This recipe for the best Baked Ziti is a huge favorite! Italian sausage marinara, cottage cheese, and fresh basil combine to make this decadent casserole. The best part is the mozzarella that is chopped into chunks instead of shredded. They melt into pools of cheesy glory. We’ve always called it “Postpartum Ziti” because it makes a TON and is perfect for bringing to new moms! Originally published January 18, 2012.

Table of Contents

Back to the present
Why you’ll love this Ziti Recipe
Ingredients for Baked Ziti with Cottage Cheese
How to make the Best Baked Ziti
Best Baked Ziti Recipe Tips
Baked Ziti Recipe variations and substitutions
How to serve Baked Ziti with Sausage
How to store this Ziti Recipe
More casseroles that you are going to love!
The Best Baked Ziti with Cottage Cheese (Postpartum Ziti) Recipe

This post was originally published in 2012. Here’s a flashback:

So do you ever have those days where you just cannot wake up, no matter what you do? Today was one of those days. I got up at 6:30, drove to the gym, ran for a half hour, drove back, and I still felt like I was sleep walking. (Which is perhaps why I nearly crashed on the way home. If you live in my town, consider yourself warned.)

Now as I write this, Charlotte [11 months] is eating her extremely healthy blueberry yogurt multigrain pancake that I made for her. Actually she is methodically tearing it up into pieces and dropping them on the floor with relish, while looking me in the eye with a face that says Go ahead. Stop me. I can’t really blame her. Eric had basically the same reaction. I thought they were delicious.

baked ziti with sausage shot from above.

Things that I did today: drank rancid orange juice. Spilled yogurt on myself. Twice. (Did I mention I was tired?) Cleaned up a Charlotte mess. Twice. (because she has a diaper rash so I put her to bed without a diaper. Have I told you lately that I’m a genius?) Caught my hand on my iPod cord while running, causing said iPod to fly off the treadmill tray and trip me. Rearranged the bobby pin in my hair only to drop said pin and see it get shot 2 feet behind me after the ride of its life on the treadmill. People must look at me flailing around on the treadmill trying not to get killed and think to themselves, Wow. She must not come here very often. Which is true.

cheesy baked ziti in a white baking dish.

We had some friends back in Indiana who would bring this amazing ziti to new moms, hence the name Postpartum Ziti. It is amazingly delicious and makes a ton. [photo from 2012]

Back to the present

Hi it’s me, Karen from 2019! It’s been almost 8 years, and I still think this is the best baked Ziti recipe ever! Also I need to come clean about the fact that nothing has changed in the gym department since writing this post.

I don’t even have a gym membership right now (pregnant people don’t have to exercise, you know that right? Gosh I’m JOKING), but I did up until a few months ago, and I’m still just as much of an idiot when exercising in public. (Remember when I thought the other half of the gym was a wall of mirrors? Yeah.)

a slice of baked ziti lifted by a serving spoon.

Why you’ll love this Ziti Recipe

We’ve all had a lackluster pasta bake before. Not enough sauce, dried out noodles, cries of “where’s the cheese?” (that would be me, crying about a lack of cheese). What was supposed to be an easy, crowd-pleasing dinner languishes in its pan until it gets thrown away. Don’t let this tragedy happen to you! This ziti rights all the wrongs and makes a ton. It’s got plenty of sauce to keep the noodles tender, three kinds of cheese, and fresh basil.

I love taking this meal to new parents because it’s the perfect thing to heat up at 2AM when your baby’s awake and you’re starving. It’s also ideal for kids, picky relatives in town, church potlucks, or ravenous teenagers.

Ingredients for Baked Ziti with Cottage Cheese

Here’s a quick list of everything you’ll need to make this baked ziti recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for a complete list.

ziti, or penne/rigatoni if you can’t find ziti
olive oil
mild Italian sausage
garlic
dried oregano
dried basil
kosher salt
black pepper
tomato sauce

diced tomatoes
sugar
fresh basil
heavy whipping cream
cornstarch
eggs
cottage cheese
grated Parmesan cheese
mozzarella cheese (block, not shredded)

How to make the Best Baked Ziti

Here’s how to take your Baked Ziti from ho-hum to Oh-my-gosh-this-is-amazing.

cooked pasta in a colander, a mixture of eggs, cottage cheese, and parmesan cheese.

Boil up some ziti in a large pot of salted water. If you can’t find ziti at the store (I feel like it’s hard to find at some stores??) Use penne pasta, rigatoni, or anything else that looks like a tube. Beat a couple eggs and combine with cottage cheese and a good deal of Parmesan. If you would rather use ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese, I’m sure it would work great, but for this recipe I love cottage cheese. And that’s coming from a serious ricotta lover.

red sauce in a pan, cubed mozzarella on a cutting board.

Make your easy homemade marinara sauce, starting out with Italian sausage and tons of garlic. I love that you don’t have to chop an onion for this recipe. You won’t miss it, I promise. Don’t skip the fresh basil, if possible! It gives the sauce this unbeatable fresh flavor. Sub the 1/2 cup basil with 1 tablespoons dried basil, if you don’t have any.

Chop up your mozzarella and set aside and stir some into the cottage cheese mixture. The chunks of cheese in this recipe are what set it apart! Put that cheese grater down!

mixing ricotta mixture with cooked pasta.

Once you’ve thickened up your cream, add the cottage cheese mixture and stir in all that pasta. You are going to want to dive in with a fork at this point, but hold off, I promise it’s even better once it’s come out of the oven.

adding red sauce to ziti, topping ziti and sauce with cubed mozzarella and parmesan cheese in a baking pan.

Add the pasta mixture to a large casserole dish and pour the remaining red sauce on top of the pasta then add even more mozzarella and parmesan. Don’t you love how we don’t have to do all those layers like a lasagna?? So easy.

Bake to perfection!

Best Baked Ziti Recipe Tips

Here’s how to make a perfect baked ziti, every time.

Don’t overcook your pasta. The ziti noodles will continue cooking as they bake in the oven, so don’t worry if you’ve only cooked it the recommended 5-7 minutes and the noodles seem too firm. We’re not done yet!
Drizzle your pasta with a little oil. This keeps the pasta from sticking together so it can easily mix with the sauce, cheese, and sausage.
Drain the fat from your sausage. I know it’s an extra step, but trust me, you don’t want all that fat turning your perfect ziti into a soggy, greasy mess.
Grease your foil. If you don’t, the melting cheese will stick to the foil and get ripped off the top of the casserole, tragic!!

Baked Ziti Recipe variations and substitutions

I love this easy baked ziti recipe just the way it is but you can totally adapt it to your liking. Here are a few ideas!

Make it vegetarian. Skip the sausage. No need to substitute anything, although you could do plant based “sausage” crumbles if you want.
Sub a different cheese. Don’t be afraid to sub some pepper jack for the mozzarella, or plain monterey jack, or any melty cheese you enjoy.
Use your favorite pasta. If you don’t have ziti (or can’t find it) I recommend trying penne or rigatoni. However, there’s no reason you can’t use any short pasta you have in the pantry (farfalle, for example!).

How to serve Baked Ziti with Sausage

If I’m taking this ziti to someone, I love grabbing a loaf of french bread and a bagged salad at the grocery store on my way over. EASY. Not opposed to doing that for myself either!

This is still one of my favorite meals to bring to new moms (it will always be called Postpartum Ziti at our house, haha), or to any family in need. It is tasty and very filling, feeds a ton of people, and freezes well! Plus who can say no to a baked ziti casserole?? It’s irresistible!

Bring it with a salad kit from the produce section at the store and some French bread from the deli and call it good. The simpler I keep meals that I bring other families, the more likely I am to do it again next time (instead of categorizing it in my brain as “a ton of work” it’s just “a casserole and some food from the store” which is much more approachable in my mind.) If you really want to go all out you can make The Best Garlic Bread of Your Life, which despite being the best ever is actually quite easy to make.

If you are bringing a meal to a smaller family, split the casserole between two 8 inch square pans and feed your family AND theirs. Yesss!!

Here’s a whole post I wrote on how to bring a meal to a friend with so many amazing ideas I sourced from friends and readers to make this whole “take a meal” thing easier (and here’s the sister post with 12 ideas for what to take).

If you’re serving this ziti at home as part of a larger meal, you can definitely make it special with homemade salad or bread. Here are some of my favorites!

Green Goddess Salad << so herby, creamy, and refreshing! Perfect with pasta

Greek Salad with Feta << I love Greek flavors, do you??

Apple Gorgonzola Salad (Buca di Beppo Copycat) << just like the restaurant!

The Best Garlic Bread << this might steal the show from the ziti. It’s THAT good

Garlic Knots << get ready for the oohs and aahs, these are so gorgeous!

Garlic and Rosemary Skillet Bread << unique, delicious bread in a cast iron pan

a piece of baked ziti with stretchy melted cheese.

How to store this Ziti Recipe

I put the lid right on my Pyrex and stuck this in the fridge. It’s good for 3-4 days, and if you have leftovers (or want to make an entire casserole in advance) you can freeze them. Wrap tightly with tinfoil, then label so you know what’s up later. If you have individual pieces, it’s pretty easy to wrap them in plastic wrap and then put them in a ziplock. Pull one out as needed and reheat in the microwave. The entire casserole can be reheated at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.