Name: Baked Ziti Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 16 ounces uncooked ziti or penne pasta; 1 pound ground beef; 16 ounces tomato sauce; 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce; 2 teaspoons dried oregano; 1 teaspoon onion powder; 1 teaspoon granulated sugar; salt and pepper to taste; ½ cup cream cheese (warmed); 2 cups freshly shredded mozzarella cheese (divided); ½ cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese

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Creamy, saucy and delicious this Baked Ziti Recipe is comfort at its best. Mixed with ground beef, layered with cheese and baked this is the perfect weeknight meal.

We are a huge pasta family around here. I think if I was able to make pasta every single day my family would not complain one bit, and neither would I.

One pasta recipe that we have always loved is this Baked Ziti. It is a quick and easy recipe to throw together, super tasty and bakes up nicely with gooey cheese.

Cheese is another thing that we love and this Baked Ziti Recipe has 3 different kinds and you absolutely can’t go wrong with that in my opinion.

Instead of mixing everything together in our recipe we like to do layers so you have that cheese all throughout and not sporadically and in nice chunks.

I love chunks of cheese, give me a big old bite of pasta with a huge chunk of cheese along with it and I’m sold. I know that is not the best way of explaining this, but once you try it you will see.

Also instead of using jarred sauce we make our own using tomato sauce and spices! It is so so delicious and we wouldn’t do it any other way.

Some of my other favorite pasta recipes we have on our site include: One Pot Cajun Pasta, Spaghetti Casserole and Pepper Jack Bacon Mac and Cheese.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

Easily available ingredients help this come together quickly.
Ground beef can be substituted for your favorite ground meat.
This is a hearty recipe and feeds the whole family.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):

Ziti or penne pasta
Ground beef
Tomato sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Oregano
Onion powder
Granulated sugar
Salt
Pepper
Cream cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

HOW TO MAKE A BAKED ZITI RECIPE, STEP BY STEP:

Cook the pasta according to package directions.
Meanwhile preheat your oven to 350°F and set aside a 9×13 baking pan
Heat up a pan over medium high heat and cook the ground beef until it’s no longer pink, breaking it up with a spoon
Drain excess liquid and add all ingredients for the sauce to the pan.
Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes until the sauce is starting to bubble
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Next add the sauce over the cooked pasta and give it a good toss.
Add half of the noodles and sauce to the baking pan.
Spread the cream cheese evenly over the pasta.
Top with the parmesan and around ⅓ of the mozzarella cheese.
Lastly add the second half of the noodles, top with remaining mozzarella and bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted
Serve hot with fresh basil if desired.

HOW DO I GET MY CREAM CHEESE SPREADABLE?

What I like to do is place my cream cheese in a bowl or on a plate and microwave it in 20-30 second increments and checking for softness.

I feel that when the cream cheese has been heated it is so much easier to spread and not cause chunks or mix in with the pasta itself.

WHAT KIND OF MEAT CAN I USE?

For our Baked Ziti Recipe I used ground beef but you can use any of your favorite ground meats that you like, we also love a mixture of ground beef and pork.

Other meats that we have tried and work well are ground turkey and chicken, or you can decide to not use any meat at all.

CAN I USE PASTA SAUCE INSTEAD OF TOMATO SAUCE?

You can use your favorite pasta sauce or marinara sauce instead of using the tomato sauce mixture that we use.

If you are in a hurry this is the best way to hurry up that process although making the tomato sauce mixture doesn’t really take that long at all.

HOW TO STORE:

This recipe can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container where it will keep for up to 3 days.

This can also be frozen. This can be frozen before or after baking, to freeze before baking assemble according to the recipe and then wrap in plastic wrap and then tin foil this will keep for up to 2 months.

To bake, remove from oven you can bake from frozen covered with foil at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes taking foil off the last 10 minutes.

Or you can defrost in the refrigerator overnight and bake at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes.

If you are freezing after baking place in an airtight container and place in freezer where again it will keep for up to 2 months. Defrost in refrigerator overnight and reheat in microwave.

TIPS AND TRICKS:

Ziti is normally used in this recipe but you can also use penne or rigatoni as well.
Make sure that your cheese is freshly shredded, this helps it melt better.
Warm up your cream cheese in microwave before spreading over pasta.
You can swap out pasta sauce or marinara sauce if you’d like.
If you like the casserole to be more juicy/saucy feel free to adjust the amount of tomato sauce and spices.
This can be frozen, see my tips above.

If you are looking for that perfectly easy pasta recipe to whip up for dinner then you have to make my Baked Ziti Recipe!

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Baked Ziti Recipe