Lentil Baked Ziti
This vegetarian baked ziti recipe features lentils for protein. This amazing baked ziti is healthier than most, too. Everyone loves this easy dinner recipe!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
After a few glorious days of sunshine and sleeveless-shirt weather, it snowed again yesterday. This baked ziti is precisely what I want to eat when it’s cold outside. Hearty, saucy, cheesy pasta with redeeming whole grains and protein-rich lentils to keep me fueled for hours.
This dish is in sharp contrast to the pasta dinners I loved as a kid, which consisted only of refined carbohydrates and loads of sugar-laden marinara sauce. No matter how saucy pasta I could slurp down, I was always hungry 30 minutes later. No wonder!
I quickly lose my patience with recipes that require stovetop preparation followed by a long bake, but I kept this one as simple as possible. It’s worth the [minimal] effort and the wait, I promise. One way that I simplified the recipe—without sacrificing health factors or quality—was by using store-bought marinara sauce. You’ve probably noticed that not all pre-made marinara sauces are created equally.
My new go-to is my partner Newman’s Own organic marinara, which is thick and rich with slow-cooked tomato flavor. It’s hard to replicate that level of flavor at home without actually simmering tomatoes on the stovetop for hours.
It’s organic, which is especially important for tomato products, since conventionally grown tomatoes tend to be high in pesticide residue. Their sauce is also sugar free, unlike so many of the other sauces that are dessert disguised as marinara. My childhood favorite lists sugar third on the ingredients list, right after the tomatoes.
Last, but certainly not least—I love this brand because they donate 100 percent of profits to charity. Not 5 percent or 10 percent—all of it. Since 1982, the Newman’s Own Foundation has donated over $475 million to thousands of charities. I’m tremendously inspired by their business model and would love to see more companies do the same. Maybe I’ll start one of my own someday.
Lentil Baked Ziti
This healthy vegetarian baked ziti recipe includes lentils for protein. It’s a delicious dinner that makes great leftovers. Be sure to serve it with a big green side salad; my Italian chopped salad or a pared-down version of it would be perfect. Recipe yields 6 to 8 servings.
Ingredients
Lentils*
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 red onion, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 ¼ cups regular brown lentils, picked over for debris and rinsed
- 3 cups water
Pasta and everything else
- 12 ounces whole grain ziti, rigatoni or penne pasta
- 8 ounces (2 packed cups) grated part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
- Salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (omit if sensitive to spice)
- 23.5 ounces Newman’s Own Organics Marinara (plus 1 cup extra sauce, if you like extra-saucy ziti like me), divided
- 1 cup cottage cheese or ricotta cheese**
- Handful of torn fresh basil leaves, for garnishing
Instructions
- To cook the lentils: In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is turning translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the lentils and water, and stir to combine.
- Raise the heat to high and bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low and gently simmer until the lentils are tender and cooked through, about 30 to 40 minutes. Drain the mixture well in a fine-mesh sieve and return the lentils to their pot. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta just until al dente, according to package directions. Drain and return the pasta to the pot.
- Add the lentils to the pasta. Add ½ cup of the cheese, reserving the rest for later. Season to taste with salt (I usually add ¼ to ½ teaspoon), freshly ground black pepper and red pepper flakes (if using).
- Pour 1 cup of the marinara sauce into a 13×9-inch baking dish. Spread the sauce around with a spatula so the base of the baker is evenly coated. Pour the lentil and pasta mixture into the baker and spread it so it’s evenly distributed. Using a spoon, dollop cottage cheese in big spoonfuls over the pasta, then just lightly swirl the mixture a bit so the cottage cheese is still concentrated in those areas.
- Drizzle the rest of the sauce evenly over the dish (adding extra sauce if you’d like) and gently spread it over the pasta. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella evenly over the dish. Cover the baker tightly with aluminum foil—don’t let it touch the cheese—or stick a few wooden toothpicks down the center and place a generously sized piece of parchment paper, folded in the middle to make a “tent” over the baker.
- Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the covering, increase the heat to 450, and continue baking until the cheese on top is golden and spotty, 3 to 9 more minutes. Remove the baker from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes before serving (trust me). Sprinkle freshly torn basil on top, slice and serve.
Notes
*Lentil notes: If you want to use pre-cooked lentils to save a step (they won’t be as flavorful), you’ll need about 17 ounces or 3 ½ cups cooked lentils.
**Cottage cheese vs. ricotta: I genuinely prefer cottage cheese to ricotta here, even though I can’t stand cottage cheese on its own. Ricotta tends to get gummy when heated, which bothers me, whereas cottage cheese turns magically more creamy and delicious. Use whichever one you prefer in lasagna recipes.
Make it gluten free: Substitute sturdy gluten-free pasta (such as a corn and quinoa blend).
Change it up: You can add cooked bite-sized veggies or sautéed greens to the lentil and pasta mixture, if you’d like!
Advance preparation: I believe you could make the lentils and pasta ahead of time, refrigerate, and assemble just before baking. Matter of fact, you could probably assemble the whole thing and refrigerate until baking. It’s probably a good candidate for freezing before baking, too. Please let me know if you try.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This post was created in partnership with Newman’s Own and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!
I would love to see calorie counts for your recipes – love them but it helps me be more aware of intake.
Hi, Joyce. Unfortunately, I don’t have nutritional info available for my recipes just yet. I’m looking for a solution, and will update about it once I find one. In the meantime, here’s a nutrition calculator that might come in handy.
Another alternative for ricotta is crumbled tofu. We often use 1/2 ricotta and 1/2 tofu. It adds protein and cuts back on the amount of cheese in dishes such as this, making them a bit lighter.
Thanks for the tip Denise!
I made this for my parents and we all enjoyed it. I’ve been trying to find vegetarian dishes that are substantial and filling. I used pasta made from pulses for even more protein. This is the second “keeper” recipe I’ve so far tried from your site. I also love the vegan lentil soup. Thanks so much! I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
That sounds delicious, Mandy! I love lentil and garbanzo bean pastas, too– it’s a great idea to use them in this dish.
Soooooo, let me start with.. My Husband Loves Your Recipes!!!! I mean, there is a literal twinkle in his eye when I say I’m making something from your blog….
I just made this one! For a working Mom, I have to say, this is a great recipe that I can easily prepare while everyone is getting home from work/school and I don’t feel like I am held captive in the kitchen. Plus when dinner was over, I got to bask in the never ending compliments of my (…clears throat…I mean, your) culinary excellence!!!
I added two bags of frozen veggies (perfect hiding place) and mixed in some ricotta with the cottage cheese.
Thank you so much for the wonderful recipes. You are truly my go to for great dinners! I wish you much more love. happiness. and joy!
You’re right, this is a great recipe for hiding extra veggies and greens! I’m so glad your family adored it–and you best bask in that glory, that is all yours!
Made this with a different brand of tomato sauce, but otherwise followed the recipe. When I tasted the whole wheat penne right out of the pot, it had a distinct cardboard aftertaste, but it wasn’t noticeable in the final product. Maybe Newman’s own has more spices than the tomato sauce I used, but I thought a bit of oregano wouldn’t have been amiss here. It received calmly favorable reviews from my test subjects.
Thanks, MacFadden! Which brand of whole wheat pasta did you use? Some are way better than others. I recommend DeLallo brand—it definitely doesn’t taste like cardboard, or noticeably different from regular pasta, really.
Loved this recipe and all of the recipes I’ve tried from this site! Thank you!
Thanks, Jen!
Great Dish! My picky toddler and picky 6 year old love it! I might half the recipe next time…we’ve had plenty of leftovers and there’s still a lot left. I’m new to vegetarian dishes and have been eatin’ up your recipes the last couple weeks! Honestly I was always hesitant to try vegetarian dishes because they seem so bland, but not one of your recipes have failed me. THANKS!
Made this tonight and it was delicious! I made one small tweak to the recipe, I added fennel seed to the lentils when cooking (something I discovered when making lentil meatballs).This will be added to our favorites!
Do you think brown rice pasta will work, rather than the whole wheat pasta?
I didn’t have any ricotta nor tomato sauce, so I substituted with blobs of crème fraîche and tinned tomatoes. It was utterly delicious. Really easy to make, too. This is definitely a go-to for the next dinner party.
Great to hear Chilli! Thank you for sharing.
I’ve made this a few times now. I’ve never been able to find the Newman’s organic marinara ( maybe it’s not sold in Australia), so have substituted. It’s quite tomatoey in flavor, but when served with a fresh salad as Kate suggests, it’s great.
Thank you, Kathy for another review :) I appreciate it!
My wife and I really enjoyed this dish. A great way to use lentils. I’ll probably add mushrooms next time. Thanks.
Sounds like a wonderful addition! Thanks, Dennis for your review.
We cooked this last night and it was delicious! On advice, added sauted fresh spinach (3 cups) and 1 cup mushrooms. Used French green lentils, which hold their shape and have a slightly nuttier taste. Added a pinch of red pepper flakes and next time will add more. Used a 10 x 10 baking dish instead of a 9 x 13 and it turned out great. The texture and flavor of this dish is wonderful. Highly recommend.
Thanks, Carey for sharing! It’s fun to hear the approaches you take. I appreciate the review!
Could I use red lentils and yellow onion?
Sure, you can use a yellow onion. However, I would not recommend red lentils. They don’t seem to standup as well and can become mushy quickly.
This looks great!! I have green lentils, do you think they would work in this?
You can, but they can become more tender. Just keep that in mind with the cooking time. Enjoy!
My family loved this dish, great flavor and filling. I used cottage cheese. Is your nutrition information for the ricotta cheese or cottage cheese?
Really great recipe! We also used cottage cheese instead of ricotta and it turned out wonderfully. Kept in the fridge well and made great leftovers (which we had enough for 4 days!)
Kate, I love this recipe! I originally made this in early January, I froze half the recipe. I’m enjoying this hearty, comforting dish again, with little effort today. I’m amazed at how delicious and satisfying it is. I would never think to pair lentils with pasta but it works! Great way to add protein to a veg dish. Next time I’m going to try adding veggies/ greens. I imagine it can only get better. Love you blog, every recipe I’ve tried, I have loved. Several of you grain saladshave become staples. Thanks so much for you culinary inspiration- Laura
This is a regular in my house. Once or twice a week, I try to make something that will provide yummy leftovers so I can go to an evening yoga class and have a quick dinner ready for my family. This is in the rotation.
Just made this – really yummy. Second best thing — there are leftovers for tomorrow.
This is by far my favorite baked pasta dish. We use Russian farm cheese instead of ricotta/cottage cheese and it is absolutely delicious. I usually make the whole thing while my son naps during the weekend, pop it in the fridge and it is ready to go once we get home from whatever we are doing that day and it turns out great. I’ve also made this and froze it to give to new Mamas around the neighborhood and have been told it goes from freezer to oven just fine.
Hi, Kelly! What a delicious thing to have prepared for the week. I’m so thrilled to hear you enjoy it and share it as well. Thank you so much for the review!
This was really delicious! I added in chopped mushrooms and it worked really well. Would maybe want to try adding some spinach next time too for more veggies. :)
Hi, Sarah! That sounds delicious. I’m so glad you loved it. Thanks for the comment and star review!
I made this last night for my husband and me. We loved it! I made the sauce in the Instant Pot Sunday morning to save a step. We loved it because the lentils were so plentiful and the recipe makes so much! I think I will add another cup of sauce into it though – we discovered we like our ziti extra sauce-y. Thanks Cookie and Kate for another great recipe!
You’re welcome, Emily! How long did you set the time in your instapot? I know a lot of readers ask about instapot directions. Thanks for sharing!
Hi – I only used the Instant Pot for the marinara sauce, from a recipe in an IP cookbook. I think the sauce takes 30 minutes.
My husband and I loved this dish, it’s a perfect vegetarian alternative! I made half the recipe and have left-overs for another dinner.
Wonderful!
Made this last night and went down a treat! Substituted Newman’s Mariniara sauce with passata as I don’t think I can get it here in England. Added a little baking soda to take the tartness out of the tomato, as well as baby spinach and diced carrot to get those important veggies but only used 2 cups of precooked brown french lentils as it was all I had. Think it needed more as recommended above. Will bake again. Thank you!
Wonderful, Barbara! Thank you for your review. I’m glad you will make it again.
Just wanted to say … your blog is the best! I’ve been a vegetarian for about 10 years and hands down this is the best site I have ever come across. I basically love every single recipe. I cook a lot and I love how all of the recipes are intuitive and not super hard or made up of crazy impossible to find ingredients. It’s just damn good healthy vegetarian cooking. Keep up the good work. Your blog is my single go-to these days for all my recipes. All the best.
You’re sweet, Liz! Thank you so much. I put a lot of time into it, that’s for sure.
I have a love for Italian foods and this just got added to my to-do list… looks so tasty…can’t wait to try this at home :)
Great! I would love to hear what you think, Amit, when you give it a try.
Made this last night, and it is great re-warmed in lunches! Yum! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
You’re welcome, Sara! Thanks for your comment and review.
Can I use red lentils instead?
I wouldn’t recommend it as they aren’t quite the same consistency when cooked and can get mushy quickly.
I love ziti! and trying to cut down on my meat intake/transition to vegetarian. I normally just replace the meat with soy crumbles but definitely going to give this a try. Thnx
Thanks for sharing!
I had lentils once as a child and found them foul, but my vegan brother came to visit and I made this dish (with cashew cheese) because he eats lentils every day and I wanted to make something he liked. That was two days ago and now I’m making this dish again for myself – it was so ridiculously good. Thank you Kate!!!
Hooray! I’m glad you love it.
We love the Lentil Baked Ziti dish especially in the winter, but it is a lot of food for me and my husband so I started to use ramekins instead of one big baking dish. So I can freeze them and take out as many portions as needed and it makes for a delicious and easy weeknight dinner.
That sounds like a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
It was delish! Substituted vegan mozzarella cheese for regular and made vegan ricotta cheese! Also added mushrooms and fresh spinach to the lentils!
Sounds delicious! Thanks for your review.
Could you top this with a fried egg or would that be too much? Thank you!
Just made this! My husband’s mom is Italian so it had a lot to live up to, but we loved it! I think if/when I make it again, I’ll reduce the pasta and increase the amount of lentils. I had a bite of lentil mix before mixing it in, and I really loved that by itself too–I think I might start making it as a simple lunch to pack for work.
Just a note–the recipe says to add half a cup of “the cheese” into the pasta/lentil mix, and I wasn’t sure if you meant the mozzarella or the cottage/ricotta. I put the ricotta in.
I’m glad it passed the test! See step 5 of what to do with the cottage cheese. Sorry it was a little confusing!
Another winner! I actually combined two of your recipes for this one. I used your spinach-cheese mixture from your Roasted Eggplant Lasagne recipe in your cookbook to dollop over the lentils and pasta since I had a bunch of spinach to use up. Absolutely delicious. I switched to a vegetarian lifestyle and your blog and cookbook have been a lifesaver. Haven’t missed meat yet. I have your Lemony Almond-Blueberry Cake in the oven now. The house smells wonderful. Thank you.
Oh that sounds like a great idea and delicious! I love the creativity!
Just made this last night and wanted to let you know it was delicious! Such perfect cold weather comfort food :) Warm and hearty and filling. The best part is all the leftovers.. I already had it again for lunch today with even more marinara dumped on top because I also like saucy ziti!
Sounds perfect, Gillian!
A couple of weeks ago a coworker and I started a lunch swap. One week I make our lunches, she makes lunch the next week. It’s great, as I stink at consistent meal prep. This way I only have to prep every other week. She is not a vegetarian, so everyone at work told she is brave taking me on!! I wanted to make sure she did not bail our first week, so I tried to find something very filling and not a bland salad. This is amazing!! It make very large servings, keeps well and heats up great! Many folks at work were, rightfully, jealous. I will definitely make this again!
That is a fun idea, Cindy! Thanks for sharing that idea and how much you loved this recipe. I appreciate the review.
This recipe is delicious! I prepared the lentils and pasta portion the night before and mixed them together with the cheese so it would be a quick assembly the next day. It turned out great! The bites with the cottage cheese are my favorite.
Wonderful to hear, Katie!
Which cheese did you mean in step 4? The mozzarella or cottage?
“Add the lentils to the pasta. Add ½ cup of the cheese, reserving the rest for later. Season to taste with salt (I usually add ¼ to ½ teaspoon), freshly ground black pepper and red pepper flakes (if using).”
Everything about this recipe is absolutely wonderful! The aroma while cooking is heavenly and the finished dish is out-of-this-world!! I’m so glad I bought your cookbook- it’s the best one I’ve ever had.
Thank you for sharing, Karyn! I’m glad you love it.
This is so yummy. I used pasta with extra protein, and added bell peppers and zucchini. It is very ooey and gooey because of the cheeses. I made a huge batch and will be eating it all week!
Thank you for sharing, Sherri!
I’ve made this dish several times. My family loves it, even my 4 yr old! Thanks for creating healthy meals. I add a shredded zucchini to the sauce
You’re welcome, Mona!
Yummy Recipe…!!
Thank you!
I made this as written using a 794 ml can of TJs low fat marinara. Very tasty and satisfying. Ne ttimewillincrease cottage cheese to 1.5 cups and use 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes.
Thank you for sharing, Kim!
Freezing the assembled casserole before baking works great! I made two batches while I was pregnant so that we could have quick dinners once our little one arrived. They both turned out perfectly! We also froze batches of your lentil soup. Thank you for all the fantastic recipes.
I’m glad to hear that, Molly!
This sounds incredible! I have made vegetarian lasagna using medium tofu in place of ricotta cheese. My dad had three helpings. Then when I told him it was tofu he said, “it was good, but don’t ever make it again”. LOL. Do you think that tofu would work here along with vegan cheese options?
That sounds interesting. I’m not quite sure about tofu here.
How would you make this vegan? Specifically, what would you use for cottage cheese? Maybe tofu?
Hi Kari! I’m not sure about making this vegan without a very different result. I guess you could try tofu and use my vegan queso or sour cream.
Why cover in foil?
Hi Jon! You don’t want the cheese to get overdone before the rest of it is baked through.
My family absolutely love your bean chilli recipe. It’s a winter warmer with double cooked stuffed jacket potatoes.