Recipe: Baked Ziti Meal Prep

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

This High Protein Baked Ziti from TheBalanceNutritionist with some fresh spinach added in is pretty good. Could be worth making again!

Ingredients

• 16 oz ziti
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 lb Italian ground chicken sausage, raw with casing removed or chopped fully cooked sausage
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 c marinara sauce (tomato basil is good)
• A few handfuls of fresh spinach
• 1/2 c water
• 1/3 c basil, chopped small, more for topping
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• salt + black pepper to taste

Cheese Layer

• 2 c shredded mozzarella, divided in half
• 16 oz cottage cheese
• 1/2 c parmesan or nutritional yeast
• 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• Pinch of black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
3. In a large deep skillet, heat oil on medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook for 2 minutes until garlic is fragrant and onion begins to soften.
4. Add ground meat and sausage. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Continue cooking until meat is just cooked through.
5. Reduce heat to low and add sauce, water, basil and seasonings. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
6. While the sauce is cooking, make the cheese layer. Add cottage cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella, parmesan cheese and seasonings to a small bowl. Mix until combined.
7. Add pasta and spinach to the ground meat sauce and mix until combined.
8. Add half of the pasta mixture to the bottom of a baking dish. Next, add the cheese layer by adding dollops of cheese mixture and smooth to mostly cover the pasta. Add the rest of the pasta and then top with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.
9. Bake for 25 minutes until cheese is melted and golden brown.