Baked Ziti

  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 50 mins
  • Servings: 8-10
  • About This Recipe

    “Good Italian comfort food!”

    Ingredients

  • 1lbziti pasta, cooked al dente
  • 1lbItalian sausage, cooked and chopped
  • 1 (15ounce) containers ricotta cheese
  • 1egg
  • 2tablespoonsparsley
  • 2cupsmozzarella cheese, shredded, divided
  • 1/4 cupparmesan cheese
  • 1 (28ounce) jars pasta sauce, divided
  • Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
  • Cook ziti according to package directions; drain; set aside.
  • Mix ricotta, egg, parsley, 1-1/2 cups of the mozarella cheese, and parmesan cheese in a large bowl.
  • Mix cooked sausage and pasta in with ricotta mixture.
  • Mix in 3/4 jar of sauce.
  • Transfer mixture into a 2 quart casserole dish.
  • Top with the rest of the sauce and mozarella cheese.
  • Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
  • To freeze: Cover dish with foil and freeze. When frozen you can pop it out of the container and put in a freezer bag if desired.
  • To heat: Thaw. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10-15 minutes more.
  • Reviews

  • “This received my DH’s approval as a keeper recipe (I let him think he has a choice ;0) I added about 1 1/2 cloves of minced garlic to ricotta and used 4 1/2 c of recipe #22782 sauce, it already has sausage in it and the amount of sauce/sausage was perfect. I make big batches of the sauce and freeze it in 4 1/2 c portions for lasagna or meatball subs and now ziti, it works great! I reserved 1 c sauce for topping and added an extra 1/2 c cheese to fully cover. The dish I used was 2 1/2 qts and it was filled to the brim! Baked about 20 minutes uncovered, covered it for 17 minutes and then took out and let sit for 5 minutes uncovered. Thanks for the recipe!”

  • “This was easy to make and tasted good.”

  • “This was yummy!I added 1 lg. garlic clove crushed, italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper to the sausage just for some extra kick.Both my husband and I loved it 🙂 Thanks!”

  • “This stuff is incredible!!!I tried it out on my room mate since I had an entire day to exparament.He took one bite and said “I could almost kiss you”.He went back for two more helpings, not to mention the awesome garlic bread I made to go with it.I followed the recipe exactly as written, except I added a good pinch of dried oregano as I love it.This one is definitely going under the “tried and true” file and will be made often in the future.The only thing I’d do different is invite several more people to enjoy it with us.Thanks for a great recipe!”

  • “Yummy! The entire family loved this recipe. It’s a keeper.”

  • “We loved this!I made a lot of changes though, but great recipe all the same, thanks for the inspiration!”

  • “Very Good!!! The reason this recipe received four stars instead of five is that mine came out a little dryer than I would have preferred not that that stopped anyone from going for seconds, including me! This recipe is a keeper. Next time I will add fresh garlic and more sauce. I served this with a garden salad.”

  • “We have made this 3 times already! So easy and delicious! We added a can of mushrooms, olives, and sauteed chunks of zucchini and onions and doubled the sauce on the second and third tries, as the first time was a little dry with all the added veggies. So yummy! Will make again and again!”

  • “I enjoyed this. It had a good flavor but mine was really dry.I used Jo Mama’s spaghetti sauce and didn’t add any additional meat.Next time, I’d add more sauce.”

  • “I’ve seen eggs used in baked ziti dishes before, but I’ve never tried it until now. It smelled so good when I was making it! Made it without meat, but would be interested to try with sausage or whatever later. Very tasty and so easy to make!”

  • “Delicious!I am so glad that it freezes well.It makes a delicious dinner a snap!Thank you for posting the recipe.”

  • “This recipe is AMAZING!! I have used recipes on this site for years and this one is by far my favorite. Thanks for the recipe. I made it as written and it was perfect!”

  • “This was incredibly easy to make and soooo good!I ended up using chicken Italian sausage, but it still came out wonderfully.I was worried about not having enough to feed my guests so I doubled up, but honestly I could’ve gotten by on just the original recipe amounts.I’ve been eating leftovers for about 4 days now…lol.Fantastic recipe and I’ll definitely make again!”

  • “How anyone can rate this below 5 stars is beyond me. It was simple and delicious. The only thing I changed was that I used penne instead of ziti, skipped the hot sausage (because of the kiddos) and used low-fat or fat-free products for the cheeses. FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC! I am wishing that we had some leftovers but this all vanished. This will definitely go into regular rotation in our house. Thanks so much for posting!”

  • “YUM! I did tweak it to bulk up the veggie intake, but this was really tasty.First, I used sweet turkey Italian sausage since my store didn’t have the hot.I added an onion, 3 garlic cloves, fresh mushrooms, 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper, 1/2 tsp. dried oregano, and 1/2 tsp dried basil to the sausage while browning.I dumped 1 & 1/2 jars of our favorite sauce before I read to keep them separate, and added 1/2 cup red wine to the red meat sauce mixture.I used fat free ricotta and added a thawed/drained box of chopped spinach, salt, and pepper to the ricotta mixture.My last change was to add whole wheat noodle to the whole thing.I held back some of the red meat sauce I made and put this on top. DH went back for seconds, and has packed some to take to work tomorrow.Next time I make this, I am going to double it up and freeze some in disposable containers to pull from the freezer on those busy long days when I don’t feel like cooking.Thanks for sharing.I love recipes that give me the basics so I can play.I might even go meatless with this for our Meatless Mondays:)”

  • “if i could, i would give this 10 stars. we like it spicy so i used hot italian sausage and added some additional red pepper flake. i also covered it with saran and aluminum foils for most of the cooking time and removed it for the last few minutes under a broiler to brown the top. just don’t cheap on the marinara sauce, it definitely makes or breaks this dish.”

  • “this was great. my husband who doesn’t like pasta that much LOVED it!I used prego with meat sauce, subed the sausage for ground beef & cooked that with 2 tablespoons of minced garlic.this is a keeper”

  • “My kids loved it! I plan to add extra cheese the next time.”

  • “So delicious! I added Italian Seasoning and minced garlic like another reviewer mentioned. I will definitely make this again :)”

  • “This is a good basic recipe.Next time I will spice it up a litte bit more.It also lacked salt.I made this for a luncheon and it was gobbled up!Thanks for sharing!”

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