Sausage Baked Ziti Recipe is a super easy and quick dinner recipe to make! With only a few ingredients, this sausage baked ziti recipe makes the perfect weeknight meal paired with a salad and fresh bread!
Sausage Baked Ziti
I love making easy pasta dishes for dinner, especially baked pasta dishes because I can prep everything and then just let them bake in the oven. This sausage ziti is one of my family’s favorite ziti recipes that I make. We tend to rotate between this cheesy sausage ziti and our easy baked ziti.
Sometimes when I make this easy baked pasta dish and
Easy Pasta Recipes
- Chicken Alfredo Pasta Recipe
- Homemade Pasta sauce recipe
- Shrimp Alfredo Pasta
- Olive garden chicken pasta
- Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
- Cheesy baked Ziti
What to Serve with Sausage Baked Ziti
Normally when I make sausage baked ziti for dinner I take the easy way and get a loaf of fresh Italian bread from the grocery store and make a fresh salad. If you are making this meatless baked ziti recipe for a crowd then you will probably want to make things as easy as possible, doing bread and salad will make this a complete meal.
Can I use ground sausage?
You can use ground sausage, just cook it ahead of time like you would Italian link Sausage.
Can I use a different meat?
If you are not a fan of sausage you can change the sausage out for ground beef, ground chicken or ground turkey.
Can I add veggies?
Yes you can. If you are adding veggies I suggest cooking them with the sausage and suggest spinach, bell peppers and onions.
Tips for Making this Recipe
Spray the baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. You can use any type of cooking spray, but it is important to spray the dish so the pasta doesn’t stick to the baking dish.
Don’t over cook the pasta. When you are cooking the ziti noodles until it is just shy of al dente.
Cook the meat and veggies before hand. Cook the meat first and if you are adding veggies to your ziti then cook them ahead of time as well.
How to Freeze Baked Ziti
One of the great things about homemade sausage and cheese baked ziti is that it is easy to make it a freezer meal. You can prep the whole ziti and freeze it before baking it and it will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When I am making meatless baked ziti (or any of my other homemade baked ziti recipes) to have in the freezer I like to use the tinfoil pans instead of my normal glass baking dishes. To freeze ziti prep the whole dish and instead of putting it in the oven to bake, allow everything to cool and then cover it tightly with tin foil. Place the ziti in the freezer.
When you want to serve the ziti, remove it from the freezer, and bake at 350 for 1 hour.
Sausage Baked Ziti Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ziti pasta
- 3 cup your favorite tomato sauce, I like using a Tomato Basil Sauce because it has the spices in it if using jarred but prefer to use homemade pasta sauce, homemade marinara, sun dried tomato sauce, cherry tomato sauce, or creamy tomato sauce.
- 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
How to Make Sausage Baked Ziti
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease you 9 x 13 baking pan.
In a frying pan heat your olive oil over medium heat and add your sausage. Brown all sides of the sausage then remove them from the heat.
Slice your sausages in to 1/3 of an inch pieces.
Cook your pasta just one minute shy of al dente and drain from the water and add the pasta back into the pot.
Add the sliced sausage, pasta sauce, and half of the mozzarella cheese to the bowl and mix together, pour the mixture into your baking pan.
Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and the parmesan cheese.
Bake for 40 minutes until the cheese is golden brown. Let it rest for 5 minutes then serve.
Easy Pasta Recipes
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta
- One Pot Chicken Alfredo
- Copy Cat Olive Garden Ziti al Forno
- Spicy Tomato Pasta Sauce
- 4 Ingredient Creamy Tomato Pasta Dish
Sausage Baked Ziti
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ziti pasta
- 3 cup tomato sauce I like using a Tomato Basil Sauce because it has the spices in it if using jarred but prefer to use homemade pasta sauce.
- 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.
- In a frying pan heat your olive oil over medium heat and add your sausage. Brown all sides of the sausage then remove them from the heat. Slice your sausages into 1/3 of an inch pieces.
- Cook your pasta just one minute shy of al dente and drain from the water.
- Mix your sausage, pasta, sauce, and half of the mozzarella cheese together, pour the mixture into your baking pan. Top with your remaining cheese.
- Bake for 40 minutes until the cheese is golden brown. Let it rest for 5 minutes then serve.
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