Baked Mostaccioli
Posted Sep 12, 2025
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In this recipe for the best baked mostaccioli, pasta is combine with a rich sausage and meat sauce, topped with cheese and baked to bubbly perfection! A delicious meal to feed a crowd!
Growing up in Chicago, baked mostaccioli was the dish most often served at large gatherings or parties! I’m not sure if that’s true for the rest of the U.S. – but because of my early life experiences, it’s one of the first dishes I think of making when we’re hosting a large number of people for dinner.
This baked mostaccioli recipe is so easy to make! Simply cook the noodles, make the sauce, combine, top with cheese (of course) and bake. It comes together in about 40 minutes and is so delicious everyone is sure to love.
Including sausage in the sauce makes it incredibly flavorful, and there are no dry noodles in this recipe as there’s plenty of sauce to cover everything and remain moist after baking.
Serve with bruschetta as an appetizer and a delicious burrata salad, and you have a perfect meal!
Baked Mostaccioli Recipe: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Mostaccioli noodles. the traditional mostaccioli noodle is also known as penne lisce. It’s a smooth, flat, tubular noodle with angled edges. Any tubular noodle works well such as penne, and rigatoni.
- Ground beef. Use 85% lean ground beef for the best results.
- Marinara sauce. choose your favorite variety, or make your own homemade marinara sauce.
- Crushed tomatoes. I prefer crushed to diced because I believe it gives the dish a better texture. If you only have diced tomatoes, pulse them in a blender for 2-5 seconds.
- Heavy cream. half and half and whole milk are good substitutes.
- Mozzarella. use shredded for best results.
How to Make Baked Mostaccioli
Let’s walk through this baked mostaccioli recipe together, and don’t forget to watch the video.
Begin by preheating your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius) and cooking the mostaccioli in salted water according to the package instructions until al dente. Once cooked, drain the noodles but do not rinse.
While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce by cooking the sausage, ground beef, minced garlic and onion in a large skillet or pot over medium-high heat until the meat is no longer pink and it begins to lightly brown. Stir often, breaking up the meat into small pieces as it cooks.
Once the meat is lightly browned, add the marinara sauce, crushed tomatoes, heavy cream, Italian seasoning, sea salt and pepper and stir to combine.
Then, stir the cooked mostaccioli into the sauce.
Next, spread the pasta/sauce mixture evenly into a 9×13” baking dish. Sprinkle the top of the baked mostaccioli with mozzarella cheese, then parmesan cheese.
Then, bake the mostaccioli in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted just barely begins to brown.
Remove the baked mostaccioli from oven and let it cool for 5 minutes before serving warm.
Serve
Serve the baked mostaccioli recipe warm garnished with chopped fresh parsley and grated parmesan cheese.
We love serving it with some of our favorite Italian recipes like panzanella salad, bruschetta and of course, tiramisu for dessert.
Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container (preferably oven-safe) in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Reheat covered in the oven set to 350 degrees until warmed through.
Freeze
You can also freeze the entire dish. I suggest assembling the baked mostaccioli in an oven-safe dish, then covering it with foil and freezing it before baking.
Then, to bake from frozen – cover the frozen mostaccioli with foil, and bake at 350°F until heated through (about 45 minutes to 1 hour).
Baked Mostaccioli Recipe FAQS
Yes, you can double it and bake in a large sheet cake pan, or in two 9×13″ baking dishes.
Put it in an oven-safe dish, cover with foil and reheat at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius) until warmed through. You can also reheat in the microwave.
They are incredibly similar. Often times the only difference is the kind of pasta used (mostaccioli vs. ziti).
The traditional mostaccioli noodle is also known as penne lisce. It’s a smooth, flat, tubular noodle with angled edges. So penne pasta and rigatoni are the closest to mostaccioli.
If you make and love my recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so I can see your creations!
Baked Mostaccioli Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound mostaccioli (or use penne or rigatoni)
- 1 pound ground italian sausage
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 onion (finely diced)
- 24 ounces marinara sauce
- 15 ounces crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 3 cups Mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius).
- Cook mostaccioli in salted water according to the package instructions until al dente. Drain, do not rinse.
- While the pasta is cooking, cook the sausage, ground beef, minced garlic and onion in a large skillet or pot over medium-high heat until the meat is no longer pink and it begins to lightly brown. Stir often, and break the meat into small pieces as it cooks.
- Add marinara sauce, crushed tomatoes, heavy cream, Italian seasoning, sea salt and pepper and stir to combine.
- Add the cooked mostaccoli to the sauce and stir to combine.
- Then, spread the mostaccioli mixture evenly into a 9×13” baking dish.
- Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the top of the mostaccioli.
- Then, sprinkle the parmesan cheese evenly over the mozzarella cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cheese just barely begins to brown.
- Remove from oven, let sit for 5 minutes before serving warm.
Video
Notes
- Mostaccioli noodles. the traditional mostaccioli noodle is also known as penne lisce. It’s a smooth, flat, tubular noodle with angled edges. Any tubular noodle works well such as penne, and rigatoni.
- Ground beef. Use 85% lean ground beef for the best results.
- Marinara sauce. choose your favorite variety, or make your own homemade marinara sauce.
- Crushed tomatoes. I prefer crushed to diced because I believe it gives the dish a better texture. If you only have diced tomatoes, pulse them in a blender for 2-5 seconds.
- Heavy cream. half and half and whole milk are good substitutes.
- Mozzarella. use shredded for best results.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
