This baked ziti recipe is the real deal – it’s the Italian-American classic that you know and love and crave, crave, CRAVE! And guess what? It’s easy to make and feeds a crowd.
Baked ziti didn’t come to us from Italy even if most of the ingredients did. Instead, it’s an Italian-American creation. I don’t know how or why it was first made but it seems quite similar in flavor and ingredients to lasagna, except it’s a bit easier to make because you don’t do as much layering. It is only a guess that lasagna was the original inspiration for ziti, but certainly, if you love lasagna you’ll love this.
How To Make Baked Ziti
It’s really easy. What you do is to cook up some ziti noodles according to the package directions. While they cook, you mix some cheeses (mozzarella and Parmesan) with ricotta, egg, parsley, and seasoning. (I’ve seen recipes online for baked ziti that call for sour cream instead of ricotta. I haven’t tried it. But if you dislike ricotta, that would be a good substitution to try).
Once the pasta is cooked, you drain it and then mix it with that cheese mixture. This makes sure that every noodle in your dish has some delicious cheese coating it. You’re going to add some tomato sauce to this mixture too. This keeps it nice and moist. What kind of sauce? Hang on. Info coming up! First, get out your casserole dish. You’ll need a nice big one. I use a deep dish lasagna pan like this one.
Put some sauce into the bottom of the pan. You can use a basic tomato sauce, store-bought from a can or a basic homemade tomato sauce like this. If you use a tomato sauce, it will be a vegetarian dish. If you want it meaty, you can use a meat sauce or spaghetti sauce instead. Here’s my basic spaghetti sauce recipe, which works great here. As a general guide, what you’ll need is 2 pounds of ground meat (beef, pork, chicken, turkey, or a combination) cooked and then mixed with 4 cups of tomato sauce.
Once you’ve added sauce to the pan, you add half of your ricotta-coated pasta, a layer of sauce, and a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese. Then another layer of pasta, sauce, and cheese.
Pop it into a 375ºF oven uncovered until heated through and bubbling, about 30 minutes (it will take longer if you started with cold pasta).
Make-Ahead Ziti
There are three options for making this ahead.
- You can cook the noodles ahead of time. Refrigerate them and then assemble when you’re ready to bake it. If doing this, you can either refrigerate the noodles plain or you can toss them with the ricotta mixture before refrigerating. Noodle Tip: If you’re leaving the noodles plain in the fridge stop them from sticking together by tossing them with a tablespoon or two of olive oil or vegetable oil.
- Instead of baking it immediately, you can assemble it, cover it, and then put it into the fridge for up to 3 days. Bake it straight from the fridge. It will take about an hour. See the note about baking below.
- You can assemble it, seal it well in plastic wrap, and then freeze it for up to a month. Let it defrost in the fridge for 24 hours before baking. If you’re going to freeze the ziti, you’re best to use a disposable baking dish like this. I like them because they have good tight-fitting lids.
Note about baking make-ahead ziti: If you’re putting your ziti into the oven for 45 minutes or longer, then you need to cover it with foil first otherwise it will dry out. So if you assemble it and refrigerate it, or if you are using cold noodles to make the dish, cover it for for the first 30 minutes and then uncover and continue baking until hot.
And if you love baked pasta recipes, you’ll want to give my amazing Stuffed Shells recipe a try. The shells are filled with ground beef and ricotta and it’s really delicious. Enjoy!
Podcast Episode: Making Baked Ziti
Listen to me briefly explain how this baked ziti is made, with great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
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Baked Ziti Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
This baked ziti recipe is the real deal – it’s the Italian-American classic that you know and love and crave, crave, CRAVE! And guess what? It’s easy to make and feeds a crowd.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ziti
- 6 cups grated mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 (15 oz.) tub ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, divided
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 8 cups tomato sauce or meat sauce, divided
Instructions
- Cook the ziti according to package instructions.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine 2 cups of mozzarella with the ricotta, Parmesan, eggs, 1/2 cup parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Drain the pasta and add it to the ricotta mixture in the large bowl. Stir to coat noodles. Add 2 cups of the tomato or meat sauce and stir again.
- Measure 2 cups of the tomato/meat sauce into a large casserole dish or lasagna pan. Top with half of the pasta mixture. Top the pasta with 2 cups of the tomato/meat sauce and then top the sauce with 2 cups of mozzarella cheese. Add the remaining pasta, then the remaining sauce and then the remaining cheese.
- Bake until heated through and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley and serve.
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This post originally appeared in January 2017 and was revised and republished in November 2021.
Like you, I am a passionate home cook, though, I had some early training in NY at Food and Maritime Culinary Institute. I make my baked Ziti in a very similar fashion to yours. I put it together the night before and placed it into a dutch oven pot–then to the fridge without cooking. The next day from the fridge to a cold oven slowly raising the temperature. Using that warming process, I don’t know where the warming line is drawn to actually begin baking, and at what temperature the warming should begin. All the advice I have seen calls for tin foil covering. I don’t use flat baking pans. So I assume the lid for the Dutch oven is probably the way to go, instead of foil.
Michael, yes, I think the lid will work for you. The idea is that the cover (whether it’s a lid or foil) is there to stop the top of the pasta from drying out. I’ve never made ziti in a Dutch oven before. Very interesting! Thank you for tell me about it!
I prepped this dish ahead of time and I’m very grateful for the notes on how to do that! It turned out delicious, ziti is always one of my favorite things to make!
I’m so glad the make ahead notes were helpful, Sara! Thanks for coming back to comment. :)
This is exactly how I make mine. Although I do use a little more ricotta cheese😊 My family never added meat to baked ziti or lasagna. We always served it on the side. Thanks so much for posting your recipe. I’ve pinned it so I can share with others. It’s delicious!
Lucille, Thank you so much for letting me know. I’m delighted that you like it. And I love the idea of making this vegetarian, essentially, with the meat on the side. That’s a great tip!
This sounds like an awesome recipe! I’ve never had baked ziti before, but my friend had it at a restaurant yesterday and told me about it and it sounds SO GOOD. We’ve been getting our kitchen renovated and our cabinets refaced over the last few days, so I think it’d be good to have a nice, homemade meal once the kitchen is back in order! Thank you for sharing this! I think my family is going to love it!
OMG! This was sooo good! You were really right about mixing the ricotta with the noodles. Every bite was cheesy goodness. 5 stars from us!
Janie, that’s so good to hear. I’m glad you liked the recipe and the ricotta tip. Thanks for coming back to leave a comment to let me know, and the 5 star rating too. I appreciate it!
I want to make this for a larger crowd . Do I double the ingredients ?
Sure! The recipe already makes a good size batch, so you’ll probably need to bake it in two casserole dishes, Lea. If they don’t fit side by side in your oven, you may also want to switch out which one is top and bottom partway through the bake time to ensure they are evenly cooked. Enjoy!
I made baked ziti with cooked noodles, ground meat, sauce, ricotta cheese with one raw egg. Mixed all together covered with foil and refrigerated. Can this stay refrigerated toll next day before baking?
Is the meat cooked or raw? If raw, I’m not sure. If the meat and noodles are cooked, then yes, you can refrigerate and bake the next day. It will just take longer to heat through. Either add extra cooking time or take it out of the fridge and put it on the counter for 30 minutes before baking.
Ughh! I just made the baked ziti and right after I put it in the oven, I noticed the parmesan cheese sitting on the counter. The directions never stated when to add it! So disappointed!!!
Diane, So sorry. It was in the longer instructions above but not in the recipe. I’ve edited it so that it is now correct. The Parmesan is added to the ricotta mixture. I have made this recipe without the Parmesan though and it is good both ways. I hope you liked it in the end.