3 Cheese Baked Ziti Recipe

Baked Ziti is one of these incredibly delicious, foolproof, evergreen pasta recipes everybody loves. Tender pasta in a rich and creamy, cheesy tomato sauce and finished with more deliciously gooey cheese. What's not to like?

This pasta casserole recipe is not just delicious and comforting, but also really easy to make.

All you need is your favorite pasta sauce, canned tomatoes, eggs, and of course lots of cheese. Similar to our Lasagna Roll Ups, this recipe uses three kinds of cheese: creamy ricotta, gooey mozzarella, and flavorful parmesan. The rest is child's play.

This is a great recipe if you're looking to feed a crowd in a hurry. In less than an hour, you'll have dinner on the table.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Baked Ziti also holds up very well on any buffet (except that it will probably be one of the dishes that disappears first). After working in the hospitality industry for almost 15 years, I've learned that good baked ziti will make even the toughest crowd very happy.

• deliciously gooey cheesy
• can be made ahead
• perfect to easily feed a crowd
• versatile, vegetarian and omnivore options
• allows for modifications and substitutions

What You'll Need

• 16 ounces BAKED ZITI
• 25 ounces PASTA SAUCE
• 14 ounce can DICED TOMATOES
• 1 cup HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM
• 2 large EGGS
• 16 ounces MOZZARELLA cheese divided, diced + sliced
• 1½ cups RICOTTA cheese
• 1½ cups PARMESAN CHEESE, shredded, divided

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How To Make Baked Ziti

This flavorful pasta casserole is incredibly easy to make.

Prep

• Cook pasta according to package instructions. Cook al dente, drain and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Cut a lot of whole milk mozzarella cheese in half. Slice one half and dice the other half. Set aside.

Sauce

• Use a large pot and combine half of the pasta sauce, diced tomatoes, eggs, heavy whipping cream, 1 cup of ricotta cheese, and 1 cup of parmesan cheese. Over medium heat, bring the sauce to a slow simmer. Whisk frequently.
• Add diced mozzarella cheese and continue to simmer until the cheese has almost completely melted.

• Add cooked ziti pasta. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Transfer the pasta mixture into a 9x13 inch casserole dish.

Bake

• Pour remaining sauce over the pasta mixture. Top with sliced mozzarella, the remaining ½ cup of ricotta, and then sprinkle with ½ cup of parmesan cheese.
• Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes until the cheese is bubbling.

Tips For Success

• Cook pasta al dente, which means tender but firm. The pasta brand I use recommends 9-11 minutes for this pasta. 9 minutes is plenty.
• Use plenty of water when you cook the pasta. It allows the pasta to move more freely in the pot and therefore cook more evenly.
• Be sure to season your pasta water with salt. I typically use about one tablespoon of salt for 1 pound of pasta. Add the salt after the water has come to boil, but before adding the pasta. Why? Tap water has a lower boiling point than salted water.

EXPERT TIP: Did you know that 1 pound of pasta will generate about 8 cups of cooked pasta?

Adding Meat

This recipe is a meatless version of Baked Ziti.

And chances are most people won't miss the meat in this recipe. That's because the eggs add plenty of richness and protein.

But you can easily turn this into a meat baked ziti recipe.

GROUND BEEF: Take one pound of ground beef. I prefer lean (90/10) ground beef for this recipe because the cheeses provide plenty of flavors already. And it's an easy way to avoid extra calories without sacrificing flavor.

Use a cast iron pan and brown the meat over medium-low heat. Transfer the meat into the pasta sauce before adding the cooked ziti.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE: Another popular alternative is adding sausage into the sauce. Brown the sausage in a cast iron pan. Separate the sausage with a wooden spoon into bite-sized chunks and transfer into the pasta mixture before adding the baked ziti.

Both sweet and spicy Italian sausage will work in this recipe. If you want to be creative, try a combination of both.

GROUND TURKEY: The same works for ground turkey.

GROUND CHICKEN: Not traditional, and I've never tried making it with ground chicken, but I'm sure it would be quite delicious, too. Cook the ground chicken like you would ground beef or ground turkey. Add it to the sauce before adding the ziti. Season with salt and pepper.

Pasta Styles

Did you know there are more than 600 known pasta shapes! If you ever wonder about pasta shapes, this site is a good reference.

If you don't have ziti pasta on hand, simply substitute with any short pasta such as penne, rigatoni, or tubini. Fusilli pasta would work as well.

More Easy Comfort Food Ideas

• Chicken Parmesan
• Lemon Chicken
• Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
• Fried German Cabbage Noodles
• Taco Casserole