Easy Baked Spaghetti, Delicious Family Meal

Jump to Recipe

My Easy Baked Spaghetti recipe takes everything we love about spaghetti supper and makes it a delicious casserole. It’s a true family favorite! Tender spaghetti, layered with a meaty marinara sauce and ooey, gooey cheese. What’s not to love, right?

square of baked spaghetti on a white plate with a blue print napkin — Baked spaghetti is easy and delicious! One of our favorite Italian-inspired meals!

This Baked Spaghetti casserole stretches one pound of ground beef and one pound of cooked spaghetti noodles to be enough for 12 servings. With added protein from inexpensive eggs and the minerals and vitamins from onion, garlic and spinach, this recipe is a scrumptious way to nourish, make the most of your grocery budget and give your family a meal that they love.

My baked spaghetti recipe is a definite keeper! Any pasta bake recipe lover will appreciate this delicious meal. Your family’s gonna flip for it and you’ll love how easy it is to make baked spaghetti. Get the kids involved in putting this dish together. It’s a recipe they’ll be excited to see in your meal rotation, again and again.

Enjoy!

baked spaghetti on a white plate — Yum! Delicious baked spaghetti. It’s a triumph!!

The Ingredients

Ground Beef: (lean), browned and drained
Homemade Marinara (or your favorite Spaghetti Sauce): Your favorite jarred or canned brand is fine for making things quick and easy. (If you make homemade you’ll need around 5 cups.) A baked spaghetti casserole will benefit from the flavors you and your family like for a plain spaghetti dinner.
Cottage Cheese: I always by 4%, small curd. Cottage cheese may seem like an odd choice for a baked spaghetti recipe. But, my family doesn’t care for ricotta cheese. It’s delicious. I promise!
Red Onion: Mince the onion fine. No big chunks.
Fresh Spinach: Just like the onion, mince it up. The texture will be better than if you have floppy wilted whole leaves strewn through your baked spaghetti casserole.
Minced Garlic
Italian seasoning
Spaghetti Noodles: Cook and drain them before you begin assembly.
Eggs
Butter
Parmesan Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese: This dish, literally, will not be the same if you don’t grate your own. Let me explain why.

homemade marinara in pan with wooden spoon — The best Italian-inspired dishes start with a truly great sauce. My Homemade Marinara Sauce is the one you’ll want again and again. Grab the easy 30-minute recipe!

FAQ About Baked Spaghetti

Do I really need to grate my own cheese?

Yes. Pre-grated cheese is coated with cellulose or some other anti-clumping agent. That agent prevents the cheese from melting properly and it definitely alters the taste. Buy a block of cheese and grate it yourself. It’s so easy and more affordable!

Grating Your Own Cheese

One of my best investments for the kitchen is a *4-sided grater_{[affiliate link]}. I use it multiple times per week. My challenge this week is for you to grate a block of fresh extra-sharp cheddar or mozzarella and compare it to bagged, pre-grated. Honestly evaluate the flavor and meltability of each. You’ll only buy block cheese from then on. The flavor difference is astounding!

And I’ve already mentioned the other important benefit of grating your own cheese. It’s the meltability. Coated cheese doesn’t melt nearly as easily as freshly grated. When what you want is ooey, gooey, drippy cheese melting over your dish, opt for grating your own block of fresh Mozzarella cheese and enjoy the delicious difference.

More FAQs

Is there a substitute for the Cottage Cheese?

If you’re not a fan of cottage cheese, you can sub in an equal amount of ricotta cheese in this recipe.

Can this be made gluten free?

Yes, it definitely can. And, it’s really good! This dish can be 100% gluten free if you choose your favorite gluten free pasta.

What is Jovial Brown Rice Pasta?

box of jovial brown rice spaghetti, uncooked

Jovial brown rice pasta is still the only gluten free brand we will buy. It doesn’t go mushy. It doesn’t crumble apart and it has the texture of regular noodles. My family can’t tell the difference unless I mention that’s what I’ve used. They are our all-time favorite spaghetti noodles.

The least expensive place I have found to buy it is online at Vitacost. It’s only $3.99 compared to $4.49 to $6 in other places. At Vitacost you can get free shipping with a $50 order. With my Amazon prime account I get them for around $4.67 each with free shipping _{[affiliate link]}.

How to Make the Best Baked Spaghetti

Cook spaghetti in boiling water for two or three minutes less than the package instructions tell you. They will continue cooking in the baked spaghetti once it’s in the oven. You don’t want to end up with overdone noodles.
Brown the ground beef in a large skillet until it is cooked through and no longer pink. Use lean ground beef, so you get the most for your money and don’t lose so much to grease. When using ground beef in a casserole or “mixed” dish, I opt for very lean beef (at least 90/10, sometimes 93/7) because flavor will come from other seasonings and ingredients.
Grate the cheese. Buy a block and grate it yourself, so it melts better and tastes delicious!

Mixing the Individual Layers for Your Pasta Bake Recipe

To create the first baked spaghetti layer, just barely melt butter in the microwave.
Stir the Parmesan into the barely melted butter.
Beat the eggs into the butter/Parmesan mixture..
Once the eggs are beaten into the butter and Parmesan, pour that mixture over the al dente spaghetti. You can try to do this step with a spoon, but I find the easiest way to be sure all the ingredients in the spaghetti mixture are evenly distributed, is to simply toss it all together with my hands.
To make the sauce for baked spaghetti, mix the marinara sauce, cooked ground beef, cottage cheese (or ricotta cheese if making that substitution), onion, garlic and spinach in a separate bowl. Set it aside.

mixing the meat, tomato sauce and cottage cheese layer for baked spaghetti — Mixing the sauce for baked spaghetti. Marinara sauce, cottage cheese, ground beef, spinach and herbs.

Assembling the Baked Spaghetti Casserole

Preheat oven to 350° and grease a *9×13 baking dish to hold your baked spaghetti.
Place half of the al dente spaghetti to create the first layer in the bottom of the pan.
Next, spread half of the tomato/meat sauce over the spaghetti mixture layer.
The third layer is half of the shredded Mozzarella cheese. Distribute it evenly over the sauce layer of your baked spaghetti.
Now, repeat layers one to three. First spaghetti, then meat sauce and then shredded Mozzarella cheese.
Your Baked Spaghetti is ready for the oven! Cover and seal with foil. (Spray the underside of your foil with pan spray before sealing it down. It really does help keep the cheese from sticking to it.)
Bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake 10 to 15 minutes more to finish melting the cheese. When the cheese is fully melted and the baked spaghetti casserole is bubbling and brown around the edges, it’s done.
Let the baking dish rest on a cooling rack for 5 to 10 minutes, so your Baked Spaghetti holds together more easily, when you slice it.
(optional) Garnish with fresh parsley or chopped basil.

layers 1, 2 and 3 of baked spaghetti in a 9x13 pan — Layers 1, 2 & 3 of baked spaghetti, assembled in a 9×13 pan. Repeat with layers 4, 5 & 6.

What to Serve with Baked Spaghetti

We like all our pasta bake recipes, and especially this Baked Spaghetti, served with a green salad, steamed broccoli or sauteed zucchini. And of course a nice piece of crusty bread or garlic bread with regular bread finishes the meal to perfection.

Choose any of your favorite side dishes and enjoy this simple meal with your family. I hope it becomes a family favorite in your house, too. DELISH! Enjoy, my friend!

The Recipe