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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Delicious! Can I freeze it after baking?
Sure. Let it thaw at room temperature before rewarming.
Thank you so much!
Can I freeze a double portion of this in a ziplock bag and then bake in a pan when ready to use?
This has become a favorite dish for our family of five. Everyone loves it so much! Because we have a big family, I use 16 ounces of pasta, 2 8oz. Cans of tomato sauce, and 4 cups of water. I always use fresh basil at the end because it just adds that much more deliciousness to the pasta!
The sauce for this recipe is delicious until I added the 3 cups of water. It really diluted the flavor. Next time I make this I’ll cook the pasta before adding it to the skillet and omit the water.
My kids fixed this for me while visiting and it was excellent! Going to print this and make it when I get home for other family members and friends when we have potlucks!!
I’ve made this twice, once for my family and again for my roommates. Both times it worked out great! Half and half or cream is definitely best, but milk will do in a pinch. My skillet at home is not oven-safe, so after I made it I transferred it to two oven-safe baking glassware dishes before covering it with mozzarella and baking and that worked fine. Serving size is accurate.
Thanks for the dish suggestion. I don’t have any oven safe pans either.
Huge hit in our house this week! Lots of left overs too!
Great baked ziti! the red pepper flakes add a bit of a kick, but not too much. I make this in an electric skillet without putting it in the oven and it’s yummy. My very picky kids won’t eat it (not a surprise since they turn their nose up at a lot of good food ) , but my husband and I love it. The cream adds a bit of creaminess and we really like it. Makes enough for leftovers.
Delicious! Everyone loved it, thank you for this recipe!
Oh my goodness I made this for the first time tonight and proceeded to text the recipe to everyone I know because it is so good. I’m already dreaming about the next time I eat it. I’d give it a million stars if I could!