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 popular Baked Million Dollar Spaghetti and Ultimate Meat Lasagna.
Olive Garden Five Cheese Ziti al Forno (Copycat)
This Ziti al Forno is like the best baked ziti recipe you’ve ever had kicked up about ten more 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.
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?
- Cheesecake Factory Pasta Da Vinci
- CPK Chicken Tequila Fettuccine
- Cheesecake Factory Pasta Da Vinci
- Cheesecake Factory Louisiana Chicken Pasta
- Boston Market Mac and Cheese
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.
Recipe
Olive Garden Five Cheese Ziti al Forno
- Yield: 8 Servings
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Course: Main Course
- Cuisine: Italian
- Author: Sabrina Snyder
Ingredients
PASTA
- 1 pound ziti pasta
- 4 cups marinara sauce
- 2 cups alfredo sauce
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup Fontina cheese shredded
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
Instructions
Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.
- 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 9x13 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, Amount per serving: 534 calories, Serving Size: 1 , Calories: 534g, Carbohydrates: 55g, Protein: 23g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Cholesterol: 85mg, Sodium: 1431mg, Potassium: 581mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 900g, Vitamin C: 8.8g, Calcium: 325g, Iron: 2.4g
All images and text © for Dinner, then Dessert.
This is such a good recipe! I’ve never had the actual Olive Garden version but tried this recipe because of the pictures. Such an easy meal to throw together after a busy day, and tastes like hours were spent working on it. I cannot say enough good things about this recipe!
Thank you Kayla!