One Pot Baked Ziti
An incredibly easy, no-fuss baked ziti – even the pasta gets cooked right in the pan!
When I was living in New York city, my dad and I would walk around the corner to the pizza place and always get the same order – two cheese pizzas and a baked ziti. Back then, a slice of pizza was just a $1, and then they’d wrap them up in a giant brown bag and we’d walk back home. I could barely eat half of a pizza then but I’d always stuff my face in the baked ziti. With cheesy, marinara baked pasta, how can any 6-year old resist?
Now I’ve tried to recreate this amazing childhood ziti but as much as I loved the homemade version, it was just too much work for something I could easily buy at the local pizza parlor for $9.99. But with my recent one pot meal obsession, I’ve actually discovered a one pan baked ziti. It’s unbelievably easy, and even the pasta gets cooked right in the pan!
All you need to do is ground up some sausage, add in your tomatoes and pasta, and of course let that mozzarella just melt right in. Easy peasy, right? And if you really want to save up on some dishes, I recommend eating right out of the pan.
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One Pot Baked Ziti
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 12 ounces ziti pasta
- ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup basil leaves, chiffonade
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add Italian sausage and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks. Stir in garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir in tomatoes and bring to a simmer until slightly thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in pasta and 3 cups water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until pasta is cooked through, about 13-16 minutes.
- Remove from heat; stir in Parmesan and heavy cream. Top with mozzarella and cover until cheese has melted, about 2 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with basil, if desired.
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Made this last night and absolutely loved it. I am excited for leftovers.
Delish…this has become a family favorite. I’m a big fan of your recipes.
This is the first recipe my fiancé and I made together 4 years ago! It’s easy to follow and incredibly delicious! It’s also really sentimental to us – thank you!
Made this for dinner tonight. It was Absolutely delicious!
My favorite pasta dish. Easy and delicious. I use gluten free rotini and it is always perfect.
After doing some modifications to this recipe it was damn delicious!
Modifications:
Ground chicken instead of sausage
Canned diced tomatoes instead of crushed (undrained)
1/4 cup heavy cream instead of 1/2 cup
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 cup of Bertolli tomatoe and basil pasta sauce
I experimented with the 3 cups of water as directed for 16 minutes covered along with the recommended amount of pasta. I was left with a lot of water left in the pan. I drained it out and it was where I wanted it to be. I didn’t have any red sauce to begin with so I added 1 cup of Bertolli’s “tomatoe and basil” pasta sauce. Let me tell you, this gave it life and flavor along with the cream, mozz cheese, parm cheese and seasonings. My hubby and I went for more and had it for lunch the next day! Amazing!
I’ll try to add 1 1/2 cup water next time to see what happens. If it continues to be watery, I’ll add in 1/2 cup less each time until I find the perfect amount. I know this is supposed to be a one pot meal but if anyone is frustrated with the pasta situation, just cook and strain separately and return it to the rest of the pan ingredients. Might save all the hassle.
I’m confused as to why it says “baked ziti” when I cannot find in the recipe where it says to bake it. Nonetheless, great and easy recipe!
So good! I love how the lentils and veggies don’t get too soft so there’s some bite to the soup. My whole fam loved it!
Making this for a dinner party tonight and was planning to double the recipe. Any things to know except for just doubling all of the ingredients? Will 6 cups of water be too much if the pasta is also doubled?
Made this as directed except cooked only on stovetop. Didn’t realize my mother was cleaning the oven lol. Still it tasted really good the whole family and our neighbor really enjoyed it. I devoured the little bit of leftovers the next day. 🙂
I love your recipes and this one looked like a winner. Unfortunately, it merely placed. My fault. I used a 28 oz.jar of Bolognese Sauce because I didn’t have a can of diced tomatoes. Although the taste was delicious, the sauce was so soupy the mozzarella disappeared into it. I had to add some slices on top and put it in the oven, hoping the sauce would become less liquid. It didn’t. At least the flavor was good. I used 2 chicken sausages and 2 Sicilian chicken sausages which gave off some spice. I highly recommend this duo. Thanks, anyway. Next time I’ll use canned tomatoes.
I feel like a chef
Flavorful with garlic, red pepper and heavy cream however to liquidy next time I’ll try using quarter of a cup of heavy cream not a half cup
Thanks for sharing.
Um, am I the only person in all these years this recipe has been posted and commented on to notice that those… aren’t… ziti pasta? That’s Fusilli! 😀
Regardless, this recipe looks pretty delicious. 🙂
I don’t have crushed tomatoes. What can I use to substitute? Wonder if of Italian tomatoes would be good in this.
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Excited to try this. That is rotini in your photo– ziti is tube-shaped. Does either pasta work for this recipe?
Either one will work, yes. Have fun cooking!
I had pinned this ages ago and never made it. We are at the beach and I needed an easy meal that didn’t dirty of a lot of dishes. It did seem to have a little too much water at the end so I may add a little less and watch it. This was really good and my toddler enjoyed it. I will definitely make again!
Changes: Halved. Lean ground beef instead of sausage. Half-n-half instead of heavy cream. No basil.
This was wonderful and easy! Love the one pot meals. I am a long time fan of baked ziti and while this is different than the standard (no ricotta as an example), this felt lighter and still had a very lush flavor and texture. This is a good base recipe that you can add your favorite flavors to (spices and veggies). I served it with the slow cooker garlic herb mushrooms which was a very decadent combo.
Hello, I made this recipe a few weeks ago and it was excellent! I am in love with your blog! I am making it again tomorrow and am wondering if it is possible to freeze into portions for the next few days and/or what oven temp you would reheat it at from frozen or refrigerated? Thank you for sharing all these awesome recipes!! 🙂
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I had some ground beef to use up and was looking for an easy recipe, so I adapted this one. I didn’t have any fresh basil, so added some dried along with some oregano, as there wasn’t the flavour from the Italian sausage. It was so simple to cook and tasted amazing. I’ve tried a few recipes from this site and they’ve all been wonderful.