Best Ever Baked Ziti Recipe

This top-rated baked ziti recipe features al dente pasta with meat sauce, ricotta cheese, and mozzarella cheese! Delicious with a salad and garlic bread. And making baked ziti ahead of time is so easy and convenient!

Best Baked Ziti Recipe

Brittsays: ”This was so good! A HUGE hit with my family, even my youngest two who are very sensitive eaters. My youngest went back to seconds. Definitely keeping this recipe saved, and planning on making it for our church lunch, I know it’ll be gone fast.”

What is Baked Ziti?

Looking for a crowd-pleasing recipe that’s hearty, flavorful, and sure to make you look like a superstar chef? Baked ziti to the rescue! Aka al dente noodles layered with ricotta cheese, meat sauce, and a trio of Italian cheeses. Likelasagna… without all the fussy assembly and layering!

The perfect recipe for family gatherings, potlucks, or any night you’re craving Italian-inspired comfort food. You can easily feed 8 people with one pan of baked ziti. Leftovers? It pairs great with anItalian chopped saladand some warmgarlic knotsor garlic bread!

How do you Make Baked Ziti BETTER?

Make sure you have al dente pasta, because soggy ziti noodles should be a sin.
Use my flavorful ricotta cheese mixture: this secret blend is smooth and so delish!
Say goodbye to boring tomato sauce and hello to hearty meat sauce! This pasta sauce is extra flavorsome thanks to ground beef and Italian sausage.
You can make this baked ziti recipe in advance and store in the fridge or freezer! Or you can make the tomato sauce and ricotta cheese mixture the day beforehand and store in the fridge to make prep even easier.
A family loved recipe! We’ve been passing this recipe around my family for years… it’s a tried-and true-staple!
Plenty of 5-star reviews. Because at the end of the day, what YOU guys think matters most. And hundreds of you swear by this classic recipe.

Don’t Over Cook the Pasta

My biggest issue with most baked ziti recipes? The pasta is always over baked or under-baked. Burnt noodles are just as bad as soggy ones. But luckily, I have a solution to this pasta problem.

Here’s how to cook the pasta perfectly (al dente) every time:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add salt once the water is at a full rolling boil.
Add in the pasta and stir. Cook the pasta for exactly 4 minutes… and not a second longer! Seriously, set a timer to help you keep track of the time.
Drain the pasta and run it under cold water to stop it from cooking any more.

So why do you only cook the pasta for 4 minutes? Multiple rounds of testing – with a variety of different pasta brands – proved this to be the magic number!

Why you want Al Dente Noodles

Following the method listing above, your ziti noodles will still be hard when drained. This is normal, so don’t be scared that you undercooked them. You want the noodles to be extra al dente so that they absorb the liquid from the tomato sauce and cheeses.

Most recipes will tell you to cook your pasta until al dente, or a minute before al dente, which is 9 to 10 minutes. Don’t follow this advice. This is way long of a cook time and you’ll end up with mushy noodles.

Ground Beef + Italian Sausage Meat Sauce

This sauce is a little extra effort but totally worth it! You can make it in advance and store it in the fridge for 3 days or freeze it for up to 2 months!
Ground beef and Italian sausage promise an extra hearty meat sauce! Use sweet Italian sausage or spicy Italian sausage. If you use spicy, you may want to reduce the crushed red pepper flakes.
Tomato sauce and tomato pasta ensure the meat sauce is thick and has plenty of rich tomato flavor!
Kitchen staples like olive oil, salt and pepper, Italian seasoning, sugar, and crushed red pepper flakes are the backbone of this sauce.
Fresh basil and fresh parsley wake the pasta sauce up and give it a major pop of freshness.

Let’s get CHEESY…

Like most baked ziti recipes, this one features ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese.
But I don’t stop there, I also use Fontina cheese, which tastes delicious and melts beautifully. If you can’t find it, use an equal amount of low-moisture mozzarella!
The ricotta cheese mixture includes egg, egg yolk, basil, parsley, parmesan cheese, fontina cheese, salt, and pepper.
To ensure an even distribution of cheese, you’ll grate some of it and cube some of it.

How to Make Baked Ziti?

Assembling baked ziti is super easy and it’s not an exact science, so don’t worry if you mess this up a little. But here’s how I like to do it:

Pour a cup of meat sauce on the bottom of a large baking dish. Then add half of the ricotta cheese mixture on top, dropping it in random dots all over the bottom of the baking dish.
Pour the al dente pasta on top. Then top with pasta remaining sauce. Dot on the remaining ricotta cheese. Then sprinkle with shredded cheese and finally scatter on the cheese cubes.

How long to Bake Baked Ziti?

You’ll want to bake until the cheese is deeply golden and bubbling. This usually takes about 30 minutes, but can vary depending on your oven and baking dish.
Glass dishes will conduct heat faster than thick ceramic dishes. So if you’re using a thick ceramic baking dish, you may need to add 10 to 15 to the bake time.

Want your cheese to look more golden? You can fire up the broiler and let it sit under there for 30 seconds. Just be careful, it’s easy to burn!

Don’t Bake Covered

Do not bake this baked ziti covered! Covering it with aluminum foil will make it impossible for the cheese to brown. It’ll also trap steam inside the foil, which can cause soggy noodles! So be sure to bake uncovered.

Make Baked Ziti Ahead of Time

You can make this recipe 100% ahead of time. Simply assemble as directed, then the wrap the baking dish tightly in plastic wrap. Store the unbaked ziti in the fridge for up to 48 hours.
When it’s time to bake, remove the baked ziti from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then remove the plastic wrap (don’t bake covered!) and bake as directed. You may need to add 10 to 15 minutes onto the bake time since you’re baking it from a chilled state.
You can make the meat sauce up to 48 hours in advance. Cool it completely and store in an airtight container, in the fridge, until needed. Alternatively, you can freeze it for up to 2 months.

Ashley Manila

5 from 15 votes

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Course Dinner

Cuisine Italian

Servings 1 Pan (9×13)

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

2 tablespoons (28ml) olive oil
1 large large onion finely diced
6 cloves garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound 85% lean ground beef
1 pound Italian sausage sweet or spicy
3 Tablespoons (42g) tomato paste
1/2 cup (113ml) red wine (or beef broth)
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 28 ounce cans (56 ounces total) crushed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt, add more to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, add more to taste
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup fresh basil chopped
3 Tablespoons fresh parsley chopped

For the Ricotta Mixture:

15 ounces ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese finely grated
5 ounces fontina cheese coarsely grated
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 Tablespoons parsley finely chopped
2 Tablespoons basil finely chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the Baked Ziti:

1 pound ziti noodles (or penne)
4 ounces low-moisture mozzarella cheese finely shredded
4 ounces Fontina cheese cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley finely chopped, for serving

Instructions

For the Sauce:

Warm the oil a large saucepan over medium heat. Add in the onion and cook until softened, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Add in the garlic and crushed chili flakes and cook for another minute, or until fragrant.
Add in the beef and sausage and, using a wooden spoon, break the meat up into pieces. Cook until meat is browned and no pink remains, about 5 minutes.Drain out half of the fat, leaving half behind for flavor.
Stir in the tomato paste.Then add in the wine and stir to combine. Cook for 5 minutes. Then stir in the Italian seasoning, crushed tomatoes, salt, and pepper, stirring well to combine.
Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes.
Stir in the sugar, basil, and parsley and cook for another 15 minutes.Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
Remove from heat allow to slightly cool before using it in the baked ziti. Sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the fridge until needed.

For the Ricotta Mixture:

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, fontina cheese, parsley, basil, egg, egg yolk, salt and pepper. Stir together until just smooth.Set aside until needed.

Assembling and Baking the Baked Ziti:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add 1 teaspoon of salt, then add in the ziti and cook for exactly 4 minutes. The pasta will still be very hard. Drain the pasta and quickly run it under cold water to stop the cooking.
Pour the pasta back into a large bowl, then stir in 1 and 1/2 cups of the meat sauce. Set aside.
Spread 1 cup of meat sauce onto the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Then spoon 1/2 of the ricotta mixture on top of the sauce, dropping it in random spoonfuls all over the sauce.
Pour the pasta on top of this mixture. Then pour the rest of the sauce over the pasta.
Evenly dot the remaining ricotta cheese over the pasta. Sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella and cubed fontina cheeses.At this point you can bake as directed blow, or cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 24 hours before baking or freeze for up to 2 months before baking.
Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbling. If you want extra crispy/golden cheese, turn on the broiler for 30 seconds to 1 minute before removing the baked ziti from the oven.
Garnish with a sprinkle of fresh parsley and serve warm!

Keyword baked ziti, pasta, pasta recipe, Italian food

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