My family loves this easy 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!
Looking for more 30-Minute Meals? Try our Salmon Bowls, Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Spaghetti Pie, Cajun Chicken Pasta, or Crispy Bean and Cheese Burritos!
What we LOVE about this recipe:
- 30-minute meal – This baked ziti with sausage is one of many quick and easy 30 minute recipes that the whole family will enjoy.
- One-Pot Dinner – Only one pan from start to finish, which makes prep and clean-up a breeze.
- Adaptable – This recipe can be varied a lot depending on the ingredients you have on hand, like using different kinds of pasta or ground meat, or add in additional veggies.
How to make Baked Ziti:
Brown Sausage: Heat a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and cook, crumbling into small pieces, until browned, about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and crushed red pepper flakes to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Make Sauce: Pour in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, dried basil and oregano. Stir well. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes.
Cook Pasta: Add water and dry pasta. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes or until noodles are tender.
Add Cheese: Stir in the half and half, and parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste then sprinkle mozzarella evenly on top.
Bake: Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the cheese has melted and browned, about 5 minutes.
Serve the best baked ziti recipe with a side salad or wedge salad and breadsticks or garlic knots!
Make Ahead And Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: Follow the directions of making the sauce, up to step 4. Don't add and cook the noodles, yet. Continue with step 4 just before you want to serve the homemade baked ziti.
To Freeze: Prepare the ziti pasta up until the baking step. Cover with a double layer of aluminum foil sprayed lightly with non-stick cooking spray then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, or, bake from frozen, covered in foil for 1 hour and 15 minutes, and uncover and bake 20-30 minutes longer, or until bubbly and warmed through.
Recipe Variations:
- Skillet: 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.
- Noodles: If you can't find ziti noodles at the store, buy them online, or substitute penne, farfalle, or another type of bite-size pasta.
- Meat: We love the flavor of ground sausage but feel free to substitute ground beef, or turkey.
- Cheese: Substitute any type of shredded cheese if you don't have mozzarella or parmesan.
- Crockpot Version: You can also make it in a crockpot.
Check out all my One Pot Meals:
- Hawaiian Meatballs
- American Goulash
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Pad Thai
- Lemon Chicken Pasta
- Pot Roast
- Spaghetti Pie
- Beef Gyros
- Tamale Pie
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Recipe
One Pan Baked Ziti
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 5-6 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 Tablespoon dried basil (or ½ cup fresh basil leaves added at the end)
- 1/2 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 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
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- Heat a large 12-inch or bigger oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and cook, crumbling into small pieces, until browned, about 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, dried basil and oregano. Stir well. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes.
- Add the water and dry pasta. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes or until noodles are tender.
- Stir in the half and half, and parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle mozzarella evenly on top.
- Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the cheese has melted and browned, about 5 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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*I originally shared this recipe February 2015. Updated November 2018 and August 2023.
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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!!
Thanks so much Heidi! I’m glad it was a hit with your family!
This was really good and easy to make!!
Thank you for giving your recipe away, i tried it and it was delicious, my whole family loved it!
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.
This looks and sounds delicious! I have never made this before, so I will be saving your recipe for later.
Thanks for sharing!
wow superb !! Your posts are always easy to understand and Helpful. Thank You,
Can this be made ahead of time? And can I use a Dutch oven? I don’t know if my skillet is oven safe!
A dutch oven would work well. How far in advance would you be making it? I definitely think it tastes best hot from the oven.
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!
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.
What an amazing compliment! Thank you so much for sharing! Hope you get to try more of my recipes soon 🙂
Looks great Laura. I am currently without an oven. Can the last step be finished off on the stovetop somehow? Thanks
That’s no problem–the last step is just to get the cheese brown and bubbly. You can skip it– just sprinkle cheese on top and it will melt, and still taste great 🙂
Thanks! And sorry for calling you “Laura”.