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This Baked Ziti is comfort food at its very finest. Cheesy, gooey, with a tasty meat sauce, pasta, cheese and sour cream. Freezer friendly – this dish is a winner!

Update: This Baked Ziti was originally published in October, 2014. It has been updated to improve reader experience, but the recipe remains the same

This is a great meal to have hanging about for when you want to help another family out with a meal (we have given pans to our neighbors when they have babies, surgery or other life events), or to have as backup in the freezer for when you need something delicious for dinner yourself.

This freezes amazingly well, and reheats perfectly with no loss of quality.

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How to make Baked Ziti:

I made you a photo-visual guide to show you how easy it is! See?

Meat sauce

In a dutch oven, heat the oil and cook the onion until translucent.
Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Add the ground beef, and brown.
Add the pasta sauce and seasonings – bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Test for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Pasta

Cook the pasta until al dente, and drain

Assembly

In each pan, layer ingredients in order (see pictures):

Pasta
Provolone
Mozzarella
Meat sauce
Sour cream
Pasta
Provolone
Mozzarella
Meat sauce
Finish with parmesan

To eat immediately

Bake in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for about 30 minutes, or until it bubbles around the top/sides.

To freeze

Cool completely, and top with foil. Wrap with plastic wrap.
Cooking from frozen:
Bake in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for an hour, or until fully heated through.

Ingredients in Baked Ziti:

Olive oil – you’ll use this to saute the onion and garlic. I like to use a light olive oil for this
Onion – dice it up finely, it adds flavor to the meat sauce!
Garlic cloves – this recipe uses a LOT of garlic. Garlic is something I don’t skimp on, and double it often!
Ground beef – I use a reasonably low fat version of ground beef. The 97/3 blend is great, as there is plenty of flavor/fat in the other ingredients.
Pasta sauce – use your favorite kind! I make my own pasta sauce (in the crockpot), but if I’m out, a good quality jarred version is just fine
Salt and pepper, italian seasoning – these are to your own personal taste. Do taste your sauce before assembling your dishes, so you know it’s seasoned well!
Pasta – this can actually be made with any kind of pasta. I use rigatoni, ziti, penne – those kinds of shapes work best
Provolone cheese – I get this pre sliced from the grocery or warehouse store, it makes life easier!
Mozzarella cheese – stock up!! You’ll need a lot. And, like garlic, more is always better!
Sour cream – don’t be weirded out!! This makes a wonderfully creamy consistency in the middle of the pasta, and is not to be missed!!
Parmesan cheese – pre shredded is okay (I used it in the pics below), but fresh grated is always better!

Kylee’s Top Tips for Baked Ziti

ALWAYS label your containers. No one likes a mystery meal!
Triple or quadruple this easily, or do an assembly line with a friend!
Make some garlic bread and a Caesar salad to go along with this, it pairs perfectly.

Want more pasta recipes? Of course you do!

Classic Tuna Noodle Casserole
One Skillet Ham & Cheese Pasta
Sausage & Spinach Stuffed Shells
Easy Chicken Stroganoff from Lemon Blossoms

WANT TO TRY THIS FREEZER FRIENDLY BAKED ZITI?
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