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Craving comfort food that won’t leave you feeling ready for a nap? This cauliflower baked ziti is it! I’ve taken a classic Italian dish with a low carb spin, but all the same flavors. Everyone can enjoy keto baked ziti, whether they are following a keto diet or not! Even my kids loved it.
Wondering how cauliflower ziti can be just as satisfying? Let me explain. We’ve got layers of roasted cauliflower, a sausage marinara with Italian seasoning, and of course, plenty of cheese (three different types!). It’s the kind of meal everyone can get behind.
If Italian meals are your jam, but you aren’t interested in the pasta, give my Italian sausage kale soup, Italian sausage stuffed mushrooms, or Italian antipasto salad a try.

How To Make Cauliflower Baked Ziti
This keto baked ziti recipe comes together with just 10 minutes prep! Here’s how we make it:
Roast cauliflower

- Roast. Arrange cauliflower in a single layer on 2 baking sheets and roast until browned.
TIP: Rotate while roasting. Ideally, the pans would fit side by side, but if they don’t, rotate them half way through.

Make sausage marinara
- Brown sausage. Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Cook sausage until browned.

- Saute garlic. Make a well in the center of the skillet and saute garlic until fragrant, then stir into the sausage.

- Make sausage marinara. Add marinara and Italian seasoning and simmer until sauce is thick and bubbly.

Assemble cauliflower baked ziti
- Layer. Arrange half of the roasted cauliflower in a single layer in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Dollop ricotta over cauliflower and sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese. Top with sausage marinara and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers with more cauliflower, ricotta, parmesan, sausage marinara, and mozzarella.

- Bake. Bake in the oven until cheese is melted and golden.

Cauliflower Ziti FAQs
How many carbs in baked ziti?
The carbs in baked ziti will vary recipe to recipe, but a good average is 37 grams total carbohydrates per 1 cup of baked ziti.
It’s exactly why I thought we needed a keto option… 😉
How many carbs in cauliflower baked ziti?
Each serving of this cauliflower ziti has 8 grams net carbs.
The full cauliflower baked ziti nutrition can be found below the recipe card.
Is cauliflower baked ziti keto?
Yes, with just 8 grams net carbs per serving, cauliflower baked ziti is keto-friendly.
Can you make cauliflower ziti with turkey?
Yes, you could swap out the Italian sausage for ground turkey in this recipe. You may need to adjust seasonings, so sample after adding marinara and Italian seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Keto Baked Ziti Storage Instructions
Can you make it ahead?
Yes, this meal is great leftover. Or, if you’d like, you can assemble the entire meal and bake right before serving.
You could also prep a few components ahead and bake right before serving:
- Roast cauliflower
- Make sausage marinara
How to store cauliflower ziti:
Store any leftover cauliflower ziti in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Can you freeze keto cauliflower baked ziti?
Yes, you can also freeze the baked ziti for 2-3 months. Let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Reheating instructions:
Reheat the ziti in a 350 degree F oven or in the microwave.

What To Serve With Keto Baked Ziti
All this healthy ziti substitute needs is an app, salad, or dessert:
- Appetizers – Appetizer recipes such as garlic cheese bread or cauliflower breadsticks are great options.
- Salads – Salad recipes such as chopped Italian salad, chopped Mediterranean salad, or avocado caprese salad pair well with cauliflower ziti.
- Desserts – Dessert recipes such as keto truffles, peanut butter fat bombs, or keto coconut cream pie will end your meal on a sweet and delicious note.
More Keto “Pasta” Recipes
If you like this baked cauliflower ziti recipe, you might also like some of these other Italian keto recipes for pasta:
- Keto Ravioli – The ultimate ravioli for carb lovers. Fathead ravioli features a butternut squash filling and browned butter sauce.
- Healthy Chicken Alfredo – Don’t let alfredo weigh you down, this one is lightened up with spaghetti squash and the sauce is just as creamy.
- Eggplant Lasagna – Easy comfort food, with just 20 minutes prep. You won’t miss the noodles!
- Keto Shrimp Scampi – This twist on a classic is made with healthy zucchini noodles instead of pasta. Ready in less than 30 minutes.
Tools To Make Cauliflower Ziti
Tap the links below to see the items used to make this recipe.
- Enameled Cast Iron Skillet – This skillet heats up evenly and cooks your food quickly, plus the enameled coating is less fuss than traditional cast iron.
- Ceramic Baking Dish – Take your keto baked ziti right from the oven to table in this ceramic dish that’s as functional as it is beautiful. This one is the perfect size for this recipe.
Keto Cauliflower Baked Ziti Recipe

This reader favorite recipe is included in The Wholesome Yum Easy Keto Carboholics’ Cookbook! Inside this beautiful hard cover keto recipe book, you’ll find 100 delectable, EASY keto recipes to replace all your favorite carbs: bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, desserts, and more… each with 10 ingredients or less! Plus, a photo, macros, & tips for every recipe.
Keto Cauliflower Baked Ziti Recipe
Italian cauliflower baked ziti is cheesy comfort food without the carbs! This keto baked ziti recipe is loaded with Italian sausage, marinara, and 3 cheeses.
Recipe Video
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Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
Roasted cauliflower:
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Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (218 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with foil or parchment paper.
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In a large bowl, toss together the cauliflower, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper.
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Arrange the cauliflower in a single layer on the baking sheets. Roast in the oven for about 25 minutes, until browned.
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Ideally the baking sheets would fit side by side, but if not, rotate them halfway through.
Sausage marinara:
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Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage.
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Cook, breaking apart with a spatula, for 8-10 minutes, until cooked and browned.
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Make a well in the center and add the minced garlic. Saute for about 1 minute, until fragrant, then stir into the sausage.
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Add the marinara and Italian seasoning. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, until the sauce is thick and bubbly. If needed, adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Assembly:
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When the cauliflower is done, reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees (204 degrees C).
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Arrange half of it in a single layer in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Dollop half of the ricotta over the cauliflower, then sprinkle with half of the shredded parmesan. Top with half of the sausage marinara (dollop it on, then spread), and finally sprinkle with half of the shredded mozzarella. Repeat the layers with the remaining cauliflower, ricotta, parmesan, sausage marinara, and mozzarella.
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Bake cauliflower ziti in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden.
Last Step: Leave A Rating!
Share your recipe picture by tagging @wholesomeyum and hashtag it #wholesomeyum on Instagram, or in our free low carb support group, too – I’d love to see it!
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 cup, or 1/12 entire casserole
Recipe from The Easy Keto Carboholics’ Cookbook.
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
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42 Comments
Tara
1This is delicious! The only thing I did different was cooked the cauliflower in my smoker instead of the oven.
Lori
0Delicious 😋 Definitely going to make this again
Shannon
0Just took it out of the oven and tasted it. It’s FIRE! I will definitely save and make again.
Bill Dossett
0I spooned more than 3 cups of liquid off this before and during the baking phase and it was still watery when we ate it – luckily I only made half a batch as most of it went into the garbage. The cauliflower took much longer than 25 minutes before it was brown. I’m not being rude, this is simply the truth…
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Bill, Sorry to hear you had issues with this cauliflower baked ziti. There are a couple reasons it could have turned out watery, mainly not cooking one of the other steps sufficiently before assembling and baking. It could be that the roasted cauliflower needed to roast for longer (so the cauliflower released too much water) OR you needed to simmer the meat sauce for longer (so the sauce was too thin). Hope this helps for next time!
Anna
0Super yummy! This satisfied my baked ziti cravings. I had some cooked chicken, and used that instead of sausage. I also didn’t have any sauce so I made some with 28 oz canned chopped tomatoes and tomato paste.
Barbara
0This recipe was good, but next time I make it I would scramble an egg then add the ricotta cheese to it. This “loosens” the cheese and makes it creamier and easily spread. I also ate leftovers for breakfast and heated it up in a fry pan, then pushhed it to the side and scrambled an egg and mixed this all together before eating. Delish!
Emily
0Can I use frozen instead of fresh? And if yes do I still need to roast it first?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Emily, Yes, you can, and you’d still need to roast it first.
Carolyn Ware
0I just want you to know that I have been living and loving the keto lifestyle for over 2 years. Your website is my “go to” whenever I am looking for recipe ideas. Thank you!
Elizabeth
0My family loved this. I made a small portion without sausage as I’m vegetarian and realized that it didn’t really work because it was mainly a ton of cheese. Definitely needs the sausage.
Megan
0If you don’t mind using mock meats, the Impossible saus’ge grounds work great! I’m going to try using Beyond saus’ge links (sliced) since I already have them in my freezer.
Susan
0Delicious! I didn’t miss the pasta one bit. The family loved it, too.
Stephanie
0Can you freeze the cauliflower after you roast it but before you make the recipe? I was thinking of roasting it ahead of time to use in a variety of recipes.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Stephanie, I recommend using my roasted cauliflower recipe, it has all the instructions for freezing roasted cauliflower.
Fiona Alford
0Hey Maya, wish I had seen this recipe before tonight. If I have cooked cauliflower could I still use it?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Fiona, Yes, just skip the cauliflower roasting step.
MariaT
0I did not miss the pasta version whatsoever. I am extremely excited how great it turned out. Absolutely DELICIOUS!
Helene Bahnman
0Thanks for a great recipe. Really tasty. I will be making it again.
David Gust
0This is so very delicious. My kids had seconds. This will definitely be added to our family favorites.
Norris M
0Can this be made with chorizo sausage instead for more spice?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Norris, Absolutely! Enjoy.
Glad
0This recipe was really good! A lot like lasagna. Yummm!
Vanessa
0Love this recipe. I’ve made it before a while ago and I forgot how delicious it is. My husband kept going back for more.
FYI = Being able to adjust the recipe for the number of people you are serving is great!
Jennifer
0This recipe is amazing! My husband and I both love it (and we are not cauliflower fans). This will be one of my go-to recipes when I need some comfort food.
Angela
0If you’re looking for a delicious substitute for “pasta” dinner, check out this recipe! It was so delicious and tasted so close to baked pasta, but without the carbs! Recipe was so easy to follow!
Katherine
0Amazing!! Never going back to the pasta version.
Jessica
0Easy and very good. Was great as a leftover!
Stefani Crowe
0This recipe looks delicious. My kids will eat cauliflower (they love your pesto chicken bake with cauliflower), but they won’t eat it if it’s riced or cut into small pieces. Very strange and irritating! Do you think this recipe would work with larger florets, rather than using really small ones?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Stefani, You are in luck! This recipe calls for cauliflower florets. Feel free to adjust from “bite-sized” to the size your family would enjoy best!
Rebecca
0Honestly, I think this recipe is even better than having pasta! My new go to keto comfort meal.
Jessica
0I wasn’t sure that 1.5 cups of sauce would be enough for my taste, but I love how this turned out! The flavor is great, and I feel good getting a bunch of veggies in there!
Marlene
0I am new to Keto. This recipe was awesome and delicious. Thank you so much for posting this. I made exactly as directed. Hubby ate twice what he should have. My friend who is not Keto also loved it. Dinner for 2 nights and a lunch works for me. Thanks!
christine
0We loved this cauliflower ziti dish!! It was easy for me to make as I am not a cook and the sauce, sausage and cheeses really made this taste Italian. Delizioso!
Logan
0This dish was incredible. It fed my family of 4 with enough left over for lunch for a couple of days. Dare I say it is better than traditional baked ziti. Say what you want about cauliflower, but this recipe is superb.
Nicole
0This was absolutely divine! I am a vegetarian so I did not add sausage and I made my own sauce from scratch. Everything else I followed to a T and it was easy & very delicious. Will definitely make again. Thank you ❤️
Susasn Keown
0I would like to try this recipe but I don’t have a cast iron skillet. Can I use any frying pan?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Susasn, Yes, a frying pan will work fine.
Stacey Coville
0Can you use frozen cauliflower?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Stacey, I haven’t tried this recipe with frozen cauliflower, but the recipe should still work well!
Nellie Tracy
0This is a great baked ziti recipe. Love it for weeknight dinners!
Wilhelmina
0This is the kind of recipe that makes sticking to a keto diet easier for me! It is so cheesy and delicious, I don’t feel like I am missing out on anything. It makes cauliflower a comfort food!