This is seriously the Best Baked Ziti Ever. Your family is going to love the homemade meat sauce, and that ricotta and cream cheese topping takes it to the next level!
Baked pasta dishes are something special; they are in their own classification of comfort food, because they are just that dang good. Ziti has been a tradition since the Renaissance, served commonly at special gatherings, weddings, and celebrations. Also known as Ziti al Forno, this traditional oven-baked pasta is more of a method than an exact science. Depending on the region of Italy, it could be a veggie heavy meal, or it could be loaded in hearty meats and fat.
This classic Baked Ziti is all about the simple, whole ingredients. Ziti can be hard to find in stores, but there is something special about the history of Ziti pasta. Made from scratch meat sauce might seem tedious and unnecessary, but make no mistake, your time and effort will be worth it once you take that first bite. Go ahead and serve this up with some garlic bread, and you have yourself a feast!
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Does baked ziti need mushrooms?
Not Necessarily. We love the added flavor and texture from the mushrooms, but you can absolutely omit them if you don’t love them.
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Can I use low-fat cheese?
There are some things that just shouldn’t be messed with, and whole-fat cheese is one of them. In all seriousness, do what you need to do in regards to cheese, but the flavor and texture of whole milk cheese can’t be beat!
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Pasta Options:
Ziti is the traditional pasta that’s been used for this dish, but we know how difficult it can be to find! If you need to substitute, head for the Penne pasta or rigatoni. They are both a similar shape and size, and will work well in this dish.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other amazing pasta recipes:
- Most Amazing Lasagna
- Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
- Authentic Pasta Carbonara
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Pasta Pomodoro
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
This was really good. I used 16 oz of ricotta instead of the cream cheese, and I mixed half of the cheese mixture in with the sauce, leaving the other half on top. I also just used sauce from a jar, if you’re using that i would use 1.5-2 jars.
I made this so we would have dinner over the weekend. My family loved it!
Excellent ziti
Complete comfort food, satisfied what I was craving.
Great recipe! Tweaked it, just a little: 1/2 lb ground meat + 1/2 lb ground Italian sausage; drained most of the grease, just left a little for moisture; added 1/2 t red pepper flakes; fresh basil to cheese mixture; 1/2 C shredded mozzarella to noodle/meat/sauce mix right before adding to baking dish; topped off with 1/2 – 1 C shredded mozzarella over cheese mixture. Also, covered with aluminum foil, so it didn’t dry out; after baking, removed foil and placed under broiler for 1 – 2 minutes. Chopped, fresh parsley for garnish. You can also use 2 jars of pasta sauce instead of the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce & paste (instead of making sauce) 🙌🏼
You can’t beat this recipe! It is truly BETTER than any restaurant Baked Ziti we have ever eaten, and we’ve traveled the world! The only addition made was to add a little parsley to the cheese mixture! That’s it! Kudos to you Rachel Farnsworth!!!
I’m making it tonight served with red wine 🍷 and garlic bread mmm
This was very good! When I make it again I would make just a few changes:
-Half an onion is plenty.
-Use 85/15 beef, it’s enough fat to cook the vegetables without being greasy.
-add in a half to one cup of shredded Mozzarella Cheese when mixing in the pasta for the “stringy” effect.
-Freshen up the cheese mixture with some chopped fresh basil.
-After baking, place under broiler for one to two minutes.
Good ideas! I’ll try this.
Thanks for a great recipe.
After watching video and reviews, I really expected something more than what I got!! What I got was more work, found this very bland, had to add seasoning for Italian sausage. I normally use ground chuck and italian sausage when making sauce, wish I had for this recipe. Cheese topping was ok, but thought was lacking cheese substance in meat and pasta. This was a “Guinea pig” meal for family, told them if we didnt like it I’ll never make again. I do not agree, this was not the best baked ziti I’ve ever had and will not be making again.
It’s amazingly delicious.. at first I was like no way it’s this going to be good.. than I made it, and boom! My life was turned up side down..