I love a good skillet meal, and especially one that can all be made in ONE pot. The pasta in Skillet Baked Ziti cooks right in the skillet and then it’s popped in the oven at the very end to melt the gooey cheese topping. This family friendly dinner is great served with a side salad and a slice of garlic bread.
Ingredients and Equipment Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Italian sausage – Pork, turkey, sweet (mild), hot (spicy), links in casings, or packaged in bulk, it will all work here! You can also choose to make this meatless and skip the sausage entirely.
- Whole peeled tomatoes – This recipe calls for using whole tomatoes, pulsed in a food processor as opposed to a can of crushed tomatoes. The recipe comes from Cook’s Illustrated, and if you follow America’s Test Kitchen, you know there’s always a long scientific reasoning behind it. That being said, if you have a can of crushed tomatoes, I’d say don’t let that stop you from making this, I’m sure it would be just fine.
- Olive oil
- Fresh garlic
- Red pepper flakes – This is not a spicy dish. The red pepper flakes add a nice kick of flavor without being spicy.
- Salt
- Ziti – This is a tube-shaped variety of pasta, but you could certainly sub in a different kind if needed. I’m actually using rigatoni here because my store was out of ziti. Anything with little ridges is great because they help hold onto the sauce.
- Heavy cream – Cream adds richness, depth, and substance to the sauce. I personally wouldn’t substitute it with anything else.
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil leaves – fresh is best, but if you need to sub dried, use a heaping tablespoon of dried basil and add it in with the tomatoes.
- Ground black pepper
- Mozzarella cheese – Shredded. Whole milk mozzarella is especially yummy.
- Large skillet with lid – 12-inch minimum, although a little bigger is better! Pick a pan that can go from the stovetop to the oven to save on dishes. If you don’t have one, you can always prep everything in a pan with a lid, and then transfer it to a baking dish, top with cheese and bake to finish, or even just put the lid on and let it sit on the stovetop to melt the cheese.
How to Make Skillet Baked Ziti
- Remove sausage from casings if using link sausage and cook until browned. Add a generous amount of fresh garlic and some red pepper flakes.
- After those sauté for a minute, add some canned tomatoes. Then add some water; this is the cooking liquid for the pasta.
- You’ll want to cover it up to trap in that moisture at this point so the pasta can cook. Pop the lid on, but peek in frequently and stir things around. You’ll see the pasta isn’t completely submerged in the liquid so that’s why it takes longer than just boiling pasta in water. It will absorb almost all of the cooking liquid.
- When the pasta is tender, add in a little cream and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
- Then it’s all finished off with some fresh basil and mozzarella cheese and then placed in the oven just to melt it all together. Pair it with a simple salad for a filling, balanced dinner. It would even be totally appropriate for company. Everyone loves a good Italian dish!
Storing and Other Tips
- Store finished baked ziti in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-5 days for best results.
- To make this meal even easier, pair it with a bagged salad and some Make-Ahead Garlic Bread.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this gluten-free?
Yep- Sub in your favorite gluten-free pasta!
Can I make this ahead of time?
For serving as a family meal I prefer to eat this fresh, but the leftovers are great reheated for lunch throughout the week.
Can I make this dairy-free?
I’m sure this would still be good if you needed to leave out the cream. Sub in your favorite melty dairy-free cheese!
Skillet Baked Ziti
This Skillet Baked Ziti adapted from America's Test Kitchen is a fantastic one-dish dinner that your whole family will adore!
Servings servings
Equipment
- Extra Large Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage or Italian turkey sausage “hot” or “sweet”
- 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 medium garlic cloves minced or pressed (about 2 tablespoons)
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Salt
- 3 cups water
- 12 ounces ziti pasta about 3 ¾ cups
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 ounce parmesan cheese grated (½ cup)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves fresh is best, but if you need to sub dried, use a heaping tablespoon of dried basil and add it in with the tomatoes
- ground black pepper
- 4 ounces mozzarella cheese shredded (1 cup)
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 475℉. Pulse the tomatoes with their juice in a food processor until coarsely ground and no large pieces remain, about 12 pulses.
- Heat 12-inch or larger oven-safe skillet to medium high heat and add ½ tablespoon olive oil. Remove sausage from casings and cook, crumbling with a spatula until browned and cooked through, about 3-5 minutes. (If you're not using sausage, just add a little more olive oil and start with the next step, sauteing the garlic and pepper flakes.)
- Add garlic and red pepper flakes to sausage and cook for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Stir in the processed tomatoes and ½ teaspoon salt. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes no longer taste raw, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the water, then add the pasta. Cover, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring often and adjusting the heat to maintain a vigorous simmer, until the pasta ins tender, 15-18 minutes.
- Stir in the cream, Parmesan, and basil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the top. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the cheese has melted and browned, 10-15 minutes (or just until melted, like, 1-2 minutes). Serve.
Notes
- This recipe is to be cooked in a 12 inch skillet. I recommend using one slightly larger if you’re adding the sausage as well. Make sure your skillet is oven proof (no plastic handles) and has a lid.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy within 3-5 days for best results.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.25recipe, Calories: 781kcal, Carbohydrates: 80g, Protein: 40g, Fat: 34g, Saturated Fat: 16g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 11g, Cholesterol: 121mg, Sodium: 1652mg, Potassium: 867mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 1196IU, Vitamin C: 55mg, Calcium: 366mg, Iron: 14mg
Calories: 781kcal
Cost: $14
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Questions & Reviews
A family favorite!!
This meal deserves a newer comment. My family loves this and it has stayed in regular rotation for the past 8 years and we still aren’t sick of it. So flavorful and delicious. I actually don’t have a skillet that can go in the oven so I just dump it into a 9×13 Pyrex. Thanks for this delicious recipe!
Thank you so much for commenting!
Does this freeze well and cook up with the same taste texture?
Yes!
I have been making this for years and it’s one of my family’s very favorites!!!!❤️ Thanks for posting this one!
My son and I really enjoyed this. It took me much longer to cook the pasta, I think I stirred too frequently and slowed it down. I ended up adding extra Italian seasoning and fennel since the sausage I used was not full of flavor. The easy cleanup was a nice bonus!
Apparently this is pretty adaptable – I like it with a half pound of regular pork sausage, and tonight I added a can of tomato sauce because I wanted to up the sauce level. AND I made it with bowtie pasta because it was a last minute meal change. SO.GOOD.
i just finished making this-in between running kids to and from school, supervising homework, and several phone calls- and it smells amazing! I think that this will quickly become a go to meal for busy weekdays when I need to prep dinner in 10 minute increments!
Easy, pretty fast (even for me), and soooo tasty. I made it for dinner last night and I’m contemplating eating it for breakfast this morning. I did use penne because I couldn’t find ziti, but man. I want to make it for dinner again STAT.
I’m wondering if I could assemble this dish, stick it in the fridge before church, then give it a stir and bake it when we get home?
This recipe has become one of my family’s favorites. Does anyone know if it freezes well?
I’ve never frozen this one before, but you could try it. Pasta dishes generally freeze okay, although they can bake up a little more dry than if cooked fresh.