Baked Spaghetti
Published on September 20, 2023
Quick Summary
Baked Spaghetti- this hearty baked pasta dish is a family favorite! The spaghetti is layered with a meaty sauce, lots of cheese, and baked until bubbly. Don’t forget the garlic bread!
![Baked Spaghetti in baking dish with fresh basil.](https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Baked-Spaghetti816713.jpg)
Pasta is on our dinner menu almost every single week. We are always mixing it up, but we have our favorites. My boys love classic Spaghetti and Spaghetti and Meatballs, what kid doesn’t? They also love Baked Spaghetti, especially when garlic bread is served on the side. It is a regular dinner at our house!
This baked spaghetti recipe is similar to lasagna, but it comes together in a lot less time. Spaghetti noodles are layered with hearty meat sauce, a creamy ricotta mixture, and lots of mozzarella cheese. Bake until the cheese is golden and bubbly.
This is such a cozy and comforting recipe. It makes a great weeknight meal or is a good dinner to serve guests when you are entertaining.
It is also a good meal to take to loved ones who are grieving or just had a baby. It’s a classic dinner that everyone loves and it reheats well too. Leftovers are the best!
Table of Contents
Ingredients
All of these ingredients come together in one pan to create the most amazing pasta dinner!
- Spaghetti– you can use regular spaghetti noodles or gluten-free pasta.
- Ground beef or Italian sausage– this dish works well with ground beef or Italian sausage. You can also use ground turkey. If you want a vegetarian option, you can leave out the meat and add in sautéed veggies or roasted vegetables.
- Olive oil– for sautéing the onion and garlic.
- Onion– onion adds great flavor!
- Garlic– every Italian dish needs garlic.
- Marinara sauce– you can use our easy marinara sauce, slow cooker marinara sauce, or use your favorite jarred sauce. Rao’s is our favorite.
- Diced tomatoes– I add in tomatoes with the marinara sauce for more tomato flavor and to make sure the spaghetti isn’t dry.
- Herbs & Spices– dried basil, oregano, and a dash of crushed red pepper flakes
- Cheese– you will need ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese! The three cheese combo is amazing!
- Egg– mix the egg in with the ricotta cheese!
- Fresh basil– for garnish!
How to Make Baked Spaghetti
Let’s get this pasta party started!
- First, cook the spaghetti to al dente, according to package instructions. Don’t over cook it or it will be soggy after baking in the oven. Drain. If the noodles are going to be sitting for several minutes, you can drizzle a little olive oil over them and toss so they don’t stick together.
- Cook the ground beef or sausage. Drain off excess fat and set aside.
- Cook the onion in the olive oil until translucent. Add the garlic and cook just until fragrant.
- Add the marinara sauce, tomatoes, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Turn to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Stir the cooked beef or sausage into the sauce.
- In a small bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, egg, and Parmesan cheese.
- Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and assemble the baked spaghetti. You are going to layer the noodles, sauce and cheese!
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Don’t cover it with foil. You want the cheese to get brown and a little crusty.
- Remove from the oven and garnish with extra Parmesan cheese and fresh basil, if desired.
- Cut into squares and serve warm. It’s ok if some spaghetti slurping happens. It’s all part of the fun!
What to Serve with Baked Spaghetti
Here are a few side dishes that pair well with baked spaghetti.
- Easy Green Salad
- Simple Arugula Salad
- Simple Kale Salad
- Roasted Broccoli
- Roasted Green Beans or Simple Skillet Green Beans
- Bruschetta
- Garlic Bread
And if you want to finish your meal with dessert, I highly recommend my flourless chocolate cake or skillet chocolate chip cookie.
How to Store
Let the spaghetti cool and then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The leftovers are always a hit at our house! My boys will eat this one every night:)
You can also freeze the baked spaghetti for up to 3 months in a freezer container. Thaw and reheat.
More Pasta Recipes
- Baked Ziti
- Spaghetti
- Pasta Primavera
- Cacio e Pepe
- Spaghetti Carbonara
- Vegetarian Lasagna
- Baked Mac & Cheese
Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti
- 1 lb lean ground beef or Italian sausage
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 28 ounces marinara sauce
- 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- Extra parmesan cheese and fresh basil, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cook the spaghetti to al dente, according to package instructions. Drain and set aside. If the noodles are going to be sitting for several minutes, you can drizzle a little olive oil over them and toss so they don’t stick together.
- Place the beef or sausage in a large skillet and cook over medium heat. Break up with a wooden spoon while cooking. until browned and no longer pink. Drain off excess fat and transfer to a plate that has been lined with paper towels. Set aside.
- In the same large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the marinara sauce, tomatoes, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Turn to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir the cooked beef or sausage into the sauce.
- In a small bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, egg, and Parmesan cheese.
- Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place half of the cooked spaghetti noodles on the bottom of the pan. Pour half of the meat sauce over the noodles.
- Spoon the ricotta cheese mixture over the sauce and use a spatula to spread it in an even layer. Top with ¾ cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Add the remaining spaghetti and then the rest of the sauce. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Remove from the oven and garnish with extra Parmesan cheese and fresh basil, if desired. Cut into squares and serve warm.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
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If I have a ricotta-hater in my household, could I replace the ricotta with bachamel sauce like I do in regular las-Gina, or would that be too runny or make the noodles mushy?
I haven’t tried it. It might be a little runnier, but if you mix it with the meat instead of layering it, it might be fine. The meat will thicken it up. Some people use cottage cheese instead of ricotta.
Cottage would work
Made this tonight and it was a HUGE hit! I had some cooked ground beef with veggies in the freezer and I used a jarred sauce so it came together in a snap! Thanks for the great recipe!
I am so glad you loved the recipe!
This looks amazing!! Do you think I can assemble this ahead of time and then cook in the oven several hours later? I like to prep dinner during my daughter mid day nap. ๐
Made this tonight and it was a hit! Another great recipe from your collection, thanks for sharing ๐
So glad you loved it!
Canโt give a star rating. This was just wrong from the get go. Proportions are way off. One pound of hamburger for is 13×9 pan? I used one pound of hamburger, a large bottle of marinara and did not use the canned tomatoes. I cooked in an 8 x 8. Why is there ricotta cheese in this recipe? Is this a lasagna wannabe? One cup of ricotta with one egg was way to loose. Had to add a lot more. Just okay. Wonโt make again.
Wow
Won’t make it again? You didn’t make it the first time. You even said you didn’t follow the recipe and then complained about how it came out.
Is this the Parmesan in the shaker or do I grate my own?
Awesome!!! Very big, we shared with family!
Made this as we carved pumpkins. It was easy to make a super yummy!
Made this for dinner tonight!! Daughter and I thought REAL GOOD. Thanks for this recipe, it will be in my saved file:)
Can you half this recipe?
Sure, use an 8×8 pan.
I came back to write a review because this was super delish! My husband ate super human amounts of this. I panicked because I only had 5 oz of regular spaghetti, but I found another 5 oz of spaghetti from Trader Joe’s that was yellow lentil and brown rice pasta, which was plenty of pasta and added a little boost of fiber and protein. This was fairly easy to prep and doesn’t take long in the oven. I will absolutely be making this again.
I would make this every week if I could. Itโs SO good and the leftovers are arguably even better. I usually do half and half for ground turkey and italian sausage and it makes it so good!
I loved it. I altered a few things. I used ground chicken, boars head chicken sausage, Italian style diced tomatoes, mozarella cheese, cheddar cheese, colby jack/jalapeรฑo cheese and traditional prego.
Great! Thanks for sharing!
This is a great recipe; similar to lasagna but less cheesy and easier to make; more appealing to kids. Delicious! Perfect to take to a potluck or for when you want to provide dinner to a neighbor, and it tastes even better as leftovers. I once made it at my daughter’s house with premade spaghetti sauce and without the ricotta, since she didn’t have any; I just subbed in shredded italian blend. It was still great!
Perfect!
Absolutely delicious! Proportions were perfect for us. We used mild Italian sausage, Raoโs marinara, cottage cheese instead of ricotta, and fresh mozzarella on top. It was so dang good! My family loved it.
I am glad your family loved the recipe.
I make this recipe often and it always turns out fabulous
I am so glad you love it.
My first time making Baked Spaghetti and the family loved it. Of course I did not follow the recipe exactly only because I found my daughter had been to my house and “borrowed” my Mozzarella Cheese. I used Provolone as it is all I had. Followed except for the cheese substitution and even had fresh Parmesean to grate. None of that “green lid stuff” allowed in my house. ~grin~ My family raved over this at dinner. I might try Mozarella next time but this was such a hit I may stick with the Provolone. Thank you for sharing this recipe.PS: Those using cottage cheese instead of ricotta are missing out and taking their Baked Spaghetti down a couple of notches.
I made this and couldent believe how good it was . absolutely grand I will not be making it any other way except I use angle hair spaghetti. Ever since I first served this to dinner guest they liked it so much they said from now on they too would only ever used Angel hair spaghetti
Oh good! Glad they loved the cookies.
Do you drain the diced tomatoes? Not mentioned in recipe or others comments. Thanks!
No!
Is this the grated Parmesan in the shaker or do I grate my own? Iโve made this once before but I just canโt remember. We did love it though!
I always grate my own Parmesan cheese.
Wow! Made this tonight and it was a hit and my husband also ate a superhuman amount! And told me I outdid myself. So delicious, used Italian sausage and followed the recipe exactly. Iโll be adding this to my special extra satisfying meals rotation!
Yay!