Enjoy all of the goodness of baked ziti with a fraction of the prep work! You don’t have to boil the noodles or brown the meat, just layer it up and bake it to perfection.
If you love baked pasta meals like lasagna and baked ziti, but hate the effort of putting them together, you are in the right place!
This recipe lets you skip the boiling and browning, that saves time and dirty dishes! You can have this family friendly dinner on the table looking like a rock star with very little prep.
Have you tried making no boil pasta recipes? It isn’t a fully new concept, I remember using no boil lasagna noodles as a kid.
But we still browned the meat. To be perfectly honest we boiled the pasta most of the time too.
Then a couple of years ago a blogging friend introduced us to no boil macaroni and cheese. We were instantly hooked.
That got me thinking that it would be easy to convert some of our favorite recipes the same way. Mimi’s baked ziti has always been a favorite, but we only make it a couple of times a year because of the preparation involved.
Don’t get me wrong, it really isn’t a complicated recipe. But after a long day the thought of boiling pasta, browning meat and layering it all to bake can seem like a bit much.
If you can cut the steps to just layering and baking it seems much more doable when you are already tired. Guess what… it works fabulously!
You can really just put it together and bake it. You can kick your feet up while it bakes.
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Then just toss together a salad or roast some broccoli and make some garlic bread while it rests. You will be extra popular at the dinner table and nobody will know you took a shortcut.
Easy Alterations or Substitutions
If the sour cream seems strange, I assure you it’s good. This has been our favorite baked ziti recipe for years.
However you could easily use ricotta cheese instead of the sour cream. Or use cottage cheese if that’s your preference. Any of those options will work great.
Storage
Store your leftover ziti in the glass dish covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge.
Reheat a serving of the casserole in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and then cook for an additional 15-30 seconds, or until hot.
No Boil Baked Ziti
Ingredients
- 16 oz uncooked ziti pasta
- 8 oz provolone cheese slices or shredded
- 1½ cups sour cream
- 1 pound ground beef
- 24 oz jar spaghetti sauce
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° F and grease a 9×13-inch pan.
- Spread half of the 16 oz uncooked ziti pasta in the bottom of the pan.
- Distribute the 8 oz provolone cheese and 1½ cups sour cream over the pasta.
- Break the 1 pound ground beef into small pieces, distribute half of them over the casserole.
- Top with remaining pasta and ground beef.
- In a large bowl mix together the 24 oz jar spaghetti sauce, 3 cups chicken broth, 2 teaspoons garlic powder and 1 teaspoon dried oregano. Pour over top of the casserole.
- Tightly cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes. The pasta should be close to al dente and the meat should look cooked.
- Sprinkle the 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese and ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese over the casserole and return to the oven uncovered. Bake 10-15 more minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is melted and browned to your liking.
- Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Video
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I had this all made and ready to bake but had to leave so I covered and refrigerated and made the next day. I used Farfalle gluten free noodles (that’s all I had on hand) I was worried they would get mushy but I’m willing to try anything. Baked just as recipe said and my family loved it! Said it’s one of the best pasta meals they’d ever had, a re-do! Noodles weren’t as firm as I’d liked but the flavor was amazing and best part is how easy it was. Next time I’ll use gf ziti noodles.
That is actually really good to know that you can assemble it ahead of time if necessary. I am glad you liked it!
Fantastic crowd-pleaser! I made this for a large group by doubling all the ingredients, using a 13”x19” lasagna pan, and increasing the covered cooking time to 1hr 15min. Turned out great! I also subbed some ricotta for part of the sour cream and sprinkled some chopped parsley on top just before serving.
I am so glad that it was a hit!
I made the no boil ziti casserole and it came out very good. My husband really enjoyed it which made it even better. When reheating leftovers, I like to reheat in oven can you tell me what temperature and amount of time to reheat in oven and would I have to add any additional liquid when reheating? Thank you and for the yummy recipe too.
I would cover it tightly and put it in a 350F for about 15 minutes. As long as the pasta isn’t too dry to start with, you shouldn’t need to add liquid. Though, a little wouldn’t hurt anything.
Perfect! Thank you so much.
Can I mix water to the chicken broth if I don’t have enough chicken broth to the no boil ziti casserole and also can I substitute ziti with penne pasta if I don’t have ziti?
Thank you.
Yes and yes. Both will work great! You can use all water too, the chicken broth just adds a little bit of depth of flavor.
Thank you so very much. Going to make it today and I’ll let you know how all turns out 😊
Delicious!!!
Thank you!
Thank you SO much for this recipe. We’ve been making a vegetarian version (beefless crumbles, no parmesan, vegetarian provolone, veggie broth or water) weekly for months now. It’s honestly our favorite meal. I’ve shared it with everyone I know. You’re a genius.
Ha! Thank you so much!
I made this for dinner the other night. I didn’t have provolone cheese or ground beef but that didn’t matter. Hands down the easiest and most delicious pasta recipe with less dishes to clean afterwards. Next time I will use a bit more broth and try ricotta with the sour cream.
Perfect! I am so glad you liked it!
So good!! We all (picky eaters included) had seconds. Wrote a long comment with all my modifications and then the page reloaded haha bummer. I’ll just put a few changes I made: added 1/3c more broth and 10min more cook time (probably too much cuz the bottom got burnt and chewy) so my noodles would be really soft for my 1-yr-old. Used a mix of ricotta and cottage cheese instead of sour cream. Didn’t have mozzarella so I used Monterey Jack on top with the Parmesan. We loved it. Thank you!
I am so glad you liked it!
Has anyone tried this as a freezer meal? I’m guessing it would work the same, maybe increased cook time just a bit?