This baked ziti with meat sauce is the ultimate comfort food made with just pasta, sauce and cheese that’s baked until golden and bubbly.

Baked Ziti With Meat Sauce

From the recipe collection of Tara Ippolito

How could anyone resist baked ziti with meat sauce?

It’s pretty much the perfect comfort food dinner that hits all the marks.

This recipe is easy, it’s cheesy and it’s so unbelievably delicious.

I love making this dinner on cool fall or winter nights.

Baked ziti is one of those dishes that really stick to your ribs and keep you full and warm for hours.

This is a great recipe to serve for a casual weekday dinner or a nice holiday meal.

I’ve served this may times for parties, holidays or any other big get together that I need a good crowd pleasing recipe for.

It’s always such a hit!

I know that if you give this recipe a try that you’ll love it, too.

Fast. Simple. Delicious.

Did you know that I have a cookbook called Fast Simple Delicious?

It’s 60 no fuss no fail comfort food recipes perfect for busy weekday dinners.

Click HERE to order your copy or click the 3 lines in the top right corner and click “Book”. Thank you for the support.

What can I serve this baked ziti with meat sauce with?

I love to serve this baked ziti with some nice Garlic Bread or Pesto Bombs to start.

Chicken Cutlets or Classic Meatballs would be great choices for sides, too.

If you’d like to add a vegetable, Frozen Roasted Green Beans or Parmesan Crusted Brussels Sprouts would work very well.

Do I have to use ziti?

Even though this dish is called baked ziti, no you don’t have to use ziti if you don’t want to.

Any kind of tube like pasta would do. Like penne for example.

If you have a box of pasta in your pantry that you’d like to use up, go for it.

Do I have to shred the mozzarella cheese myself?

Yes, absolutely! This is the one thing that I’d really urge you not to take a shortcut on.

Pre-shredded bagged cheese has chemicals in it like cellulose.

This keeps the cheese from clumping but it also prevents it from melting properly

Shred the cheese off the block. The ziti will be much creamier that way.

How do I make the meat sauce?

The meat sauce I have linked HERE if you’d like to use my recipe and I recommend you do.

It’s the perfect sauce for this baked ziti.

However, if you’d like to use your own recipe that is perfectly fine, too.

Of course you could always go meatless and use any plain tomato sauce without the beef that you’d like.

Tip for covering the baked ziti with meat sauce

This may just be the best cooking tip that I’ve ever learned online.

Before covering the ziti with foil wrap, give it a little spritz with cooking spray.

The cheese will NOT stick to the foil. Not one bit.

It works like a charm. You have to try it.

Baked ziti with meat sauce ingredients

• Ziti
• Meat Sauce. You can use my recipe linked HERE or feel free to use a jar of your favorite sauce.
• Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• Parmesan cheese
• Ricotta cheese
• Oregano

Instructions

First, cook the ziti until al dente in a big pot of salted water.

Meanwhile, mix the ricotta cheese with the oregano and set it aside.

In a large pot or skillet, warm the meat sauce or sauce of your choice up over medium low heat.

Once the ziti is done cooking, strain it from the water and add it to the meat sauce.

Now add in most of the shredded mozzarella cheese.

Then, give everything a nice big mix until it’s evenly combined.

Add the pasta to a baking dish

Next, using a spoon make little pockets in the ziti and place a heaping tablespoon on the ricotta mixture inside the hole and cover it with the pasta.

Keep making evenly spread out little holes and filling them with the ricotta mixture.

Now sprinkle the top of the ziti with Parmesan cheese and the rest of the mozzarella cheese.

Then bake it, covered, until the cheese is melted and the sizes are nice and bubbly. (See my tip for keeping the cheese from sticking above)

Finally let it cool slightly, garnish with basil (optional) and serve warm. Enjoy!