Baked Spaghetti is a favorite casserole around here! A quick zesty meat sauce is combined with tomatoes and spaghetti and topped with cheese. This spaghetti casserole is baked in the oven until hot and bubbly.
Just like stuffed shells, this easy recipe is perfect served with crusty bread, homemade Garlic Butter and a Caesar Salad.
Easy Baked Spaghetti
This easy baked spaghetti casserole is a family favorite that is loaded with flavor! We love Italian flavors from Easy Meatballs to a simple bruschetta and this cheesy casserole is no exception!
While Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole contains a lot of cheese in the spaghetti mixture (like cream cheese, cottage cheese or ricotta), this recipe is simple has pasta and sauce with a little bit of cheese on top.
How to Make Baked Spaghetti
Baked Spaghetti Casserole is easy to make, simply prepare the meat sauce, toss with spaghetti and bake until bubbly. The prep can be done then night before and then baked before serving making this baked spaghetti the perfect potluck dish!
- Brown beef and onions. Add veggies and tomato sauce and simmer.
- Stir in spaghetti and place in a dish.
- Top with cheese and bake!
The cheese on top gets golden and crusty making for amazing flavor! Make sure your spaghetti is cooked al dente as the noodles do cook a bit more in the oven and you don’t want them to get mushy.
One great thing about this recipe is that you can add whatever you like to the sauce. If you don’t like green pepper, skip it and add diced mushrooms or zucchini. You can easily adjust this to your liking and add more or less sauce if you’d prefer.
How Long to Bake Spaghetti
Since the pasta and the sauce are warm when I put this dish together, it usually takes about 25 minutes or so to bake in the oven. If you prep it ahead of time and refrigerate, it’ll take a bit longer. Remove it from the fridge about 30 minutes before baking and bake about 35 minutes or until hot in the centre.
Do You Cover Baked Spaghetti
I never cover baked spaghetti because the crusty cheese on top is my favorite part! Covering this dish also makes it steam which can overcook the spaghetti.
Serve this with a side salad and garlic toast for an easy meal. This easy casserole is great leftover and freezes perfectly!
More Pasta Dishes You’ll Love
- Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese
- Easy Shrimp Scampi
- Easy Marinara Sauce
- Baked Lemon Butter Salmon Pasta
- Caesar Chicken Pasta
- Baked Gnocchi Casserole in Creamy Tomato Sauce
Baked Spaghetti
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 ounces spaghetti cooked
- ¼ cup fresh parsley
- 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- ⅓ cup fresh parmesan cheese shredded
Sauce
- 1 pound ground beef or italian sausage
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 green pepper diced
- 32 ounces pasta sauce
- 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Brown meat, onion, garlic, seasoning, and green pepper in a large skillet over medium heat making sure to break up the meat very well. (Drain any fat if needed).
- Add pasta sauce, Italian seasoning, and tomatoes to the meat. Simmer for 5-10 minutes uncovered. Stir in spaghetti and parsley.
- Spread into a 9x13 pan, top with cheeses, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until hot and the cheese is browned and bubbly. Cut into squares to serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Dinner, Entree, Pasta
Cuisine American, Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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This sounds delicious. How long do you cook the pasta before you bake it? Do I just cook it al dented? Is the pasta mushy?
Yes, I cook the pasta al dente. And I do not find it gets mushy! Enjoy Amanda!
I made this last night and it is delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Can’t wait to make this recipe! If giving to a friend who just had a baby – what would the directions be for cooking from frozen? And would you recommend still baking before dropping off?
Hi Liz, I would freeze uncooked then when you’re ready to eat it, just thaw completely and bake in the oven for the same time/temp.
I like the option to add anything. My anything was frozen meatballs (thawed and simmered in sauce) and frozen peas. It was yummy.
Oooo, delicious Lucy!
Lacked flavor.
This is a fine base recipe. However, it needs at least three chopped garlic cloves. Additionally, for more flavor, saute the onions and meat in butter.
Hi! This recipe looks delicious! I am making tomorrow.
How much dry spaghetti in the package do I buy to equal 16oz cooked?
Thank you!
Sorry for the confusion Liz, you will need 16 oz of dry spaghetti and then cook it. Enjoy the recipe!
Thank you so much! I don’t know why that confused me! I went back and read the ingredients again after your reply and was shaking my head at myself! Haha
The dish was wonderful! I love your recipes! Thanks for sharing them with us!
delicious
I doubled this recipe for a group beach trip (left out green pepper just b/c i do not care for it) – made one recipe with ground beef and the other with mild italian sausage – it was an absolute hit! Everyone snarfed it down and many had seconds….HOWEVER, I doubled everything but the pasta noodles – double noodles would have been way too much pasta IMHO.
thank you for the recipe, it’ll be my new go to for baked spaghetti.
Do you need to use eggs to bind the spaghetti?
Hi Julie, yes eggs can be used to help bind the spaghetti but we don’t find that necessary in this recipe. Enjoy!
You mentioned you use the eggs to help bind the spaghetti together, but eggs are not listed in the ingredients or instructions. When am I using the egg/eggs?
Sorry for the confusion Jessica, you can add eggs but we don’t find it necessary in this recipe. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
I plan on making this Tuesday. But doing a triple meat of beef-veal-bison. I am giving this 5 stars now because from exploring my saved Pinterest recipes i have used a lot of your recipe and flavor profiles and know this will be as great as all the others. I am going to make this the day before because spaghetti or chili always taste better the next day . Thank you for your beautiful creations.
Thank you for your kind words Devon, this made my day! I can’t wait for you to try this baked spaghetti recipe!
Am I able to pre cook this all and then stick it in the oven a different night? If I do that what would suggest for the baking time? Thank you!
If you prep it ahead of time and refrigerate, it’ll take a bit longer. Remove it from the fridge about 30 minutes before baking and bake about 35 minutes or until hot in the centre. Enjoy Megan!
Holly, this is great! I noticed someone commented it makes a lot and I agree, even though I made a half recipe but keeping the whole green pepper instead of halving it. It generously filled an 8 x 12 pan. I’m guessing the servings will be generous (it’s in the oven now). I used vegetarian ground beef substitute which doesn’t need pre-cooking and added extra garlic and some fennel that was ground slightly with mortar & pestle. I used to make my own Italian sausage before becoming vegetarian and I’m trying to get a similar flavor with the veg ground beef. I have a digestive condition called gastroparesis, and the veg meat substitutes go over with my stomach better than the fattier real thing.
You have some of the best recipes! I’ve made several of them and they’ve all been easy and delicious. When I search for a type of food, your recipe is almost always the best sounding and closest to what I’m looking for. Thanks for your efforts!
Thank you so much Essie, I’m glad you’ve loved them!
Love this baked spaghetti!! We shared it with friends and they enjoyed it as well. Thank you.
This is my third time making this recipe. Always delicious!! I added pepperoni slices for a little zing!
This was amazing!! I made it as directed. I used 93%lean ground beef. I also added a can of mushrooms as I do in my regular spaghetti. It was so good!!!i cannot wait to make this again!!
It’s nice to have a little change now and then and this was worth trying for sure! I will definitely make this again when our kids come over.
I left out the garlic, onion and green pepper (dietary issues) and substituted 1 small bunch green onions. Also, I used oregano, marjoram, thyme and sprinkling of cinnamon for the “Italian Seasoning”. Lastly, I used mozzarella and for a kick used a blend of parmesan, romano & asiago.
It turned out fabulously! I used some angel hair pasta however, I need to use gluten-free next time, again due to dietary issues.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
You’re welcome Jo! Thank you for sharing!
Do the diced tomatoes cook down? Don’t want my husband discovering them
You may want to try crushing the tomatoes, the chunks remain in tact in the end. Good luck ;)