Baked ziti is cheesy, saucy, and baked until bubbly, for the kind of cozy dinner that always disappears fast. With layers of ziti, creamy ricotta, and hearty sausage sauce, it’s an easy pasta bake that is perfect for weeknights, potlucks, and make-ahead dinners.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Savory Italian sausage, tangy tomato, and creamy ricotta melt together with mozzarella for a rich, comforting dish.
- Why Make It: This is an easy-to-make-ahead casserole that serves 8 with a thick and hearty sausage sauce.
- Serving Suggestions: This baked ziti has quickly become my go-to for feeding teens and house guests, especially paired with garlic bread and a Caesar or Italian salad.
Best Ingredients for Baked Ziti
- Meat: Choose mild or hot sausage. This can be replaced with ground beef or ground turkey. Add 2 cloves of minced garlic and 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning to the meat.
- Pasta Sauce: Choose your favorite pasta sauce, as it is the main flavor of the dish.
- Pasta: I use ziti in this recipe; however, penne, rigatoni, or other tube-shaped pasta can be used in place.
- Cheese: Ricotta adds a creamy layer to this recipe. You can replace it by blending cottage cheese with an egg until smooth.
- Topping: Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top for a browned, bubbly topping. Just before serving, add freshly grated Parmesan cheese and some fresh herbs like parsley or basil.
- Variations: Add chopped spinach to the ricotta mixture (squeezed dry). Stir sautéed mushrooms or diced zucchini into the sauce for extra veggies.
How to Make Baked Ziti
- Prepare the sausage sauce and the cheese mixture in separate bowls (full recipe below).
- In a large pot, cook the pasta al dente.
- Layer the sauce, pasta, and cheese in a greased dish.
- Top with mozzarella and bake.
For cleaner slices, let baked ziti rest 10 to 15 minutes before cutting and serving.
Fridge, Freezer, Reheat
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Baked or unbaked ziti will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To reheat, cover with foil and warm at 350°F until hot throughout. Add a splash of water or sauce if it looks dry. To reheat single portions, microwave in short bursts, loosely covered, stirring once if possible.
Italian Comfort Classics
Did you enjoy this Baked Ziti? Leave a comment and rating below.
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 1 (28 ounce) jar pasta sauce or marinara sauce
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices
- ½ cup water
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 16 ounces ziti
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- thinly sliced fresh basil leaves or chopped fresh parsley for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
- In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, brown the sausage and onion, breaking it up with a spoon. Drain any fat.
- Add the pasta sauce, tomatoes, water, and Italian seasoning. Simmer uncovered for 12 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Meanwhile, boil ziti in a large pot of salted water until al dente. Drain well.
- In a small bowl, mix ricotta, egg, parsley, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese.
- Add 1 cup of sauce to the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Layer half of the ziti, top with all of the ricotta mixture, and half of the sauce.
- Add remaining ziti, remaining sauce, and top with remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Dinner, Entree, Main Course, Pasta
Cuisine Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
So easy and so good. My boyfriend, niece and nephew all had seconds
I’m making this tomorrow and I noticed my box of ziti noodles is now 12 ounces not 16. Will that make a difference with the amount of sauce? Geeze now the pasta boxes are smaller
It will affect the ratio of sauce to noodles but you can enjoy an extra sauce-y ziti or reduce the pasta sauce slightly to accommodate.
Your recipes are the best and I thank you for assisting me with my family holidays
Just made your baked ziti. So darn good
Absolutely delicious! So easy!
Made this last week and froze some. It was delicious both times! This is by far the best Zita recipe I’ve made. I pretty much followed the recipe but did use maybe about 1 cup or so more of the sauce. I also used 1 lb. of Italian Sausage and 1 lb. of ground beef (that probably explains why I needed the extra sauce…lol). Any way, this is definitely a keeper. We loved it! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
You’re welcome Gabi! So glad you love this baked ziti!
I used to use All Recipes but your are by far Better…Thanx
Thank you Joe :)
Made this yesterday! I didn’t have sausage so I used ground beef. Came out very good., only downfall was a little dry on top. I just sprinkled water on it as it was baking. The ricotta I add egg, and mozzarella/breadcrumbs. pepper. Mixed up some of the Sauce/meat mixture into the ziti before placing in pan. Delicious
This is my second try with this recipe. My wife and I both love it. I use chicken sausage instead of pork sausage just to make it a bit more heart friendly ( I’m an old dude ! ) This has turned out perfect on both occasions I have made it with lots of leftovers for us. It’s even better the next day. I’m not sure why folks are running out of sauce. I had more than enough. Oh, and one more thing. I forgot to buy eggs today, so in the Ricotta cheese mixture I just substituted a table spoon of milk for the missing egg to help with mixing the cheese. This seemed to work out fine. Thank you for this recipe. I’m sure we will keep making it.
Thank you for sharing Daniel. So glad you love the ziti!
My vegetarian family loved this dish; I used Beyond Meat Italian Sausage and followed the rest of the recipe exactly. Thanks!
Can Wagon Wheel Pasta be used instead??? I have a few bags that need cooking pretty soon.
I think that should work just fine.
I made this following recipe and directions. The finished dish did not have any sauce. Just the pasta and some cheese (not much) were left. Is it supposed to turn out that way? The picture looked like there was still a lot of sauce when it was finished baking. The directions said to simmer sauce until it starts to thicken. That’s exactly what I did. End result was dry, no sauce pasta with a little cheese through out.
Oh no, how disappointing! I have made this countless times and haven’t found it to be dry, it’s quite saucy. Was your pasta cooked al dente (quite firm)? Did you use 16oz of dry pasta? Did you bake at 375°F for 25 minutes (overbaking can cause the pasta to dry out)?
Way too dry. I made this for Thanksgiving and my husband hated it. My son didn’t like it either. I made it according to directions. It needs more gravy. And probably, the ziti needs to be mixed in with the ricotta cheese mixture. My husband said it’s not my fault, but I take these things personally.
I’m very surprised to hear that you found it dry Susanne. As you can see from the images, this is more saucy than dry. Perhaps your sauce reduced a little too much? While we don’t mix in the ricotta, that would work if you prefer. Thank you so much for trying the recipe.
Love it!
I found this to be true also what I did was add extra sauce I also use Hot sausage gives it more of a kick very tasty my family loves it now not so much the first time
Hello,I made this real easy dish and my music friends loved it. Real delicious Thankyou for your recipe.joey
This came out beautifully! I baked it at 350, and let it bake the last 10 minutes with a foil tent, so that it wouldn’t burn. I used sweet Italian sausage that I took out of its casings, and I think it’s a great recipe for baked ziti! It came out so pretty, too. I will be making this again for sure. ✨
Easy and delicious! I love how fast this was to get on the table, and my little one really enjoyed it! Thank you!
So easy to make & DELICIOUS! Thank you for giving me a new Italian dish to feed my family! Kinda like a cross between lasagne & ziti – like a ziti casserole! Try it – you’ll love it!!!
Absolutely delicious! My son wants to take the leftovers to school for lunch, which is rare— especially considering he’s not a pasta lover. My husband said this ziti is now his birthday meal choice. Thank you for a super recipe!
Yum! Excellent flavors. Question—my ziti came out a bit watery…any suggestions? I almost feel like I used too much cheese filling!
So glad you enjoyed the flavor Carla.
If you’d like to thicken it a little bit you could simmer the sauce a bit longer. The cheese is just under 2 cups of ricotta and the egg should help thicken it up however, I haven’t had trouble with it being runny so I can’t say for sure why it was runny. Did it rest a little bit before serving? It will thicken a little upon cooling as well. I hope that helps!
Hi Carla,
Did you drain the Ziti good? I usually take a spoon and stir it up a bit in colander and shake the colander because of the long shape of the pasta noodle/
Also, if sauce seems a bit thin I will add a tablespoon or sometimes two of tomatoe paste to sauce to thicken it a bit. I buy a tube of paste (ALESSI is the brand they carry where I shop) and it comes in handy to sightly thicken sauce.
Okay, I hate it when people post that they followed a recipe to the letter except for this and that, oh, and another thing. Like, it’s not the recipe anymore, right? Well, I had to improvise with this one out of necessity. I didn’t brown meat (vegetarian), just the onion. Also, I used cream cheese instead of ricotta (didn’t have ricotta) and vegan mozzarella (didn’t have real). I didn’t have fresh parsley, so I threw in some dried. Otherwise, it was mostly to the letter (haha). BUT honestly? I would have had no idea how to even start, and I also wanted anyone who thinks they can’t make this because they don’t have let ingredients to know that they can. I totally expected it to be inedible, but it was seriously really good.