You might be asking yourself, “Why on earth would I bake spaghetti??” Well, the same reason you’d want to bake ziti or any other pasta casserole. Baking spaghetti in the oven lets the spaghetti soak up flavor from the sauce and when you add in a layer of gooey melted cheese, you get an absolutely delicious and comforting casserole. It’s worth the extra 30 minutes. Promise.
What’s in Baked Spaghetti
This super simple baked spaghetti casserole has three main components: spaghetti (of course), meat sauce, and cheese. What more do you really need?
I made a really easy homemade meat sauce for this casserole, but if you’re short on time you can absolutely substitute a jar of store-bought pasta sauce. And if you want more meat in your meat sauce and have room in your budget, you can double up on the sausage and use a whole pound.
Can You Sub Ground Beef?
If you prefer ground beef in your meat sauce as opposed to Italian sausage, just make sure to double up on the herbs and spices that you add to the sauce. Italian sausage is packed with a lot of spices that bring tons of flavor to the sauce, so you’ll be missing that if you substitute it with plain ground beef.
What Else Can I Add?
There is so much room for customization with this recipe. You could add sautéed mushrooms, chopped spinach, olives, or maybe even some sautéed zucchini to add extra vegetables.
If you want to make it extra cheesy, try adding in some crumbled feta or maybe extra mozzarella to the cheese layer. I wanted to keep mine budget-friendly, so I went kind of light on the cheese and sausage this time around.
How to Store Baked Spaghetti
After baking, slice the baked spaghetti into six servings and refrigerate. The spaghetti will stay good in the fridge for about 4-5 days, or, once fully chilled, you can package up individual slices and freeze them for longer storage. This dish is so perfect for meal prepping. It’s such a lifesaver to be able to pull a serving of this out of the back of the freezer on a busy night!
What to Serve with Baked Spaghetti
Homemade Garlic Bread is awesome with baked spaghetti, but if you want some vegetables on the side I would go with something like Oven Roasted Frozen Broccoli or a simple side salad.
Baked Spaghetti with Sausage
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.42)
- 3 cloves garlic ($0.24)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1/2 lb. Italian Sausage ($3.00)
- 3 oz. tomato paste ($0.45)
- 1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes ($0.85)
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/2 cup water ($0.00)
- 12 oz. spaghetti ($1.00)
- 1 cup small curd cottage cheese ($0.93)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.50)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella ($1.25)
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley (optional garnish) ($0.05)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
- Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium. Add the Italian sausage and cook until browned.
- Add the chopped onion and minced garlic to the skillet and continue to stir and cook until the onions are soft and translucent.
- Add the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, and water. Stir to combine, then allow the sauce to come up to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the sauce simmer while you cook the pasta.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add ½ Tbsp salt to a large pot of water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add the spaghetti and continue to boil until the pasta is tender, but not fully cooked. Drain the pasta in a colander.
- Add the drained pasta to the sauce and stir to combine.
- Combine the cottage cheese, Parmesan, and pepper in a bowl.
- Lightly grease an 8×11" casserole dish. Layer in half of the spaghetti and sauce, then top with the cottage cheese mixture. Add the second half of the spaghetti and sauce, then top with the shredded mozzarella.
- Cover the dish with foil then bake the spaghetti for 30 minutes. Top the spaghetti with chopped parsley, if desired. Slice into six pieces, then serve!
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Nutrition
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How to Make Baked Spaghetti – Step By Step Photos
Dice one yellow onion and mince four cloves of garlic.
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium. Once hot, add ½ lb. Italian sausage and cook until browned.
Add the diced onion and minced garlic, and continue to cook and stir for a few more minutes, or until the onions are soft and translucent.
Add one 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes, 3oz. tomato paste, ½ tsp Italian seasoning, ½ tsp salt, and ½ cup water to the skillet.
Stir the sauce until everything is well combined and then let the sauce simmer while you make the pasta. Also, begin to preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Add 1/2 Tbsp salt to a large pot of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add 12 ounces of spaghetti and continue to boil until it is just barely undercooked (it will cook more as it bakes). Drain the spaghetti in a colander.
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheese layer. Stir together 1 cup small curd cottage cheese, ¼ cup grated Parmesan, and ¼ tsp pepper.
Stir the drained spaghetti into the simmered meat sauce.
Lightly grease one 8×11-inch (or 2 liter) casserole dish. Layer in half of the spaghetti and meat sauce, then top with the cheese mixture.
Add the second half of the spaghetti and meat sauce, then top with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella.
Cover the casserole dish with foil then bake in the preheated 350ºF oven for 30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly around the edges.
Let the pasta cool for about 5 minutes, then slice into six pieces and serve. You can top with chopped parsley garnish for visual effect, but it’s not needed for flavor.
I have made this so many times now and in different ways. It’s a family hit. If I don’t have any sausage or even ground beef available I have used just a jar of meat sauce or added in meatballs to it. I use just a jar of pasta sauce and it has worked well. My autistic son will happily eat this kind of spaghetti because it’s not as messy and easier for him to eat. 👏
I doubled this recipe and served to dinner guests last week. I followed the recipe as written but doubled the Italian sausage. The results were fantastic and it was enjoyed by everyone. It was a familiar dish, but the baked part made it seem a little fancier. I’ve enjoyed the leftovers too.
I added a layer of spinach in between and replaced sausage with white beans and it was delicious!
The ingredient amounts ended up being strangely off for me. I had much less sauce and cheese mixture than the photos show (I weighed my ingredients, so not sure why the discrepancy). The spaghetti still cooked fine, though, and I liked the flavor overall. Will try doubling the cheese mix next time, and maybe use a jarred sauce to make it even simpler. Thanks for the recipe!
Where’s the old recipe? I bought the ingredients last week to make this and now discover a totally different recipe, needing cottage cheese instead of feta for example. Now I’m not sure what to do. This should have been posted as a different recipe; the original baked spaghetti recipe was my go-to dinner. I guess I should have printed it out.
Hi Caitlin, I’d be happy to email you a copy of the old recipe. Is the email that you registered with the best one to use? XOXO -Monti
Monti,
I too would like a copy, thank you
Sure thing Just tell me the best email to send it to. XOXO -Monti
May I get one as well? This recipe sounds amazing but, I would really love to try both.
Sure! Is the email associated with your comment the best one to send it to? If not, you can respond with a better one, or email support@budgetbytes.com directly and ask for the recipe (and any other older recipes that we may have removed/updated on the site). ~ Marion :)
You’ll definitely have time shop around for those prices now. Still a 10/10 , rockin’ easy meal! Thank you 😊
Baked Spaghetti Con Queso
Been making this for years.
No meat.
1 can of spicy pasta sauce.
Shredded zucchini and shredded carrot
250 g spaghetti (break in half) and boil for 7 min
some pasta water
mixed all together in 9″ sqare pan and topped with grated Jack or Mozzerella cheese
I sprinkle chopped green onions on top of cheese and bake at 350 F about 30 min.
My vegtarian frends love it too.
Very budget friendly and makes 6 servings.
Gotta say my version is a lot cheaper than yours and it is still delicious,
Hi Beth, could I please also know if it’s an equal swap between the amount of feta and cottage cheese in the recipe? I’m dairy free and have a feta substitute but not one for cottage cheese. Thank you!
Yes, It’s a 1 to 1 substitute. Though it doesn’t melt as well. XOXO -Monti
Am saving this recipe to make later, so I can’t rate it. I wonder if cooking the pasta could be skipped, especially if using thin spaghetti?
As we haven’t tested i, we can’t say for sure. But if you experiment, let us know the results! XOXO -Monti
Absolutely Fantastico!!!