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
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 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 meat. Simmer 5-10 minutes uncovered. Stir in spaghetti and parsley.
- Spread into a 9x13 pan, top with cheeses and bake 25-30 minutes or until hot and cheese is browned and bubbly. Cut into squares to serve.
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Dinner, 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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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 ;)