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    🏠Home » Recipes » Italian Recipes

    Easy Baked Ziti with Sausage

    Jan 21, 2012 | Last Updated Apr 10, 2021 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    4.75 from 8 votes

    Packed with cheese, homemade sauce, and spicy Italian sausage, this great baked ziti is an easy dinner recipe the whole family will love—also an excellent company dish or prep-ahead for a potluck or holiday meal.

    Sausage baked ziti on plate

    Table of Contents
    • 🍲What is "Baked Ziti"?
    • 📋Ingredients
    • 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Recipe Size
    • 📖Other Ziti Recipes
    • 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • 📖Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

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    Introduction

    I love baked ziti. Think of it as Italian comfort food that sticks to your bones. Or a super easy lasagna with more flexibility.

    I started by browning a good quality Italian sausage with chopped onion. Then I added a modified version of my 30-minute marinara sauce. Mixed with cook pasta some mozzarella and topped with more mozzarella. Bake. Done.

    Super easy with these step by step photo instructions.

    My Rating

    My rating system of a 4 out of 5 so very nice.

    An easy family favorite. A solid high 4.

    🍲What is "Baked Ziti"?

    Baked ziti is a classic Italian American comfort food baked casserole dish. It is made with macaroni and combined with tomato sauce and cheese. It may include meat, sausage, mushrooms, peppers, onions, and other things.

    📋Ingredients

    Do I Need Ziti Noodles?

    No, almost any pasta will do — Cook to al dente per the particular pasta instructions. I tend to use Penne, a slightly smaller noodle with angle cut instead of straight cut edges.

    The purest will insist it is not baked ziti without ziti pasta. But you and I can call it anything we want. Ziti pasta is harder to find for me, and I like smaller pasta. So use what you like.

    Can I use jarred sauce?

    Yep, but read the instructions, you don't save any work. Mine is so much better and cheaper. Most of the simmering of the sauce is while the casserole is baking in the oven.

    The Cheese

    I use two versions of Mozzarella here, shredded and chunks. I like and suggest some nice chunks of cheese through the pasta. There is just a wonderful surprise. The shredded is better for the top.

    If you want to kick it up a bit, instead of shredded Mozzarella, shred your own. The commercial shredded cheese has a light coating of a material to prevent clumping.

    👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Recipe Size

    When you look at the amounts of various ingredients, they are standard-sized packages in the market: the crushed tomatoes, the Italian sausage, the cheeses, and the pasta.

    You can cut down the size, but you will have leftover ingredients. This is good refrigerated for 3-4 days and good frozen for 3-4 months.

    📖Other Ziti Recipes

    The Best Crock Pot Baked Ziti

    Crock Pot Chicken Baked Ziti

    Chicken Baked Ziti

    This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

    Casserole Recipes, Italian Recipes, Pasta Recipes
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    🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

    italian sausage with pasta and other ingredients

    Preheat oven to 375°. Get your pasta started right away and cook to al dente per the package instructions.

    chopped onion on white board

    Chop one medium onion.

    adding chopped onion to ground meat in pan

    In a large pan, add one pound Italian sausage and the chopped onion—Brown over medium-high heat. About 10 minutes and the last few minutes, add 2-3 cloves of minced or crushed garlic.

    adding crushed tomatoes to cooked sausage in pan

    Add 28 oz. crushed tomatoes, 2 teaspoon basil, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional), ½ teaspoon oregano, and ¼ teaspoon sugar. Turn to low and simmer for a few minutes.

    cheese chopped in cubes on white board

    Cut 8 oz of mozzarella into ½ inch cubes.

    adding sause to cooked pasta in pan

    Add the sauce to the pasta. Add the cubed mozzarella and 1 cup of shredded mozzarella. Mix well.

    cheese covered casserole ready for oven

    Add to a casserole pan and top with the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella.  A 9×13-inch rectangular casserole pan is good, or a 12 inch round works well too.

    browned casserole out of the oven

    Bake at 375° until golden brown. About 30 minutes until golden brown

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    📖Recipe

    Sausage baked ziti on plate

    Easy Baked Ziti with Sausage

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    Packed with cheese, homemade sauce, and spicy Italian sausage, this great baked ziti is an easy dinner recipe the whole family will love. Also, an excellent company dish or prep-ahead for a potluck or holiday meal.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    4.75 from 8 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes
    Total Time: 50 minutes
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 8

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Convert to Metric
    • 1 pound Italian sausage
    • 1 onion - medium chopped
    • 2-3 cloves garlic - crushed or minced
    • 1 pound pasta - Penne, ziti, or similar
    • 28 oz crushed tomatoes
    • 2 teaspoons dry basil
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon pepper
    • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper - optional
    • ½ teaspoon oregano
    • ¼ teaspoon sugar
    • 8 oz mozzarella - cubed ½ inch
    • 8 oz mozzarella - shredded

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 375°. Get your pasta started right away and cook to al dente per the package instructions.
      italian sausage with pasta and other ingredients
    • Chop one medium onion.
      chopped onion on white board
    • In a large pan, add one pound Italian sausage and the chopped onion. Brown over medium-high heat. About 10 minutes and the last few minutes, add 2-3 cloves of minced or crushed garlic.
      adding chopped onion to ground meat in pan
    • Add 28 oz. crushed tomatoes, 2 teaspoon basil, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional), ½ teaspoon oregano, and ¼ teaspoon sugar. Turn to low and simmer for a few minutes.
      adding crushed tomatoes to cooked sausage in pan
    • Cut 8 oz of mozzarella into ½ inch cubes.
      cheese chopped in cubes on white board
    • Add the sauce to the pasta. Add the cubed mozzarella and 1 cup of shredded mozzarella. Mix well.
      adding sause to cooked pasta in pan
    • Add to a casserole pan and top with remaining 1 cup of mozzarella.  A 9×13-inch rectangular casserole pan is good, or a 12 inch round works well too.
      cheese covered casserole ready for oven
    • Bake at 375° until golden brown. About 30 minutes until golden brown
      browned casserole out of the oven
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

    My Private Notes

    Click here to save your own private notes only you will see. These will print and be saved for your next visit.
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    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips:

    1. The quality of your ingredients is everything in Italian cooking. If you use generic ingredients, you will have generic results.
    2. Cook the pasta to al dente per the package instructions. Do not overcook. It cooks more in the oven.
    3. A 9×13-inch rectangular casserole pan is good, or a 12 inch round works well too.
    4. You can cut down the size, but you will have leftover ingredients. The recommended amounts are standard packages.
    5. This is good refrigerated for 3-4 days and good frozen for 3-4 months.

    To adjust the recipe size:

    You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

    Nutrition Estimate

    Calories : 616 kcal (31%) | Carbohydrates : 53 g (18%) | Protein : 30 g (60%) | Fat : 32 g (49%) | Saturated Fat : 14 g (70%) | Cholesterol : 88 mg (29%) | Sodium : 1052 mg (44%) | Potassium : 624 mg (18%) | Fiber : 4 g (16%) | Sugar : 7 g (8%) | Vitamin A : 634 IU (13%) | Vitamin C : 12 mg (15%) | Calcium : 349 mg (35%) | Iron : 3 mg (17%)
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : Main Course
    Cuisine : Italian

    © 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.

    Editor's Note: Originally Published January 21, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Susan

      April 19, 2019 at 3:25 pm

      The narrative says 1 tablespoon garlic but the recipe says 1 teaspoon. Please clarify! Thank you.

      Reply
      • Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

        April 19, 2019 at 3:37 pm

        Hi Susan,
        Welcome to the blog.
        That is tablespoons. Thanks for the proofread. I have updated the amount to 2-3 cloves which is how I would term it now. This recipe will be rewritten soon with updated photos etc. The recipe stays the same.
        Garlic is a bit to taste and with my wife, I would double the garlic to keep her happy.
        Again thanks for the questions and sorry for the confusion.
        Dan

    2. Judy Uhl

      February 15, 2019 at 10:16 am

      I think I'll try this with ground beef. Do you think I could use my 2 qt round casserole?

      Reply
      • DrDan

        February 15, 2019 at 10:41 am

        Hi Judy,

        Yes to the ground beef but it may be a bit bland lacking the spices in the sausage.

        The pan size is about 3 qt. So it won't fit. The pan I used was a 12 inch "everyday" pan which is about 3 qt. A full size casserole pan is also about 3 qt.

        Hope that helps.
        Dan

    3. Rachel

      March 24, 2015 at 11:23 pm

      This is one of my favorite pasta dishes. What an excellent recipe. This would go over very well with my family!

      Reply
      • DrDan

        March 26, 2015 at 10:14 pm

        This is a nice dish. I forget about it at times... I need to do it more.
        Thanks for the note.
        DrDan

    4. smors14

      December 05, 2012 at 5:19 pm

      Made this last night for myself and hubby - it was awesome and LOTS of leftovers :)

      Reply
    5. Doug DeFrees

      February 03, 2012 at 4:26 pm

      Here's my blog post about my baked ziti dinner: https://sundaydinnerfortwo.blogspot.com/2012/02/whats-ziti-and-why-should-i-bake-it.html

      Reply
    6. Doug

      January 29, 2012 at 11:04 am

      Thanks, Dr. Dan. The upcoming post will be about tonight's dinner featuring your recipe.

      Reply
    7. Dr Dan

      January 29, 2012 at 8:33 am

      The casserole is 2.5 qt and about 1 1/2 inches deep. I like a lot of top surface area. Good luck with your new blog Sunday, dinner for two

      Reply
    8. Doug

      January 28, 2012 at 11:01 pm

      What size casserole pan did you use?

      Reply
    9. Chris

      January 22, 2012 at 12:52 pm

      There are some decent jarred sauces out there these days, it's not just Ragu and Prego anymore. That being said, I still prefer making my own too.

      Reply

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