Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage
If you need a dinner that feeds a crowd, travels well, can be made ahead, and makes everyone at the table genuinely happy, baked ziti is your answer. This is the dish I bring to potlucks, the dish I drop off when a friend has a new baby, the dish that disappears at family gatherings before anything else. It is cheesy and saucy and just completely satisfying in the best possible way.
The Italian sausage here is what really takes this over the top. That fennel and spice-forward flavor makes the meat sauce taste like it’s been simmering all day. I use sweet Italian sausage but if you like heat, hot Italian is incredible too. (some links here are affiliate links, which just means I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you)
The Three Cheese Situation
Ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan — the holy trinity of Italian baked pasta. The ricotta adds creamy richness and a slightly lighter texture in the middle layer. The mozzarella goes on top and gets all golden and bubbly and pulls into those gorgeous cheese stretches when you scoop it. The Parmesan adds a salty, nutty depth throughout. Don’t skip any of them, all three are doing important work here.
A good 9×13 baking dish is essential for this recipe. I like ceramic because it holds heat really well and looks beautiful going straight from oven to table. It’s also one of those pieces that gets used constantly — casseroles, sheet cakes, roasted vegetables, you name it.
Make It Ahead
This is one of the best make-ahead dinners I know. You can assemble the whole thing up to 24 hours in advance, cover it tightly, and refrigerate it. When you’re ready to bake just add about 10 extra minutes to the covered baking time since it’s starting cold. It also freezes beautifully before or after baking — just wrap it well and it keeps for up to 3 months.
One important tip: cook your pasta just barely al dente, even slightly underdone. It continues cooking in the oven and absorbs the sauce, so if you start with perfectly cooked pasta it can end up mushy. Slightly underdone is exactly right here.
Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 375F. Cook ziti until just al dente and drain.
- Brown Italian sausage with onion in a skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up meat. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Drain fat. Stir in marinara sauce.
- Mix ricotta, egg, Italian seasoning, 1 cup mozzarella, and 1/4 cup Parmesan in a bowl.
- In a 9×13 baking dish, layer half the pasta, half the meat sauce, all the ricotta mixture, remaining pasta, and remaining meat sauce. Top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
- Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 more minutes until cheese is golden and bubbly. Rest 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Serving Ideas
Garlic bread is non-negotiable alongside baked ziti in my opinion. A simple green salad rounds it out perfectly. This recipe makes a big pan that serves 8 generously which makes it perfect for feeding a family, having people over, or intentionally making enough for leftovers all week.
If you make this for someone — a new neighbor, a friend going through something hard, a family who just needs a good meal — I promise it will be so appreciated. This is that kind of recipe. I hope you love it!
xo, Pam
