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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Made your Baked Ziti with Sausage recently. DELICIOUS! To the canned tomatoes called for, I added a couple chopped fresh tomatoes that I had on hand and which needed to be used plus I increased the sausage amount to 2 pounds, but everything else was done exactly as your recipe specified. So very good! Thank you for this great recipe. Caryn Wiggins
Delicious and very easy to make. I made it a day ahead and put it in the fridge for easy baking the following night. I used sweet sausage since that’s all I had thawed and ready to cook, but next time I will try it with a mix of sweet and spicy. It was delicious but I like the little kick the spicy sausage gives. Another regular rotation dinner for our household now.
I love this pasta for my family as written hence the five stars. I also hardly use any other recipes than Jenn’s. We do prefer meatloaf mix to the sausage and sometimes I use pre-grated cheese and it works just fine for us. Tonight I had a happy accident that I was making hidden veggie pasta sauce for my non-veggie eating family by finely chopping onion, celery, carrot, and a little apple and zucchini, added a big can of crushed tomato, tomato sauce bay leaves, salt pepper, sugar, cream, blended it, then added penne. I remembered this recipe so threw it in a casserole dish with cheeses, baked and broiled it. It was delicious and got my family to eat veggies! So this was a great dish that can also hide veggies in instead of using meat.
Love this idea, Janet!
I made this last night, cutting the recipe down to 1/3 as I’m cooking for two. It was delicious, but needed a bit more sauce. Next time I’ll make more. Love your site!
I’ve made this twice and we can’t get enough of it. I add half of a sweet onion with the garlic then spinach and mushrooms before adding the meat and cream to the sauce. I came across your recipe when I had to find something to do with one of those HUGE cans of crushed tomatoes. TYSM!! ☺️
I’ve never left an online review for anything… ever. But it’s worth sharing that thanks to this dish I’m now “the best cooker ever” according to my three year old who also called it “my favorite in the whole world.” My five year old proclaimed it the best thing I’ve ever made… soooo…. yeah. Thanks for a family winner. 🙂
😊
Wow! I made this tonight and everyone in my family loved it. This one is definitely a winner and I will be making it again soon. Spicy, cheesy, creamy, and SO satisfying! I made the recipe exactly as written except I only used one pound of hot Italian sausage. I thought it was enough meat for us. I don’t think I would skimp on any of the other ingredients though. Thanks Jenn for another amazing recipe!
Loved this recipe! Added some ricotta and it was delicious!
Was looking for a recipe to make for my sister who just had foot surgery and is unable to move around a lot. I decided on this one because I’ve had great success with all of the recipes on this site. I made two of them, one for my sister, and one for my family. I got half sweet Italian sausage and half spicy Italian sausage from my butcher. I also didn’t have enough fresh basil for two dishes, so I added a bit of dried basil and Italian seasoning in the mix. Also didn’t read the part about the mozzarella cheese and ended up getting pre-shredded. Because that’s all the store had, at the time. I didn’t seem to have a problem with it melting, but I will definitely use the suggested cheese, next time. It got rave reviews from my sister, and rave reviews from my husband and my twin boys! I have one twin who is highly picky with food, and he absolutely loved it. Yay! I will definitely keep this in my rotation and maybe try ground beef next time, as well. Thank you for the great recipe!!
We have made this many times since discovering Jenn and her Once Upon a Chef website about six months ago. The Baked Ziti is delicious, and that is an understatement. Perfect comfort food on a cold night for friends and family.
Made this tonight for dinner. Family lost their minds over this baked Ziti. I used half hamburger and half Italian sausage and they loved it! I will definitely make it again.
I made this ziti for a potluck. Outstanding! Thanks, Jenn!
Wow! I made this tonight and everyone in my family loved it. This one is definitely a winner and I will be making it again soon. Spicy, cheesy, creamy, and SO satisfying! I made the recipe exactly as written except I only used one pound of hot Italian sausage. I thought it was enough meat for us. I don’t think I would skimp on any of the other ingredients though. Thanks Jenn for another amazing recipe!
Hey Jenn,
I’m a big fan of yours. I’m making this tonight and wonder how’d it turn out if I left the sausage in it’s casting?
Sorry just seeing this now, Tricia. I prefer to take the sausage out of the casing so I can break it up more easily. But it’s fine to leave it in if you don’t mind bigger chunks of sausage. Hope that helps! 😊