Baked Ziti
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My baked ziti skips the ricotta for a silkier, creamier sauce that never bakes up dry or grainy. Made with Italian sausage, it’s easy enough for a weeknight and hearty enough for a crowd.
Photo by Johnny Miller, (Clarkson Potter, 2021)
This baked ziti is a MAJOR crowd-pleaser, whether I’m hosting a family gathering or cooking for my son’s college friends (I usually double the recipe in that case!). In fact, I love it so much that it’s featured proudly on the cover of my second cookbook. The Italian sausage does a lot of the heavy lifting here, giving the sauce deep flavor without a long ingredient list. It’s doable on a weeknight yet special enough to serve to company, and it’s also a fantastic make-ahead potluck dish.
What really sets this version apart from most baked ziti recipes is what’s not in it: ricotta. I know that’s the classic approach, but after lots of testing, I landed on a cream-based sauce instead—and I think it makes for a better dish. More on why below.
As the baked ziti works its magic in the oven, throw together a big Italian salad and warm some garlic bread, and you’re ready to feast!
“Simply outstanding…I made the ziti for a huge birthday party I hosted for a member of my family. Everyone (ages 5 to 91) devoured it.”
Why I skip The Ricotta
Most baked ziti recipes call for dolloping in ricotta, but baked at high heat, it tends to dry out and turn grainy—exactly the texture problem people worry about with baked ziti. So instead, I build the sauce with heavy cream and grated cheese. Stirred into the whole dish rather than dolloped throughout, it coats every piece of pasta evenly and keeps the ziti moist, down to the last leftover bite.
What You’ll Need to Make Baked Ziti
- Ziti noodles – Rigatoni or penne work fine too; look for a ridged shape that holds onto sauce.
- Italian sausage – Bulk sausage is easiest to crumble, but links work if you remove the casings first. Sweet or spicy, your call.
- Garlic: Adds savory depth to the sauce.
- Canned crushed tomatoes – The base of the sauce.
- Salt, sugar, and red pepper flakes – The sugar balances the acidity of the tomatoes; don’t skip it.
- Heavy cream – Stands in for ricotta here (see above).
- Pecorino Romano – Parmigiano Reggiano works as a substitute if that’s what you have.
- Pecorino Romano: Lends a sharp and salty flavor. Parmigiano Reggiano cheese can be substituted if needed.
- Fresh Basil: Adds a fresh, aromatic finish.
- Mozzarella Cheese: Whole milk mozzarella is best. You can purchase a plastic-wrapped brick of mozzarella (usually sold in the dairy case) and shred it yourself. To make it easier to work with, pop it in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes prior to shredding. Or, to save time time, use pre-shredded mozzarella; just be sure it is made from whole milk, not part-skim.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Boil the noodles. Since the ziti finishes cooking in the oven, boil it a few minutes short of al dente on the stovetop—it’ll continue cooking in the casserole dish and won’t turn mushy by the time it’s done baking.
Step 2: Make the sauce. Brown the sausage first, then use the same pan (with just a bit of the rendered fat left behind) to soften the garlic and simmer the tomatoes. Finish the sauce with cream, cheese, and basil.
Step 3: Combine the sauce and pasta. Pour the sauce into the pot with the drained pasta and stir gently until every piece is coated—this is what keeps the ziti from baking up dry in spots.
Step 4: Assemble and bake. Spread half of the pasta mixture in the baking dish, then sprinkle with half of the mozzarella and pecorino. Top with the remaining pasta mixture and the rest of the cheese. Layering it this way—rather than stirring all the cheese in at once—gives you a stretchy, melted layer running through the middle of the dish, not just on top. Bake until bubbling and browned.
Baked ziti can be assembled, covered, and refrigerated for up to 2 days before baking. It can also be frozen before or after baking, for up to 3 months. See the recipe card notes below for freezing and reheating instructions.
More Classic Italian Dishes You’ll Love
Video Tutorial
Baked Ziti
Ingredients
- 1 lb ziti noodles
- 1½ lbs ground spicy or sweet Italian sausage (or removed from casings)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup plus 3 tablespoons grated pecorino Romano (or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese), divided
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh basil, plus more for serving
- 8 oz whole milk mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the ziti noodles and cook according to the package directions for very al dente, about 7 minutes. (It will continue to cook in the oven, so you want to undercook it just a bit.) Drain and add the pasta back to the pot. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and set the oven rack in the middle position.
- Heat a large sauté pan (preferably nonstick) over medium-high heat. Crumble the sausage into the pan and cook, breaking apart with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned and just cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked sausage to a plate. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the pan and set over low heat (if you don't have enough fat in the pan, add a tablespoon of olive oil). Add the 4 cloves of minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until soft but not browned, about 1 minute. Add the can of crushed tomatoes, 1 teaspoon salt, 1½ teaspoons sugar, and ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
- Add the cream, ⅓ cup (33 g) of the pecorino Romano, cooked sausage, and basil to the pan; stir until evenly combined. Carefully pour the contents of the sauté pan into the large pot with the pasta and gently stir to combine. Spoon half of the mixture into a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33-cm) baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the shredded mozzarella (1 cup/113 g) and half the remaining pecorino Romano (1½ tablespoons). Spoon the remaining pasta mixture on top and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella (1 cup/113 g) and pecorino Romano (1½ tablespoons). Transfer to the oven and bake, uncovered, until the cheese has melted and browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with more basil and serve.
Notes
Pair with
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Amazing. I subbed Jimmy Dean hot sausage for the meat and eliminated the red pepper flakes, but the rest was followed. This will be going into my comfort food rotation.
Can this be made without the sausage with no other adjustments? We love it with the meat, but have family coming this weekend who are vegetarian. Thank you for all the wonderful recipes! We love everything we try and we’ve tried many of the dishes over the last 5 years. Your bog and cookbooks are my go to for meal inspiration!
Hi Toni, So glad you like the recipes! Regarding the ziti, I haven’t tried it, but some readers have mentioned they’ve made it vegetarian by using sautéed veggies (like bell peppers, mushrooms, etc.) in place of the sausage. Just make sure they’re well-seasoned b/c the sausage has a lot of seasoning. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
I have made this recipe many times with the following adjustments:
1 cup less cooked pasta
add 1 cup extra mozzarella
add 1/2 cup extra cream
I divided it into 2 pans….froze one before cooking…….recently baked it and it came out perfectly!!! Tasted as fresh as the original one!! The baked zitis were NOT DRY!!
I will definitely do this again!! Saves time in the kitchen!!!
I love this recipe. I froze it this time and now will hope for the best. Cooking tonight but forgot to defrost in the frig. I regularly go straight from the freezer with other lasagna recipes but this one has the heavy cream. Hopefully it will be all good!
WOW! This turned out amazing. I used ground beef instead of sausage and Parmesan instead of Romano. Turned out really good, I will be making this more often
I made this dish today, Sunday for family and friends. Everyone loved it so first off, thank you for a delicious recipe!!!
I also doubled the recipe of the sauce to make another batch for a friend. I was meant to deliver it tomorrow evening but her flight is now delayed to Wednesday evening. Can you advise, should I freeze the sauce and then thaw Tuesday night for Wednesday? I saw it can keep two days in fridge but Wednesday is three days. I don’t have room in my freezer to make the dish ahead and freeze but I could fit the sauce in the freezer if best to not stretch refrigeration to three days.
Hi Kristen, ideally I’d refrigerate it for up to two days, but it should keep for a third. Hope your friend enjoys as well!
Hi Jenn! I absolutely LOVE your recipes and would love to make this for company. We have someone coming who doesn’t eat pork, and I was wondering if it would be possible to substitute another sausage/ground meat – maybe turkey or beef? Thank you so much!
Sure, Julie, turkey or beef sausage would be perfectly fine to substitute. And so glad you like the recipes!
Hi Jen! We love this recipe! I make it often.
I’ll be making some freezer meals for my daughter soon and plan to make this for sure. I wondered about making extra sauce- without the sausage- and freezing it? I wasn’t sure about the heavy cream in the recipe. Thank you!
Hi Lynn, so glad you like it! Although there is some heavy cream in it, I suspect the sauce will be OK. For extra insurance, you could omit the cream and have your daughter at it before reheating the sauce.
Great idea! Thanks so much!
The flavor is quite good and my very picky daughter just got seconds so it’s a win. However, I must have done something wrong because I had so much pasta it wasn’t covered enough to keep the top layer from getting a little over cooked/dried out. Not sure where I went wrong.
Hi Iris, if you look at the pictures, the top layer of pasta is mostly covered with cheese, but the pasta definitely shows through. Was yours different than that?
Amazing! This will definitely be added to our favorite meal rotation!!
I used 1lb of sweet Italian sausage and 1 lb of hot Italian sausage. Sooooo good!
Hi Jen! I was wondering if this receipt could be made with gluten free pasta and if so what adjust would need to be made? Thank you!
Hi Nancy, I’ve never made it with gluten-free pasta, but some readers have commented that they have and have been happy with the results. (I don’t think you’d need to make any modifications.) Enjoy!
Followed the recipe exactly as written and it was FABULOUS! I’ve shared this recipe with 4 other friends already! Thank you for posting this delicious dish!
Jenn, can I use creme fraiche instead of heavy cream?
Hi Jenny, it should work; the sauce will just taste a little bit tangier.