Sausage and Spinach Baked Ziti

Sausage and Spinach Baked Ziti. Easy to make baked ziti that is loaded with tender ziti noodles, semi-homemade sauce, sausage and spinach for the perfect healthy baked ziti. Serve with salad and crusty bread for the perfect weeknight dinner.

Sausage and Spinach Baked Ziti

Pasta makes a great dinner, it is easy, filling and if you are wanting to feed a crowd pasta is always a great option. Ziti is a dinner I make when I need something easy, filling and that can be thrown together quickly. I have a lot of ziti recipes that I make in our house, I am little by little getting the recipes up here on the blog for you to enjoy too.

This sausage and spinach baked ziti has a semi-homemade sauce and is loaded with spinach and Italian sausage for a flavorful filling meal that is a plate clearing meal anytime I make it for dinner.

I can easily prep this meal ahead of time and make it a freezer meal, so sometimes I will make a double batch and cook one for dinner and put the other in the freezer for when I know things are going to be busy.

Ziti Recipes

• Sausage Baked Ziti
• Cheesy Baked Ziti
• 5 Cheese Baked Ziti

Variations of this recipe

Change up the meat. While I like to use sausage for this baked ziti you can also use ground pork or ground beef.

Add more veggies. If you want more veggies you can add shredded carrots and diced onions.

Change up the cheese. I like using shredded mozzarella cheese but you can also add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top as well.

Change up the pasta. You can use any ziti noodle type you want to, white flour ziti noodles or whole wheat ziti noodles.

Use Ricotta Cheese. If you are not a fan of cottage cheese then you can use ricotta cheese.

Do you bake Baked Ziti covered or uncovered?

Baked ziti is best baked uncovered. As long as all of the noodles are covered with sauce then they will not dry out while they are baking in the oven.

What temperature do you bake Ziti at?

You will bake this baked ziti at 350°F.

How long does bake ziti take to cook?

When baked at 350°F it will take 40-45 minutes for the ziti to bake completely and the cheese on top to melt and brown.

What to Serve with Baked Ziti

Normally when I make cheesy baked ziti for dinner I take the easy way and get a loaf of fresh Italian bread from the grocery store and make a fresh salad. If you are making this sausage and spinach baked ziti recipe for a crowd then you will probably want to make things as as easy as possible, doing bread and salad will make this a complete meal.

When I make a salad I like to make one with one of my favorite homemade salad dressings like Honey Poppy Seed dressing, Homemade Balsamic Dressing or lime vinaigrette dressing. I just about always have one of them already made in the fridge. If I want to get fancy, then I make an avocado BLT salad. If you are wanting to stick with the Olive Garden theme, you can easily make a salad with Olive Garden Salad Dressing.

However there are many other side dishes to serve with pasta dishes like this one, check some of our favorite side dish recipes out!

• Capocollo Wrapped Asparagus
• Parmesan Asparagus
• Lemon Roasted Asparagus
• Garlic Green Beans
• Whole roasted cauliflower

How to Store Leftover Baked Ziti

Allow the spinach baked ziti to cool completely and then wrap the dish with plastic wrap or pour the leftover ziti into an airtight container. Store the leftovers in the fridge, it will keep for 3-4 days.

How to Freeze Baked Ziti

You have a few different options when it comes to making this baked ziti with homemade sauce ahead of time. I know some people don’t like to freeze pasta, so you can make the sauce and freeze it in a zipclose freezer bag or freezer safe container and then when you want to make it cook the pasta, mix it with the thawed sauce and follow the rest of the steps for cooking.

You can make the whole recipe up until adding the cheese on top and then freeze it and thaw when it it time to bake it and add the shredded cheese on top then.

You can make the whole baked ziti and cook it and then freeze in the pan or freeze in individual serving sizes.

I do suggest if you are freezing the full dish that you use a throw away pan as it makes things much easier.

How long does Baked Ziti keep in the freezer?

Spinach Baked Ziti will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.

How to reheat frozen baked ziti

When you want to serve the ziti, remove it from the freezer, and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Sausage and Spinach Baked Ziti Ingredients

• 1 pound ziti pasta
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound package fresh sausage
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
• 1 15 ounces tomato sauce
• 1 15 ounces can diced tomatoes
• 1 6 ounce can tomato paste
• 3 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup frozen chopped spinach
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

How to Make Sausage and Spinach Baked Ziti

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water for 7 minutes and drain. While the pasta is cooking, start making the sauce.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and add the sausage and cook all the way through.

Remove the sausage from the skillet and slice the sausage, set it aside.

Add the garlic to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes.

Next add in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and tomatoes paste and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Add the Italian seasoning, salt, sugar, spinach, and cottage cheese to simmer for a few minutes.

If your skillet is large enough add in the sausage and pasta and mix. If not add the drained pasta back into the pot you cooked the pasta in, then add the sausage and then the sauce mixture and mix well.

Coat a 9″x13″ pan with cooking spray and pour the pasta mixture in.

Sprinkle the cheese on the top of the pasta.

Place in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Pasta Recipes

• One pot Chicken Alfredo
• Baked spaghetti
• Chicken Asparagus Alfredo Pasta
• Chicken Bacon Pasta Ranch Casserole
• Cauliflower Mac and cheese
• Bow tie Ziti
• Homemade Lasagna