Million Dollar Spaghetti is a cheesy baked pasta layered with tender spaghetti, a creamy cheese filling, savory meat sauce, and plenty of melted mozzarella. This cheesy baked spaghetti is made for sharing and makes an easy, hearty dinner for family or guests.
Round off the meal with a simple green salad and homemade garlic bread.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Million Dollar Spaghetti
- Flavor: Zesty marinara, savory Italian sausage, and three creamy cheeses give every layer rich, savory flavor.
- Why Make It: It delivers the layered look of an easy homemade lasagna without arranging individual noodles.
- Make Ahead: Assemble this up to a day ahead and keep it refrigerated until ready to bake. It makes dinner easier when feeding family, bringing a dish to a potluck, or serving a crowd.
Cook Time: 1 Hr 25 Mins Servings: 12 Cooking Method: Sauté and Oven
Ingredient Notes
- Spaghetti: Cook the pasta until al dente, as it will continue cooking in the oven. Swap in any medium pasta, like penne, rigatoni, or rotini.
- Italian Sausage: Ground beef or turkey work well too, but season the meat more generously to build the same depth of flavor as Italian sausage.
- Marinara Sauce: Choose a sauce you already enjoy because its flavor carries through the entire casserole. Or try making a homemade marinara sauce instead.
- Cottage Cheese: Cottage cheese makes the center creamy while adding a little structure to the layers. Replace with ricotta for a smoother, more traditional lasagna-style filling.
- Cream Cheese: Let the cream cheese soften to room temperature so it blends smoothly with the other filling ingredients without lumps.
- Sour Cream: Use full-fat sour cream for the richest, creamiest texture.
How to Cook Million Dollar Spaghetti
- Cook the pasta, and stir in the marinara sauce.
- In a skillet, sauté the sausage, onions, and garlic.
- In a bowl, prepare the cheese filling (full recipe below).
- In a casserole dish, add the spaghetti, then layer with the cheese mixture and more spaghetti.
- Top with the meat mixture, sprinkle with cheese, and bake.
Save Those Million Dollar Leftovers
- Keep leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat individual portions in the microwave until heated through, or cover and warm them in a 350°F oven.
More Pasta Casseroles
Did you enjoy this Million Dollar Spaghetti Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Million Dollar Spaghetti
Million dollar spaghetti layers saucy pasta, savory Italian sausage, and a rich cream cheese filling under plenty of melted mozzarella. It's an easy, hearty casserole made to feed a crowd.
Ingredients
- 16 ounces spaghetti
- 1½ pounds Italian sausage casing removed, or ground beef or turkey*
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 (24 ounce) jars marinara sauce or spaghetti sauce, 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 for 35 to 45 minutes, until the casserole is heated through, adding the mozzarella on top for the last 20 minutes of the cook time.
- Rest for 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 it 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 refrigerator 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.
Love love love this! I didn’t have the mozzarella cheese on hand and it was still fabulous.
Thank you Kathleen for sharing this!
This turned out wonderful!! I added more shredded cheese for the top layer. It looked beautiful when I took it out of the oven and taste amazing. Thanks for sharing!
Is it possible to make this vegetarian and leave out the meat?
Should anything be tweaked, if so?
TIA
Hi Julia, this recipe should have similar results without the meat without tweaking anything. We would love to hear how it turns out for you!
Absolutely delicious! Since I was making for 2 people I halved the recipe and still have plenty of leftovers! My mom who is picky eater said this is a keeper. Have enjoyed all your recipes so far.
If I make it ahead of time, do I have to bake it or can I assemble all ingredients, refrigerate then bake the next day?
Hi Stacia, you can assemble and then refrigerate. When ready to bake, remove the casserole from the fridge to warm up while the oven is preheating.
I want to be sure if I m correct about two jars of spaghetti sauce …. 48 ounces each or two together 48 or 24 ounces each jar?
Hi Terri, it is 48 ounces in total. So 2 x 24 ounces jars would be perfect.
Million Dollar Spaghetti recipe is Very Good! This is a great recipe and very easy to tweak to additional veggies, parmesan, mushrooms, or what ever you like! I loved the butter on the bottom and on top of the pasta layer. It provided richness and additional flavor. I too layered my sauce up just a tad to prevent dryness. Baked covered at 350 for 30 min. Most excellent! Thanks for another great recipe! Well done!
In the oven now! 2nd time I’ve fixed this recipe and we love it!
Yum! Live in the Middle East so of course had many substitutions, including feta for the cottage cheese, yogurt for the sour cream. And it still turned out delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely love this recipe. Have made many times and get asked for recipe or to make again every single time. It is amazing!
This recipe was very good! I sprayed the bottom of the pan instead of using the butter. No issues with the noodles sticking. I will definitely make this again!
Good flavor but the proportions are off. There was way too much of the cream cheese mixture and it kind of ruined the dish for my family.
Reduce the cream cheese mixture by at least a third and the recipe would improve drastically.
Oh no, I am sorry to hear that! You can definitely reduce the cream cheese to your liking.
spaghetti was delicious!
Is all of the butter really needed? What is the reason for it? I’m worried about the additional fat on top of what comes from the sausage.
The butter on the bottom keeps it from sticking as well as adding flavor throughout.
We’ve had this recipe printed and it’s a go-to for our family! I first made it for my pregnant daughter in law who wanted nothing but cheese. She absolutely loved it and requested I make it every time she visited. I do have to make it every once in awhile with Alfredo sauce as my Husband has horrible acid reflux and can’t handle many pasta sauces but he does put up with the reflux more often then not because he says it’s perfect the way it was written!
So happy to hear how much your family loves this casserole Krista!
The spaghetti in the pictures already looks sauced in the 9×13” dish, (the pictures clearly shows the noodles having been doused in some sort of tomato sauce) but the instructions say to not pour on meat / pasta sauce until the end.
Do the noodles go into the dish naked?
(If yes, then I suggest better pictures). If no, then the instructions are unclear.
Yes Lulu, in step 2, after cooking the pasta, the instructions say to drain well and return pasta to original pot. Add 1 jar of prepared spaghetti sauce and combine. Then the 2nd jar of sauce is used with the meat.
Nothing was unclear. Maybe re-read for context again? Holly isn’t going to say it, but I will, because you were wrong.
The recipe calls for 2 jars of sauce. One in the noodles and one for the meat.
I made this a few weeks ago while staying at my kids house after their second child was born. Everyone went back for at least seconds and some went back for thirds! I just got a request to make it again, which makes me very happy. Thank you!
Love the recipes
Everyone loved it! Was kinda sketchy about the butter and cottage cheese, but made as stated and it was soo good! Served with a nice green salad and garlic bread. Great comfort food
Was good, made a ton. Gave some to my mom and she gobbled it up. Husband liked it too. Left overs tomorrow. Yum!