Baked Ziti with Spinach recipe with step by step photos. Italian-American comfort food prepared with pasta tossed in a cheesy tomato spinach sauce and baked off with more cheese.
I had a wonderful quarantine birthday celebration this past weekend. My niece came over from LA to spend the weekend with my husband and I. This entire weekend was about indulging, hanging out, and watching movies. One of the dishes I made was Baked Ziti with Spinach.
Do I need to make the sauce from scratch?
No, you don’t. Nonetheless, for this recipe, I made my own sauce from scratch using San Marzano tomatoes and other basic ingredients. I prefer making my own sauce so the sodium content is not crazy high. The end result is absolutely delicious and worth the extra 20 minutes of your time.
Alternatively, you can use store-bought sauce and I always recommend Rao’s Marinara Sauce which tastes as good as the real thing.
Can I make this recipe Vegan, Gluten-Free, or Healthier?
YES! Although there are 3 types of cheese in this recipe, you can easily opt to use cheese to better suit your dietary restrictions.
Vegan: use vegan mozzarella, vegan parmesan, and vegan ricotta cheese. I really like Kitehill Ricotta, however I’m not sure about mozzarella and Parmesan brands.
Gluten-Free: this recipe can easily be gluten-free by swapping regular white pasta for gluten-free pasta.
Healthier: this recipe can’t be healthy, however, you can certainly lighten up on the calories. Use reduced-fat mozzarella instead of regular whole milk mozzarella. Use part-skim ricotta instead of whole-milk ricotta cheese. I haven’t seen a reduced-fat option for parmesan cheese. Furthermore, use whole wheat pasta instead of white pasta.
6 Steps to make Baked Ziti with Spinach
Prepare the sauce.
Prepare the ricotta cheese spinach mixture.
Boil the pasta.
Combine the pasta, cheese, and most of the sauce.
Assemble the dish.
Bake the ziti.
Baked Ziti with Spinach is:
Cheesy
Creamy
Outrageously Delicious
Indulgent
Vegetarian
Gluten-Free option (use GF pasta)
Whole Wheat option (use WW pasta)
Vegan option (use vegan ricotta, vegan mozzarella, vegan parmesan)
Lightened Up option (use part-skim ricotta, reduced-fat mozzarella)
How to make Baked Ziti with Spinach recipe step by step?
Prep
1. Heat up a pot of water for the pasta.
2. Chop the onions and garlic. Open a can of tomato sauce and San Marzano tomatoes.
Prepare the Sauce
1. Heat up a dutch castiron on medium heat. Once hot, add olive oil followed by crushed red pepper and onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the onions are golden brown.
2. Add garlic. Saute for 30 seconds.
3. Add tomato sauce and San Marzano tomatoes.
4. Stir well.
5. Add dried oregano, dried basil, salt, and black pepper. Stir. Cover with a lid and cook sauce for 7 minutes.
6. The sauce is ready. Turn off the stove. Set aside to cool.
Boil the Pasta
1. Add pasta to salted boiling water. Follow the instructions on the package and cook the pasta until al dense. DO NOT OVERCOOK the pasta else it’ll get super mushy when baking the ziti.
2. Once done, drain the pasta and run it under cold water. This prevents the pasta from sticking together. Set aside.
3. In the meantime, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Prepare the Ricotta Spinach Mixture
1. In a large mixing bowl, add ricotta cheese, 2 cups mozzarella cheese, spinach, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and dried oregano. Mix well.
2. Add 3 cups prepared marinara sauce from above. Mix well.
3. Now add the pasta to the ricotta-spinach-sauce mixture.
4. Ready.
Assemble
1. Spray a 12″ x 9″ baking dish with olive oil.
2. Transfer all the pasta to the baking dish.
3. Top with remaining marinara sauce.
4. Now top with freshly grated parmesan cheese (without rennet preferably). Make sure to use a good quality parmesan.
5. Add freshly grated 1 cup mozzarella cheese.
6. Cover with a foil.
7. Into the oven for 25 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes so the cheese browns slightly.
Baked Ziti with Spinach is ready. Wait 15 minutes before serving.
Baked Ziti with Spinach
Ingredients
for the Marinara Sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 tsp crushed red pepper
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 28 ounces San Marzano tomatoes crush with hands
- 1 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp dry oregano rubbed
- 1 tbsp dry basil
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt more if need be
for the Ricotta Cheese Spinach Mixture
- 1 16 ounce whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach microwaved, squeeze water out
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp oregano rubbed
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 pound penne pasta cooked; or use ziti
- 3 cups marinara sauce
for the Topping
- remaining marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated; use good quality without animal rennet
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
for Garnish
- to taste fresh basil julienned
Instructions
Prep
- Heat up a pot of water for the pasta.
- Chop the onions and garlic. Open a can of tomato sauce and San Marzano tomatoes.
Prepare the Sauce
- Heat up a dutch castiron on medium heat. Once hot, add olive oil followed by crushed red pepper and onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the onions are golden brown.
- Add garlic. Saute for 30 seconds.
- Add tomato sauce and San Marzano tomatoes.
- Stir well.
- Add dried oregano, dried basil, salt, and black pepper. Stir. Cover with a lid and cook sauce for 7 minutes.
- The sauce is ready. Turn off the stove. Set aside to cool.
Boil the Pasta
- Add pasta to salted boiling water. Follow the instructions on the package and cook the pasta until al dense. DO NOT OVERCOOK the pasta else it'll get super mushy when baking the ziti.
- Once done, drain the pasta and run it under cold water. This prevents the pasta from sticking together. Set aside.
- In the meantime, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Prepare the Ricotta Spinach Mixture
- In a large mixing bowl, add ricotta cheese, 2 cups mozzarella cheese, spinach, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and dried oregano. Mix well.
- Add 3 cups prepared marinara sauce from above. Mix well.
- Now add the pasta to the ricotta-spinach-sauce mixture.
- Ready.
Assemble
- Spray a 12" x 9" baking dish with olive oil.
- Transfer all the pasta to the baking dish.
- Top with remaining marinara sauce.
- Now top with freshly grated parmesan cheese (without rennet preferably). Make sure to use a good quality parmesan.
- Add freshly grated 1 cup mozzarella cheese.
- Cover with a foil.
- Into the oven for 25 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes so the cheese browns slightly.
Baked Ziti with Spinach is ready. Wait 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- for gluten-free option: use GF pasta.
- for whole wheat option: use WW pasta.
- for vegan option: use vegan ricotta, vegan mozzarella, vegan parmesan.
- for a lightened up option: use part-skim ricotta cheese, reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, and regular parmesan cheese.
Such a great recipe! Easy to follow, not too many ingredients and the flavour is on point! My husband said it’s my “best pasta yet.” Even my toddler loved it. It’s a dish the whole family can enjoy!
Thanks so much Simran. I’m so glad it’s hubby and toddler approved. That means a lot. xoxo
Can’t wait to make this. Looks delish!!!
Hands down THE BEST baked ziti I’ve ever had!!! This recipe is foolproof and very easy to follow. It was also easy to modify it for our dietary needs. My entire family loved it…it’s a keeper!!!
Such a good recipe. So easy to make. Thank you!!
This was such an easy and delicious recipe. It was definitely a crowd pleaser!! I used gluten free pasta and it turned out so good. Everyone had third servings and kept raving about it being so good, so thank you for sharing!!
This is an absolute favorite at our house! My hubby who never eats pasta even loves this and asks for it! Thank you!
Love the idea of adding spinach to the baked ziti!