Baked Ziti with Ricotta
Baked Ziti is a family favorite meal that can be thrown together quickly but tastes like you spent hours making it. This Bake Ziti with Ricotta recipe is creamy, warm, absolutely delicious and is made all in one pot and so cleanup is a breeze! If you love lasagna, you have got to give this Bake Ziti recipe a try!
Baked Ziti Recipe with Ricotta
The flavors in this Baked Ziti are very similar to lasagna – a tangy tomato based sauce, Italian seasonings, fresh herbs, and of course fresh, creamy ricotta cheese all baked together with pasta for a flavorful, satisfying dinner.
My version of Baked Ziti adds in fresh veggies adding interesting flavors, texture and of course a boost of nutrition! This recipe is truly a complete meal with every food group (ok, ok, there isn’t fruit in it – but extra veggies of course) and is all made in just one pot so you aren’t doing dishes all night. If you have ever made homemade lasagna, you know that there is always a heaping mound of dishes!
You have GOT to give this Baked Ziti recipe a try – and trust me – you will be making it again and again, and again!
Ingredients for Baked Ziti Recipe with Ricotta
- Ziti Pasta – Ziti pasta is very similar to penne, but it has a square-angle cut and a rectangular shape while penne has an angled cut that gives it more of a pointed shape. You can use either for this recipe;
- Onion + Garlic – yellow onions have a higher amount of natural sugar and when cooked with garlic give your end dish a sweet aromatic flavor.
- Zucchini – look for small bright green zucchinis when buying. The small zucchinis have a more tender texture.
- Spinach – fresh baby spinach is best for this recipe.
- Crushed tomatoes – crushed tomatoes are mixture of more finely diced tomatoes in a tomato puree. They have a smooth texture and add thickness that is ideal in baked ziti.
- Tomato sauce – tomato sauce is. a tomato product that is not as thick as tomato puree but thicker than tomato juice.
- Seasoning – Italian seasoning, fresh basil
- Ricotta cheese – ricotta is a fresh, soft and mild cheese. It is perfect in baked ziti because it provides a delicious creamy base and delicious mild flavor.
- Mozzarella cheese – mozarella has a high moisture content and is generally less salty than other cheeses. Shredded mozzarella pairs really well with shredded mozzarella has a gooey melted topping for baked ziti because it gives it a nice texture without being too salty.
- Parmesan cheese – parmesan cheese is a semi-hard cheese that has a salty, buttery and unique flavor.
How to Make Baked Ziti with Ricotta
- Start by boiling your noodles in the pot you intend to use for the finished recipe. Boil according to package directions until al dente (you want them on the less-cooked side because they’ll soften more in the sauce). Drain, rinse, and leave in your colander until you’re ready for them in ten minutes.
- Next, saute onions in olive oil over medium-high heat until softened and going translucent. Add garlic and veggies, mixing over the heat until spinach wilts. It will totally fill your pot at first and seem like waaaaay too much, but it will shrink like magic. Think of all that spinach you’re getting in! Score.
- Pour in your sauce ingredients next – crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and Italian seasoning.
- Finally, add your pasta back in, as well as 1 1/2 cups of cheese. I prefer using Italian blend because it has an array of delicious cheeses, but I’ve used mozzarella with some Parmesan as well and it works splendidly. Again, most any shredded cheese you have on hand should work. Experiment and find out what combination your family likes best!
- Mix the pot well and make sure the cheese is melted, then remove from the heat. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and bake the pasta at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. (this is a great way to keep it warm if you aren’t serving it right away)
Your family is sure to love this deliciously creamy pasta – and you’re sure to love how easy it is to make and clean up!
Frequently Asked Questions About Baked Ziti
- Can I substitute cottage cheese for ricotta in baked ziti? You definitely can substitute cottage cheese for. ricotta, but your end result will be a little different. Ricotta cheese is more smooth and creamy while cottage cheese has more moisture and a more lumpy texture. Also, cottage cheese is most salty.
- What can I use besides zucchini? You can definitely use other types of squash instead of zucchini. Yellow or crookneck squash is an easy substitute and cooks the same as zucchini. You can also use winter squash like butternut, but because it takes longer to cook you will probably want to precook it a bit.
- Can I add meat to this recipe and what would be best? I would recommend adding italian sausage to this recipe. After you saute the onions and garlic, I would add the sausage and cook until browned. Then continue to follow the recipe.
- Is it possible to half this recipe? Absolutely! This recipe makes a lot! (perfect for feeding a crowd) If you are just making dinner for your family and you don’t have big eaters, half it for sure. Although this baked ziti. makes delicious leftovers. Just like lasagna, the flavors get better over time.
More Favorite Easy Family Dinners
- Easy Weeknight Veggie Gnocchi – Soft pillowy gnocchi cooked in a sweet tangy tomato sauce loaded with veggies.
- Healthy Turkey Stroganoff – Turkey Stroganoff takes a classic family favorite recipe and uses wholesome, real food ingredients that comes together in less than 30 minutes.
- Easy Tostadas – Freshen up your dinner rotation with fast and easy tostadas made from whole grain flour tortillas and cheesy refried beans with a crunchy cabbage topping.
Baked Ziti with Ricotta
Ingredients
- 16 ounce ziti pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 medium zucchini
- 16 ounce spinach
- 28 ounce crushed tomatoes
- 15 ounce tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, ground
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large cast iron or oven safe pot, boil pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Drain and rinse and keep aside in colander.
- Dice onion and mince garlic. Chop zucchini. In the same cast iron pot, add olive oil and heat to medium-high heat. Saute diced onion for 5 minutes, until slightly translucent.
- Add garlic, zucchini, and spinach and stir until spinach has wilted, about 5-7 minutes. Salt and pepper vegetables to your liking.
- Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasonings, and ricotta cheese to the pot and bring to a simmer. Add noodles and half of the cheese (mix the mozzarella and parmesan cheese together) and mix well. Remove from heat.
- Top with remaining cheese and place in the oven. Bake for about 10 minutes until the cheese on top is melted, and slightly golden brown. Serve hot.
Nutrition
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Natalie Monson
I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.
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I made this for my family tonight and they all loved it! Thanks so much for the recipe! 🙂
So glad to hear that Brooke! Glad it was so well liked!
This recipe is a winner and completely being overlooked! What a fresh tasting yet healthy option, and best of all, my 20-month old toddler enjoyed eating it. Thank you!
I always love hearing when a recipe is loved! Thank you!
Really love this meal. I have made it 3 times already and plan on making it again this week. I don’t use sour cream and just use more yogurt.
I’m so glad! good idea using all yogurt, too!
I just made this, and it is delicious! Do you happen to have the nutritional information?
I substituted butternut squash for yellow squash, and it was really delicious! It is a great one-pot, vegetarian recipe. My daughter loves it, and so do I!
It was easy to make. I agree with the other reviewer that it makes ALOT. We prepared it for 4 people and had a decent amount of left overs. Also, we had a LOT of sauce. Next time I would reduce the amount of sauce by about 1/2. We forgot to buy spinach… so our is sans spinach.
It really makes a lot, but is delicious. We used hokkaido pumpkin and frozen spinach. It`s really easy to prepare and tastes great.
My husband LOVED this dish. I liked it and my two young kids didn’t. It may have been the Italian seasoning? Willing to make it again and make some adjustments.
Going to add chicken next time
Was good, but definitely missing something… maybe a turkey sausage.
Definitely needs more noodles in the recipe. I made the whole 16oz box because I knew by looking it was too much sauce. other than that, I used Wildtree’s spaghetti seasoning and did 2tbsp and added some Wildtree rancher steak rub to taste.
I agree with the other reviews- this made a TON of sauce. I halved the sauce and doubled the noodles and we still had tons of leftovers. We also added Italian sausage.
Pretty good. Not sure what’s missing but there’s something…
We enjoyed it. However, I only used a 14 oz can each of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. It was more than enough sauce at that ratio. Next time I make it I will add some carrots to the sauce to help make it a little sweeter.
I made this for dinner last night and everyone, including two picky little toddlers, enjoyed this meal! Super easy to make and it made a large amount so we have lots of leftovers. We generally followed the recipe with a couple of additions and one substitution – Italian sausage and zucchini, and substituted Dubliner cheese for the mozzarella since we ran out of mozz a couple of days ago. Thanks for the recipe!
10 out of 10
Used egg noodles, added some baked chicken and sweet corn. Delicious
Loved it! My kids eat it without complaint. I did use 16oz of penne pasta. I couldn’t find ziti pasta. If I hadn’t used the 16oz it would have been way to saucey.
This was really good! Enjoyed by the whole family with crusty bread and Caesar salad. I sautéed some chicken first with the onions and garlic for added protein.
Can someone tell me how many cups of pasta this calls for? I’m in Canada and I don’t think our bags of pasta have oz on them. Just trying to figure an equivalent in cups.
About 4 cups. 🙂
Yummy dish! My family really liked it. It took longer to make than the 30 min total time indicated in the recipe. How do you make it that fast?!
The detailed instructions and some comments talk about greek yogurt and sour cream, but the recipe does not have them in the list.
Hi Michele- I apologize for the confusion! We recently updated the recipe and it looks like that information didn’t get fixed in the post. I have updated it! The new recipe doesn’t call for sour cream or greek yogurt.