Baked Ziti

This Baked Ziti is comfort food with lots of flavors, rich, creamy with seriously the best homemade sauce and a creamy topping. You will be surprised how easy it is to make and you will never ever tell it is vegan.

Pasta bake is one of my favorites. Just think of my Pasta Al Forno, the Pizza Spaghetti, my Tetrazzini, the Million Dollar Spaghetti, or Taco Spaghetti. 

Those vegan pasta recipes are dishes I made often.

This Baked Ziti recipe is not just another pasta bake. It is the epitome of where it all started. With ziti or penne pasta, a rich meaty sauce, dollops of ricotta and baked topped with typically mozzarella to cheesy perfection.

Why this is absolutely the best Baked Ziti

Diced tomatoes and tomato sauce make a great texture: smooth but with amazing juicy bits.

Vegan sausage and vegan ground beef create a great meaty texture, so I add them both

The cheeses: There isn’t anything more satisfying than vegan ricotta and vegan parmesan: so rich, creamy and cheesy like I did in my Spinach Lasagna or the Eggplant Lasagna. 

The seasonings are what make Baked Ziti so delicious: I use fresh garlic and onions, Italian herbs and red pepper flakes which create a great flavor.

Preparation is as easy as it can be and with my step by step pictures you have a guarantee to get the most amazing result,.

And the pasta is even precooked which I think you’ve never seen before and saves you a lot of time.

What you need for this Baked Ziti recipe

• Pasta
• Vegan mozzarella
• Vegan parmesan
• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Onions

 

• Vegan ground beef
• Vegan sausage
• Red pepper flakes
• Italian herbs
• Marinara
• Diced tomatoes

How to make Baked Ziti

Preheat oven to 390°F and set a 8×11 inch casserole aside.

Heat olive oil to a large frying pan. Add finely diced onions and garlic, fry for 2 minutes until lightly softened. Give the vegan ground beef and sausage to the pan and cook on high for 4 minutes.

Mix in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, pepper flakes and season with a pinch salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes more.

Mix pasta with sauce, and transfer to a casserole dish.

Now take a small mixing bowl and combine ricotta, half of the mozzarella and half of the parmesan. Spoon dollops of the ricotta mixture on top of the pasta, and sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top. Bake for around 15 minutes, serve on plates.

Leftovers, make ahead and freezer instructions

Leftovers of my Baked Ziti will stay fresh in the fridge for around 5 days, and will beautifully reheat in the oven. Make ahead option: you can prepare in advance stick it in fridge the night before and bake the next day.

For freezing: let cool completely, cover with foil and freeze for around 3 months.

Tips and tricks

Use an amazing pasta: ziti or penne is great, but rigatoni works also well, because it has deep ridges that really holds the sauce.

If you’re looking for a little more heat you can use my Arrabbiata Sauce as the base for the meat sauce in this Baked Ziti, yum.

Other pasta recipes to try:

• Lemon Pasta
• Hamburger Helper
• Toasted Ravioli

Try this Baked Ziti and tag me with a snapped picture of all your remakes on Instagram or Facebook.

Cheers, Florian.