Sour Cream Noodle Bake

This comforting and hearty Sour Cream Noodle Bake is the kind of recipe that brings everyone to the table. Perfect for those hectic weeknights, this casserole comes together with simple ingredients you probably already have on hand. Plus, it freezes beautifully, making it a great option to prep ahead and enjoy later when you need a stress-free dinner the whole family will love.

Pasta dishes are a classic choice for freezer meals, but the secret is making sure they’re packed with flavor and that the noodles stay perfectly tender, not mushy, after freezing.

With over 20 years of experience creating and testing freezer meals, we’ve learned exactly how to make recipes like this Sour Cream Noodle Bake taste just as fresh and delicious as the day you assembled them. Inside the Freezer Meals 101 Club, we share all of our best tips and tricks to help you save time in the kitchen and money at the grocery store. Plus, our once-a-month live cooking classes give you the chance to ask questions, get personalized advice, and cook alongside us. Come join us and discover how easy and fun freezer cooking can be!

Sour Cream Noodle Bake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground turkey, browned and cooled
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 24 fl. oz. pasta sauce or Red sauce
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 8 oz. sour cream
• 1 lb. rotini pasta, undercooked and drained
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Assembly Instructions:

• In a bowl, mix the cooked and cooled turkey, pasta sauce, onion, and Italian seasoning.
• Pour 1/2 of the mixture into the bottom of a 9×13 dish.
• Top with drained pasta.
• In another bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream, garlic, Parmesan, and 1/2 cup of mozzarella in a bowl.
• Spread over the pasta.
• Top with the remaining meat sauce and 1 cup of mozzarella.
• Cover with foil.
• Freeze.

Cooking Instructions:

• Thaw.
• Bake, covered, at 350° for 50 minutes.
• Uncover and bake until cheese starts to brown, another 10 minutes or so.

Pro Tip for Undercooking Pasta with Freezer Cooking

To “undercook” the pasta, we recommend boiling it per package instructions, but reduce the time by two minutes from the time recommended for al dente pasta. Undercooking it before freezing will allow it to be cooked later without going mushy.

Ingredient Swap Ideas for this Recipe

This recipe is very versatile in that you can switch out the ground turkey and use ground chicken or beef. You can also make it completely vegetarian by leaving the meat out or using a ground meat substitute.

You can also make our freezer-friendly pomodoro sauce to use with this recipe, or use your favorite jarred red sauce.

Ways to Serve this Recipe

This recipe pairs great with our freezer garlic bread recipe and a fresh garden salad. You could also serve it with roasted vegetables, a caprese salad, or spinach or kale sauteed with garlic.

For more recipes like this one, check out our Bang Bang Salmon, Garlic Honey Chicken Sheet Pan Meal, or Beef Barbacoa.

Print

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

 

Course: Main Course

Servings: 6

Calories: 727 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground turkey browned and cooled
• 1 onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 24 fl. oz. pasta sauce or red sauce
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 8 oz. cream cheese softened
• 8 oz. sour cream
• 1 lb. rotini pasta undercooked and drained
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
• 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded

Instructions

Assembly instructions:

1. In a bowl, mix together the cooked and cooled turkey, pasta sauce, onion, and Italian seasoning.
2. Pour 1/2 of mixture in bottom of a 9×13 dish.
3. Top with drained pasta.
4. In another bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream, garlic, Parmesan, and 1/2 cup of mozzarella in a bowl.
5. Spread over the pasta.
6. Top with remaining meat sauce and 1 cup mozzarella.
7. Cover with foil.
8. Freeze.

Cooking instructions:

1. Thaw.
2. Bake, covered, at 350° for 50 minutes.
3. Uncover and bake until cheese starts to brown, another 10 minutes or so.