Katie’s Pizza & Pasta brings chef-driven pasta bakes to Target shelves

KATIE’s Pizza & Pasta took its Target partnership beyond frozen pizza on May 27, rolling out Pasta Bake Entrées and sauces nationwide and signaling that restaurant-style pasta is now part of the grocery aisle strategy. The new line includes Pasta Bake Entrées in Fiori Lemon Cream, Fiori Marinara and Fiori Arrabbiata, plus standalone Marinara, Arrabbiata and Lemon Cream sauces.

For pasta shoppers, the hook is in the format as much as the flavor. Katie’s says the Pasta Bake Entrées are built around hand-cut fiori noodles made from high-protein egg and semolina dough, produced in small batches and paired with chef-developed sauces and premium cheeses. The sauces are described as slow-cooked, made with whole ingredients and free of added sugar, a clear attempt to position the products as a shortcut that still keeps some of the texture and sauce-driven logic home cooks expect from a serious pasta dish.

The expansion also says a lot about how Katie Lee has built the brand. Katie’s describes Lee as a self-taught chef who went through homelessness and addiction earlier in life, then launched her first restaurant in 2008. The company’s frozen-food push began during COVID, when it prototyped frozen pizza using the same team, techniques, wood-fired ovens and specialty ingredients used in the restaurants. That playbook is now moving from pizza into pasta, with the company framing the products as a true translation of its restaurant identity rather than a simplified supermarket version.

Target has already shown it is willing to go big on the brand. Katie’s frozen pizzas landed in all 1,800 Target stores nationwide in September 2025, with the initial lineup of Burrata Margherita, Pepperoni, Black Garlic and Meatball priced at $13.49 each. Forbes reported that rollout as part of a $20 million retail deal, while St. Louis Magazine said Target gave Katie’s a Tier One launch for the pizza line. Katie’s also opened its fourth restaurant in Crestwood, Missouri, in March 2026, keeping its brick-and-mortar growth moving alongside the retail expansion.

Taken together, the Target pasta bakes show where the brand is aiming: not just for frozen convenience, but for a bigger claim on how restaurant pasta can live in the grocery case without losing its chef-driven identity.