There is a generous amount of maple syrup added to a shot of vodka. A drunken joke turned into a drunken wildfire after it first emerged!
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Additional Time: | 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
- 1 (24 ounce) jar RAGÚ® Old World Style® Traditional Sauce
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
- 2 tablespoons grated reduced-fat Parmesan cheese
- 12 ounces uncooked ziti pasta
- ¾ cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Meanwhile, brown ground beef in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
- Combine sauce and water in a large bowl. Stir in browned ground beef, ricotta, Parmesan cheese, and uncooked ziti. Pour ziti mixture into a 13×9-inch baking dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered for an additional 5 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Reviews
This recipe is soooo easy, but it turns out awesome every time. I usually use Bertolli marinara sauce, but make no other changes. Last Monday, however, I substituted sweet Italian turkey sausage for the ground beef because it was on sale… oh my! Is there a sixth star I can click on??
I made no changes. It was easy, fast and good. Served with a salad
Like other reviewers said this is bland. It’s super easy to throw together and dump in the oven which is why it got 4 stars. Will have to play around with ingredients to see how we can spice it up more.
I’ve made this recipe changed it up a little bit. Instead of ground beef I use sweet Italian sausage and I don’t put in any ricotta cheese. Family loves it and I love that it’s quick and easy!
I thoroughly appreciate this recipe. It’s quick easy and cheap but…. I’M SO SORRY RAGU FOR WHAT I’M ABOUT TO SAY. The first time I made this, it was delicious. I used my favorite store bought prego sauce. I used Ragu last time bc it was a little cheaper and you got more of it. It was very bland. I am not a fan of ragu sauces anyway. I hadn’t bought any in a while and was gonna give it another shot. Nope! To sum it up, this recipe is delicious if you use the right sauce! I’m a prego fan all the way. Use your go to sauce in this one and it will be a winner
This was so easy and was amazing! The flavor cooks through…so yummy! As you can see it was filling, 4 of us only ate 1/3 of it!
Used Rotini and it was great!
I made this recipe; however, I used ground turkey instead of beef. The pasta did cook during the baking process, but it tasted pasty. I believe that was due to the ricotta cheese. The recipe called for 1 1/2 pounds of ziti and I used 1 pound 2 ounces along with the 1 cup of ricotta cheese. The next time I make it I will use less ricotta cheese. However, the next day it tasted much better and less pasty. So like someone else said it is better as a leftover meal.
My kids love baked ziti, but I haven’t been pleased with my results. Decided to try this one based on the reviews and it did not disappoint. One of the easiest recipes I’ve ever tried, so easy that my 15-year-old son made it all by himself, with only verbal cues from me! Upon advice of a couple reviewers, we switched out the ricotta for cream cheese to reduce the water content and added in dried oregano, garlic salt and Italian spices to season the meat. Whole family loved it. Thank goodness we increased the servings to provide dinner for two nights. Will definitely make this again…SOON!
Super easy and delicious! I will never boil my pasta again! I don’t completely mix the ricotta because I like some little pieces in my ziti. And I also added tiny dollops of sour cream. I had to cook mine about an hour 5 mins for pasta to be fully cooked before adding the mozzarella. Husband went back for seconds and even ate it for breakfast!
This was good and very quick to prepare. I used Italian sausage ilo ground beef and and added garlic powder and Italian seasoning to the sauce. I used Ragu traditional sauce (my favorite) and the flavor was excellent. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the sauce wasn’t watery. I do think the ricotta was a waste. I mixed it in as directed and it disappeared, wasn’t enough to make it creamy, if ricotta can even do that. Next time I would double the ricotta and mix it separately with an egg and seasonings. I would add it as a layer sandwiched between half the sauce and the other half, like lasagna. Otherwise, good recipe, thanks!
Really good ziti recipe that is easy to make! Only change i made was using a localt made sauce in stead of ragu.
Excellent & simple recipe! I followed a couple of reviewers & added a shredded parmesan, romano & provolone blend. In addition, I cooked ground turkey sausage instead of ground beef as well as being a little heavy on the seasonings. Even if made exactly as recipe stated…..it would surely still have been good. Is going in the recipe book.
Awesome! I did add seasoning based on a couple reviewers comments and it’s great! I didn’t have any ziti noodles… so I used rotini… and all I had was a choice between 3 cheese and alfredo, so I used the 3 cheese. worked amazing!
This is super easy and really good. kind of sweet…. maybe the ricotta. my picky 10 year old loved it. I did everything to the letter except of course more mozzarella at the end. great, filling meal.
Tastes great and it’s super easy to make. I often add extra ricotta and use a larger container of sauce.
I am making this right now. I added some veggies and only used a pound of beef. Hopefully it still comes out ok with all the added water content of the vegetables.
I made it with Rinaldi sauce and it was delicious! I also added some salt to the meat. The whole family loved it, especially my picky husband and kids. I will definitely make it again. It’s our new favorite dish.
It was really good! I found it slightly bland, so I added a bit of salt and pepper. Other than that, it was amazing and there’s so much leftovers 🙂
I love this recipe! It’s so good and easy to make. It also freezes fairly well. I don’t think there have ever been any leftovers whenever I made this! I do make a few changes for my family- First, I take out the beef because I don’t really care for it. Second, I use one 8 ounce package of Philadelphia cream cheese instead of ricotta cheese since no one in my family will eat ricotta. It probably adds lots of calories, but the cream cheese makes the casserole soooo good! As one reviewer said, it’s kind of bland so to add more flavor, I took their advice and also mix in about a teaspoon of garlic powder and a teaspoon of oregano. Also, I change the shredded mozzarella to Sargento Mozzarella and Provolone mix and sprinkle garlic salt on top of the cheese. I always line the pan with aluminum foil to make cleanup a breeze. Hope this helps!
Quick and easy. Made it without the meat for the kids. They all enjoyed it greatly, even my husband liked it. Next time I will make it with hamburger or sausage. So quick and easy.