Because I don’t love long recipe intros, I’ll keep this short and to the point! I came up with this recipe not long into my marriage and it’s remained one of my husband’s favorites ever since! It’s excellent with a caesar salad on the side and some garlic bread or breadsticks. This is a very forgiving recipe, so feel free to switch ingredients out as you need or desire. Sometimes I’ll have less of one type of cheese, so I’ll add more of another, and sometimes I’ll switch the ground beef out for ground turkey or chicken. It’s a very adaptable dish!

Without further ado, here’s my baked ziti recipe!

Baked Ziti

Ingredients

• 1 jar pasta sauce – any kind will do
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 8-10 slices pepperoni
• 10-12 oz. cooked penne, rotini, or ziti noodles (just depends on how pasta-heavy you like your baked ziti)
• 1 C shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 C shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 C Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp parsley
• avocado or olive oil cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Boil pasta in about 4 quarts of water. While this is cooking, brown ground beef on medium-high heat in a saucepan and season with garlic salt, black pepper, and Italian seasoning. Once the ground beef is cooked, drain the fat from the meat. Cut the pepperoni slices into fourths and add to the ground beef. Then, add the jar of pasta sauce to the meat mixture and simmer on low. Once the pasta is cooked through, drain the water and mix the pasta with the sauce until thoroughly incorporated.

Spray 9×9 or 9×13 glass baking dish with cooking spray and then add in the pasta mixture, evening out the top. Then, layer cheddar, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheeses on top. Sprinkle with parsley.

Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Enjoy!

If you make this recipe, let me know how it turned out and any additions or alterations you made in the comments below!