Million-dollar spaghetti is a creamy, cheesy, budget-friendly casserole that's so easy to make.
This crowd-pleasing dish is made with layers of spaghetti and cheese that is smothered in a hearty meat sauce and baked until browned and bubbly.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Spaghetti is tossed in a savory meat sauce and topped with a creamy cheesy sauce for a hearty meal! While the ingredients are simple, this meal is delicious.
- Skill Level: This easy, beginner-friendly recipe is an easy way to feed the family!
- Serving: Million Dollar Spaghetti is a combination of baked spaghetti and lasagna and pairs well with all the classic sides: garlic bread, Caesar salad, easy arugula salad, and more!
- Freezing: This hearty casserole reheats and freezes well for future meals!
Ingredient Tips for Million Dollar Spaghetti
- Meat: I like using Italian sausage as it has lots of flavor, but in a pinch, you can substitute ground beef or ground turkey. If substituting the sausage, I would recommend adding extra seasoning to the sauce.
- Sauce: This recipe uses pasta sauce as the base to keep it quick and easy. You can use homemade marinara sauce or your favorite jar of sauce. Feel free to stir in fresh herbs!
- Cheese: The cheese layer is made with either cottage cheese or ricotta cheese. I prefer cottage cheese because I think it adds so much creaminess to the recipe.
- Pasta: Cook the pasta al dente so it holds up during baking. While I prefer to make this with spaghetti, other types of pasta work well too. Try ziti or rigatoni noodles.
Storing, Reheating, & Planning Ahead
The leftovers of this casserole reheat well! The pasta softens up a bit when reheating, but the flavor is just as good as when it was fresh out of the oven.
- Prep Ahead: This spaghetti can be made up to 24 hours ahead of time. Remove it from the fridge at least 30 minutes before baking and add 15 minutes to the baking time.
- Freezing: To freeze the casserole, wrap it in plastic wrap first, then aluminum foil. Let it thaw overnight in the fridge before baking.
More Favorite Spaghetti Recipes
Did you enjoy this Million Dollar Spaghetti? Leave us a rating and comment below!
Ingredients
- 16 ounces spaghetti
- 1 ½ pounds Italian sausage casing removed, or ground beef or turkey
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 48 ounces marinara sauce or spaghetti sauce, 2 jars, divided
- 3 teaspoons Italian seasoning divided
- 8 ounces cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- chopped fresh parsley and parmesan cheese for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta al dente according to package directions. Drain well and return the pasta to the original pot. Add 24 oz of prepared spaghetti sauce and toss to combine. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, combine Italian sausage, onion, and garlic over medium-high heat. Cook until no pink remains and the onion is soft. Drain excess fat. Stir in the remaining 24 oz of spaghetti sauce and 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, blend cottage cheese (or ricotta), cream cheese, sour cream, 1 cup mozzarella, and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning using a hand mixer. Set aside.
- Spread half of the spaghetti in the prepared baking dish, then top with the cottage cheese mixture. Spread the remaining spaghetti over the cheese mixture. Pour the meat sauce evenly over the top.
- Bake uncovered 35-45 minutes, until the casserole is heated through, adding the mozzarella on top for the last 20 minutes of cook time.
- Rest 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
If replacing the sausage for ground beef or turkey, add additional seasoning to the sauce. For a little kick, add ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes.
This casserole can be prepared 24 hours in advance. If made ahead of time, let set at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before baking. Add 15 minutes to the baking time.
Store leftovers in a covered container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 583 | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 826mg | Potassium: 337mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 745IU | Vitamin C: 2.5mg | Calcium: 209mg | Iron: 1.7mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Dinner, Pasta
Cuisine American© 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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In regards to your Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole, in the ingredient section you state 48 ounces spaghetti sauce 2 jars. Does this mean you want a total of 48 ounces of sauce, or do you want two 48 ounce jars of sauce?
We use 2 jars of pasta sauce to equal 48 ounces in total. We say divided because 24 ounces is added in step 2 and the additional 24 ounces is added in step 3.
Love this!!!! I put ingredients of the middle layer in my food processor and added Parmesan cheese and a teaspoon of dried basil. Then, I sprinkled Parmesan on top after adding Mozzarella! Serving it again tonight to guests with a salad and crusty bread! Already can’t wait for the leftovers! Thanks so much for sharing this with us.
Great flavors, easy to prepare. BUT, I couldn’t get it all in a 9×13 dish, and yes, I measured everything. Not a bad thing as I ended up with spaghetti and meat sauce left over alone for a lunch during the week.
I was looking for a baked spaghetti recipe and this one popped up and I had to try it. The 2 layers of sauce worked with my intention of using half white (spaghetti), and red meat sauce on top. Hubs is sensitive to tomato sauces, so I always need to adjust. Wow! This came out sublime! I subbed one jar of the tomato sauce for a quickly whipped up parmesan cream sauce. Because of that I used only about half the butter called for. And I used hot Italian sausage rather than the sweet.
This one is going into my permanent file! Thank you for sharing it! Delicious.
Looks delish, I will try it, but what is the purpose of the butter?
The butter on the bottom keeps it from sticking as well as adding flavor throughout. Enjoy Jennifer!
Does anyone know if I can use mild Italian sausage as I can’t find sweet italian? would it make a huge difference?
Yes, this will work just fine!
Way too cheesy for us and now I have SOOO much food. Don’t want to waste it but it’s just too much cheese.
The dish is VERY rich and VERY heavy. We couldn’t eat it, and had to toss it all down the garbage disposal. If you have a big family, especially young children, perhaps this recipe makes sense. But for just the two of us oldies, not so much. At our age, we just don’t eat much anymore, and especially no heavy foods. To start with, I should have cut the ingredients in half. Then I should have cut out all the cheese except the mozzarella, and maybe substituted fresh chopped spinach. What was the point of all the butter? Why was cottage cheese, cream cheese, and sour cream included? None of it was necessary. I also think two jars of sauce is overkill. Sorry. It’s a “no” for us.
Bev why did you even make this recipe? From your comments it seems you knew it would not be to your liking.
Do u use 48 ounces total or 96 ounces of spaghetti sauce
We use 2 jars of pasta sauce to equal 48 ounces in total. We say divided because 24 ounces is added in step 2 and the additional 24 ounces is added in step 3.
Made this for the family last night and it was a slam dunk! This will definitely go into our regular dinner rotation.
Great recipe all the family enjoy especially my granddaughter !
Only thing I find is 16oz of spaghetti noodles is WAY too much. Made a 9×13 pan and 9 inch pan and still threw out some noodles!
I did use 1/2 mild Italian sausage meat and 1/2 extra lean hamburger as my grandson loves the taste of the sausage!!
A family favorite! A definite “must make”.
ALWAYS TAKES ME LONGER TO PREPARE!! I have no doubt about the taste of this. I have 2 foreign exchange students, both 16 year old boys at the YMCA while I cook.
They haven’t complained yet about my cooking!!!
Bad thing is, I have way less left overs for my work lunches!! Oh well, I’ve raised 7 kids already so I know what it’s about.
Excellent! Entire family loved it! My married son called and asked if he could come and get another piece!
I am so happy to hear this was a hit with the whole family!
I love this recipe….I have made it several times and it is always a big hit. The leftovers are just as good as the first time. I highly recommend trying this if you haven’t already.
This is so delicious! My hubs doesn’t care for sour cream so I just increased the cottage cheese. Oh my goodness!!
It does make a huge amount of foot as you stated. We enjoyed it through the week and froze some too. Great for football nights or leftovers! Thanks for the recipe!
You’re very welcome Lisa! This tastes just as good leftover!
It was OK. I don’t think I liked the taste of the cream cheese in this recipe so I won’t make this again. I made as is but substituted ground beef for the sausage. I don’t think that the sausage would have helped hide the cream cheese taste. Don’t get me wrong I love cream cheese but it just didn’t work in this dish for me.
Great recipe. Not sure why so many question using butter. It’s a very common ingredient added at yhe end ofmany high end chef made a spaghetti sauces. Usually added just be f ore serving. Considered a secret ingredient.
Delicious! Great recipe! Definitely will make this again!
This is by far the best spaghetti casserole I have tried thus far. The only thing I did different was I added a pound of ground beef and reduced the sausage to a pound of ground sweet Italian. It was delicious!