Cheesy Easy Baked Ziti Recipe tastes like it took a long time to cook, however it is super easy and quick to make! With only 4 ingredients, this meatless baked ziti recipe makes the perfect weeknight meal paired with a salad and fresh bread!
Easy Baked Ziti Recipe
Most days I am wanting things to be easy at dinner time. By the dinner rolls around after working and doing school with the kids this momma is tired. However being tired doesn’t mean that I want junk for dinner. I still want a real dinner meal and I take pride in a full dinner meal for my family being a nightly thing.
This easy baked ziti recipe is done in about 30 minutes, and only about 10 minutes are needed to do any actual work for making it. I normally pair this meatless ziti recipe with a loaf of fresh bread (our local grocery store bakery is great for grabbing a loaf!) and a fresh salad.
Looking for other AMAZING Pasta Recipes? Check out these that we love too!
- 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
What to Serve with Meatless Ziti
Normally when I make cheesy 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 as easy as possible, doing bread and salad will make this a complete meal.
However there are many other side dishes to serve with meatless pasta dishes like this one, check some of our favorite side dish recipes out!
- Capocollo Wrapped Asparagus
- Parmesan Asparagus
- Lemon Roasted Asparagus
- Garlic Green Beans
- Whole roasted cauliflower
What can you add to Homemade Ziti?
I like to keep things simple with these cheesy baked ziti, but you can easily add some extra flavors to this homemade ziti recipe. Feel free to cook up some ground beef, ground turkey or Italian sausage and add it in.
If you are wanting to add some veggies to your baked ziti cook them before hand, drain any water and then add them in before putting the baked ziti mixture into the oven. Personally I love adding in spinach and with either sauté some fresh spinach with a little bit of garlic and butter or pop a box of frozen spinach in the microwave, drain the water out and then add it in.
How to Freeze Baked Ziti
One of the great things about homemade 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.
Cheesy Easy Baked Ziti Ingredients
- ziti noodles
- pasta sauce – or you can use 3 cups of a homemade sauce like homemade marinara, sun dried tomato sauce, homemade spaghetti sauce, cherry tomato sauce, creamy tomato sauce or spicy bacon tomato sauce.
- shredded mozzarella cheese
- Ricotta cheese
How to Make Easy Baked Ziti
Preheat oven to 350.
Cook the ziti noodles in a large pot, according to the package and drain. Pour the ziti noodles back into the pot.
In a large bowl, add half the mozzarella cheese, the full container of ricotta cheese and the pasta sauce and mix well.
Pour the ziti noodles into the bowl with the mixture and mix well.
Spray a large baking dish with nonstick spray and pour the pasta into the baking dish.
Sprinkle remainder of mozzarella cheese on top.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
Looking for more easy dinner recipes? Check these out!
- Baked spaghetti
- Chicken Asparagus Pasta
- Bow tie pasta bake
- Crockpot sausage and peppers
- Meatball subs
Cheesy Easy Baked Ziti Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ziti noodles
- 24 ounces pasta sauce
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 15 ounces Ricotta cheese
Recipe Video
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Cook the ziti noodles in a large pot, according to the package and drain. Pour the ziti noodles back into the pot.
- In a large bowl, add half the mozzarella cheese, the full container of ricotta cheese and the pasta sauce and mix well.
- Pour the ziti noodles into the bowl with the mixture and mix well.
- Spray a large baking dish with nonstick spray and pour the pasta into the baking dish.
- Sprinkle remainder of mozzarella cheese on top.
- Bake at 350 for 20 minutes
Elena says
How many people it feeds?
Stephanie says
4-6
Elena says
What size pan?
S says
Do you cover the baking dish with foil when baking?. I made this but it turned out little dry
Stephanie says
you can cover it and the last ten minutes take it off to get browned
Danielle says
Can I add meat to this? And if so should tweak the recipe at all?
Lauren says
You can totally add meat to this, just make sure you cook the meat before mixing everything together.
Jessica says
Can you freeze the leftovers?
Stephanie says
I have never tried.
Leanne says
Made this tonight! So easy so delicious! Almost a hybrid of spaghetti and lasagna. I added Italian sausage and it was delish! Will definitely be a staple in our house now!