Olive Garden Five Cheese Ziti al Forno copycat recipe made with marinara, alfredo, mozzarella, fontina, romano and parmesan cheese baked together with a crispy panko topping.
This baked ziti recipe is a huge hit with crowds and potlucks just like my super popularBaked Million Dollar Spaghetti andUltimate Meat Lasagna.
This Ziti al Forno is like the best baked ziti recipe you’ve ever had kicked up about tenmore notches. A mixture of marinara and alfredo sauce along with five (yes, I mean five) additional cheeses maked this dish an over the top extravagant recipe you won’t have to wait for a trip to Olive Garden to enjoy.
Olive Garden Five Cheese Ziti al Forno
This baked ziti is different than the traditional baked ziti which is made with marinara sauce, mozzarella and ricotta cheese. With a mix of two sauces and five cheeses you’d think that all the flavors would be muddled, but they work so well together that you’ll find yourself routinely mixing marinara sauce and alfredo sauce even when making a simple spaghetti dinner.
Can you make this ziti al forno lasagna?
YES and I love the way you think. We had a girls night in recently and experimented with this recipe as lasagna. Let me tell you, it was probably the best lasagna I’ve EVER eaten. We did add ground beef to the recipe because it needed more substance than just cheese. We also definitely added the crispy topping.
This Olive Garden recipe is vegetarian but you can absolutely add meat or seafood to the dish. Adding shrimp is a fantastic option, sliced and seared chicken would be great too.
Can you freeze/reheat Ziti al Forno?
Yes, sort of. We tried this a couple of times and ended up with dry pasta. Then we tried something we’ve seen in frozen pastas and cooked the pasta, freezing it on a sheet in a single layer. Once frozen we made the recipe as directed.
Why freeze the pasta you ask? Pasta has this annoying quality where it sucks up all the liquids in a dish when there are leftovers. This means the next day your pasta is all dried out. By freezing the pasta before assembling we prevent the pasta from acting like a sponge.
Looking for more Copycat pasta recipes?
Let me know if you have any copycat recipe requests. I have a lot more coming, some from Olive Garden in fact! If you have a recipe you’d like to see let me know in the comments below.
Yield: 8 servings
Olive Garden Five Cheese Ziti al Forno
Prep:15 minutes
Cook:30 minutes
Total Time:45 minutes
Olive Garden Five Cheese Ziti al Forno copycat recipe made with marinara, alfredo, mozzarella, fontina, romano and parmesan cheese baked together with a cripy panko topping.
Ingredients:
Pasta
Topping
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup romano cheese, grated
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Cook the pasta one minute shy of the directions on the box and drain.
- In a large metal bowl add the pasta, marinara sauce, alfredo sauce, ricotta cheese and fontina cheese and mix well.
- Add to a large oven safe skillet or 9×13 pan.
- Mix the mozzarella, panko, romano, parmesan and garlic together and add the topping over the pasta.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes uncovered until golden brown and bubbly.
Nutrition Information
Yield: 8 servings, Serving Size: 1/8th recipe
- Amount Per Serving:
- Calories: 663 Calories
