Baked Ziti With Beef Sauce

I kept making this with jarred sauce until I realized the beef needed more time with the tomatoes than I was giving it. Now I brown everything together first and it’s honestly just better that way.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• The beef sauce actually tastes like it simmered all day but you’re done in 45 minutes
• You get crispy cheese on top and gooey ricotta pockets underneath in the same bite
• Feeds 8 people without needing a second dish
• The foil trick keeps everything from drying out which was my problem for like six months
• Leftovers reheat without getting weird and watery
• 497 calories per serving so you can have garlic bread on the side

The Story Behind This Recipe

I made baked ziti for the first time last Tuesday after work because I had ground beef that needed to get used and a box of pasta in the cabinet. I’ve always ordered it at Italian places but never tried making it myself because I thought it’d be complicated. Turns out it’s just layering stuff in a dish and letting the oven do the work. The only thing I changed from my first attempt was adding that cup of sauce directly to the pasta before layering — it keeps the noodles from sticking together in clumps which happened the first time and made serving it annoying. Now I make this every couple weeks because it’s easy and my roommate will actually eat the leftovers.

What You Need

You’ll need a pound of ziti pasta, which is basically penne’s tubed cousin but with straight edges instead of angles. Regular penne works fine if that’s what you’ve got but ziti holds sauce better because of how the tubes sit.

For the beef sauce you’re using a pound of ground beef, one chopped onion and three cloves of minced garlic. I buy the 85/15 ground beef because the fat actually matters for flavor here. You’ll also need a 24-ounce jar of marinara sauce and an 8-ounce can of tomato sauce — I know it seems like a lot but half of it goes directly into the pasta and the rest layers through. Don’t skip the tomato sauce thinking the marinara is enough. It’s not.

The oregano is a tablespoon of dried, not fresh, because dried holds up better in the oven and doesn’t get weird and brown. For cheese you need 15 ounces of ricotta, 2 cups of shredded mozzarella and half a cup of grated parmesan. I get the block parmesan and grate it myself because the pre-grated stuff doesn’t melt the same way. The ricotta creates those pockets I mentioned earlier and the mozzarella gets stretchy and crispy at the same time somehow. You’ll also need salt for the pasta water but I’m assuming you’ve got that.

How to Make Baked Ziti With Beef Sauce

Get your oven going to 350°F first because you’ll need it ready when you’re done layering everything. Fill your biggest pot with water, salt it like you’re seasoning soup, and get it boiling for the ziti.

Cook the pasta until it’s al dente, which means it still has a little bite when you test it. This matters because it’s going in the oven for another 30 minutes and you don’t want mush. Drain it and leave it sitting in the colander while you make the sauce.

Brown the ground beef in a big skillet over medium heat with the chopped onion and minced garlic. I break the meat up with a wooden spoon as it cooks so you don’t end up with big chunks. The onion will start to go translucent and the garlic smell hits you right when everything’s about done, maybe 8 minutes total.

Pour in both sauces — the marinara and the tomato sauce — then add your tablespoon of oregano. Let this simmer on medium for a few minutes until it’s bubbling a little bit. Take one cup of this beef sauce and mix it directly into your drained pasta in a separate bowl. This is the step that keeps the cheesy pasta bake from turning into stuck-together noodle clumps when you serve it.

Spread half the pasta mixture into a 9x13 baking dish. Drop spoonfuls of ricotta all over it — you’re using half the container so about 7 or 8 ounces worth. Sprinkle one cup of the shredded mozzarella on top of that, then pour one cup of the remaining beef sauce over everything.

Add the rest of the pasta mixture as your second layer. Pour all the leftover sauce on top and spread it around so it covers everything. I noticed the sauce kind of seeps down into the layers on its own as it bakes which is exactly what you want.

Cover the whole thing tight with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Pull it out, peel back the foil — watch out because there’s a lot of steam — and add the parmesan and the rest of your mozzarella on top. Put it back in uncovered for 10 more minutes until the cheese on top starts to color and gets those crispy edges around the sides of the pan.

What I Did Wrong the First Time

I didn’t cover it with foil the first time because I thought I wanted the cheese crispy from the start. What actually happened was the top dried out and got hard while the middle was still cold in some spots. The foil traps moisture so everything heats through evenly and then you get the crispy cheese finish at the end when you take it off. Also I way under-salted my pasta water that first time and the noodles tasted flat even with all the sauce on them.

Baked Ziti With Beef Sauce

By Emma

Prep:

15 min

Cook:

30 min

Total:

45 min

Servings:

8 servings

Ingredients

• ziti pasta, cooked and drained
• ground beef, browned
• onion, chopped
• garlic, minced
• beef and tomato sauces, combined
• oregano
• ricotta cheese
• mozzarella cheese, shredded
• parmesan cheese, grated

Method

1. 1 Preheat your oven to 350°F to get the baking environment ready while you handle the other steps.
2. 2 Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the ziti until al dente. Drain and set aside, feeling the pasta’s firmness to avoid mushiness.
3. 3 In a skillet over medium heat, add the ground beef, chopped onion, and minced garlic. Cook stirring occasionally until the beef turns brown and the aroma of caramelized onion and garlic fills the air.
4. 4 Pour in the combined beef and tomato sauces, sprinkle the oregano over the mixture, and keep it on medium heat. Watch for the sauce to bubble gently, signaling the flavors have begun to meld.
5. 5 Take one cup of that rich beef and sauce blend and stir it into the cooked ziti, coating it completely so each piece carries the savory mix.
6. 6 Spoon half of this ziti mixture evenly into a large baking dish, spreading it flat to build the first layer.
7. 7 Dollop ricotta cheese over this base, then sprinkle one cup of shredded mozzarella. Pour one cup of sauce on top; the cheeses will start to meld from the warm pasta underneath.
8. 8 Add the remaining ziti mixture on top, pressing down lightly, then ladle the rest of the sauce evenly over everything, covering the layers in that rich tomato-beef goodness.
9. 9 Seal the dish tightly with foil. Slide it into the oven and bake for 20 minutes; the bubbling under the foil will indicate it’s heating through.
10. 10 Remove the foil carefully — steam will escape with a hiss — and scatter the parmesan cheese and the remaining shredded mozzarella over the top.
11. 11 Return the dish to the oven uncovered for 10 minutes. You’ll see the cheese golden and slightly crispy, the smell filling your kitchen, telling you it’s ready.

Nutritional information

Calories

497

Protein

27g

Carbs

52g

Fat

20g

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Tips for the Best Baked Ziti With Beef Sauce

Let the baked ziti sit for 10 minutes after you pull it from the oven. I never used to do this and would just dig right in, but everything holds together way better when it cools slightly and the sauce thickens up as it sits there.

Don’t drain all the fat from your beef. I used to pour it off completely and the beef sauce pasta ended up kind of dry and grainy instead of rich. Leave maybe a tablespoon or two in there with the meat before you add the sauces.

Use a metal spoon to dollop the ricotta instead of trying to spread it. If you spread it the ricotta turns into a solid layer instead of those pockets and you lose that texture contrast when you’re eating it.

The sauce on the very top layer should go all the way to the edges of your pan. I kept leaving the corners exposed and those noodles would get hard and crunchy, not in a good way, while everything else stayed soft.

When you’re mixing that first cup of sauce into the cooked pasta, the noodles should look almost too saucy. They’ll absorb a lot of it while sitting and then more in the oven, so what looks like too much is actually just right.

Serving Ideas

I put this on the table with garlic bread and a simple salad that’s just romaine with Italian dressing. The bread is for soaking up extra sauce from the bottom of your bowl.

You can portion this into individual ramekins before baking if you’re having people over and want it to look nicer. Same baking time but everyone gets their own cheesy pasta bake with crispy edges all around.

Calabrian chili oil drizzled on top right before serving adds heat without changing anything about how you make it. My roommate does this every single time because apparently I don’t make it spicy enough.

Variations

You can swap half the ground beef for Italian sausage if you want more flavor without doing extra work. Squeeze it out of the casings and brown it the same way. The fennel in the sausage changes the whole thing.

A cup of frozen spinach mixed into the ricotta layer works if you’re trying to add vegetables. Thaw it first and squeeze out all the water or your baked ziti gets watery underneath. I tried this once with wet spinach and learned that lesson.

Penne works fine instead of ziti but the tubes are shorter so your layers end up looking kind of messy when you cut into it. Tastes the same though so it doesn’t really matter unless you care about how it looks.

You could make this without the ricotta layer and just use all mozzarella but you lose those creamy pockets. It turns into more of a regular cheesy pasta bake instead of what this is supposed to be.

FAQ

Can I make baked ziti ahead of time? Assemble everything in the baking dish, cover it with foil and stick it in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Add 10 extra minutes to the covered baking time since it’s starting cold. The pasta soaks up more sauce sitting in the fridge which actually makes it better.

Why is my baked ziti watery? You either didn’t drain your pasta well enough or you used too much sauce. Shake the colander a few times after draining to get excess water off the noodles. Also if your marinara jar is really thin and liquidy that’ll do it too.

Can I freeze baked ziti? Yeah, assemble it in a disposable aluminum pan and wrap it really tight with plastic wrap then foil before freezing. Bake from frozen at 350°F covered for an hour, then uncover and add the top cheese for another 15 minutes. I’ve kept these frozen for two months.

Do I have to use ricotta? You could use cottage cheese instead but blend it first so it’s smoother. Straight cottage cheese has those curds that are too chunky and don’t spread right. The flavor’s a little tangier than ricotta but it works.

How do I know when it’s done baking? The sauce should be bubbling around the edges and the cheese on top will have brown spots. If you stick a knife in the center and pull it out, it should be hot when you touch it to your wrist. That’s how I check instead of guessing.

Can I use fresh mozzarella? Not really because it has too much moisture and will make everything soupy. The low-moisture shredded stuff is what you want here. Fresh mozzarella is for pizza or caprese salad, not this.

Why didn’t my cheese get crispy? Your oven might run cool or you didn’t move the rack to the upper third for that last 10 minutes. Also if you piled the cheese too thick on top it steams itself instead of crisping. Thin even layer works better.

What if I don’t have a 9x13 pan? Two 8x8 pans work but you’ll need to check them earlier, maybe 15 minutes covered instead of 20. A deeper casserole dish is fine too but might need a few extra minutes since the layers are thicker.

Can I use ground turkey instead of beef? Sure but add an extra tablespoon of olive oil when you’re browning it because turkey is so lean. Without added fat the sauce tastes flat. Ground turkey doesn’t brown the same way either so don’t expect that caramelized beef flavor.

How long do leftovers last? Four days in the fridge in an airtight container. Reheat portions in the microwave for 2 minutes or in a 350°F oven covered with foil for 20 minutes. The microwave makes the cheese a little rubbery but it’s faster.

Do I have to brown the beef with the onion and garlic? Yeah, cooking them together means the onion and garlic flavor gets into the meat as it browns. If you cook the beef alone first it doesn’t taste the same and you’ll notice it’s missing something.

Can I add vegetables to this? Mushrooms work if you cook them with the beef until they release their water and it evaporates. Raw vegetables will make the whole thing watery. Zucchini doesn’t really work because it turns to mush in the oven.

What kind of marinara sauce should I buy? Anything with simple ingredients works. I use whatever’s on sale but check that it’s not too sweet. Some brands add a ton of sugar and it throws off the whole beef sauce. Rao’s is good but expensive.

Why did my pasta stick together in clumps? You skipped mixing that first cup of sauce into the cooked pasta before layering. That step coats each noodle so they stay separate instead of welding together. Also if you let the drained pasta sit too long it’ll stick.

Can I use dried parsley instead of oregano? No because parsley doesn’t have enough flavor to stand up to the beef and tomato sauce. Oregano is what makes it taste Italian. Basil would work better than parsley if you’re out of oregano.

How do I reheat this without drying it out? Add a splash of water or extra marinara on top before reheating and cover it with a damp paper towel in the microwave. In the oven cover it tight with foil and add 5-10 minutes depending on portion size.

What if I only have pre-grated parmesan? It’ll work but won’t melt as smoothly on top. The anti-caking stuff they add to pre-grated cheese makes it kind of gritty when it melts. If that’s all you have just use it, it’s not a dealbreaker for this recipe.