Baked Ziti Freezer Meals Recipe | Large Family Dinners

Everyone in my family loves Baked Ziti. I love that they love it because it’s an easy freezer meal for me to stash panfuls at a time. I admit though that I cheated (or was a total super genius) during my last large family freezer cooking day. I made enough meat and cheese sauce to make five pans of easy lasagna freezer meals, plus I had enough left over to make four pans of Baked Ziti.

To make it simple for you if you just want to make Baked Ziti, or if you make these five pans of lasagna and hop over to this post to get the Baked Ziti directions, I’ve included the Easy Baked Ziti Freezer Meal recipe for you below.

Items I Use for Oven Freezer Meals

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- Disposable Metal Pans
- Reynolds Wrap Foil
- Saran Wrap

- Stainless Steel 22-Quart Covered Stockpot
- 8 Qt Instant Pot
- Large Rubbermaid Container
- Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls

Homemade Meat Sauce

105 oz of Hunts Tomato Sauce (these are the 105 oz cans I use)
2 oz of Garlic Powder
2 oz of Ground Oregano
2 lbs of Cooked Ground Beef

Homemade Cheese Sauce

2-32 oz Ricotta Cheese Tubs
6 eggs
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese

Baked Ziti Freezer Meal Recipe

This Baked Ziti Freezer Meal Recipe yields 4 to 5 9×13 pans.

Baked Ziti Freezer Meal Recipe | Large Family Style!

Jamerrill Stewart

Feed a herd of hungry people with this favorite Baked Ziti Freezer Meal recipe! Add your favorite sides and make it work for you.

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Ingredients

HOMEMADE MEAT SAUCE

105 oz of Hunts Tomato Sauce
2 oz of Garlic Powder
2 oz of Ground Oregano
2 lbs of Cooked Ground Beef

HOMEMADE CHEESE SAUCE

2-32 oz Ricotta Cheese Tubs
6 eggs
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese

ALSO NEEDED

4 - 16 oz boxes of Ziti Noodles
8 cups of preferred shredded cheese Mozzarella, Colby blend, or cheese of your choice

Instructions

FOR THE HOMEMADE MEAT SAUCE

Precook and drain 2 lbs of ground beef.
Combine 2 lbs of ground beef with large 105 oz can of plain tomato sauce in a large stock pot.
Add in 2 oz of garlic powder and 2 oz of ground oregano.
Stir well.

FOR HOMEMADE CHEESE SAUCE

In large mixing bowl combined 2-32 oz tubs of Ricotta Cheese, 6 eggs, and 1 cups of mozzarella cheese.
Mix well with hand mixer.

NOODLES

Cook noodles according to directions on package.
After draining noodles rinse with cool water to prevent further cooking.

CONSTRUCTING BAKED ZITI FREEZER MEALS

Set out 4 to 5 9x13 baking pans.
In large stock pot or huge mixing bowl gently stir together precooked homemade meat sauce, homemade cheese sauce, and 4 lbs of cooked noodles.
Fill each 9x13 baking pan approximately 3/4 full of baked ziti mixture.
Top each 9x13 pan with two additional cups of shredded cheese.

FREEZER MEAL DIRECTIONS

Allow your meals to cool completely before placing in the freezer.
Wrap each 9x13 pan with two layers of foil.
Label the top of each pan with recipe name and date.
Wrap each 9x13 pan with a layer of plastic wrap.
Set each pan to freeze in the freezer. Do not stack the pans on top of one another until each pan is individually frozen.

THAWED COOKING DIRECTIONS

Set the desired pans of Baked Ziti out in the refrigerator the evening before you'd like to serve.
Preheat your oven to 375 (oven times may vary).
Remove plastic wrap and one layer of foil.
Place Baked Ziti in preheated oven for 1 hour or until bubbly and hot. Remove last layer of foil and allow to cook for 10 additional minutes.
Allow your hot Baked Zitis to slightly cool on counter for 5-10 minutes before serving.

FROZEN COOKING DIRECTIONS

If cooking your Baked Ziti from completely frozen (this happens in real life :), remove plastic wrap and one layer of foil and place frozen Baked Ziti in preheated oven at 400 (oven temps may vary). Cook for up to 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until hot and bubbly. Remove last layer of foil and cook uncovered an additional 10 minutes as needed.

Let me know how this freezer meal recipe works out for you. I’d love to hear what you’re making!