Baked Ziti with meat is a family favorite around here! It’s loaded with pasta, meat sauce, and creamy cheese. The bechamel sauce is simple to make and really takes this whole dish over the top!
Move over lasagna, this baked ziti with meat sauce is here and you’re never going to want to go back.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch – everyone needs lasagna sometimes, but this baked ziti? It’s my favorite.
So cheesy, hearty, and filling. The whole family absolutely LOVES this dish, especially thanks to the ‘secret sauce’ in the center of it all!
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What Readers are Saying!
“Having grown up in Boston where there is a huge Italian-American population. I have to say we never added a bechamel sauce to any baked pasta that had a tomato product. Well, I tried it a few years ago and WOW it really enhances the casserole. If you haven’t tried it, you should.” -ROB
The secret sauce is just a bechamel sauce. It sounds fancy and a little scary, but I promise it’s super easy to whip up and you’ve probably made the start of bechamel a hundred times. You got this, I promise.
Ingredients:
Don’t let the long list of ingredients fool you. This recipe isn’t overly complicated or time consuming, though it does have a few extra steps and ingredients that really make it special.
- Ziti: Feel free to swap this for penne or another short, tube shaped pasta.
- Ground Beef: We use lean beef, but any variety is fine.
- Marinara: We use and love Rao’s for the best flavor!
- Ricotta Cheese
- Egg
- Italian Seasoning
- Parmesan
- Butter
- Flour
- Milk: 2% or whole milk will work just fine.
- Cream
- Mozzarella: freshly shredded is best
How to make baked ziti with meat sauce:
Pasta: Start by cooking your ziti noodles in a pot of boiling water. Cook the pasta for about 3 minutes less than the package says. It will finish cooking in the oven.
Meat Sauce: While the noodles are cooking, you can start browning the ground beef in a medium skillet. When it is done, drain the fat completely and then stir in your marinara. You could add onions and garlic to the meat, if desired.
Bechamel Sauce: Your next step is to make the bechamel sauce. This is done by melting butter in a pot, whisking in flour, and then whisking in milk and cream until it thickens up. Bechamel is basically just a cream gravy and it adds the perfect creaminess to this baked ziti recipe.
Cheese Mixture: Next up, you’ll want to prepare the ricotta cheese mixture. Stir together the ricotta, egg, Parmesan, and Italian seasoning until well combined.
Layer: Add a layer of meat sauce to the bottom of a 9×13 dish. Top with half of the ziti and half of the remaining meat sauce. Spread half of the bechamel over the top.
Top that with dollops of the ricotta mixture. Top it all off with a final layer of ziti, meat sauce, and bechamel. Top with the remaining mozzarella and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning.
Bake: Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for 15 more minutes.
Tips & Tricks:
This recipe definitely has more steps than most of our recipes, but it’s truly worth every second.
To make the recipe go even faster, skip the bechamel and use a jar of Alfredo sauce in it’s place. We personally LOVE the bechamel and think it’s worth it, but #momlife. We get it.
Make this a vegetarian meal by skipping the beef and just using a jar of warmed marinara.
Any shape of pasta will work here. Small tube shaped pasta are best, such as penne, but you could even make this with spaghetti if that’s what you have on hand.
This is a great recipe if you are teaching someone how to cook, or looking for a date night activity! The extra hands are great and you can have fun in the kitchen together!
More Italian recipes to try:
Alfredo Sauce: It doesn’t get much more decadent than my homemade Alfredo! Try my tortellini alfredo too!
Lasagna Recipe: There are no noodles in this low carb skillet lasagna!
Italian Pasta Salad : A must make every summer!
Turkey Meatballs: Just as tasty as beef meatballs, but a little lighter.
Shrimp Alfredo: Always a hit!
Million Dollar Spaghetti: Probably not authentic Italian, but man it’s good!
Baked Ziti with Meat Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound ziti
- 1 pound ground beef
- 20 ounces marinara jarred or homemade
- 15 ounces Ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning divided
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 8 ounces mozzarella freshly shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick spray.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with salt. Boil the pasta for 3 minutes less than the package directs.
- While the pasta boils, brown the ground beef in a medium skillet. Drain the fat. Stir in the marinara sauce and warm through over medium heat.
- In a small pot melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Cook until hot and bubbly. Whisk in the milk and cream and cook 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened to a gravy consistency. Stir in the pepper and nutmeg.
- In a medium bowl mix together the ricotta, egg, Parmesan cheese, and 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning.
- Spread 1/4 cup of the meat sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.
- Pour in half of the ziti and spread it out. Pour on half of the meat sauce and spread it over the ziti. Spread half of the bechamel over the meat sauce.
- Drop dollops of the ricotta mixture over the meat sauce and then sprinkle with half of the mozzarella.
- Repeat the layers of ziti and meat sauce. Pour the remaining bechamel evenly over the top. Place the remaining cheese on top and sprinkle with the 1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning.
- Bake covered for 30 minutes.
- Remove the cover and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Let set for 10 minutes before serving.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This post was originally published in 2011. Updated in January 2021.
Silina says
Our much loved, but sadly late, son in law and daughter made a wonderful lasagna but did not cook the lasagna pasta, he said that the sauce and a bit of water added would work well. So, we tried it and he was correct.
Would your ziti recipe work well without first cooking the ziti?
I did try your mac and cheese recipe, cooking the macaroni, three minutes short of the time I would usually cook macaroni and the pasta was mushy.
Thus, I will try the ziti recipe without first cooking the ziti
Karly says
Hi Silina! We’ve only tried this as directed. I’m not sure this would work great with uncooked ziti.
Maggie Martin says
Son in aw bday is April 20, hhe has already requested this only I add 1 candrained blackolives and a hanfill of polska kielbasa. He makesKarly Bread
Excellent!
Jean Fullerton says
Can you make this and freeze it to cook later?
Karly says
I’m sure you can, though I’ve never done so myself.