This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Baked ziti with meatballs is one of the pasta recipes that checks all the boxes for a delicious family meal. It’s delicious enough for company and always a favorite for Sunday supper. We use prepared marinara and a super-easy meatball recipe to keep it simplified and convenient!
I love the mini meatballs in the cheesy sauce- flavor explosions in each bite. A scoop of this delicious ziti pasta bake, a nice green salad, and a crusty chunk of bread might be the closest thing to culinary heaven I can think of! This version is full of classic Italian flavors and always gets rave reviews.
If your family loves baked ziti as much as mine does, I hope you’ll try my Baked Ziti With Ricotta, Baked Ziti With Sausage, Five Cheese Ziti Al Forno, and meatless baked ziti next! I promise you’ll love every version here.
Let’s make this ziti!
Baked Ziti With Meatballs Ingredients
- Bread Crumbs: In this recipe, I like to use Progresso Italian breadcrumbs. I generally don’t use such fine bread crumbs, but I like them for these meatballs.
- Eggs: Large eggs. They’re best used at room temperature.
- Milk: I like the richness of whole milk added to the panade.
- Cheese: For the meatballs, I like to use grated Romano. If you’d prefer, Parm will work just fine.
- Parsley: Fresh parsley.
- Beef: I like 80/20 ground beef for tender, juicy meatballs.
- I
- Salt + Pepper: Essential seasoning. Nothing tastes correct if your salt and pepper aren’t correct.
- Flour: I coat the meatballs with a bit of all-purpose flour.
- Oil: You can use any neutral-flavored vegetable oil. My preference is olive oil.
- Pasta: Please use a high-quality brand such as Dececco or Barilla. While this dish, based on the title uses ziti pasta, you can also use penne with equally delicious results.
- Onion: I use yellow onion.
- Garlic: Please only use fresh garlic, not the stuff that comes pre-minced and suspended in that awful-tasting liquid. What the heck is that liquid?
- Basil: I only use fresh basil.
- Sauce: Most jars of marinara sauce are 24 ounces, and with two jars, you’ll be 1 cup short. This recipe will work with 4 cups, but I prefer it with 5 cups. If you have the time to make it yourself, try my easy Marinara sauce or my more time-intensive Italian Sunday gravy. Both of these sauces are wonderful. My Italian gravy is amazing!
- Cheese: I use three types of cheese for my filling: ricotta cheese (use whole milk ricotta), mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese! It’s a wonderful combo in this ziti!
- Butter: You can use salted or unsalted butter.
Recipe Notes
- Cooking the pasta: I can’t stress enough that you need to follow good pasta prep techniques. You don’t want to end up with pasta mush at the end of the bake. Boil just to al dente, and no rinsing! Check out this article from Smithsonian magazine for more pasta cooking info.
- Searing the meatballs: I use vegetable oil, generally canola, because of its high smoke point, which makes it safer to use at high temperatures. You want it HOT before you put your meatballs in! It should sizzle like crazy when the meat hits it. This quick cook seals in the flavor and moisture of the meatballs and is absolutely essential!
- Frozen Meatballs Instead: No time to make meatballs? No worries! Frozen cocktail meatballs are a great shortcut for this recipe.
- Ricotta: I use whole milk ricotta because I like the creaminess. If you don’t like ricotta, you can substitute a small curd, full-fat cottage cheese.
- Pasta: I like Ziti for this pasta bake. It’s strong and sturdy and holds up well to mixing and baking. I generally use Barilla pasta
- Best way To Wrap Baked Ziti For Storage: Believe it or not, there’s a right way and a wrong way to wrap baked ziti with plastic wrap. Check out this article from My Recipes on how to do it right!
Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? 4-5 days is a good rule of thumb. Store in an airtight container.
- Can You Freeze This? This freezes beautifully! I prefer to freeze it unbaked. Simply assemble as directed and allow to cool completely. Wrap well with cling wrap and foil. It will hold for about three months. You can freeze it baked or freeze leftovers, if there are any. The pasta texture isn’t quite as nice on a second go through the oven, but it’s still delish!
- How to Make Baked Ziti Ahead Of Time: You can make this up to 3 days ahead of time and store it in the fridge. Simply assemble as directed, but don’t bake it. Wrap it in cling wrap or use a tight-fitting lid. Pop it in the oven when you’re ready for it! If it comes straight from the fridge, the cook time will be increased.
Serving Recommendations
This is wonderful, serve this with my loaded with goodies Mediterranean salad or a simple green salad tossed with my easy-peasy homemade balsamic vinaigrette, simple roasted peppers, or my roasted green beans with pancetta and sweet roasted shallots!
I also serve this dish with copycat Olive Garden breadsticks, my truly amazing garlic bread, pull-apart garlic bread, or yummy garlic and herb Parker House rolls.
Top off everything with my strawberry tiramisu, classic tiramisu, incredibly amazing Italian Christmas cookies, amaretti cookies (Oh, how I love these little cookies!), ricotta cookies, or Italian wedding cookies.
How To Make Baked Ziti With Meatballs
Make Meatballs:
-
In a large bowl, mix together bread crumbs, eggs, milk, Romano, and parsley. Add beef, salt, and black pepper and mix until everything is evenly combined, being careful not to overwork the beef.
-
Roll the beef mixture into small, cocktail-size meatballs, then roll each one into flour. Shake off the excess.
-
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, almost to smoking. Brown the meatballs in batches so as not to crowd the skillet. Continue to cook until all sides of the meatballs are brown. Remove the browned meatballs to a paper towel-lined plate.
-
Cook Pasta: In a large pot, cook until al dente. Drain but do not rinse!
- Assemble: Mix basil, sauce, and ricotta in a large bowl until combined. Add pasta and meatballs, and gently fold until evenly combined
-
Pour into a baking dish and sprinkle the top evenly with mozzarella, Parmesan, and the remaining Romano. Dot with butter. Place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the ziti is bubbly and the crust is golden. Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
More Amazing Baked Pasta Recipes
- My Lasagna
- Baked Ziti With Meat
- Chicken Lasagna
- Million Dollar Spaghetti
- Baked Spaghetti With Cream Cheese
- Johnny Marzetti Casserole
- Crack Chicken Spaghetti Bake
- Baked Spaghetti
- Lasagna Casserole
- Mostaccioli
- Baked Rigatoni
TRIED THIS RECIPE?
💌 And while you’re here, don’t miss the next cozy recipe — subscribe to my totally FREE newsletter so you’ll always have comfort food favorites at your fingertips. 💌
If you enjoyed this recipe, please take a moment to leave ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating and a quick comment — I love hearing from you and it helps our community of bakers and cooks!
📸 And if you Gram…don’t forget to share your stroganoff on Instagram — tag me @gonnawantseconds so I can cheer you on and share your creations!
Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today — happy cooking, friends! 💗 Kathleen
Baked Ziti
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1/4 cup plain dried bread crumbs
- 2 eggs large, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 3/4 cup Romano cheese grated, divided
- 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley chopped
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 3/4 teaspoon salt to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper to taste
- all-purpose flour for dredging
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Pasta:
- 1 pound dried ziti
Sauce:
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 cup onions, minced
- 1 heaping tablespoon garlic, minced
Assembly:
- 1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves julienned
- 5 cups marinara sauce
- 3 cups whole milk ricotta
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups mozzarella, shredded
- 1/2 cup parmesan, grated
- 6 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9X13 inch baking dish or spray with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
Make Meatballs:
- Mix together bread crumbs, eggs, milk, 1/2 cup Romano, and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Add beef, Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper and mix until everything is evenly combined, being careful not to overwork the beef.
- Roll mixture into cocktail size meatballs then roll each one into flour then shaking off the excess.
- Heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat, in a large skillet, almost to smoking. Brown the meatballs in batches so as not to crowd the skillet. Continue to cook until all sides of the meatballs are brown. Remove browned meatballs to a paper towel-lined plate.
Pasta:
- Cook ziti in well-salted water, according to package instructions, just to al dente. Drain. Do not rinse.
Sauce:
- While pasta is cooking, heat oil (2 tablespoons) over medium heat in a 12-inch skillet. When the oil shimmers, add onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 7-9 minutes. Stir in garlic and continue to sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in jar pasta sauce, marinara sauce, or Italian Sunday gravy (4 cups preferrably, 5 cups). Allow to cool before assembling.
Assembly:
- Mix basil, sauce mixture from above, and ricotta in a large bowl until combined. Add pasta and meatballs and gently fold until evenly combined.
- Pour into prepared baking dish and sprinkle the top evenly with a layer of mozzarella, then Parmesan, and then remaining Romano. Dot with butter. Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until the ziti is bubbly, heated through, and the crust is, golden. Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Fans Also Made:
Nutrition
This is phenomenal! My mother-in-law visited us and I made this. Approved!
That’s amazing, Leah! I’m glad it was a hit 🙂
great recipe. but please research. CANOLA OIL , high smoke point yes because its original use for ball berings then GMO to use in frying. Developer is MONSANTO. to my knowledge no one cooks food at that high a temperature Mario Batelli. used olive oil for all his frying Peanut oil high temp vegetable oil also. NO CANOLA !!
What size is a large baking dish? Also, if I don’t want to use fresh basil how much dried basil do i use if using cottage cheese and not ricotta? Can fresh mozzarella be used? And can i use ground sirloin or italian sausage or what percentage ground beef?
Thanks
Katherine
Hi, Katherine.
Fresh basil to dried is 3:1. Use 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons dried basil.
You can use fresh mozzarella.
Yes, you can use that meat. Ground beef is 80/20.
Can I use parmesan instead of Romano cheese?
Thanks
Katherine
Hi, Katherine. Yes 🙂
Surely gonna make this! Think we’ll LOVE it. My only negative comment is that I sure do wish more of you recipe folks would include your web address at the beginning or end of the recipe so that, having printed it, I could find my way back to watch the details again.
This is Oh! so yummy and comforting. It also makes a lot, so is a great potluck or holiday dinner dish! And so easy to put together (I cheated and used frozen cocktail meatballs). I haven’t ever used marinara sauce much, but I really liked the mellow flavor it gave without the acidness of regular spaghetti sauce, so now I am a fan. My husband loved it! Thanks so much for sharing this Kathleen!
Hi, Elizabeth! Thank you so much for sharing your positive review! I love your version 🙂