If you are looking for an easy weeknight dinner, baked ziti is a great alternative to lasagna or other baked pasta dishes (or “pasta al forno"). We decided to skip the meat for this version of baked ziti and instead we loaded it up with some delicious vegetables and four great cheeses. The result is a delicious meatless baked ziti and it will make you come running back for seconds! This ziti dish has quickly become a family favorite.
Looking for more pasta al forno or comforting pasta recipes like this? Try out our Baked Rigatoni with Tomato Herb Meat Sauce or Vegetable Lasagna with White Sauce.
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Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Cheesy, flavorful, and delicious!
- Easy to make any night of the week
- Meatless and packed with veggies
- Can be made in advance
- Great for a crowd!
What is Baked Ziti?
Baked ziti is one of many pasta al forno (baked pasta) dishes that the Italians love to serve for large gatherings. This dish comes in many versions, such as with meatballs or sausage, or a meat-rich ragù (like our red wine braised beef ragù). Other versions of baked ziti will incorporate vegetables, different sauces, anchovies, hard boiled eggs - the list is almost endless!
The pasta used in similar al forno recipes is normally some sort of tube shape with rigatoni, penne and ziti being three very common varieties. Even an American baked mac and cheese is technically a pasta al forno! In the end, there is almost always cheese mixed into the pasta and sauce in the dish before baking, and the top should have a delightful crispiness to it, with some extra cheese on top!
Ingredients
Here is what you need to make this meatless baked ziti recipe:
- Olive Oil: You don't need to use any special or super high quality olive oil here since it is used to sauté the squash, zucchini and red bell peppers.
- Yellow “summer” Squash: Along with zucchini, the yellow squash give a great color and flavor to the dish. Yellow squash is slightly less firm and a bit sweeter than zucchini.
- Zucchini: The texture and color of zucchini are perfect in this dish.
- Red Bell Pepper: Bell peppers bring sweetness, a little zestiness and a great texture.
- Ziti Pasta: We love the ziti shape in pasta al forno as it collects the sauce inside the tubes and has a great mouthfeel.
- Grape Tomatoes: These give a great pop of flavor in the baked ziti.
- Kosher Salt
- Sugo di Pomodoro (Italian tomato sauce): Our recipe is perfect in this dish, but alternatively you can use your favorite tomato sauce.
- Provolone Piccante: This provolone cheese is stronger than typical provolone as it is aged longer.
- Fontina: A perfect melty cheese with some great flavor.
- Mozzarella: We use fresh mozzarella cheese for best results
- Parmigiano Reggiano: The king of cheeses, we love it in almost everything Italian! Make sure you look for the real-deal Parmesan cheese from Italy for the best flavor and texture.
- Fresh Basil: We garnish the baked ziti with fresh basil for serving.
See recipe card below for quantities.
Substitutions
Here are a few common substitutions for the ingredients in this four cheese and vegetable baked ziti recipe:
- Ziti: You can always replace ziti with another tubed pasta of your choice. Rigatoni, penne, or large elbow-type pastas will all work.
- Cheeses: There are several cheeses you can swap. Pecorino Romano cheese (a hard sheep's milk cheese) can be used in place of Parmesan - you’ll just have a slightly different flavor. Tallegio is a great soft cheese to use here in place of fontina or in place of the provolone as well. If you can't find provolone piccante, you can swap it out for regular provolone.
- Vegetables: We love squash and zucchini, but you can also use eggplant, mushrooms, fresh spinach or any vegetable you like. We also love the sweetness red bell pepper adds, but you can certainly use green bell pepper or any other color as well.
- Tomato sauce: If you opt to use a jar of tomato sauce in place of a homemade sugo, it is important to taste the sauce before blindly adding it into this recipe. Many jarred sauces will add a significant amount of salt, so you will need to adjust the content in this recipe if you find that the jar of sauce is on the salty side. A homemade marinara sauce is also great in this dish.
How to Make Four Cheese and Vegetable Baked Ziti
This recipe is extremely easy to make and also a great candidate for making ahead of time, freezing and having it ready for a crowd.
Equipment
Nothing special is needed to make this easy baked ziti recipe at all
- A large skillet to sauté the vegetables
- A large pot to par-cook the pasta.
- A 9x13 casserole dish or baking dish is about the only thing you need, but it truly can be made in any oven-safe dish (or dishes)
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Sauté the Vegetables
- Heat a skillet over medium heat for a minute and add the olive oil. Add the diced squash, zucchini, and red bell pepper with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, sauté until they are still firm, but soften a little (about 2-3 minutes). Set aside.
Step 2: Cook the Pasta
- While you sauté the veggies, start to boil a large pot of water for the pasta. Once the water boils, add some kosher salt to the water (approximately 2 tablespoon per every 6-8 quarts of water) – it should taste like the sea. Add the ziti and cook for 50-60% of the time recommended on the package directions (this should equal about 6-7 minutes). Drain and add the partially cooked pasta to a large bowl. Add the squash, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, remaining salt, and 2 cups of the sugo (tomato sauce). Mix well.
Step 3: Assemble the Baking Dish
- In a 9x13 baking dish, add ½ cup of the sugo (tomato sauce) and spread it on the bottom. Add half of the ziti and vegetable mixture. Then add half of the provolone, fontina, and mozzarella and layer ¾ cup of the sugo over the cheese. Add the remaining ziti mixture, spreading it gently to make a flat layer. Add the remaining provolone, fontina, and mozzarella on top, then the remaining ¾ cup of sugo. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top and place in the oven for about 35-45 minutes or until the edges are bubbling and the center reads 165°F with an instant read thermometer.
Variations
Here are a couple ways to change up this recipe:
- Spice it up by using crushed red pepper flakes, Calabrian chile peppers, or even your favorite chile peppers.
- Mark it with meat! Although this is a meatless pasta dish, you can always add meat if you like. Add Italian sausage, ground beef, meatballs or chicken to make this dish a meaty and cheesy pasta al forno.
- Switch up the veggies. Swap out the squash in this recipe for eggplant, mushrooms, or another one of your favorite vegetables for a nice variation on this dish.
Storage
How to store leftover baked ziti:
- You can store leftovers in a covered airtight container in the refrigerator.
How long does leftover baked ziti last in the fridge:
- We recommend eating the leftovers within 5 days.
Can you freeze leftover baked ziti?
- It can certainly be done, but it isn’t recommended as it will dry out considerably.
How to reheat leftover baked ziti?
- To reheat leftovers from the fridge, we recommend covering it with plastic wrap and foil and baking in the oven at 300°F until heated through.
Can you make the baked ziti in advance?
- Yes! This is one of the best things about this dish. You can make it and assemble the bake ziti - everything except put it in the oven. Then put the un-baked ziti in the fridge for up to 2 days, then bring it to room temperature before putting it in the oven to make it.
- Baked ziti is also a great freezer meal. You can also put the un-cooked and assembled ziti dish in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to cook, defrost either overnight in the fridge or on the counter at room temperature. Once defrosted, bake as directed in the recipe card below. If you assemble the baked ziti in an aluminum baking tin, then you can certainly bake it straight from frozen, but you will want to cover it with foil and bake it for about 35-45 minutes first, then remove the foil and continue baking until it is cooked through. Cooking from frozen will generally take more time than if you were making this dish from start to finish.
Top tip
If you are making this dish in advance to freeze, use an extra ½ cup of sauce with the ziti to prevent the entire dish from getting too dry.
Troubleshooting
Make sure to cook on the center rack of your oven. A little crispiness on the crust is desired, but you don’t want to burn it because it was on the top rack. If you notice too much browning on top, cover it with foil until cooked through.
Also, it is always good to have a little extra sauce in the refrigerator so if leftovers (which are always a little drier) aren’t as saucy as you like, you can heat some up and it to the dish.
What to Make with Meatless Baked Ziti
This vegetarian baked ziti recipe stands on its own, so it is perfect to serve alone, with some crusty bread, or garlic bread. Baked ziti is a perfect first course for a big Sunday get together as well. If you’re a fan of long, social meals with friends and family, serve baked ziti before serving a turkey, a roast, or whatever meat dish you’re making.
FAQ
The most obvious is that lasagna uses flat, very wide, thin pasta and it is layered. Baked ziti is not as much “assembled” as it is just mixed together. Yes there is some layering, but once it’s done they aren’t discernable from eachother like in lasagna. Both dishes are considered pasta al forno (baked pasta) and can both contain meat, bechemel, ricotta or almost anything so they are similar in that aspect.
There is no need to cover baked ziti when cooking it as directed in this recipe. For leftovers, we do recommend using cling/plastic wrap first then cover that with aluminum foil. For the original cook, do not cover baked ziti.
As long as you have a good amount of sauce mixed into the dish (we use four cups here), then you shouldn't have any issues with baked ziti drying out during the baking process. This will only be an issue with leftovers. The best way is to cook leftovers covered with cling/plastic wrap and also aluminum foil. If it is still too dry, you can add a little extra sauce to reheat leftovers.
Baked ziti will take about 35-45 minutes to cook fully at 375°F. You will see aggressive bubbling on all of the edges and probably some closer to the center. It should be done at this point, but 165°F is a perfect temperature if you just want to use an instant read thermometer.
Yes, but it is very important not to overcook your pasta either. We love al dente pasta and aren’t fans of overcooked mushy stuff. So we like to cook the ziti no more than 60% of the cooking time to al dente. Usually we stick to 50% so that the ziti has a nice mouthfeel and doesn't overcook.
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Related
Looking for other pasta recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite main courses to serve with baked ziti if you are doing a multi-course meal:
📖 Recipe
Four Cheese and Vegetable Baked Ziti (No Meat)
Equipment
- 1 large skillet
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 small yellow summer squash cut into chunks about the size of a nickel
- 2 small zucchini cut into chunks about the size of a nickel
- 1 large red bell pepper medium diced
- 1 pound dried ziti pasta
- 25 grape tomatoes halved
- 4 teaspoon kosher salt divided
- 4 cups sugo di pomodoro divided (alternatively use your favorite Italian tomato sauce, pasta sauce, or marinara)
- 4 ounces piccante provolone aged, semi-hard provolone, grated, divided
- 4 ounces fontina grated, divided
- 8 ounces mozzarella torn into shreds, divided
- ⅔ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Extra Parmesan basil, and/or red pepper flakes for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Start bringing a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat for a minute and add the olive oil. Add the squash, zucchini and bell peppers with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and sauté until they are still firm, but soften a little. Set aside.
- Once the water boils, add some kosher salt to the water – it should taste like the sea. Add the ziti and cook for 60% of the time recommended on the package, about 6-7 minutes. Drain and add the ziti to a large bowl. Add the squash, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, remaining salt, and 2 cups of the sugo. Mix well.
- In a 9x13" baking dish, add ½ cup of the sugo and spread it on the bottom. Add half of the ziti mixture. Add half of the provolone, fontina, and mozzarella and layer ¾ cup of the sugo over the cheese. Add the remaining ziti mixture, spreading it gently to make a flat layer. Add the remaining provolone, fontina, and mozzarella, then the remaining ¾ cup of sugo. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top and place in the oven for about 35 minutes or until the center reads 165°F with an instant read thermometer.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Food safety
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature (between 40°-140°F) for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
Angela says
Such a great comforting dish! It’s cheesy and packed with so many delicious veggies. Love it!