Meatless Baked Ziti is a delicious family favorite that promises great nutrition. The vegetable and pasta casserole dish creates a beautiful tomato flavor that is complemented by an oozing cheese mixture!
As pasta noodles are so simple to cook, all you will need to do is prep the vegetables before mixing the ingredients in a cheese and pasta marinara sauce (pasta sauce).
Meatless Baked Ziti is a convenient and straightforward meal that is fulfilling, ensuring that your body will feel satisfied and energized throughout the day. Learn how to make this fantastic, healthy meal today with the step-by-step recipe guide detailed down below!
What is Baked Ziti?
If you are not already familiar with baked ziti, it’s a pasta dish originating from Italy. It gained popularity around the world due to its rich tomato sauce and tasty mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, and parmesan cheese mixture!
Baked ziti promises a cheese-filled, oven pasta hearty dish that only requires a little amount of prep time. Containing a wealth of nutritious vegetables and usually made with meat, the baked dish is the perfect comfort food after a long day.
Why Vegetarian Baked Ziti?
Vegetarian Baked Ziti is a flavorful and tasty variant of the traditional Italian meat-based dish. Meatless meals are a great option for those budgeting their meals or trying to eat less meat.
As such, this vegetarian baked ziti mixture is cheaper than its meaty counterpart, as it contains fewer ingredients. An emphasis on vegetables can make the recipe healthier as well.
However, if you are a meat-eater and want to add meat to this recipe, you can! Ground beef, sausage, or chicken will easily work within this baked ziti recipe.
All you need to do is pre-cook the meat before adding it to the pasta mixture. Make sure the meat is spread evenly across the baking dish so that each serving contains a perfect variety of meat, vegetables, and ziti pasta.
Click here for a Meatless Baked Ziti Recipe! or continue reading below!
Meatless Baked ziti is as delicious as it is easy to make. Once the ingredients have been prepped, they just need to be popped into a baking dish and left to bake! This recipe is sure to deliver a brilliant meal for even the most amateur of chefs.
This wholesome baked ziti can also conveniently be stored in a fridge for up to 5 days, and a freezer for up to 2 months!
To get started on your own delectably cheesy, meatless Italian pasta dish, simply see the detailed recipe below.
Since this dish is packed with good for you ingredients, you will get a lot of your daily nutrients, including iron, Vitamin C and potassium.
Ingredients
In order to make this meatless baked ziti, you will need to have the following ingredients. These are:
- 1 package of noodles, cooked according to directions on package
- 1 jar of your favorite vegan tomato sauce
- 2 Tbl oil
- 1/4 c sliced mushrooms
- 1/4 c diced bell peppers
- 1/4 c diced onion
- 1/2 c chopped spinach
- 1 c shredded vegan mozzarella cheese
You will also need the following kitchen tools to make this:
- Baking dish (we recommend a 9 x 13 for the ingredient proportions)
- Foil (enough to cover said dish)
- Large or medium bowl
- Skillet
- Large pot
- Oven
Procedure and Cooking Directions
Follow these steps to make your meatless ziti:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil noodles according to package directions and set aside.
3. In a large pan over medium high heat, add oil and vegetables. Saute for 2-3 minutes, or until softened.
4. Combine noodles, tomato sauce, vegetables and 3/4 c shredded vegan cheese. Place in a baking dish. Top with remaining cheese.
5. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the mozzarella cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
Cooking tips
Make sure that you preheat your oven to avoid uneven cooking. To prevent this from happening, ensure that one of the first things you do is turn your oven on to 350 degrees before you start the other prep work!
Secondly, during step 5, keep your dish in the oven until the cheese has lightly browned to add in some mouth-watering, crispy texture.
Make sure that you do not add too much extra time onto the 20 minutes though, as this may cause the pasta to overcook. As soon as the cheese starts to crisp around the edges, take it out.
We recommend serving this dish with a side of garlic italian bread for a truly authentic Italian dining experience! Dinner guests will be delighted at the delicious combination of foods.
Conclusion
In summary, meatless baked ziti is an easy and tasty nutritious dish that can be enjoyed by all of the family! It is filling, warming, and hearty, offering the perfect dinner after a long or cold day.
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