Simple baked ziti is a family favorite italian recipe we always keep on hand for entertaining. It is a perfect recipe for guests and comes together so quickly. This is also one of our freezer meals so make sure to check out the instructions to make this ahead and freeze to eat at a later date. Helpful hint - if you have a family of 4 or less, you may want to split this into 2 dishes for freezing.
- 1 box Ziti
- 1 lb Ground beef, pork, sausage or a combination (or leave out for meatless baked ziti recipe)
- 15 oz Ricotta Cheese
- 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
- 2 Eggs
- 1 tbsp Parsley
- 16 oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- 1 jar Tomato Sauce
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- 9x13 Baking Dish
- Large Saucepan
- Medium Mixing Bowl
- If freezing, you will need to use an aluminum 9x13 for freezing as well as a cover or aluminum foil and/or plastic wrap to cover dish.
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Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish with non stick spray.
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Cook the pasta according to instructions on the box.
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While the pasta is cooking, brown the meat in a skillet over medium heat. When the meat is mostly browned, add the sauce and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
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Combine ricotta, parmesan, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl.
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Add the pasta to your baking dish, add ricotta mixture, mozzarella and meat sauce. Mix until everything is combined.
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Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
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Cook the pasta according to instructions on the box.
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While the pasta is cooking, brown the meat in a skillet over medium heat. When the meat is mostly browned, add the sauce and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
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Combine ricotta, parmesan, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl.
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Add the pasta to your baking dish, add ricotta mixture, mozzarella and meat sauce. Mix until everything is combined.
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Let the mixture completely cool and then cover with an airtight lid, plastic wrap or 2 layers of aluminum foil. Pop in the freezer!
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To cook from frozen: remove baking dish from freezer and bake at 375 for one hour or until center is bubbly.
Our Baked Ziti recipe is also part of our Freezer Meal Guide. If you love to meal prep or you are looking to stock up on food to freeze for the future, make sure to check out our full Freezer Meal Guide with 20 recipes. This is perfect for anyone who is pregnant looking to prep for when the baby arrives, people who travel and want to leave easily ready food home for the family to enjoy, anyone who is busy and loves home cooked meals but doesn't always have the time on weeknights to cook from scratch. There are plenty of uses of this amazing Freezer Meal Guide- it includes options for breakfast, lunch and dinner - you don't want to miss it!
Hey Jenny and Tracy,
This looks like an easy and awesome dish to make. What size jar of tomato sauce does it call for? Also, is it just plain tomato sauce, or is it a spaghetti or marinara sauce?
Thanks for your help!
Hi! A 24oz jar would be perfect for this recipe. Any of the sauce options you mentioned will work great. I would say if you go with plain tomato sauce, you may want to add some extra flavor such as a little more salt, pepper, italian seasoning, etc. Let us know how it turns out!