Baked Ziti Recipe
Baked ziti is a comforting classic Italian-American pasta dish that features tender ziti baked to perfection with flavorful homemade pasta sauce, bold Italian spicy sausage, and creamy ricotta mixture! This is a perfect weekend dinner your family and friends will love.
Servings: 8 (serves 6-8)
Calories: 726kcal
Ingredients
- 1 lb ziti pasta
Easy Pasta Sauce:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion
- 2 medium carrots
- 5-6 garlic cloves
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes fire roasted or San Marzano
- 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 5-6 fresh basil leaves, minced
- 2 tsp white granulated sugar
- 1-1.5 tsp coarse or sea salt
Meat Mixture:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 small yellow onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 lb mild Italian sausage or other Italian sausage, ground beef, ground pork, ground turkey
- 1/2-1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Ricotta Mixture:
- 12 oz whole milk ricotta
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp fresh minced parsley
- 1 tbsp fresh minced basil
- 1/2-1 tsp coarse or sea salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
To Top:
- 1/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 tsp Italian herb seasoning
Instructions
Pasta Sauce:
- Preheat a cooking pot over medium heat and add olive oil.
- Add chopped onion and carrots. Sauté vegetables for a few minutes, until starts to soften, and then stir in garlic. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, seasoning, and herbs.
- Lower the heat to low, cover with a lid, and let it all cook while preparing pasta and meat. (Give it 15-20 minutes to cook.)
- To blend the sauce, you can use an immersion blender or transfer it into a standing blender. Pulse until the sauce is smooth, or you can leave it a little chunky if you wish.
Pasta:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add pasta. Cook until pasta is al dente (tender but still has a little bite to it in the very center).
- Strain pasta in a colander and set aside.
Meat Mixture:
- Preheat a cooking pan over medium heat and add olive oil.
- Stir in diced onions and let them sauté until starts to soften. Stir in garlic and sauté just until fragrant. Add Italian sausage and break it up as much as you can.
- Cook, breaking up sausage chunks, until sausage is completely cooked through. Take off heat.
Ricotta Mixture:
- In a small bowl, mix together ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan cheeses with herbs and seasoning. Mix until smooth.
Assemble:
- Stir in 3 cups of pasta sauce into the cooked meat mixture and add some crushed red pepper flakes. Add cooked pasta and mix until evenly combined.
- In the bottom of a casserole dish, spread remaining cup of pasta sauce and add half of ricotta mixture in dollops.
- Spread the pasta/meat mixture evenly over the sauce and ricotta.
- Add remaining ricotta mixture over the pasta, in dollops.
- Spread grated parmesan and shredded mozzarella evenly over the top and then sprinkle Italian herb seasoning over the it.
Bake:
- Bake at 350°F for 15-25 minutes, depending on the casserole dish you used. (If you use a larger casserole dish, like 9x13, you will probably need 15-20 minutes. If you use a smaller but deep casserole dish, you may need to bake it for up to 25 minutes.)
Video
Notes
- Cheese Options: For the best results, use shredded whole milk mozzarella and fresh grated parmesan. You can also use shredded Italian cheese mix, mix in some Asiago with parmesan or Fontina with mozzarella.
- Meat Options: If you don’t want to use Italian sausage, you could opt for ground beef, ground pork, ground turkey, or a combination of beef and pork, or beef and sausage.
- To Make This Baked Ziti Gluten Free: You only need to make one gluten free substation and that is pasta. Use gluten free penne pasta and I recommend the brand Tinkyada over most other brands.
Nutrition
Calories: 726kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 1522mg | Potassium: 841mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 3484IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 439mg | Iron: 4mg