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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Could you just add the cheese and place a lid on it to melt the cheese without baking it?
Yes, you could do that. The cheesy won’t get bubbly on top but it will taste great.
A family favorite! I do crushed tomatoes instead of diced to make the sauce a little smoother for the kids.
Love this recipe and make it at least twice a month! To fit our dietary needs, we cut the pasta and water in half. We also add a bag of fresh spinach with the cream, stirring to combine. If it is too hot in the summer to turn on the oven, we just pop the lid back on and let the steam melt the cheese and cook the spinach in minutes. Delicious, easy, and a great company meal! Everyone always asks for the recipe! Than you so much for sharing this!
My ten year old and I each had a pan and did a bake off with this one so we basically double-batched it. It came out amazing (actually his was a little better.) Easy to make, very filling and delicious.
I’ve never eaten baked ziti before.
I thought it came out good. However, next time, I would just cook the pasta in a separate pot. It was not as easy to correctly cook the pasta in this large of a pan.
Second time making it and seems like 3 cups is a lot of water. Was I supposed to drain the tomatoes?
I make this all the time. I’m not the best cook but this recipe is very simple and just as good as any ziti I’ve gotten at some well known Italian restaurants.
I’ve made this recipe twice now and it’s always soooo good!!
My husband has declared this recipe my best Pinterest find!!! 🙂 And he is not normally an Italian food fan. My family of 5 love it, and I have made it quite a bit! It is one of my favorite meals, and I make it for company.
I’m so happy to hear that! I hope you get to try more of my recipes soon!
Is there a way to do this as a freezer meal for a new mother?
Yes, you could freeze it.Prepare it right up until the baking step and then cover with a double layer of aluminum foil. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before baking, or bake from frozen for 1 hour and 30 minutes, uncover and bake 30 minutes longer.