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This baked ziti recipe is quick to prep, simple to customize, and always so cozy and delicious.
Cozy, cheesy, and guaranteed to make the whole table happy. ♡
With our boys starting school next week (first day of daycare and pre-K — my heart!), I’m lining up a few low-fuss dinners like this baked ziti to help us all do our best to get back into the school year routine. This one’s a forever favorite — tender pasta tossed with savory Italian sausage, crispy pancetta, fresh spinach, and plenty of melty mozzarella and Parmesan, all tossed with a jar of your favorite marinara sauce and baked until bubbly and golden. It’s one of those standby recipes that’s ultra-simple, endlessly customizable, freezer-friendly, and a win with kiddos and adults alike.
We like to serve ours up with a side salad or some air-fryer broccoli, garlic bread, maybe a glass of red wine. And if there are leftovers, they reheat like a dream for an easy lunch the next day. It’s the kind of cozy comfort we’re ready to bring back this time of year. Let’s make some together!
Recipe Tips
Want to make the most of this recipe? Keep these quick tips in mind:
Undercook the pasta slightly. Pull the pasta from the boiling water about 1 minute before it reaches al dente so it doesn’t overcook and get soggy while baking in the sauce.
Drain pancetta on paper towels. This keeps the final dish from getting greasy while still letting you use the flavorful drippings to cook the sausage and onion.
Use a good-quality marinara. Since the sauce is a major component here, choose a good-quality jarred sauce (we always keep Rao’s on hand!) or your favorite homemade marinara.
Bake uncovered. This allows the cheese to brown and the edges to crisp slightly — no need to cover with foil!
Recipe Variations
Want to change things up? Here are a few easy twists to try with this baked ziti recipe:
Add veggies: Stir in sautéed mushrooms, zucchini, bell peppers, or roasted eggplant.
Use a different protein: Swap the Italian sausage for ground beef, turkey, chicken, or a plant-based alternative.
Go vegetarian: Skip the meat entirely and bulk up the sauce with extra vegetables, lentils, or white beans.
Switch the cheese: Try provolone, fontina, ricotta, or goat cheese in place of (or in addition to) the mozzarella and Parmesan.
This baked ziti recipe is quick to prep, simple to customize, and bakes up into the coziest, cheesiest weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
Scale
1 pound uncooked ziti
1 (4 ounce) package pancetta (or diced bacon)
1 pound ground Italian sausage
1 small white onion, diced
5 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspooneach: crushed red pepper flakes, dried oregano, fine sea salt
2 (28-ounce) jars marinara sauce
2 handfuls (3 ounces) fresh baby spinach
16 ounces shredded whole milk mozzarella, divided
2/3 cup freshly-grated Parmesan, divided
chopped fresh basil and/or parsley, for topping
Instructions
Prep the pasta water, oven and baking dish.Bring a large pot of generously-salted water to a boil. Heat the oven to 400°F. Mist a 9×13-inch baking dish with oil.
Cook the meat and veggies.Cook the pancetta in a large sauté pan or stockpot until browned, stirring occasionally. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pancetta to a clean bowl and set aside. Add the Italian sausage and onion and cook until browned, breaking the sausage up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Add the garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and oregano and sauté for 2 more minutes, stirring frequently.
Cook the pasta.Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until it’s about 1 minute shy of al dente. (The pasta will continue to cook in the oven.) Drain the pasta and return it to the stockpot.
Finish the sauce.While the pasta is cooking, carefully add in the marinara sauce, spinach and cooked pancetta to the meat mixture and stir to combine until the spinach has wilted. One the pasta has been drained, pour the sauce into the stockpot with the pasta and gently toss to combine.
Layer in a pan.Add about half of the pasta mixture to the pan in an even layer. Sprinkle evenly with half of the mozzarella and half of the Parmesan. Add the remaining pasta and sprinkle evenly with the remaining mozzarella.
Bake.Bake for 20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese begins to brown. (If you’d like the cheese even more golden, you can turn on the broiler for a minute or two until it starts to brown, keeping a very close eye so that it does not burn.)
Serve.Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and basil or parsley, serve up nice and hot, and enjoy!
