No Boil Baked Ziti

The No Boil Baked Ziti recipe from Ragu is hands down the best baked ziti I’ve ever made/had and I’m so happy I found the recipe a few years ago. I don’t know how I haven’t already shared it on here before because I’ve been making it for at least 2 years.

I follow the Ragu recipe, except I add less water than is called for because I feel like when I add the suggested amount, the baked ziti comes out too liquid-y and I prefer it to be drier. It’s a “no boil” baked ziti because you don’t have to cook the pasta ahead of time.

For this recipe you’ll need:

a jar of Ragu Old World Style Traditional Sauce (or the pasta sauce of your preference)
water (the recipe says 1 1/2 cup, but I usually just do about 1 cup)
ricotta cheese
mozzarella cheese
parmasan cheese
uncooked ziti pasta

The recipe is pretty simple. In a large bowl, combine the sauce, water, and ricotta cheese. Once the ricotta is all broken down and mixed in, add in half the mozzarella, the parmasan, and the uncooked ziti. Mix it all together and transfer to a baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 400. The recipe says for 55 minutes, but my oven tends to run hot and cook faster so I usually set it for 50 minutes and then check it. Then, remove the foil and top with the remaining mozzarella and bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Sometimes I’ll put it under the broiler for a minute too to get the top a little browner.