Baked Ziti Recipe with Vegetarian Option

Baked Ziti is a perfect meal when you are entertaining. It’s easy to prepare and makes a large amount of food fit for a crowd.

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Baked ziti is a perfect meal when you are entertaining. It’s easy to prepare and makes a large amount of food whether you add meat or keep it vegetarian. For our little family, we usually have leftovers for days out of one batch of baked ziti.

I love anything with sauce and cheese, so this is one of my favorite meals. You can also freeze leftovers for another time, or even double the recipe to have some frozen for a quick meal. If you do freeze it, reheat your leftovers in a pot with a little extra sauce to keep it from drying out.

This easy baked ziti recipe can be made with or without meat. I generally don’t care for meat in my pasta, so I leave it out. Most of the time, sausage is the meat of choice to add to ziti. If you want to do that, brown the sausage and mix it in with the noodles and sauce before layering the dish. 

We like to buy large blocks of cheese and shred it ourselves. Sometimes I do only what I need for a meal. Other times I shred it all and add a bit of cornstarch to keep it from clumping together. My favorite side is homemade bread to dip in the sauce and cheese.

Add-In Options

• Add some browned Italian sausage, ground beef, or other ground meat to the spaghetti sauce to make it a meat sauce
• Garnish with Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, or fresh basil
• Instead of ziti, use penne pasta or any other tube-shaped pasta
• Mix in some veggies such as diced bell peppers, onion, or fresh tomatoes

Serving Suggestions

• Add a side salad for some greens with your meal
• Serve with garlic knots, garlic bread, or sliced French bread
• Make with a veggie side of broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, or green beans

How to Prepare Baked Ziti Ahead of Time

1. If you want to turn this into a make-ahead meal, follow all of the directions up to baking. When you plan to make this ahead of time, make sure the ziti noodles are slightly undercooked since they will absorb the sauce during the freezing process. 
2. After you have assembled your pasta dish, cover it with plastic wrap then aluminum foil, and make sure it is sealed tightly. I recommend using a foil dish so it can be baked in the pan without using up one of your regular baking dishes. 
3. Freeze the baked ziti for up to 3 months. 
4. When you are ready to cook the ziti, it’s best if you thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before baking it the next day. 
5. If you didn’t thaw your ziti, you can still put it straight into the oven while frozen, but it will take longer to bake. 

Baked Ziti Step by Step

Ingredients

• 3 cups ziti pasta noodles (uncooked)
• 3 cups spaghetti sauce
• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese (shredded)
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (grated)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350F. Boil the pasta noodles in a large pot of salted water for 8 minutes, until they are al dente. They will cook a bit more in the oven, so you don’t want them to get too soft right now. 

After the noodles have cooked, drain them and return to the pot. Stir in the pasta sauce to cover the noodles. 

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, half of the mozzarella cheese, basil, and pepper. 

Spoon half of the noodle mixture into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.

Spread the entire ricotta mixture on top of the noodles. Carefully spread it out to try to cover most of the noodles. 

Add another layer with the remaining noodles and sauce. 

Top the layers of pasta with the last half of the mozzarella cheese and the parmesan cheese. Cover loosely with foil and bake for about 25 minutes. 

Remove the foil and let the pasta bake for another 5 minutes to let the cheese brown slightly. 

Baked Ziti Leftovers

Storage: Let the pasta come to room temperature then cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate for 3-4 days. If you only have a small amount of leftovers, you can move them to an airtight container for refrigeration. 

Reheating: The best way to reheat baked ziti is in a saucepan over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes, until it is warmed through. If the pasta is dry, add a little bit of meaty tomato sauce, homemade marinara sauce, or store-bought pasta sauce. 

Freezing: It is possible to freeze pasta but keep in mind that the texture will be a little different once it’s thawed and reheated. To freeze baked ziti after cooking it, let it come to room temperature then place it in a freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator then bake until the pasta is warm and bubbly. You can also bake it from frozen, but it will take much longer to cook. The pasta will get a little mushy, though, since it was sitting in the sauce for a longer amount of time. 

Recipe

Baked Ziti

Baked Ziti is a perfect meal when you are entertaining. It's easy to prepare and makes a large amount of food whether you add meat or keep it vegetarian.

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Course:

Main Dish

Cuisine:

Italian

Diet

Vegetarian

Keyword:

cheese

|

pasta

|

sauce

Dietary Needs:

Egg-Free

|

Nut-Free

Servings: 8 servings

5 from 3 votes

Ingredients

• 3 cups ziti noodles (uncooked)
• 3 cups spaghetti sauce
• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• 2 cups mozarella cheese (shredded)
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (grated)

Recommended Equipment

• Saucepan – Medium
• Colander
• Box Grater
• Mixing Bowls – Stainless Steel
• Glass Baking Dish
• Aluminum Foil

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Boil pasta for 8 minutes and drain
• Stir the spaghetti sauce in with the cooked noodles
• In medium bowl stir together ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and seasonings
• In a 9×13 baking dish, spoon 1/2 pasta mixture
• Spread cheese mixture on top
• Layer with remaining pasta
• Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese
• Cover loosely with foil
• Bake 25 minutes
• Remove foil and bake 5 minutes or until hot and bubbly

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Nutrition Facts

Baked Ziti

Amount Per Serving (1 cup)

Calories 306 Calories from Fat 135

% Daily Value*

Fat 15g23%

Saturated Fat 9g45%

Cholesterol 53mg18%

Sodium 803mg33%

Potassium 437mg12%

Carbohydrates 24g8%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 4g4%

Protein 18g36%

Vitamin A 870IU17%

Vitamin C 6.4mg8%

Calcium 342mg34%

Iron 1.6mg9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.

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