Baked Spaghetti

Baked Spaghetti is hearty and family friendly with a crispy cheesy top layer and ground beef filling; your kids will ask for baked spaghetti every week!

The more classic version of baked spaghetti, it costs less than our Baked Million Dollar Spaghetti (I kid I kid, we don’t use cream cheese in this version) and is easier to make than our Ultimate Meat Lasagna.

Scoop of Baked Spaghetti
BAKED SPAGHETTI

Baked Spaghetti is the perfect make ahead meal parents. I’m telling you, if our kids could vote on dinner every night, I’d be serving this 4 days a week. And when I do serve it I take it from my freezer! We try to bring more classic meals into the rotation than just this baked spaghetti. Here are some of our favorite classic dinners:

More Classic Dinner Recipes:

If it’s your first time cooking a baked spaghetti recipe, this is a good one to try. Dinner tonight starts out like a traditional pasta dinner and ends like a hybrid of spaghetti and lasagna.

Baked Spaghetti in Casserole Dish

How to Make Baked Spaghetti:

  • Boil the spaghetti noodles until al dente, or one minute shy of the directions.
  • Brown your meat in a skillet and add in the Quick and Easy Marinara Sauce.
  • Whisk eggs, cheese and butter together and stir in your cooked spaghetti.
  • Layer your spaghetti mixture into a dish with layers of cheese and meat sauce.

What you are making is basically a baked spaghetti casserole. But the best version of one you’ll ever taste. With crispy edges, mozzarella and cottage cheese this is a dish people will crowd the pan asking for seconds.

WHAT GOES WITH BAKED SPAGHETTI?

  • Garlic Bread: A traditional favorite, and the perfect way to scoop up extra sauce.
  • Roasted Green Beans: Add some greens to the mix and roast them alongside the baking noodles.
  • Italian Salad Dressing: Try this dressing drizzled on garlic bread to give it an extra kick.

A great way to end a rich dinner is with a light, fluffy Angel Food Cake.

Alternatives to ground beef

  • Italian sausage: the seasonings in Italian sausage add a kick of flavor to the baked spaghetti.
  • Ground turkey: an alternative to red meat that is delicious and filling.
  • Ground tofu: tofu takes on a lot of the flavor of the sauce, and is a delicious vegetarian option.
  • Jackfruit: This one takes a little more prep, but its meaty texture is hearty and tasty.
  • Mushrooms: Delicious and versatile, mushrooms are great browned in melted butter.

Pan of Beef Baked Spaghetti

SLOW COOKER VERSION

If you are going to be out all day and want something ready when you get home, slow cookers are a great way to go. Slow cooking the spaghetti lets it stew in its own juices, infusing it with flavor.

  • Cook the spaghetti noodles in a pot of boiling water until al dente (still firm.)
  • Brown the ground beef in a pan with the chopped onion until cooked through, and then add in the marinara sauce and stir on medium heat.
  • Mix the eggs, cheese and butter together and add the cooked spaghetti noodles.
  • Layer the spaghetti mixture and the meat sauce into the slow cooker, and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

STORING THE LEFTOVERS

You can store your baked spaghetti and eat the left overs for a quick dinner later. According to USDA’s website:

  • Serving: You can leave the baked spaghetti out after serving for no longer than 2 hours.
  • Storing: You can store the spaghetti in a fridge for up to 3 days.
  • Freezing: You can freeze for 3 months.

WHY BAKE?

Baking spaghetti instead of just boiling it gives you the crispy, cheesy top layer that lasagna fans love. This easy baked spaghetti is a great middle ground between spaghetti dishes and a Traditional Baked Ziti.

Baked Spaghetti is so much more than just tomato sauce over noodles, this easy recipe is a great meal for weekdays, since you will have leftovers for later dinners. Make it for the whole family and let the kids scoop out what they want (you’ll be surprised how much they eat.)

Spoonful of Beef and Cheese Baked Spaghetti

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Scoop of Baked Spaghetti
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Baked Spaghetti

Baked Spaghetti is hearty and family friendly with a crispy cheesy top layer and ground beef filling; your kids will ask for baked spaghetti every week!
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword Baked Spaghetti, How To Make Baked Spaghetti
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Calories 651 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 1 pound spaghetti
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 yellow onion , chopped
  • 4 cups Marinara Sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
  • 2 cups cottage cheese , divided
  • 4 cups mozzarella cheese , shredded and divided

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 9x13 baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
  2. Cook pasta 2 minutes shy of the directions.
  3. Add meat and onions to a large skillet on medium-high heat and brown while breaking it apart until fully cooked, about 5-6 minutes.

  4. Add in the Marinara Sauce and mix well.
  5. Toss the noodles in the salt, eggs and butter.
  6. Put half the pasta in the bottom of the baking dish, then add half the cottage cheese, half the meat sauce and half the mozzarella.
  7. Top with the rest of the noodles, the rest of the cottage cheese, meat sauce and mozzarella.
  8. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese on top is crispy and golden brown.

Nutrition Facts
Baked Spaghetti
Amount Per Serving
Calories 651 Calories from Fat 270
% Daily Value*
Fat 30g46%
Saturated Fat 16g100%
Cholesterol 162mg54%
Sodium 1406mg61%
Potassium 855mg24%
Carbohydrates 53g18%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 9g10%
Protein 41g82%
Vitamin A 1285IU26%
Vitamin C 9.6mg12%
Calcium 378mg38%
Iron 3.8mg21%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Collage of Baked Spaghetti in Pan photos

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

    1. Yes, you can just place it in the oven tightly covered with foil and cook for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. I usually like to sprinkle a bit of pasta sauce over it first to add some moisture back in. Good luck!

  1. I substituted plain Greek yogurt for the cottage cheese and it was so unbelievably delicious! Between 5 people there wasn’t any left! Thank you for this tasty recipe!

  2. If I’m prepping this 24 hours in advance, would I bake it or leave it for the next day? Thanks; I look forward to trying it!

  3. Can I use sour cream instead of cottage cheese or ricotta? I use it in a baked ziti for creaminess, so I thought it might work in this as well. If so, how much would you suggest, the same as the cottage cheese?

  4. A tasty, easy recipe, but it’s incredibly high in fat/saturated fat per serving. To help eliminate some of this, use a low-fat cottage cheese; it won’t change the flavor of the dish. Definitely eliminate the 5 tablespoons of butter as it’s totally unnecessary. Lastly, remove the eggs as they did nothing to help bind the spaghetti in my preparation. Changing those three things helps eliminate fat and calories.

  5. My kids don’t care for the cottage cheese, is there something I could substitute for it, or omit all together? It does look delicious.

  6. I never leave reviews for recipes, but I made this last night and had to say thank you! My entire family loved this, and that never happens! My youngest son has autism and is an extremely picky eater, but even he devoured this. My husband is still talking about it! I will admit that I’m not a fan of cottage cheese and was nervous about it, but it totally works in this. Thank you!

      1. I do not cook or bake a lot but tonight I wanted to make a special dinner for my family… I’m SO GLAD I tried this recipe. SUPER simple, everybody was raving! I will be making this again soon. Thank you so much! 5?????

  7. “So this is what heaven tastes like” that’s a direct quote from 7-yr-old? needless to say, this was a hit. Thanks for a great, comfort food recipe!

  8. Hi- with the cottage cheese, am I just layering it or do I mix it in? Cottage cheese is intimidating me for some reason!!

    1. I have a very hard time getting my family to eat leftovers, but this baked spaghetti was gone the next day! This is definitely a keeper.

  9. This recipe was amazing! I loved the ingredients and the instructions. Dinner was amazing! I just need it to be a little more details in the instructions. Other than that it’s perfect!

  10. Made this tonight following the recipe except for the following: used ricotta and added a little oregano (personal preference). It was very good and we went back for seconds. I might add a little more meat next time – again personal preference. If you follow the recipe as written you will not be disappointed. It is also a tasty recipe for a potluck. I’ve saved the recipe in my “will make again” file.

  11. how do you view the video of the recipe you are cooking and viewing, instead of a video of “my other recipes “

    1. Check out my facebook page. There is a section with all of our videos and you can scroll through and select the specific ones you want to view. Hope this helps!

  12. Loved every bite of this cheesy, savory dish! Had nothing but smiling faces all around our dinner table; delish!

    1. Hi Sabrina, can you elaborate what I’m supposed to do with the butter and eggs for the pasta dish. I’m a little confused. Thanks.

        1. Anyone have issues with the eggs scrambling with the hot noodles when tossed? If so, does it taste okay once baked? Because that just happened. Noodles should probably cool before tossing?

          1. Oh no! You can definitely let the noodles cool before mixing it to avoid that happening.

  13. I have never tried baked spaghetti before but this looks so heavenly, I’ve got to give it a go. Thanks so much!

  14. I’ve really been craving comfort food lately and have been eating lots of casseroles and spaghetti – this recipe looks like the best of both worlds! Yum!

    1. Not sure how that got in the text, thanks for catching it. I did test it using provolone but ended up not including it in the recipe.

  15. Hi Sabrina–All I can say—is—you are one of the best and most-talented cooks on the internet–thank you so much for all the reicpes you share with us–I will give this baked spaghetti a try–it looks delicious–

    1. You could substitute with ricotta cheese but it offer a milder flavor and finer texture in the baked spaghetti. Enjoy!