Baked pasta, or pasta al forno, is a classic Italian dish. This baked rigatoni with Italian sausage and meatballs is my spin on a family recipe. Baked rigatoni is a hearty, filling, meaty, cheesy dish that is a great comfort food any time of the year.
I grew up eating this, as my dad loved to make it alongside a baked ham almost every Christmas. He grew up eating this as well, as it was a recipe his parents also made. They always called it “baked macaroni” though, and his version is different from my own. In my dad’s version, he uses breakfast sausages and store-bought meat sauce. He also browns some ground beef and adds it to the sauce. He uses rigatoni and mozzarella also, but I always wondered if I could ramp up the flavors in my own version of a baked rigatoni recipe.
A few years ago, I decided to make baked rigatoni for myself and see. Now this meal has a place in my usual dinner wheelhouse, and I make it at least once every other month. Whether you call it baked rigatoni, baked ziti, or baked macaroni, this dish is always a winner.
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🍝 What Is Baked Rigatoni/Ziti?
Baked Ziti is a popular Italian dish and a type of Italian cooking known as pasta al forno (“pasta to the oven”, or “baked pasta”). As with a lot of dishes, there’s no hard and fast rules on how to make pasta al forno. There are literally thousands of regional and family differences, but the basic dish involves pasta cooked al dente, mixed with a sauce (usually tomato), add a cheese or mix of cheeses, and bake it. You can add almost any type of vegetable and/or meat to your heart’s content.
While ziti pasta is more widely used in a baked pasta dish, you can use ziti, penne, or rigatoni for almost any of the same applications. In this recipe, I prefer rigatoni because the deep ridges are great for making the sauce cling to it.
🥘 Ingredients
Almost all the ingredients for baked rigatoni with sausage and meatballs can be store bought or made from scratch. If you love making your own sauces or meatballs or sausages, use that. You could even make your own cheese and pasta. If you’re looking for a quicker and easier weeknight dinner, you could use all store-bought ingredients as well. This part is completely up to you.
Sauce – I love marinara here, and usually use my homemade quick and easy marinara sauce when I make this dish. Feel free to use your own recipe though or use a store-bought tomato sauce you prefer.
Italian Sausage – Sweet, Mild, or Hot, the flavor is up to you. Sometimes I can find a combo package and I always go for that when available. I like a mix of sweet Italian sausage and hot Italian sausage. I remove the casings from two sausages and cook them up like ground sausage. The other three I cook most of the way in a skillet, then slice and add to the rigatoni before it goes into the oven.
Meatballs – Whether using fresh or frozen, homemade or store-bought, the choice is yours. Depending on their size and freshness though; when you add them to the sauce will vary. Check the recipe for more information. Smaller, ½ ounce size work best, but you can use larger ones as well.
Pepperoni – Optional, but I love the additional flavor. Use smaller sliced pieces that you would use on a pizza though, and not the large deli slices. If you’re concerned about the pepperoni adding a greasy texture when baked, before using it, microwave the slices for 20 seconds and then pat dry with a paper towel.
Cheese – I use whole milk mozzarella cheese for this recipe on the top and middle layers and add shredded parmesan on the top layer. Be sure to use shredded parmesan and not grated here. A whole milk block of mozzarella you can shred works best, but even pre-shredded, part skim mozzarella cheese will work.
Pasta – As mentioned before, I prefer rigatoni for this recipe over ziti or penne, but you could use any of the three you prefer or can find. Use the whole box and only cook until al dente. It will continue to cook inside the oven. For baked pasta, tubular pasta shapes work best as they can hold the ingredients, and ridged versions hold onto the sauce better.
If you’re not familiar with the term al dente, it’s an Italian term that translates as “to the tooth.” Al dente pasta still has a slight bite to it, where the outside feels tender, but the center still has a slight resistance. It should be slightly white still on the inside. If the pasta is fully cooked or overcooked before being baked, it will become very mushy by the end.
🔪 How to Make
Starting with the sauce, either begin making it or put it into a small pot and heat it up over medium-low heat.
While the sauce is going, heat a 10 or 12-inch skillet over medium heat and remove the casings from two of the sausages. Cook the sausage and break it up as it cooks until it is in small pieces.
Add the cooked, ground sausage to the sauce. If you’re using frozen or premade, refrigerated meatballs, add them to the sauce now as well. Cover the pot and reduce to low heat.
Add the rest of the Italian sausages to the same skillet and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally. If you have the room, you can start boiling a large pot of water for the pasta as well and move the sauce to a back burner on low.
When the sausages are mostly cooked, remove to a cutting board, and allow them to cool. When the water begins to boil, add a good amount of kosher salt and then add the pasta. Give it a good stir to keep it from sticking to the bottom. Cook the pasta to al dente, according to the package directions. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C.
Once the pasta is ready, turn off the burner and drain the pot. Return the pasta to the empty pot and pour in the sauce. Stir gently to combine the pasta and meats and sauce. If using freshly made meatballs, add them now. Slice the cooked sausages, if they’re still a little pink inside, that’s fine, they will finish cooking in the oven.
Use a deep sided 9×13 baking dish and begin filling it. Start with some of the mixed pasta and sauce, add some of the sausage, then cover with half of the mozzarella. Arrange the pepperoni on top of the cheese if using. Next, do another layer of pasta and sausage, then more mozzarella and pepperoni. Top off with the shredded parmesan over the pepperoni.
Place uncovered into the center rack of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove when the top looks nicely browned and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
📖 Variations
While I love this baked rigatoni with Italian sausage and meatballs, there are also so many different variations on this dish I couldn’t possibly list them all here. The following are just a few ideas to get you started.
Meat Lover’s Baked Rigatoni – While my dish uses 3 meats with the included, optional pepperoni, you could easier add even more. Sometimes I toss in some bacon bits as well, but you could also skip making ground sausage and brown a pound of ground beef instead and cook and slice all the Italian sausages. Replace or add to the pepperoni with salami or soppressata or capicola.
Adding Veggies – This recipe also works well if you wish to add thick sliced onions and peppers, or mushrooms as well.
Vegetarian Baked Rigatoni – You could also make this a vegetarian version of baked rigatoni. Replace all the meat with your choice of vegetables. Popular choices that hold up well to baking include squash, zucchini, onions, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes.
Different Sauces – While I prefer my homemade marinara in this baked rigatoni, feel free to use any favored sauce instead. You could go with a chunky sauce, garlic and basil, tomato and mushroom, a meat sauce, or a vodka sauce, that’s also great.
Cheeses – While I favor a mix of mozzarella and parmesan in my version of baked rigatoni with sausage and meatballs, there are plenty of other popular options as well. Many recipes will use a mix of mozzarella and ricotta, which is like most lasagnas. Other great cheeses for baked pasta include mascarpone, ricotta, mozzarella, cream cheese, parmesan, pecorino, parmigiana Reggiano, etc.
Keep in mind that most of the cheese used should be a soft and melty cheese. Harder, aged cheeses don’t melt as well, but work as a topping in smaller amounts.
Spicy – Sometimes I like this dish with a little kick. The easiest way to add a subtle bite of heat is to use some crushed red pepper flakes in the sauce, and to use hot Italian sausages. You could also add a diced chili pepper to the sauce, like a serrano or Calabrian chili.
💭 Frequently Asked Questions
Basically, just the pasta shape, and they can be used interchangeably in the same recipes. Ziti tends to be slightly longer and a smaller hole than rigatoni, which is also ridged. I prefer rigatoni for the ridges because it holds onto the sauce better.
Uncovered. Covering the pasta while baking will produce a lot of steam and keep the top from browning properly. If you prefer a less browned top and a baked rigatoni that retains more moisture, you can also bake it covered for 20 minutes and then uncovered for an additional 10-15 minutes.
Lasagna is made with sheets of pasta, and everything is layered separately, usually starting with sauce, pasta, cheese, meat, sauce, etc. Baked pastas like baked ziti or baked rigatoni use extruded, tubular pasta shapes typically, and the pasta is premixed with the sauce. It may or may not consist of two layers, or simply all mixed together and topped with an extra layer of cheese.
🍽 Equipment
Most of what you’ll need to make baked rigatoni with meatballs you will probably already have. Here’s just a few tools that I find helpful and suggest if you don’t have them.
Meat Chopper – A good heat resistant meat chopper makes it easier to break up and smash ground beef and other meats in the pan while cooking. I use one for the sausage I remove from the casing, and it is safer than using a fork on a nonstick pan.
Deep Baking Dish – This recipe makes a large amount of filling, so I like using this 13×9 enameled baking dish. It’s also 3” deep so it will hold more than a standard casserole dish at 4.75 quarts.
❄️ Storing and Freezing
Allow the baked rigatoni to cool completely at room temperature and cover the dish tightly with foil. Will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
If you want to freeze the entire dish uncooked, build it in the baking dish until it is ready to go into the oven and instead, allow it to cool completely at room temperature. Wrap the entire dish in plastic wrap, then again in foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Allow it to thaw overnight in the fridge before baking. It will probably need extra time in the oven as well.
📋 Recipe
Baked Rigatoni with Italian Sausage & Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 recipe homemade marinara, or your choice of 28oz sauce
- 5 links Italian sausages, divided
- 18-22 ½ ounce meatballs, homemade or store-bought
- 1 pound rigatoni pasta
- 30 slices pepperoni, optional
- 1 pound mozzarella cheese, about 4 cups shredded
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, shredded
Directions
- Starting with the sauce, either begin making it or put it into a small pot and heat it up over medium-low heat.
- While the sauce is going, heat a 10 or 12-inch skillet over medium heat and remove the casings from two of the sausages. Cook the sausage and break it up as it cooks until it is in small pieces.
- Add the cooked, ground sausage to the sauce. If you’re using frozen or premade, refrigerated meatballs, add them to the sauce now as well. Cover the pot and reduce to low heat.
- Add the rest of the Italian sausages to the same skillet and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally. If you have the room, you can start boiling a large pot of water for the pasta as well and move the sauce to a back burner on low.
- When the sausages are mostly cooked, remove to a cutting board, and allow them to cool. When the water begins to boil, add a good amount of kosher salt and then add the pasta. Give it a good stir to keep it from sticking to the bottom. Cook the pasta to al dente, according to the package directions. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C.
- Once the pasta is ready, turn off the burner and drain the pot. Return the pasta to the empty pot and pour in the sauce. Stir gently to combine the pasta and meats and sauce. If using freshly made meatballs, add them now. Slice the cooked sausages, if they’re still a little pink inside, that’s fine, they will finish cooking in the oven.
- Use a deep sided 9×13 baking dish and begin filling it. Start with some of the mixed pasta and sauce, add some of the sausage, then cover with half of the mozzarella. Arrange the pepperoni on top of the cheese if using. Next, do another layer of pasta and sausage, then more mozzarella and pepperoni. Top off with the shredded parmesan over the pepperoni.
- Place uncovered into the center rack of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove when the top looks nicely browned and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
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