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.
More Must-Try Casseroles
I wonder how this would be using Vodka sauce instead of marinara. I’m going to make it tonight and debating which sauce to use.
I haven’t tried it Lisa, but it sure sounds delicious! Let us know how it is if you use the vodka sauce!
Have you ever made this with groundmeat in place of sausage?
Yes, and it works perfectly.
Lisa, how did the Vodka sauce work out???
I recieved a similar recipie from a friend and found it plain. I found your recipe and it was everything I needed! I have 5 teenagers (4 BIG boys + 1 girl) and they LOVED this version! They asked me to make it again next week! LOL Thank you!
You’re welcome! Love filling up teenagers!!
Thx for asking as I was going to ask if anyone had compared this to others. I’m looking for a Christmas Eve dish that I can make ahead. Unfortunately I’m not able to do all the standing necessary for my annual prime rib dinner :(
Do you have a favorite spaghetti sauce that you use?
I usually just buy whatever is on sale Wendy
This casserole was rich, filling, and delicious. It made a ton, so I was able to share. Just tweaked an otherwise excellent recipe:
*used 2 lbs meat (1 lb hamburger/1 lb pork sausage-also seasoned it with salt/pepper/garlic powder too
*doubled the cottage cheese (16 oz) and added a bit more sour cream (not much-didn’t measure extra)
*added Parmesan to the cheese mixture
*layered meat and shredded cheese on both layers (more like lasagna)
My family loves it. Thank you for sharing this recipe! ❤️
We love this recipe! The only change we make is we use hot italian sausage because we like it! Since there are only two of us now I can freeze in serving size and get several meals from one recipe. Thanks you!
I added 1 pkg frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained) to cheese mixture. Could do artichoke or water chestnuts (think spinach dip) too I suppose. Added black olives in the meat layer. Didn’t use butter. It was a hit. YUM YUM
Love, love, this recipe my go to for pot luck dish,
Thank you Vivian, you made my day!
I am so glad i ran into this recipe!!! Delish!!! A new go to fav of mine and my family.
I’ve gone to all this work
You never mentioned if you cover it to bake it???????
This is baked uncovered.
Susan just for the record (from an OLD cook), unless a recipe says “covered” then assume it is made UNcovered.
I added a pkg of frozen chopped spinach to the cheese mixture and a couple cups of mushrooms to the meat sauce to sneak in a few veggies…Kids still loved it. Great recipe – I think the cream cheese makes a big difference.
Did some tweaking due to how product sizes are hard to get dead on. Ex. Ground sausage comes in 16oz so I just went a head and did 2 pounds instead of pound and a quarter. Cream cheese came in 7.5oz. Did about a 3rd of a cup of sour cream. Instead of a quarter cup.
Turned out amazing. Building mixtures seems daunting but its easy. And im.a novice when it comes to cooking. This is like a spaghetti lasagna.
PS: Sadly It doesn’t make you a millionaire ;)
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Helen, if you’d like to receive emails, you can click here to sign up to receive emails. Look forward to sending you recipes!
I’m getting ready to make this tomorrow so we can eat it while watching the returns. I first make this in September when we were camping. I was trying to clean out the refrigerator and had a lot of the ingredients on hand. I did a few things differently – some in error, some on purpose. I made my own sauce because I see no purpose in buying jarred sauce when it’s so easy to make ones own. I used the whole container (16 oz) of Ricotta because I had it and because I’m Italian and would never ever use cottage cheese in a Pasta recipe! I used about 2/3 C. of sour cream because it had it, I used everything else as called for in the recipe. This was beyond anything I expected! You just can’t mess this up! We loved it and I can’t wait to make it again tomorrow. Thank you for a wonderful recipe – its a keeper. I just recently found your website and everything I’ve made has been absolutely wonderful!
Sounds delish. Want to make it this week. BUT can you use marinara sauce or half marinara/half spaghetti sauce? Not sure of the difference between the two…if it would change taste of casserole?
Marinara and pasta sauce can be used interchangeably in this recipe.
This is SUPER DELICIOUS!!! I followed the recipe exactly. Wouldn’t change a thing! AMAZING!!!!
Wow! I made this tonight and we all had more than one serving. It was delicious! I followed the recipe exactly except for the fact that I added more garlic than called for, we love garlic. :)
I don’t have Italian seasoning on hand. I do have basil, parsley, and rosemary in my garden. I have dried oregano and thyme? What am I missing? How would you use what I have? Also have fresh mint and dried fennel. My Nana always put a bit of mint in her Sunday gravy.
We use this Italian seasoning recipe.
I would love be to make this tonight but don’t have the cottage cheese or ricotta cheese. Any suggestions? Thank you!
I’ve only tried this as written but you could try a little bit of cream cheese in place.
I’ve been making this for a couple yrs now. Only thing I do different is I add a giant 63oz spaghetti sauce jar in it from Costco. I like mine to be more saucy. Yesterday I made two casseroles to freeze one, since I’m having a baby soon. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Was wondering how people choose to heat up.the leftovers…in the microwave or put back into the oven? If in the oven would you cover it so it doesn’t dry out then?
Hi Leslie, I would place the casserole dish in the oven @ 350°F for 20 minutes or so, covered with tin foil. Covering it will keep in the moisture.