Baked Ziti
Published on February 14, 2025
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Quick Summary
This Baked Ziti dish is comforting, satisfying, and so delicious! The combination of pasta, rich tomato sauce, savory sausage, and melted cheese makes this dish a crowd-pleaser for any occasion. Whether you’re cooking for a family dinner, hosting a get-together, or prepping meals for the week ahead, this baked ziti recipe is the perfect choice. Don’t forget the garlic bread!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Cheesy Baked Ziti
- Comforting and Hearty: A warm, cheesy casserole filled with pasta, sausage, robust marinara sauce, and melty cheese – what’s not to love?
- Perfect for Meal Prep: Make it in advance and reheat for a quick, satisfying meal throughout the week.
- Feeds a Crowd: Perfect for family gatherings, parties, or potlucks.
- Customizable: You can easily modify the recipe to suit your preferences (vegetarian, spicy, extra cheesy, etc.).
- Leftovers Taste Better: Like most baked pasta dishes, it Itastes even better the next day!
Key Ingredients
You’ll find the full list of ingredients in the recipe card below, but here are some ingredient notes before you get started.
- Pasta: The star of the dish! Ziti is a tubed pasta like penne, but the edges are cut in a straight line instead of at a slant. If you can’t find ziti, penne is a great option since they are very similar. If you need the recipe to be gluten-free, you can use gluten-free pasta.
- Sausage: Add Italian sausage for a meaty base that adds depth of flavor. You can also use ground beef or ground turkey. If you want to make a vegetarian baked ziti, you can leave out the meat and add in your favorite vegetables like spinach, mushrooms, and peppers. This baked pasta dish is easy to adapt to your liking.
- Marinara Sauce: A rich, tomato-based sauce that ties the entire dish together. We like to use our Homemade Easy Marinara Sauce or Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce for the very best flavor. Of course, if you have a favorite store bought marinara sauce you can use that in this recipe to save some time. I always keep our homemade marinara sauce in the freezer so it is ready to go!
- Cheese: There are three kinds of cheese: ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan! The ricotta is super creamy and the mozzarella melts beautifully, giving baked ziti its signature stretchy texture. I also like to add Parmesan cheese for extra cheesy goodness!
How to Make Baked Ziti
- Cook the Pasta: Start by boiling a large pot of salted water. Cook the ziti pasta according to the package instructions, until it’s al dente. Since the pasta will cook further in the oven, be sure to cook it al dente to avoid mushy pasta. Drain and drizzle with olive oil and give it a good stir. This is going to keep everything from sticking together!
- Cook the sausage. In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until it’s no longer pink. This should take 5-7 minutes. Once done, drain the fat and set it aside with the pasta.
- Mix Ricotta and Cheeses. In a medium mixing bowl combine ricotta, egg, half the mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and all the seasonings.
- Mix together. Combine the pasta, ricotta mixture, marinara sauce, and cooked sausage. Stir gently so the pasta noodles stay intact.
- Assemble. Pour the mixture into a greased 9×13-inch pan. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
- Bake. Put the dish in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbly.
- Garnish. Let the pasta sit for 5 minutes, garnish with fresh basil, and serve warm.
How to Make Ahead
- Assemble and Keep in the Fridge: Make the baked ziti, but don’t bake! Instead, cover with plastic wrap or foil and store in the fridge for up to 2 days. Remove from the fridge and bake according to recipe instructions. You might have to add a few minutes to the baking time because the pasta was cold to start with.
- Assemble and Freeze: Assemble everything up until it’s time to bake in a disposable aluminum pan or freezer safe pan, then seal it well with a lid or plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Pop it in the freezer and freeze for up to 2 months. Let it defrost in the refrigerator for 24 hours before baking! Then follow, the baking instructions.
How to Store & Reheat
- Storing in the Fridge: Once the pasta has cooled to room temperature, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezing Leftovers: You can freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. I like to freeze leftovers in individual portions. You can pull out the baked ziti when you need an easy lunch or dinner!
- Reheating: To reheat, simply microwave individual servings or cover the entire dish with foil and bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. If frozen, let it thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Serving Suggestions
Baked ziti is very filling and good by itself, but if you want to serve a full meal, here are a few of our favorite side dishes to serve on the side.
- Garlic Bread
- Simple Arugula Salad
- Easy Green Salad
- Simple Kale Salad
- Caesar Salad
- Caprese Salad
- Roasted Broccoli
- Simple Skillet Green Beans
- Bruschetta
More Pasta Recipes
- Rigatoni with Sausage
- Cacio e Pepe
- Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Spaghetti Carbonara
- Vegetable Lasagna
- Pasta Primavera
- 4-Ingredient Ravioli Lasagna
- Pasta Pomodoro
Baked Ziti
A big pan of Baked Ziti filled with pasta, cheese, sausage, and marinara sauce just might be the best dinner ever, especially when garlic bread is served on the side. This baked pasta is a family favorite!
Ingredients
- 16 oz ziti or penne pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling over pasta
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 32 oz marinara sauce
- 15 oz ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
- 3/4 cups shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Dash of crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
- For garnish: chopped basil, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 9×13-baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Use a colander to drain well. Drizzle pasta with a little olive oil and stir so it doesn’t stick together. Pour the pasta into a large bowl and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the Italian sausage and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until it is no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes. Discard the excess fat and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta, egg, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, ½ cup Parmesan cheese, basil, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper flakes, if using. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the ricotta mixture to the pasta. Add the marinara sauce, cooked sausage, and stir until combined, stirring gently to not break up the pasta noodles.
- Pour the pasta into the prepared pan and top with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until cheese is golden brown and the pasta is bubbly. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil, if desired, and serve warm.
Notes
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also make freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Calories: 528kcal, Carbohydrates: 42g, Protein: 27g, Fat: 28g, Saturated Fat: 13g, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 6g, Calcium: 388mg, Iron: 3mg
Have you tried this recipe?
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Mrs. Maria Thank you very much for this absolutely delicious recipe ! Quit honestly it is one of, if not the most delightful pasta dishes I have ever had. I am thinking to use it for stuffed shells or Manicotti. I omitted the sausage and used gluten free pasta, no red pepper either, will add next time. After I put it in the oven I started to wonder that since there is no garlic and only a teaspoon of seasoning it might be rather tasteless but after the 5 minute cooling and basil garnish such was not the case, just fabulous ! Four stars because I omitted the sausage otherwise 5 stars.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Can you assemble this recipe a day ahead and bake it the next day?
Yes!
Can you make this 24 hours in advance and leave in the fridge until ready to bake?
Ps I love all your recipes!!!
Yes and thank you!
Hi Maria…
I’m making your baked Ziti for our Sunday dinner! I’m absolutely sure my family will love it! It looks delicious!! Thank you for sharing!!
You are welcome!
We loved this, but recommend adding extra marinara. We like ours to be a little more saucy.
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I want to divide this recipe, freezing half for later and bake the other half. Would the baking instructions be the same or should I bake the half portions for a shorter amount of time?
You can divide it up in 2 pans. It will take a little less time!
This is cheesy and delicious. We like this just as well as lasagne. It is easy to make. I use a 48 ounce jar of sauce, no meat, and some extra cheese on top.
Perfect!
Made this today and it was a hit everyone loved it. Next time I will add red pepper flakes but I did the recipe as instructed.
Yay!
My new favorite ziti recipe. Made it exactly as written and it was
Did divide it between 2 8” square pans and froze one. It goes a long way!
So smart to save some for later. I am so glad you loved the recipe!
Hello! I am making this to split into 2 – 8×8 pans to freeze – noted to thaw in the fridge the night before cooking but when ready to cook to eat, would you cook covered or uncovered and still for 25 minutes at 375? Thanks!
It might take a little longer if the dish is cold. You can cover for the first 25 minutes and then remove and bake until the cheese is a little golden and the ziti is bubbly.