I'm a sucker for a good pasta dish.
Especially one that is easy to make. The great thing about these types of meals is that they are tasty, filling, fairly inexpensive,
can feed your whole family and they make great leftovers.
And what's not to love about that?
Now, y'all will surely notice that I'm not using the Ziti pasta with this. So maybe it should really be called Baked Penne.
But I have always called it Baked Ziti no matter what kind of pasta I've used. So just forgive me for that little oversight, okay?
I like the Penne pasta because it has those little ridges in it. And those little ridges are really good at hanging onto the pasta sauce.
But if you prefer the Ziti pasta, then use that instead of the Penne. Or maybe you are able to find the Ziti with ridges in your local supermarket, then you could use that as well.
It's a texture thing for me.
Serve this up with some garlic bread and a side salad and you have a really great meal that everyone
in your family is sure to gobble up!
Ingredients:
1
pound of ground beef
2
cans or jars (26 oz.) of your favorite spaghetti sauce*
1
jar (16 oz.) Garlic Alfredo Sauce
1
box (1 lb.) Penne Pasta
½
yellow onion diced (optional)
1
bag (2 cups) Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
(onion not pictured)
Directions:
Preheat
oven to 350F degrees.
Spray
a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick spray.
Prepare
pasta according to directions.
In
a medium sauce pan, brown ground beef with onion (if using).
After
beef is brown and crumbled, drain excess grease.
Put
back in pot and pour in one jar of
spaghetti sauce. Keep mixture on low until pasta is done.
When
pasta is finished, drain excess water from pasta. You want the pasta as dry as
possible.
Put pasta back in large pot (with heat off) and pour in jar of alfredo sauce. Combine until thoroughly coated.
Put pasta back in large pot (with heat off) and pour in jar of alfredo sauce. Combine until thoroughly coated.
Cover pasta with spaghetti sauce
mixture.
* Don’t put the pot that you used for the spaghetti sauce in with the dirty dishes yet.
Keep that pot out and start heating up second jar of spaghetti sauce on low heat.
Put a cover on it to keep warm until ziti is finished baking.
Sprinkle top with mozzarella cheese.
(I like to spray the inside of my foil with nonstick spray so the cheese doesn't stick to it.
Or you could use that new nonstick aluminum foil.)
Or you could use that new nonstick aluminum foil.)
Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.
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Let
rest for about 5 minutes after taking out of oven.
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Serve portions onto plates,
and pour some of the heated spaghetti sauce on top.
Enjoy!
This looks heavenly Bran! I love Baked ziti though I've never had it with alfredo sauce! Mmmm sounds delish!!
ReplyDeleteI love penne, too! And your baked ziti sounds fabulous...I'd go with extra sauce, too. YUM! Merry Christmas, Brandie! xo
ReplyDeleteI'm a sucka for all pastas, one fave is the penne and for the same reasons too! That looks awesome. I will have to try it in my large Dutch oven.
ReplyDeleteYup, the extra sauce is a keeper. I just made a penne pasta dish as well, but it didn't have all the ooey gooey creaminess that this one does. Totally comfort food.
ReplyDeleteI have homemade marinara sauce cooking in my CrockPot and was going to use some of it for pizza tonight...but this is too good to pass up on this frigid day in NM!!!!
ReplyDeleteBaked Ziti is one of my favorites and especially with extra sauce. New here and it is nice to meet you Brandie. Looking forward to more of your posts. Happy Holidays to you.
ReplyDeleteI used your recipe for dinner tonight. Big hit. Very yummy!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Karen
Extra sauce is a must, this is a stick to your ribs meal. The fact that it is inexpensive is an extra bonus.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous dish. It looks and sounds delicious. I love to visit your blog. I never leave empty handed and always have a recipe or tip to show for the time I spend here. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary
ReplyDeleteBaked Ziti (or Penne) is a go-to dish here when we have a crowd. I love that you used Alfredo too. What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteI know without a doubt that we would gobble that up in a heartbeat!
ReplyDeleteI too am very intrigued with using Alfredo sauce as well as regular spaghetti. Looks REALLY good & I bet the Alfredo sauce makes it a little creamier! Will be making soon!
ReplyDeleteWOW! That looks so good! I'm going to ask hubby if he wants that tonight! YUMO! ♥♥♥
ReplyDeleteI made a meatless version of this for supper tonight - can't wait to try it. I'm sure the whole kitchen will be warm and good-smelling!
ReplyDeleteLovely! Baked pasta is just such a comfort dish :)
ReplyDeleteYour Baked Ziti (penne) is marvelous.
ReplyDeleteI call it penne, too;) I've been craving a pasta dish, so I'll be making this one with the extra sauce, soon.
I came across this wonderful dish on pinterest. My family loved it...especially the kids!
ReplyDeleteFaith, thank you for taking the time to let me know how it turned out for you. I just love Pinterest. I've made some great new food friends because of it!! So happy to have you here! :)
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if you can taste the alfredo sauce, or if it just adds a little creaminess? I am not a huge fan of alfredo sauce but if it just adds more flavor without the taste that would be good for me.
ReplyDeletePics of this meal look delicious
Hi Stephanie! Personally, I don't think the Alfredo Sauce has a strong flavor in this. It really just adds creaminess to the sauce. I love the additional garlic flavor that it adds when you use the garlic flavored alfredo sauce. Hope you enjoy it if you give it a try!
ReplyDeleteI've used a no-boil recipe to make this and loved it, but I'm really liking the idea of the garlic Alfredo instead of ricotta - so much more affordable without much flavor variation. Will try this the next time I have all the ingredients.
ReplyDeletethank you country cook i am definitely going to give the garlic alfredo a try.
ReplyDeleteI'm new to your blog and I'm looking at all you delicious-sounding recipes. I'm so excited to try this one and the Creamy Chicken Enchiladas. I've gotten so bored with the same old recipes that I make so it will be fun to try some new ones! Thank you!!!!
ReplyDeleteI made this for supper tonight. It is SO good. Creamy and tastes wonderful. This will be appearing on my table again.
ReplyDeleteYay! Thank you so much!! I appreciate you letting me know how it turned out for you! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteI made this last night and everyone Loved it.
It was very easy and very good!!!
Thanks again!!
Could you substitute ground pork instead of beef? This looks oh too good and I happen to have GP on hand.
ReplyDeleteI'm making this for dinner tonight--works out I already have everything needed. All your recipes look soo yummy, can't wait to take some time to look at others =)
ReplyDeleteJust took this out of the oven - and wow, does it look and smell great! I did add minced garlic to my red sauce and to the alfredo - also added some of the mozzarella to the alfredo noodle mix. Giving it a few minutes to cool and then feed the starving peeps here! Thank you so much for sharing great recipes!
ReplyDeleteThis looks delicious! And how easy? Yum...thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDeleteMy husband is allergic to eggs which is in many Alfredo sauces. Can I substitute something for it?
ReplyDeleteHi Kim! I didn't think there were eggs in alfredo sauces. I know there are eggs in carbonara sauces but alfredo is usually butter and heavy cream. But I would definitely check the back of the label to make sure there aren't egg products in it. You could make your own alfredo from scratch if you like. There are some pretty simple recipes for it online. I hope that helps!
ReplyDeleteHi, I was just wondering if this would freeze well? I have made it once before and it was a hit with my family!! Delicious!
ReplyDeleteWow! I think this will become family favorite, it just came out of the oven and it took some willpower to let it cool. It is delicious and I think I may need seconds. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteexcellent
ReplyDeletethank you
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you know this but the dish freezes very well. I cook the hamburger and ziti and assemble it. Once it's cooled I freeze it. Then when I want to cook it I pull it from the freezer the day before. It works great and there is one batch going in the freezer today!
ReplyDeleteCan I use classic Alfredo sauce instead of garlic Parmesan? I accidentally bought the wrong one.
ReplyDeleteYes, you can use the classic Alfredo :)
ReplyDeleteI made this over the break and picky husband who says he does not like pasta loved it. I exchanged sausage for the ground beef and mixed a beaten egg with the alfredo sauce only because I had read somewhere to do that when making baked pasta. This is the perfect funeral food dish, so the ingredients are on my shopping list to have on hand when necessary. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!!! I love how you take a picture of the ingredients and step by step of the process!! I'm such a visual person and this rocks! I am 28 and LOVE your receipes...finally I feel like I can cook! :P
ReplyDeletePlease keep the receipes coming!!!
I can't wait to try this!! I have a question about the extra can of sauce? If you set it to the side & warm it while the dish is cooking, do you just use it as a topper after the dish is done cooking?.... as you can tell I don't cook much! Lol! Thanks for your help, I will definitely be trying this out this week!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to try this! It sounds delish! I have a quick question about the extra can of sauce? Since you set it to the side & warm it while the dish is cooking, do you just use it as a topper when the dish is done?... as you can tell I don't cook a Whole lot! Lol! Thanks for your help! Definitely trying this, this week! Nom!
ReplyDeleteIt warms my heart reading these comments!! Thank you so much! I'm so happy y'all have had success with this one!! Brandy- yep, I just heat up that second can of sauce and either spoon it right on top of the individual servings. Or if you like, put some on the bottom of the plates & then serve pasta on top :)
ReplyDeleteThis was the best Baked Ziti I ever had! My family absolutely loved it and we had the leftovers a few days later and to me, it was even better, lol. I will definitely be making this for now on, Thank you for a great recipe!
ReplyDeleteThis was a big hit at our house tonite!
ReplyDeleteAnother hit, Brandy....
LeighAnne
I am thinking of substituting the ground beef with sweet Italian pork or chicken sausage for more of a spicy taste. Maybe adding sweet onions. This dish sounds delicious. I plan to baked and bring to a potluck dinner happening in a few weeks. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI made this last night and was delicious! I love all pasta. I used 1 can of the Hunts sauce (which happens to be my favorite) and a container of homemade sauce my friend made. Her sauce had hot sausage and zucchini in it. Awesome easy dinner to make. I did make it ahead night before. I commute so it was nice to come home and just pop it in the oven. I did keep it in the oven a bit longer as it was in the fridge. Thanks!:)
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious! Yum. I love how everyone makes this recipe their own. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMy granddaughter and I made this for dinner tonight. My Dad actually complimented it (he never, ever says anything nice about food), and my granddaughter put this on the top of her favorite recipes. It uses a lot of pans, but well worth it!
ReplyDeleteDear Lord woman! This is my Favorite recipe now. I pretty much always have noodles , meat and sauces so this meal is perfect. Quick for whipping out dinner when i'm tired and don't know what to cook. It is SO good and always gets me compliments, which of course i tell them it was you. ;)
ReplyDeleteAwww Shelby - thank you so much for that!! You made my day! I know all about being too exhausted to cook. I am glad to hear this is now a "go-to" recipe for you. Thank you for taking the time to comment!
DeleteBrandie,
ReplyDeleteMy husband BEGS for this Baked Ziti! He absolutely loves it. I've tried many of your recipes and they've all been hits! Thanks so much!
Ruth
I made this recipe last night after searching for pina colada cakes!! This is really good!! The only substitution was the mozzarella cheese for a 5 cheese Italian blend from Kraft that I just found. Yummy!
ReplyDeleteand the cake? I made it for the potluck here at work today.
Thanks so much - glad I found this site!!! :)