasta (350 g): Penne or fusilli hold the sauce better than long pasta. The pasta water you reserve is essential—it's what turns the roasted tomatoes and feta into an actual sauce.
- Extra-virgin olive oil (4 tbsp total): Don't use cooking oil here. The quality of your olive oil is tasted directly, especially when it's the only fat in the dish.
- Dried oregano and basil (1 tsp each): Mediterranean herbs tie everything together. If you have fresh oregano, use half as much since fresh is stronger.
- Red pepper flakes (½ tsp): This is your insurance against the dish tasting flat. Even if you don't love heat, a pinch wakes up all the other flavors.
- Fresh basil (½ cup): Tear it by hand instead of chopping so the leaves stay bruised but whole, releasing their aroma without turning black.
Instructions
- Get your oven ready and prep everything:
- Preheat to 200°C (400°F) and gather all your ingredients on the counter before you start. This dish moves quickly once the oven comes into play, so having everything prepped means you won't be frantically chopping while things burn.
- Build the base in the baking dish:
- Scatter whole cherry tomatoes, your drained sun-dried tomatoes, sliced garlic, and onion (if using) into a large baking dish. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, season generously with oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, then toss everything together so each tomato gets coated.
- Crown it with feta:
- Place the whole feta block right in the center of the tomato mixture and drizzle the last tablespoon of olive oil directly on top. It'll look austere at this point, but trust it.
- Let the oven do the magic:
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the tomato skins have burst and released their juice, and the feta has turned golden and soft enough to mash with the back of a spoon. The kitchen will smell incredible—that's your signal it's almost ready.
- Cook the pasta at the same time:
- While the tomatoes and feta are roasting, get a large pot of salted water boiling and cook your pasta according to package instructions. The pasta and baking dish should finish at roughly the same time, so your timing doesn't need to be perfect.
- Combine feta and tomatoes into sauce:
- When you pull the baking dish out of the oven, grab a fork or the back of a spoon and mash the soft feta with the burst tomatoes right there in the dish. You're not making it perfectly smooth—this is supposed to be chunky and rustic, with streaks of olive oil and tomato juice.
- Bring it all together:
- Drain your pasta, reserving at least ½ cup of the starchy cooking water. Add the hot pasta and some of that pasta water directly to the baking dish with the feta mixture. Toss everything together, adding more pasta water a little at a time until you have a loose, creamy sauce that clings to each piece of pasta.
- Finish with fresh basil and taste:
- Tear fresh basil leaves by hand and stir them in. Give the whole thing a final taste and adjust salt, pepper, or red pepper flakes if it needs it. Sometimes the cheese-to-pasta ratio needs tweaking depending on how juicy your tomatoes were.
Save This dish became my go-to when I realized how often I was buying fancy ingredients and then overthinking how to use them. There's something liberating about a recipe that takes all those Mediterranean staples—feta, sun-dried tomatoes, good olive oil—and just lets them be themselves without a complicated technique to hide behind.
How to Customize It Without Losing the Soul
The structure of this dish is flexible enough to handle your pantry without falling apart. I've added Kalamata olives, toasted pine nuts, capers, and even a handful of spinach, and it only gets better. The rule is: don't add so much that you're drowning the feta, and anything acidic or briny plays well with the creamy cheese. If you want to add vegetables like roasted red peppers or zucchini, roast them alongside the tomatoes so they have time to caramelize.
Pasta Water Is Your Secret Weapon
The starch in pasta water is what makes the sauce cling instead of slide off. It sounds small, but this is the difference between a dish that tastes like you threw pasta into a cheese and tomato mess versus one that feels intentional and glossy. I used to discard it, and then one night I didn't have cream on hand and grabbed pasta water out of desperation—it was better than cream would have been.
Storage and Leftovers
This pasta is one of the rare cases where it's better the next day. The flavors meld, and the sauce gets richer as the pasta absorbs everything. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days, and reheat gently with a splash of olive oil and a little water if it's dried out.
- You can eat it cold straight from the fridge on a hot day, and it's oddly perfect that way.
- If you're meal prepping, make sure the pasta is fully cooled before covering so condensation doesn't make it soggy.
- Add fresh basil after reheating, not before storing—it'll turn dark and lose its brightness.
Save This dish taught me that sometimes the best recipes aren't the complicated ones—they're the ones that respect their ingredients enough to get out of the way. A block of feta, some tomatoes, and heat become something that tastes like you've been working all day.
Recipe FAQs
- → What type of pasta works best with this dish?
Short pasta such as penne, fusilli, or rigatoni holds the creamy sauce well, allowing each bite to capture the flavors.
- → Can I prepare this dish vegan-friendly?
Yes, substituting the traditional feta with a plant-based alternative lets you enjoy similar textures and flavors.
- → How do sun-dried tomatoes affect the flavor?
Sun-dried tomatoes add a concentrated, tangy sweetness that complements the creamy feta and fresh cherry tomatoes.
- → What herbs are used to season this meal?
Dried oregano and basil are combined with fresh basil leaves to deliver aromatic Mediterranean notes.
- → Is it possible to add a crunchy element?
Yes, topping with toasted pine nuts or chopped Kalamata olives before serving adds a pleasant crunch and extra flavor.