Baked ziti is the pasta dish that shows up everywhere people need feeding — potlucks, new-baby meal trains, Sunday tables with more chairs than the room was built for — because it never once lets anybody down. Tubes of pasta, a proper tomato sauce with Italian sausage, clouds of seasoned ricotta and a mozzarella top that goes bubbly and golden: it is lasagna’s generous, low-stress cousin, and on a busy weeknight it is the smarter cook.
It belongs in our Easy Dinners collection for exactly that reason, and it uses the same make-a-sauce, bake-until-bubbly rhythm as our Easy Baked Mac and Cheese. One pot for the pasta, one pan for the sauce, one big dish for the oven. The leftovers reheat like a dream, which makes the generous yield a feature, not a problem.
Two habits keep baked ziti great instead of merely fine. The pasta cooks two minutes shy of the package time, because it finishes in the sauce and should arrive at the table tender, not tired. And the ricotta gets seasoned and loosened with an egg and Parmesan before it goes in, so it bakes into creamy pockets rather than sitting in grainy lumps. Small things, but they are the whole difference.
Ricotta pockets, not ricotta layers
Lasagna spreads its ricotta in a sheet; ziti does better with dollops. Stir the ricotta with the egg, half the Parmesan, salt and pepper, then drop it over the pasta in spoonfuls and fold just twice — you want distinct creamy pockets that a fork finds like buried treasure, not a uniform pink mixture. The egg is not filler: it sets the ricotta gently in the oven so the pockets hold their shape instead of melting away into the sauce.
Sauce it like you mean it
Baked pasta drinks sauce as it sits in the oven, so the mixture going into the dish should look slightly too saucy — loose enough that a spoon dragged across the top leaves a glossy trail. If your tomatoes were thick, splash in half a cup of the pasta cooking water; its starch helps the sauce cling to every tube. And keep a small bowl of extra warmed sauce for the table, because there is always someone who wants more on top.
Ingredients
- 16 oz ziti pasta (454 g)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (15 ml)
- 1 lb Italian sausage (454 g), casings removed
- 1 medium yellow onion (150 g), finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic (20 g), minced
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (2 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (3 g), plus more for the pasta water
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (1.5 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (0.5 g), optional
- 15 oz ricotta cheese (425 g)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (50 g), divided
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella (340 g), divided
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (10 g), plus more to serve
Amounts are for the yield below. US customary measures first, grams in brackets for scale users.
Step-by-step instructions
- Boil the pasta, shy of done. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook the ziti 2 minutes less than the package directs for al dente — it will finish in the oven. Drain, reserving 1 cup (240 ml) of the cooking water, and return the pasta to the pot.
- Brown the sausage. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and onion and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, breaking the sausage into bite-size crumbles, until browned at the edges and the onion is soft. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
- Simmer the sauce. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce, then add the Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes if using. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until slightly thickened and glossy. Taste and adjust the salt — the sauce should be well seasoned on its own.
- Mix the ricotta. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, egg, half the Parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper until smooth and spreadable.
- Assemble the bake. Add the sauce to the pot of pasta and toss to coat, loosening with splashes of the reserved pasta water until everything looks glossy and generously sauced. Spoon half into a 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) baking dish, dollop over half the ricotta mixture and half the mozzarella, then repeat with the remaining pasta, ricotta and mozzarella. Finish with the rest of the Parmesan.
- Bake until bubbling. Bake, uncovered, for 22 to 25 minutes, until the sauce bubbles at the edges and the mozzarella is melted with golden spots. Rest for 10 minutes so the ziti sets enough to scoop cleanly, then shower with basil and serve.
Nutrition estimate
| Nutrient | Per serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 560 kcal |
| Protein | 29 g |
| Carbohydrates | 52 g |
| Fat | 26 g |
| Saturated fat | 11 g |
| Sodium | 880 mg |
| Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 8 g |
Nutrition figures are estimates calculated from standard ingredient data for the yield stated. Your actual values will vary with brands, substitutions and portion sizes — treat them as a guide, not a guarantee.
Storage & reheating
Leftover ziti keeps for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat, covered with foil, in a 350°F (177°C) oven for about 20 minutes, or microwave individual portions with a spoonful of water sprinkled over to loosen the sauce. The assembled, unbaked dish freezes well for up to 3 months: thaw overnight in the fridge, then bake as directed, adding 10 minutes. Nutrition figures are estimates from standard ingredient data and vary with brands and substitutions.
Easy Baked Ziti with Ricotta
Saucy, cheesy, feeds a crowd — the pasta bake that always gets seconds.
Ingredients
Tick ingredients off as you prep, and tap a step below to mark it done as you cook. Scaling adjusts the listed amounts - seasoning to taste stays your call.
Instructions
- Boil the pasta, shy of done. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook the ziti 2 minutes less than the package directs for al dente — it will finish in the oven. Drain, reserving 1 cup (240 ml) of the cooking water, and return the pasta to the pot.
- Brown the sausage. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and onion and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, breaking the sausage into bite-size crumbles, until browned at the edges and the onion is soft. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
- Simmer the sauce. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce, then add the Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes if using. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until slightly thickened and glossy. Taste and adjust the salt — the sauce should be well seasoned on its own.
- Mix the ricotta. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, egg, half the Parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper until smooth and spreadable.
- Assemble the bake. Add the sauce to the pot of pasta and toss to coat, loosening with splashes of the reserved pasta water until everything looks glossy and generously sauced. Spoon half into a 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) baking dish, dollop over half the ricotta mixture and half the mozzarella, then repeat with the remaining pasta, ricotta and mozzarella. Finish with the rest of the Parmesan.
- Bake until bubbling. Bake, uncovered, for 22 to 25 minutes, until the sauce bubbles at the edges and the mozzarella is melted with golden spots. Rest for 10 minutes so the ziti sets enough to scoop cleanly, then shower with basil and serve.
Recipe by Ahsan ul Haq · FryDaily. Printing? This card is designed to print cleanly on its own.
