Chicken Baked Ziti

This chicken pasta bake has a wonderful homemade sauce, much better than jar sauce. It does make a larger amount, but see the instructions below for a half recipe.

👨‍🍳How to make baked ziti with chicken

Trim and dice 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts into approximately ½ inch cubes. Chop 1 medium onion.

In a large pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When shimmering, add the chicken. Saute for 3 minutes, then add onion and continue to saute for 5-6 minutes more until onion is clearing and chicken is 165°. Add 4-6 cloves crushed or minced garlic and saute for 1 minute until fragrant. Remove from heat.

Add 1 tablespoon basil, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional), ½ teaspoon black pepper, 28 oz crushed tomatoes, 14 oz diced tomatoes, 6 oz tomato paste, and 6 oz water. Simmer on low while cooking pasta and cubing mozzarella.

Cook the pasta al dente according to package instructions. Cube mozzarella cheese into ½ inch cubes or use shredded cheese.

Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the pasta and mozzarella.

Pour into a prepared baking dish, 9X13 or 12-inch round, and top with ¼ cup Parmesan and refrigerate or bake at this point.

Place in a preheated 375° convection oven until bubbling and browning—about 30-40 minutes.

For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.

✔️Tips to make it your way

Use other meat, like Italian sausage, ground beef, ground chicken, or ground turkey.

While you can use a jar sauce, you will love the easy homemade sauce. You will need 7 cups of sauce for the full recipe.

While this is called baked ziti, many people use penne pasta, which is smaller and angle cut. Other smaller pasta like farfalle or rigatoni can be used.

Add a touch of heat with the optional red pepper flakes. Or leave it out for kids.

⬇️How to make this a "for two" friendlier recipe

The full recipe makes about 8 large servings. A half recipe fits nicely in a 6X9 baking dish for 4 servings.

1. Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings from 8 to 4.
2. Use the amount of each ingredient in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
3. Bake for about 25-30 minutes until bubbling. Use the broiler if you need more browning.

Can I make chicken baked ziti ahead and bake it later?

Yes. You can make ahead, and instead of baking, cover well and refrigerate for a day.

You can also freeze it uncooked for up to 3 months. Cover it with plastic wrap, then double wrap with foil. To cook, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Baking time will be about 10 minutes longer for a cold casserole.

This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.

📖 Recipe

Chicken Baked Ziti

From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

Chicken baked ziti has tender chicken and pasta, melted mozzarella, and homemade marinara sauce, all topped with Parmesan cheese—an easy Italian comfort food.

5 from 6 votes

Rating is now in the comments.

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings #/Adjust if desired 8 servings

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Ingredients

US Customary - Convert to Metric

• ▢ 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
• ▢ 1 pound dry pasta
• ▢ ¼ cup Parmesan cheese - shredded
• ▢ 1 pound mozzarella - cubed or shredded

Sauce Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 onion - medium
• ▢ 4-6 cloves garlic - crushed
• ▢ 1 tablespoon basil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ ¼-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper - optional
• ▢ ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 28 oz crushed tomatoes
• ▢ 14 oz diced tomatoes
• ▢ 6 oz tomato paste
• ▢ 6 oz water

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Instructions

Photos ONOFF

1. Trim and dice 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts into approximately ½ inch cubes. Chop 1 medium onion.
   
2. Chop one medium onion.
   
3. In a large pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When shimmering, add the chicken. Saute for 3 minutes, then add onion and continue to saute for 5-6 minutes more until onion is clearing and chicken is 165°. Add 4-6 cloves crushed or minced garlic and saute for 1 minute until fragrant. Remove from heat.
   
4. Add 1 tablespoon basil, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional), ½ teaspoon black pepper, 28 oz crushed tomatoes, 14 oz diced tomatoes, 6 oz tomato paste, and 6 oz water. Simmer on low while cooking pasta and cubing mozzarella.
   
5. Cook the pasta al dente according to package instructions. Cube mozzarella cheese into ½ inch cubes or use shredded cheese.
   
6. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the pasta and mozzarella.
   
7. Pour into a prepared baking dish, 9X13 or 12-inch round, and top with ¼ cup Parmesan and refrigerate or bake at this point.
   
8. Place in a preheated 375° convection oven until bubbling and browning—about 30-40 minutes.
   

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Recipe Notes

Pro Tips:

1. This is an easy recipe to cut in half. Adjust the ingredients in the servings area of the recipe card. It will change the ingredients but not the instructions. You will need to adjust those yourself.
2. Use a 12-inch round or 13X9 casserole dish for a full recipe. Use a 9X6 for a half recipe.
3. Use the pasta of your choice. I prefer smaller pasta, so I use penna.
4. Adjust your red pepper to taste.
5. You can save a lot of time using jarred sauce, but you really don't want to do that.
6. Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and frozen for 3-4 months.

 

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Do you have a question?Leave a comment to ask or check the recipe post above for most common questions and variations.

Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print. Otherwise step-by-step photos are in the post.

To adjust the recipe size:

You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories : 506 kcal (25%)Carbohydrates : 59 g (20%)Protein : 30 g (60%)Fat : 17 g (26%)Saturated Fat : 9 g (45%)Cholesterol : 65 mg (22%)Sodium : 1039 mg (43%)Potassium : 900 mg (26%)Fiber : 5 g (20%)Sugar : 11 g (12%)Vitamin A : 1044 IU (21%)Vitamin C : 20 mg (24%)Calcium : 399 mg (40%)Iron : 4 mg (22%)

Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.

Course : Main|Main Course

Cuisine : Italian

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Editor's Note: Originally Published May 13, 2010. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.