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    🏠Home » Recipes » Italian Recipes

    Easy Baked Ziti with Sausage

    Jan 21, 2012 · Modified: Feb 26, 2023 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan · 12 Comments

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    4.63 from 16 votes

    Baked Ziti with Sausage is loaded with tasty Italian sausage, homemade sauce, and tender pasta—easy enough for a weeknight but good enough for a company dinner.

    Sausage baked ziti on plate
    Jump To:
    • 😊Why you should try this recipe
    • 🥣Ingredients
    • 👨‍🍳How to Make Baked Ziti with Sausage
    • 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Recipe Size
    • Options and variations
    • ❓FAQs
    • ❄️Storing leftovers
    • 📖Other Ziti Recipes
    • 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • Recipe
    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    😊Why you should try this recipe

    • Easy to make at home with an excellent homemade marinara sauce.
    • Wonderful Italian comfort food that sticks to your bones.
    • Quick enough for a weeknight dinner or a company meal.
    • Super easy with these step-by-step photo instructions.

    This is a modified version of my 30-minute marinara sauce. Mixed with cook pasta and some mozzarella, and topped with more mozzarella. Bake. Done.

    🥣Ingredients

    • Italian sausage
    • Pasta—Penne, ziti, or similar
    • Aromatic—onion, garlic
    • Tomatoes—crushed
    • Pantry ingredients—basil, salt, black pepper, oregano, sugar, crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
    • Mozzarella cheese—cube and shredded

    👨‍🍳How to Make Baked Ziti with Sausage

    1. Cook pasta to al dente per the package instructions.
    2. Brown Italian sausage and the chopped onion adding garlic at the last minute of browning. Drain fat.
    3. Add crushed tomatoes, spices, and sugar. Turn to low and simmer.
    4. Add the sauce to the cooked pasta, and mix in some mozzarella cheese. More to a casserole dish and top with more mozzarella cheese.
    5. Bake until golden brown—about 30 minutes.

    👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Recipe Size

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

    You can cut down the size, but you will have leftover ingredients.

    Options and variations

    You can easily make it lasagna-like with globs of ricotta cheese and a good sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese. Mix ricotta: 1 cup (8 oz.) ricotta cheese with one egg white, ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon dry parsley, and ½ teaspoon salt—do not over-mix.

    This uses pork sausage, but turkey sausage and ground beef can be used.

    ❓FAQs

    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.

    Do I need ziti noodles to make baked ziti?

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

    The purist 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 marinara sauce instead of homemade?

    Yes, 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 done while the casserole is baking in the oven.

    Can I make baked ziti ahead and cook later?

    Yes. You can assemble and refrigerate for a day or freeze for 3 months. To cook the frozen casserole, it will be easier to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, but you can bake it frozen but be sure the internal temperature reaches 160°,

    ❄️Storing leftovers

    Baked ziti sealed in an airtight container is good refrigerated for 4 days and good frozen for 3-4 months. Reheat in the oven or microwave.

    📖Other Ziti Recipes

    The Best Crock Pot Baked Ziti

    Crock Pot Chicken Baked Ziti

    Chicken Baked Ziti

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    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°. Start your pasta immediately 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 of Italian sausage and the chopped onion—Brown over medium-high heat. About 10 minutes, and in 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.

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    Recipe

    Sausage baked ziti on plate

    Easy Baked Ziti with Sausage

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    Baked Ziti with Sausage is loaded with tasty Italian sausage, homemade sauce, and tender pasta—easy enough for a weeknight but good enough for a company dinner.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    4.63 from 16 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 50 minutes 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
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 375°. Start your pasta immediately 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 of Italian sausage and the chopped onion—Brown over medium-high heat. About 10 minutes, and in 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 the 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.
      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.

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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

    Nutrition Facts
    Easy Baked Ziti with Sausage
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 616 Calories from Fat 288
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 32g49%
    Saturated Fat 14g70%
    Cholesterol 88mg29%
    Sodium 1052mg44%
    Potassium 624mg18%
    Carbohydrates 53g18%
    Fiber 4g16%
    Sugar 7g8%
    Protein 30g60%
    Vitamin A 634IU13%
    Vitamin C 12mg15%
    Calcium 349mg35%
    Iron 3mg17%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    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.

    Molly setting

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    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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