Healthy Cavatini Recipe: How To Make It
This healthy and easy cavatini recipe is packed with whole grain, veggies, and lean protein! Your whole family will love it! 
When I was growing up one of our families friends brought us a pan of cavatini. I think my mom was sick or had recently had a baby, I remember being a little apprehensive as a typical picky eater kid. It had some ingredients I normally didn’t like– mushrooms and peppers– but the cheese and pepperoni made up for it.
It tasted like love. And togetherness. And friends gathering around during tough times.
There is so much to love about this healthy cavatini.
- For starters, it’s pasta.
- Also it is packed with veggies: spinach, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes.
- It has yummy lean protein options in both ground turkey and turkey pepperoni.
- Finally, cheese.
Of course, I had to healthify the original recipe with whole wheat pasta, some extra veggies, and by swapping sausage for well-seasoned, lean ground turkey.
Easy and Healthy Cavatini Recipe
Healthy Cavatini
This healthy cavatini is packed with vegetables and lean protein sources for a comforting and delicious dinner.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked whole wheat pasta
- 1/2 pound lean ground turkey, seasoned with 1 teaspoon garlic, 1 teaspoon basil, and 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 4 ounces turkey pepperoni
- 1 cup diced green, yellow or red pepper
- 4 ounces of chopped mushrooms
- 1 cup spinach choppped in food processor, will reduce to about 1/4 cup
- 1 15 ounce can Italian tomatoes, pulsed in food processor
- 4 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- Cook pasta to al dente and drain.
- Crumble turkey and cook with spices until brown.
- Mix garlic, basil, oregano, and salt into tomato sauce. Then combine all ingredients and stir until evenly distributed.
- Spread in greased 9x13 pan and sprinkle with cheese if desired.
- Bake covered with tin foil for 30 minutes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 260Unsaturated Fat: 0g
What to serve with Cavatini?
Here are some easy sides that go perfectly with Cavatini.
- Italian Herb Roasted Vegetables
- Caesar Salad with Roasted Chickpeas
- Roasted Green Beans and Mushrooms
- Cranberry Pecan Feta Salad
How to Freeze Cavatini
This recipe also freezes great! I like to divide the recipe in half and freeze half for a quick and easy meal later on.
Just defrost and then cook as directed or microwave in smaller portions. Or eat cold from the fridge, it’s good that way too.
Is there any comfort food that triggers old memories for you?
Have you ever changed your mind about a vegetable or other food? I’m constantly trying vegetables I think I don’t like again. My tastebuds have changed a lot!
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Sounds really simple and super delish!
Thanks Anna! It is a quick and easy dinner and I love that I can throw half in the freezer for later or double it easily!
I have never heard of cavatinin before. It sure looks great with all the veggies and cheese… maybe I could just leave out the pasta. HAHA! My husband will love it just the way you offer it!
It was funny to me that my baby girl picked around the pasta, she preferred the peppers and pepperoni the best!
Looks delicious! And I like the calorie count, too!
Good! I ran the numbers through myfitnesspal so if you use different pasta and cheese it may come out slightly different. I was actually surprised how low calorie it is, but it is literally packed with veggies!
YUM!!! I wish I could get my boyfriend to like mushrooms. I’m in love with them, but have to leave them out of any recipe we share because he can’t stand them. Sad 🙁
My husband doesn’t like them either. I process them to very fine in the food processor and it just kind of blends in with the ground turkey. Shhh… 😀
Yum that looks delicious! I never liked sweet potatoes but now I do. I still can’t do olives though.
Ew, olives, for sure, no! I used to never like zucchini but now I LOVE it!
i am always looking for new one pot meal and this fits the bill perfectly.
Yay! Happy to help!
I think this sounds great- and I could totally make a vegetarian version for my daughter and I 🙂 And I’d probably add extra mushrooms. Just because 😉 Yum!
YES! As I was making I thought that it is easily adaptable for vegetarians! Just leave out the meat and add in more mushrooms or tofu crumbles of some sort.
This recipe sounds amazing. Lots of my favorite foods cooked together!
Yummy. I agree that you can make a casserole healthier by adding veggies. I am all about adding the veggies 🙂
My food processor is the sneakiest little appliance! It always helps me get veggies past my picky eater husband (or at least where he tolerates them!).
Wow, this looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Sue!
This sounds awesome! It would be perfect for me to take to work for lunches during the week.
Yes it would be totally great for that! You could cook it before and reheat or take it cold and just microwave it as you go.
This looks delicious and like something my BF would actually eat (he’s so picky!) Well he wouldn’t eat the mushrooms so I’d have to omit those lol. I actually have ground beef so I might give this a whirl tomorrow for dinner!
This looks absolutely delicious! I’d omit the mushrooms (its one of the only vegetables that I cannot stand), but otherwise, this looks divine!
Yes! I love that you can totally make this recipe your own. If you like olives they would be good in it too!
Kate this looks delicious! Tweeted to share the yumminess.
Thanks Jill!
This looks tasty! I might try to make it with “veggie crumbles” instead of turkey !
Great idea! It is an easy way to make it vegetarian!
This would make a really good winter comfort food meal. I love pasta!
Absolutely that is exactly what I had in mind. 🙂
This looks AMAZING!
It is soo good! Even better as leftovers because the flavors get to settle in together and get cozy!
If I subbed out the meat for a vegetarian option, this would be solid gold for me!