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Baked Ziti

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My family LOVES this easy and delicious Baked Ziti recipe, and I love that it’s made all in just one pan! It’s as fast and delicious as comfort food gets and ready in less than 30 minutes!

Baked Ziti made in a skillet with ziti noodles, cheese and sausage, with a wooden spoon scooping out a serving.

Baked Ziti

If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m a huge fan of quick and easy homemade dinners. A lot of people associate homemade or “from scratch” cooking as being time consuming or too much work, but that’s an attitude I want to squash with my blog. I make easy homemade dinners for my family almost every night because they are just that–EASY!

 

Everything tastes better homemade! I don’t spend hours slaving away in the kitchen, and I’m in control of what goes in the dish. I have tons of easy meals on the blog, like this Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Pasta, Thai Basil Chicken, or Creamy Tomato and Spinach Tortellini that all take less than 30 minutes to make.

 

One Pan meals are appealing to everyone because the entire meal is made using just one pan! This One Pan Baked Ziti accomplishes my goal of an easy homemade dinner– only using one pan from start to finish! It’s these type of meals that qualify you as rock-star mom status in my book 🙂   It’s cheesy, sauce-y and totally delicious!

You can make it in any type of LARGE skillet, as long as it’s oven proof. A simple cast-iron skillet would work great. If you can’t find ziti noodles at the store, buy them online, or substitute penne, farfalle, or other type of bite-size pasta.

 

How to make Baked Ziti:
First brown the ground sausage, red bell pepper, and garlic in a skillet.  Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, and oregano.  Simmer for about 10 minutes and then add the water and pasta.  Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes.  Stir in the half and half and parmesan cheese.
Process photos for making baked ziti including browning meat in a skillet, adding diced tomatoes and seasoning, ziti pasta, and cream.
Top the dish with a generous sprinkle of mozzarella and bake at 500 degrees until the the cheese bubbly and golden. Allow the baked ziti to cool for a few minutes before serving.
Side by side photos of a pan full of a baked ziti dish before and after it is baked.
Can I make Baked Ziti ahead of time?

Baked ziti is best made fresh.  If you want to make it ahead of time, follow the directions up to step 4.  Don’t add and cook the noodles yet because you don’t want them to get soggy or to soak up too much of the liquid. Continue with step 5 just before you want to serve it.

What goes with baked ziti?

I like to serve baked ziti with a warm vegetable or a big green salad. You could try these roasted vegetables or this wedge salad recipe.  Enjoy!

Consider trying these “one pan” favorites:

 

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4.93 from 14 votes
Baked Ziti made in a skillet with ziti noodles, cheese and sausage, with a wooden spoon scooping out a serving.
One Pan Baked Ziti
Print Recipe
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
35 mins
Total Time
40 mins
 

My family LOVES this easy, simple One Pan Baked Ziti recipe. It's as fast and delicious as comfort food gets and ready in less than 30 minutes!

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: baked ziti, best baked ziti recipe, easy baked ziti
Unit: clove, cup, ounce, ounce can, pound, Tablespoon, teaspoon
Servings: 6
Calories: 590 kcal
Author: Lauren Allen
Ingredients
  • 1/2 pound ground Italian sausage (I use 'hot)
  • 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 8 ounces tomato sauce
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 5-6 cloves garlic , minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 Tablespoon dried basil (or 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves but add it at the end)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
  • 3 cups water
  • 12 ounces ziti pasta (or similar pasta)
  • 1/2 cup half and half (or heavy cream)
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

  2. Add olive oil to a deep, 12-inch or larger oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add sausage cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes. 

  3. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes. 

  4. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, dried basil and oregano. Stir well. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes.

  5. Add the water and dry pasta. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to a low boil and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes or until noodles are tender.

  6. Stir in the half and half, and parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle mozzarella evenly on top. 

  7. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the cheese has melted and browned, about 5 minutes. Enjoy!

  8. I love to serve this with easy Homemade Breadsticks!

Recipe Video

Have you tried this recipe?!

RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.

 

*I originally shared this recipe February 2015. Updated November 2018.

 

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My family LOVES this easy and delicious Baked Ziti recipe, and I love that it's made all in just one pan! It's as fast and delicious as comfort food gets and ready in less than 30 minutes! | tastesbetterfromscratch.com #easyrecipes #comfortfood #pastadish #withitaliansausage #bakedziti #pasta #cheese
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Comments

    • The pics looJed so yummy so I had to try it! Omg!!! It turned out amazing. The whole family LOVED it. Thank you for sharing ?

      Reply

      • Could someone tell me why these recipes always called for 8 oz or 12 oz of pasta why don’t they just make a recipe that use the whole Box it’s a pet peeve and so annoying And how do I adjust the water if I used a pound of pasta

        Reply

    • I agree! This looks yummy, and I do want to try it. Just a note – the pasta in the photo is rigatoni. Ziti is narrower, a little longer and smooth (no ridges). It also seems harder to find where I live so I will use the rigatoni.

      Reply

      • When my husband & I use ground hamburger or sausage we rinse it under hot water to try to get a lot of the fat off. When we use hot sausage we don’t rinse it as long so the hot flavoring doesn’t go down the drain or we add some crushed red peppers & sometimes some Cajun power seasoning. It works out great & no one else knows we rinse the meat. My husband is the one who taught me to use spices on most everything. He is the real cook in the family & does a lot better than I do. Sometimes I don’t like to add a bunch of spices because I like things that don’t have a lot of seasonings, like mac & cheese.
        Rinsing the meat after it is cooks takes away a lot of the calories.

        Reply

  9. I love recipes that don’t require a whole ton of clean-up afterward! 😀 I’ve never tried making baked ziti, but this would be the perfect dish to warm up with! :]

    Reply

  13. I made this tonight and we loved it! I substituted regular mild sausage for the Italian sausage. Do you know what would work well for a vegetarian version?

    Reply

  15. Oh.My.Gosh!! Just made this tonight and it all disappeared. My hubs even cleaned his plate with his crusty bread, it was SO GOOD. I added sliced zucchini and red bell pepper, it was delicious. Thanks for such an inspiring recipe!

    Reply

  16. Wonderful recipe…had to cut the kids off so my hubby would have some! Going in my meal plan. I am a huge fan of skillet meals a.k.a one dish wonderfuls!

    Reply

  17. I made it today and the one thing I realized is that you don’t need to preheat the oven at the very beginning. Otherwise you have an oven going at 500° for quite a while before you actually put the dish in and it warms up the kitchen a little too much!

    Reply

    • Since all you’re doing is melting the cheese in the oven I just ran it under the broiler for a couple of minutes and that was it.

      Reply

  18. I agree about the oven – no need to turn on until last minute. 500 degrees heats your house up pretty quick. No bueno if its summer time! Of course if its winter, I guess it doesn’t matter. I did not use the red flakes. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious. I bought the diced tomatoes that are already seasoned with basil and oregano, so there was no need to add those spices. My husband and two teens loved this!

    Reply

  19. I have printed a number of your recipes this morning. I love simple and fresh and all of yours seem so easy. I will be making them starting tonight. Also I have most the ingredient’s in my house already! Please know that I will be sharing these with my friends also. I have shared you on my ace Book page. Thank you for so many ideas!

    Reply

  21. I really love this one pan recipe! The taste is wonderful. However, I was wanting to double it but I don’t have a big enough pan. How could I adapt this for a casserole dish?

    Reply

    • Hi Noemi, that would work easily! Cook the sauce according to step 1 directions. Then cook the the pasta separately in boiling water until tender. Then combine the sauce and pasta in a large bowl. Stir in the half and half and parmesan cheese and then pour everything into a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle mozzarella on top and bake. I’d bake it at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes and then turn it to broil for 5.

      Reply

  23. I was looking for an easy recipe and found this “one pan baked ziti…I used sweet Italian sausage, crushed tomatoes (it’s what I had on hand), didn’t have a pan to put in the oven so when it came to step 4 I transferred it to a baking dish…I think, it came out great…I will be making this again & again…MAHALO for sharing this recipe with all of us…

    Reply

  24. I pinned this yesterday and made it this evening! It’s was very good! The only thing is that I didn’t use Italian sausage bc the the store near my house didn’t have it so I just used ground beef. Will make again!!!! Thank you for sharing!!!

    Reply

  25. Can’t wait to try this tonight! I’m doing beef instead so I’ll drain the grease, but I noticed it didn’t say if I should drain the diced tomatoes? Thanks!

    Reply

  26. So do you pour the water in with the sauce and boil it all with the noodles or do you do you boil the noodles separately?

    Reply

  28. This meal was fast, easy, and delicious! I added in fresh spinach with the cream and Parmesan for an all in one meal. It got raves and the compliment that it was better than any baked ziti my husband had ordered at several Italian restaurants! Thanks so much, and I’m eager to try more of your recipes!

    Reply

  31. This would be nice if I had a bigger pan? Oh well, I don’t mind dishes! It’s still quick and easy and very delicious! I’m making it for the second time.

    Reply

  32. Just finished eating this with my hungry pregnant wife. She was craving Italian, and this hit the spot. Thanks! This reminds me of Timbalo from Johnny Carino’s country Italian restaurant before they tried to make their menu healthier. Except this was simpler and better. I subbed whole milk cottage cheese 4 cream, and skip the parmesan. Will be making this again soon?

    Reply

    • Forgot to mention we used penne pasta, boiled it separately, and used a giant cast iron pan as the main baking pan. Our cheap Rachel Ray skillets couldn’t take 500 degrees!

      Reply

  33. So i made this last night and the flavor was so so good, but there was wayyyy to many noodles and not enough sauce, did you put the right measurements on the recipe??? Because you put 12oz of ziti and only 8 oz can of sauce and 15oz diced tomatoes and to me it was just to much pasta. I was really upset because the flavor was great it just wasnt saucey enough.

    Reply

  34. This is SO GOOD! Made it tonight on a whim, just happened to have everything. Will definitely be making it again. I love spicy, so the hot sausage and red pepper were right up my alley, but if you’re not into spicy, then you can get mild sausage or leave out the red pepper. I also only added 2 teaspoons of basil, which seemed to be perfect. This is a yummy, easy meal that will go a long way and fill you up! Can’t wait to eat leftovers tomorrow!

    Reply

  38. This is one of my go to meals! Not only does my famil (toddlers included) love it, but everyone I make it for loves it! Anytime I need to take a meal to someone this is the winner!!!
    SO easy but delicious! Sure to impress!

    Reply

  39. This has become a family favorite and also qualifies as nice enough for company! The only changes I’ve made are to use only 6oz of pasta and half of the water listed. Lately, we’ve also tossed in a bag of fresh spinach when adding the cream, for an easy one dish meal. Thanks so much for this fabulous recipe. My husband says it’s even better than the one at the Italian restaurant he loves!

    Reply

  40. Hands down our family’s favorite ziti bake! We usually sub a jar of our favorite chunky pasta sauce for the tomatoes and spices, and we even make it in the crock pot (2.5 hours on high). This dish tics all the boxes for us. Thank you for a superb version of an everyday recipe.

    Reply

  41. Looks great Laura. I am currently without an oven. Can the last step be finished off on the stovetop somehow? Thanks

    Reply

  42. This is one of the best dishes I have ever had the pleasure to eat! We both felt it was better than the same dish ordered at various restaurants. Will definitely share and make again.

    Reply

  43. Made this dish tonight. How nice to cook everything in one pan! I used Kroger hot italian sausage and used penne pasta since they didnt carry ziti. I wanted to use the entire box of pasta so I used one pound of sausage, 16 ounces of tomatoe sauce, 4 cups of water and alittle more of everything else. The only alteration I would make is I’d use less water and have more of the tomatoe sauce. It was a little too diluted for my taste. This recipe will definitely become a regular!

    Reply

  47. Since I’m a little picky I cooked it a little different. I use 1 lb ground beef, half a box of ziti, 8 oz Prego traditional sauce, 12 oz of carnation milk and 2 cups mozzarella cheese. Only differences I did was cooked the pasta separate until soft, drained them then mixed it with the beef, sauce, milk and cheese. It was amazing! Serving about 12 ppl.

    Reply

  50. Excellent! We used a full pound of mild italian sausage (mild because of small children) & did not add any salt & pepper, otherwise followed recipe exactly. This will be one of our favorite recipes! Thanks for sharing!!

    Reply

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