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Baked ziti
Baked ziti is the comfort food recipe I bring out when I need dinner to feed a crowd, please every single person at the table, and still leave leftovers worth fighting over. Tender pasta, a savory meat sauce, and three cheeses baked until the top goes golden and bubbly — for about half the effort of lasagna.
This cheesy pasta bake is lasagna's easygoing cousin.
- All the lasagna payoff, none of the layering ceremony. No noodle-flattening, no assembly diagrams — you stir, you layer twice, you bake. It's the same low-effort/high-reward math as our crockpot pot roast.
- Three cheeses, each with a job. Ricotta keeps the middle creamy, mozzarella does the stretchy top, and parmesan seasons every layer from the inside.
- It sneaks in real protein. Between the beef and the cheeses you land around 32g of protein per serving — see what that covers with our protein calculator — and it's still pure comfort food.
Here's what you'll need.
Every ingredient is a regular grocery-store staple — a good jar of marinara does the heavy lifting, so pick one you'd happily eat on its own.
Here's how it all comes together.
Cook the ziti two minutes shy of al dente — it finishes cooking in the oven, and underboiling now is what keeps it from going mushy later.
Brown the ground beef with the onion over medium-high, breaking it up as it cooks, then add the garlic and Italian seasoning for the last minute.
Pour in the marinara, rinse the jar with a splash of water, and let it simmer 5 minutes so the sauce tastes cooked-in rather than poured-on.
Stir the ricotta with the egg, half the parmesan, and a pinch of salt — the egg sets the ricotta into creamy pockets instead of letting it water out.
Toss the pasta with most of the meat sauce, then build: half the pasta, all the ricotta dollops, the rest of the pasta, remaining sauce, and a blanket of mozzarella and parmesan.
Bake at 400°F for 20–25 minutes until the edges bubble and the top blisters golden. Rest 10 minutes before serving — it slices instead of slides.
Things I learned while testing this recipe.
- Underboil the pasta, always. Two minutes shy of the box time. The oven finishes it in the sauce — full al dente going in means soft going out.
- The egg in the ricotta isn't optional. It binds the layer into creamy ribbons; skipping it is why homemade ziti sometimes goes watery.
- Save a cup of sauce for the top layer. Pasta poking out dry is how you get crunchy (not in the good way) corners.
- Rest it ten minutes. Straight from the oven it's molten soup; after ten minutes it serves in proud, cheese-stretching squares.
Make it ahead — ziti was born for it.
- Assemble up to 24 hours ahead, refrigerate unbaked, and add 10 minutes to the bake time straight from the fridge.
- It freezes beautifully — wrap the assembled (unbaked) dish tightly and freeze up to 3 months; bake from frozen at 375°F, covered, about an hour.
- Doubling costs nothing: same effort, two pans — bake one, freeze one, thank yourself in two weeks.
Here's what I'd serve with this.
- A crisp counterpoint first: our air fryer salmon bites make a fun 15-minute starter.
- Balancing the week? Tomorrow calls for the lighter sheet pan chicken fajitas.
- Today's other new recipe, garlic butter steak bites, covers your fast-and-fancy night.
- Something green — a simple salad, or browse the easy dinners section for sides in progress.
- Finish with chocolate cottage cheese mousse — dessert with 15g protein feels right after pasta.
Just in case you have leftovers.
Storing: refrigerate covered up to 4 days — baked ziti might be the rare pasta that improves overnight. Baked leftovers also freeze well in portions for up to 2 months.
Reheating: microwave individual portions 90 seconds covered, or revive a bigger batch at 350°F, covered with foil, 15–20 minutes with a spoonful of water or sauce over the top.
More easy comfort food recipes...
Baked ziti
★★★★★ 4.9 from 22 reviews — tender ziti in savory meat sauce with creamy ricotta pockets and a golden mozzarella top. The easy comfort food bake that feeds a crowd.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ziti (or penne)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef (85/15)
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp each salt and black pepper
- 1 (32 oz) jar marinara sauce
- 1 (15 oz) container whole-milk ricotta
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup grated parmesan, divided
- 3 cups shredded low-moisture mozzarella
- Fresh basil, to finish
Instructions
- Boil. Cook ziti in salted water 2 minutes shy of al dente; drain.
- Brown. Cook beef and onion in oil over medium-high until browned; add garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper for the last minute.
- Simmer. Stir in the marinara and simmer 5 minutes.
- Mix. Stir ricotta with the egg, half the parmesan, and a pinch of salt.
- Layer. Toss pasta with most of the sauce. In a 9×13 dish: half the pasta, all the ricotta in dollops, remaining pasta, remaining sauce, then mozzarella and remaining parmesan.
- Bake. 400°F for 20–25 minutes until golden and bubbly. Rest 10 minutes; finish with basil.
Notes: Italian sausage (or half-and-half with beef) adds even more flavor. Assemble ahead and refrigerate up to 24 hours — add 10 minutes to the bake. For extra-creamy squares, dollop the ricotta rather than spreading it.
Nutrition (per serving, estimated): 560 calories · 32g protein · 48g carbs · 26g fat
Love Italian-style bakes and skillet dinners?
Our Mediterranean Cookbook is packed with tomato-basil-parmesan dinners exactly like this one — tested, simple, and built for real weeknights.
Get the cookbook on AmazonFAQ
- Do I have to boil the pasta before baking ziti?
- Yes, but only to 2 minutes shy of al dente — it finishes in the oven. Skipping the boil entirely needs far more liquid and a different (soupier) recipe.
- Can I make baked ziti ahead of time?
- Absolutely — assemble, cover, and refrigerate up to 24 hours, then bake with 10 extra minutes. It also freezes unbaked for up to 3 months.
- What's the difference between baked ziti and lasagna?
- Same flavors, less ceremony. Ziti uses tube pasta tossed with sauce and dolloped ricotta instead of flat noodles in careful layers, so it comes together in a fraction of the time.
- Can I use cottage cheese instead of ricotta?
- Yes — blend it smooth first. It's a little lighter and adds extra protein, and nobody at the table will know.