Published: · by Nicole · Updated: · This post may contain affiliate links.
Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe
This Vegetable Baked Ziti recipe is vegetarian and lower in calories and fat than traditional baked ziti. It's Weight Watchers friendly too!
Before Weight Watchers
This January marks the eighth year that I've been doing Weight Watchers. While my weight has fluctuated since reaching my goal and I'm now actively trying to lose weight again, I really feel like it was joining Weight Watchers that prompted me to learn how to cook and get creative in the kitchen.
Because before Weight Watchers? Our meals were pretty much take out, stir fry, or pasta.
Pasta showed up on the menu at least once a week. I'd make a whole box (!!!) and my husband and I would split it. He'd put lots of sauce on his, while I'd put a little bit of sauce and a mountain of grated Parmesan on mine.
I was under the impression that a ginormous bowl of pasta was a typical serving--after all, that's what most restaurants serve, right? It was a shock to find out that those big boxes of pasta that my husband and I were eating by ourselves are meant to serve eight people. Oops.
After Weight Watchers
One of the first changes I made when I joined Weight Watchers was downsizing those pasta portions.
But clearly, two ounces of pasta alone just wasn't going to cut it. So I started adding vegetables to our pasta. Lots of them. This makes that paltry two ounces of pasta go much further.
And you know what? It tastes so much better that way too.
Using this same philosophy, I revamped my baked ziti recipe, something I occasionally made pre-Weight Watchers—my original version had massive amounts of cheese and pasta.
This version, Vegetable Baked Ziti, has a smaller amount of reduced-fat cheese and fat-free ricotta mixed in to give the casserole a creamy texture.
By adding lots of sauteed veggies, each serving contains less than two ounces of pasta. But it's so good, you won't miss that extra pasta or cheese at all!
Recipe
Vegetarian Vegetable Baked Ziti
Baked ziti doesn't have to be over-loaded with cheese to taste good! My recipe has a creamy sauce, thanks to the addition of fat-free ricotta, and lots of sautéed veggies.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian
Keyword: baked ziti recipe, Vegetarian Baked Ziti, Vegetarian Vegetable Baked Ziti
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 234kcal
Author: Oh My Veggies
Ingredients
- cooking spray or oil mister
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- 1 large zucchini halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 8 oz button or baby bella mushrooms sliced
- 8 oz whole wheat pasta penne and rotini work well, cooked al dente according to package
- 1 large jar marinara sauce about 24 oz
- 1 15 oz container of fat-free ricotta cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup reduced-fat Italian blend cheese or mozzarella
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley optional
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray or oil mister.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add zucchini and mushrooms and cook until softened and liquid has boiled off, about 7 minutes more. Remove from heat.
Add pasta, marinara sauce, ricotta, salt, and pepper to skillet with vegetables. Stir until well combined.
Pour pasta mixture into baking dish. Top with cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley before serving, if desired.
Nutrition
Calories: 234kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 12gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 46mgPotassium: 367mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 123IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 70mgIron: 2mg
Craving more veg-friendly recipes? Shop our collection of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, including our new Vegan Thanksgiving and Vegan Christmas cookbooks!
« Vegetarian Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup
Reader Interactions
Comments
Elva says
Sounds terrific. Can this be frozen? Would love to take it to the beach.
Reply
Kiersten says
Yes, it freezes very well! You'll want to thaw it in the fridge for a day or two (depending on your fridge temp)--once it's thawed, it can be heated at the same temp and time listed in the recipe.
Reply
Amanda says
This might be a silly question but--do you skip baking it the first time if you are freezing it?
Reply
Kiersten Frase says
Yes, you'll just assemble the casserole and then freeze it. Not a silly question! 🙂
Reply
Nayia says
I made this tonight and it was really good! It was a great way to use up a giant farmer's market zucchini. Thank you!
Reply
Kiersten says
I'm glad you liked it--thanks for your comment! 🙂
Reply
Jim says
Thanks, This is exactly the kind of question that bedevils us freeze ahead-ers. To cook or not to cook first. Recipes are never very helpful with this.
Reply
James Schultz says
Made this on a whim tonight and it tasted fantastic. I cut the amount of cheese roughly in 1/2, and also broiled the whole thing for about 5 minutes at the end, until the top layer was nice and crispy.
Reply
Kiersten says
Thanks for your comment--I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Reply
Jenna says
Made this tonight for dinner. Yum. Thanks for the recipe.
I didn't realize before I added the pasta that it should be cooked! So, I added some water and cooked it for ~12 minutes extra--turned out right 🙂 That's one way to cut out a step for simplicity!
Reply
See AlsoCrockpot Beef Chili.Kiersten says
Well hey, you successfully eliminated a step from the recipe! 🙂 I'm glad it turned out well for you!
Reply
Michelle Hanners says
Do you know what the calories are for this?
Reply
Kiersten Frase says
I'm sorry, I don't. Here's a recipe nutrition calculator that might help: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
Reply
Lynne Johnston says
The recipe looks great!! I plan to try it this weekend. Thanks for sharing all your recipes, I just joined weight watchers and taking pasta off the menu was a sad thing for me so am soo happy to see you successfully can have pasta without overdoing!! Thanks again!!
Reply
Kiersten Frase says
Yes, adding lots of vegetables is the best way to stretch out those pasta servings! 🙂
Reply
BeeGee says
Will make this ahead of time then transport to host's home for our regular dinner/game night as
a couple of vegetarians there. Can I add some spinach too? Thanks. BGReply
Kiersten Frase says
I haven't made it with spinach, but I'm sure that would work just fine!
Reply
Olivia says
Made this for my friends last weekend! They absolutely loved it!! I was very pleased with how easy it was to make this! Much to my dismay though, there was no leftovers has the boys ate it all!! Argh!! 😉
Reply
Kiersten Frase says
I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe! Next time you can double it up and freeze one for later. 😉
Reply
Tyler says
I've been making this about once a month since May. Thanks for this recipe!
Reply
Rachael D says
Made this yesterday. I ended up with 8 servings. So good!
http://1scale.blogspot.com/2016/04/eating-right-rachael-way.htmlReply
Jane says
Hi do you know what the weight watcher points are for this?
Thanks!
Reply
Kiersten says
It used to be 7, but that was 2-3 plans ago - I don't know about on the new plan.
Reply
zapnear says
Right so I don't know where I went wrong but my pasta came out hard on the edges, like really hard but only on the edges of the dish, should I have added a little water?
Reply
Alissa says
Usually the edges of baked pasta dishes like this come out a bit hard, but if it's way too hard, I'd say try a different baking dish. Maybe switch to a metal dish if you were using glass, as metal can get a bit hotter. You could also try covering the dish with foil to keep moisture in, and then uncovering during the last 10 or so minutes of baking, just to get a little browning. I hope that help!
Reply
Hannah says
I made this yesterday and it was very good. I am not a huge fan of Ricotta but I still liked it. I measured every single ingredient by weight and my dish ended up being 470 calories per serving which is very good for a pasta dish.
Reply
Katie Trant says
Good to know, Hannah! We're glad you enjoyed the dish 🙂
Reply
Misty says
Awesome but I added more vegetables corn tomatoes onions shredded carrots delicious thanks for sharing ?Reply
Kelsey says
Made this tonight, and it was delicious! I added extra cheese and broiled it for a minute.Reply
Akhil M says
Wow, I'm already drooling. Thanks a ton for this recipe. I'm sharing this to my colleagues. 🙂
Reply
« Older Comments