Baked Ziti Recipe

As soon as the weather turns cool, I grab the cozy sweaters and start cooking the comfort food, like this Classic Baked Ziti. It’s rich and gooey with its layers of pasta, homemade red sauce with Italian sausage, and three types of melty cheese. Total comfort in a bowl. And the best part is that Baked Ziti is not fussy. You don’t have to worry about delicate sheet pasta or getting your layers perfect. It’s freeform, messy goodness at its best!

If you can’t find ziti (a smooth, tubular shaped pasta), you can substitute penne or rigatoni in this recipe. Rigatoni is the most similar to ziti, the only difference being that it has a ridges and is slightly shorter and wider.

Yes! I almost always add extra vegetables to whatever I’m cooking, but today I decided to go with the classic form of Baked Ziti. If I were to add vegetables, I would probably add some fresh spinach into the sauce and stir until it is wilted. Or, roast some broccoli, zucchini, or eggplant, and then toss that into the sauce.

The Italian sausage adds a lot of flavor to this dish, but there are still a few options for substituting the sausage. You can use ground beef, turkey, or chicken, but you’ll probably want to double the Italian seasoning blend to make up for the herbs that are found in Italian sausage. You can also use a vegetarian Italian sausage alternative, or substitute with a pound of chopped mushrooms.

Homemade Garlic Bread is awesome with baked ziti, but if you want some vegetables on the side I would go with something like Oven Roasted Frozen Broccoli, or do a simple side salad.

This Baked Ziti will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. I highly suggest dividing the leftovers into single servings so they cool quickly in the refrigerator. This recipe makes 8 large servings, so once the servings are cooled completely in the refrigerator, you can transfer a few to the freezer for longer storage. Then each serving is just a quick microwave away from being a filling last-minute dinner!

Easy Baked Ziti

Baked Ziti has layers of zesty meat sauce, ricotta cheese and tender ziti noodles baked until golden.

Prep: 20min

Total: 45min

Yield: 8

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 598 kcal, Carbohydrate 54 g, Protein 34 g, Fat 27 g, Saturated Fat 11 g, Cholesterol 97 mg, Sodium 1257 mg, Fiber 4 g, Sugar 8 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Italian sausage
• 1 small onion (diced)
• 28 ounces pasta sauce (or marinara sauce)
• 14 ounces diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• ½ cup water
• 16 ounces ziti
• 15 ounces ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
• 1 egg
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese (shredded )
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese (shredded )

Instruction:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F
2. Brown ground sausage and onion breaking up until the sausage is fairly fine. Drain any fat.
3. Add in Italian seasoning, water, tomatoes and pasta sauce. Simmer 10-15 minutes or until thickened.
4. Meanwhile, boil ziti in salted water until al dente. Drain and rinse.
5. In a small bowl, mix ricotta, egg, parsley, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese.
6. Add a thin layer (about 1 cup) of sauce to the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan. Layer half of the ziti, top with all of the ricotta, and half of the sauce.
7. Add remaining ziti, remaining sauce, and top with cheese.
8. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Classic Baked Ziti

Like a freeform lasagna, this Baked Ziti has layers of pasta, homemade red sauce with Italian sausage, and three types of melty cheese!

Prep: 10min

Total: 65min

Serving Size: 1 Serving

Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1 Serving, calories 570.03 kcal, Carbohydrate 39.15 g, Protein 34.04 g, Fat 30.3 g, Fiber 4.85 g, Sodium 1730.49 mg

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Italian sausage (sweet, mild, or hot) ($3.49)
• 1 yellow onion ($0.27)
• 3 oz. tomato paste ($0.27)
• 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes ($1.00)
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning blend ($0.30)
• 1/2 cup water ($0.00)
• 1 lb. ziti ($1.67)
• 1/2 Tbsp salt (for pasta water) ($0.05)
• 15 oz. ricotta ($1.69)
• 1 cup Italian cheese blend* ($1.15)
• freshly cracked black pepper ($0.05)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella ($2.29)
• 1 handful chopped parsley (optional, for garnish) ($0.20)

Instruction:

1. Brown the sausage in a large skillet or pot over medium heat, until it’s brown and crispy on the edges (pork sausage contains a lot of fat, so I didn’t add any extra to the skillet).
2. While the sausage is browning, finely dice the onion. Add the onion to the skillet once the sausage has browned, and continue to sauté over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent.
3. Add the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and ½ cup water to the skillet with the sausage and stir to combine. Place a lid on the skillet and allow it to come up to a simmer. Once simmering, turn the heat down and allow it to continue to simmer while you cook the ziti. Stir the sauce occasionally as it simmers.
4. After getting the sauce started, begin the ziti. Bring a large pot of water with ½ Tbsp salt to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the ziti, and let it continue to boil until the ziti is tender (about 7-8 minutes). Drain the ziti in a colander. Shake the colander a bit to shake excess water out of the pasta.
5. While the pasta and sauce are cooking, prepare the cheese filling. Add the ricotta, Italian cheese blend, and some freshly cracked black pepper (about 10 cranks of a pepper mill) to a bowl and stir to combine. Begin to preheat the oven to 350ºF.
6. After draining the ziti, return it to the pot and add 1 cup of the red sauce. Stir to coat the cooked pasta in sauce.
7. Pour half of the ziti to a 9×13″ baking dish. Add half of the ricotta mixture on top of the ziti in small dollops. Finally, spoon half of the red sauce and sausage over the pasta and ricotta. It’s okay if the ingredients don’t cover in a solid layer. Repeat these layers with the second half of the pasta, ricotta mixture, and sauce. Finally, top with 2 cups shredded mozzarella.
8. Cover the baking dish with foil, making sure it’s slightly tented so that it doesn’t touch or stick to the melted cheese. Transfer the covered casserole to the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
9. After baking for 20 minutes, remove the foil, and turn the oven on to broil (keep the casserole on the middle rack, about 10-12 inches from the broiler). Broil for 5 minutes, or just until the cheese is slightly browned. Keep a close eye on the baked ziti as it broils, because broilers can vary in intensity. Top with chopped parsley, if desired, then serve.

Baked Ziti

Baked ziti is an easy and delicious weeknight dinner, especially when it’s made with ricotta. You’ll want to try this cheesy meal tonight.

Prep: 15min

Total: 1h

Yield: 12 serving(s)

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 whole large onion, diced
• 1 lb. Italian sausage
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, with juice
• 2 14.5 oz. cans tomato sauce or marinara sauce
• 2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 16 oz. ziti or mostaccioli, cooked until not quite al dente
• 15 oz. tub whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 lb. mozzarella cheese, grated
• 1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
• 1 whole egg
• Fresh minced parsley

Instruction:

1. Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for several minutes, or until starting to soften. Add Italian sausage and ground beef and cook until browned. Drain off fat, leaving a bit behind for flavor and moisture.
2. Add tomatoes, tomato juice, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes. Stir and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. After that time, remove 3 to 4 cups of the sauce to a different bowl to cool down.
3. Preheat oven to 375˚. Mix together the ricotta cheese, 2 cups of the grated mozzarella, parmesan, egg, and salt and pepper in a separate bowl. Stir together just a couple of times (do not mix completely).
4. Drain the pasta and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking and cool it down. Pour it into the bowl with the cheese mixture and toss to slightly combine (there should still be large lumps.) Add the cooled meat sauce and toss to combine.
5. Add half the coated pasta to a large casserole dish. Spoon half of the remaining sauce over the top, then top with half the remaining mozzarella cheese. Repeat with another layer of the coated pasta, the sauce, and the mozzarella. Bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbling. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving. (Sprinkle chopped parsley over the pasta before serving!)

Delicious Baked Ziti Recipe | SO Easy!

FAQ

Does baked ziti contain ricotta cheese?

Should baked ziti be covered when baking?

How do you make baked ziti not dry?

What is the difference between ziti and lasagna?