Spaghetti Pie is a family favorite, turning our go-to spaghetti sauce into a delicious baked pasta! In this recipe, spaghetti meets lasagna for a quick weeknight dinner. A pasta crust is filled with meat sauce and a creamy ricotta cheese layer. It’s all baked until golden and bubbly, and sliced like a pie for serving.
We round out the meal with a fresh green salad or Italian salad, and of course, slices of toasty garlic bread.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Spaghetti Pie
Flavor: Rich and meaty, this recipe has buttery pasta baked into a ‘crust’ that’s filled with a hearty meat sauce and cheese and baked until bubbly.
Time-Saving Tip: To save time, use leftover meat sauce and pre-shredded cheeses.
Serving Suggestions: I like to serve it with warm garlic bread and a crisp Caesar or Italian salad for a fresh, balanced meal.
Prep Ahead: This pie can be prepared up to 48 hours before baking. If it is cold from the fridge, you will need to add extra baking time.
Freezer Meal: This can be prepared and frozen before baking. See recipe notes for instructions.
Total time: 60 minutes Serves: 6 Cooking method: Stovetop/oven
Difficulty: Medium, a few steps, but most are pretty simple.
Ingredient Notes
- Spaghetti: Cook the spaghetti al dente (firm) so the crust holds up well and isn’t too soft.
- Cheese: Pre-shredded cheese works well in this recipe.
- Ricotta Cheese: Use ricotta cheese or replace it with cottage cheese. If using cottage cheese, I recommend adding a beaten egg to the mixture as cottage cheese releases a bit of liquid.
- Ground Beef: Use lean ground beef or replace it with ground turkey or Italian sausage. Be sure to drain well.
- Pasta Sauce: Use any flavor of marinara sauce or red pasta sauce. Add a few crushed red pepper flakes for a little heat if you’d like.
- Variations: You can easily customize this spaghetti pie to suit your taste. Try adding sautéed mushrooms or chopped spinach to the sauce for extra vegetables, or swap the beef for Italian sausage for a bolder, more seasoned flavor.
How To Make Spaghetti Pie
- Press the spaghetti crust into a deep dish pie plate.
- Layer meat sauce, the cheese mixture, and shredded cheese
- Bake until browned and bubbly. Rest before cutting.
Leftovers & Storage
- Refrigerate: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: Freeze cooled slices or the whole baked pie wrapped well for up to 4 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating. The ricotta layer may soften slightly after freezing.
More Baked Pasta Recipes
Did you enjoy this Spaghetti Pie Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Spaghetti Crust
- 6 ounces spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Cheese Layer
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh
Meat Sauce
- 1 pound lean ground beef or Italian sausage
- ½ small onion diced
- 14.5 ounces canned diced tomatoes drained
- 2 cups pasta sauce or marinara sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a deep-dish pie plate.
- Brown the beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drain any fat. Add the onion and cook until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and pasta sauce, and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes or until thickened.
- Meanwhile, in a large pot of salted water, cook the spaghetti al dente (firm) according to package directions. Drain well.
- Place the spaghetti in the prepared pie plate. Add the butter and toss until the spaghetti is coated. Stir in the eggs and parmesan cheese. Press to form a crust.
- In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, parsley, and basil. Spread the cheese mixture into the spaghetti crust. Top with the meat sauce.
- Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes. Top with mozzarella and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese is browned and bubbly. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
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.
Do you use canned Parmesan or shredded in the bag for the crust?
Hi Jodi, we use shredded parmesan cheese for this recipe.
Soupy mess! It didn’t all fit in my 10 inch deep dish pie pan. It didn’t firm up after letting it rest.
Oh no, I am sorry to hear that Jo! To help your spaghetti pie firm up you want to make sure that you drain your pasta well before combining it with the crust ingredients and let the tomatoes and pasta sauce simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened to ensure it isn’t too runny for your pie. I hope those tips helps!
Yummy!…..I deviated by doubling the recipe for a 9×13 and mixing 2 eggs with the ricotta.
This recipe is easy and easily adaptable to tastes or what you have on hand.
Thanks for the recipe!
Did you adjust the cook time at all since you doubled it?
Made this for dinner last night and my husband and I loved it. I wouldn’t change a thing. Will definitely be a mainstay in our house. Thanks Holly.
So glad you both loved it Spike!
can this be made in a 9 x 13 pan and how much would I increase the ingredients by
If making this in a 9×13 I would double the recipe!
I had a very similar recipe to this from an Italian cookbook I misplaced so I was happy to find this. Thank you it was great. The only difference was they added an egg to the ricotta cheese to make the consistency creamer and I added a little mozzarella and parmesan cheese to it also.
So easy and a huge hit! Used small frozen (defrosted) meatballs cut in half as a layer and jarred sauce (simmered to thicken) to cut time, and it was great. Thanks!
You’re very welcome Farryl! So glad you love this spaghetti pie recipe!
Great recipe. Used Italian herb spaghetti sauce and left out the extra tomatoes. Gluten free spaghetti turned out great – undercooked to start so it didn’t turn to mush. I think to stretch this I’ll do two pies with the same amount of meat. The kids liked the crust the best and I felt it was a little much on the meat. Served with extra parm on the side
When I was growing up, my mom used to make this and I always loved it. I’ve made it many times also, and your recipe looks identical to the way that I’ve always made it. But I have been diagnosed with Celiac disease, and I have a spaghetti squash on hand. Is there any reason that I can’t use spaghetti squash in this recipe in place of gluten free spaghetti? I would really like to make smaller, individual portions, and freeze them for later meals. Do you think that this recipe, using spaghetti squash, would work well in the freezer?
Thank you.
Hi Shelby, I think using spaghetti squash should work well. It may turn out a little runny when reheating it from frozen though. I have also personally made this with gluten-free spaghetti noodles and it turns out great.
I loved loved loved this! I confess, I made my own sauce. Hubby calls it my “kitchen sink spaghetti sauce” because I use whatever I happen to have laying around—this time, italian sausage, chopped beef (not minced), mushrooms, black olives, bits and bobs out of the vegetable drawer. Otherwise, I stuck to the recipe. Huge hit! Thank you so much!
I put it all together this morning and popped it in the fridge. I’ll put it in the oven just before supper; I’ll increase the cook time a little due to a cold start. I obviously haven’t tasted it yet, but I just know it will be good; putting all the yummy ingredients together made my mouth water. I just wanted to let you know that my 9 inch pie plate wasn’t even close to being large enough for all the ingredients. I ended up using my 8″x 8″ casserole dish. Thanks for what I know will be a great recipe.
Thanks for sharing your tip on the dish Tom! Enjoy the recipe.
LOVED THIS!!! And soooo easy!!!
Liked the Spaghetti and meatballs. Would like to try more of your recipes/
Hi, so glad you liked the spaghetti & meatballs! To receive our newsletters, you can sign up here or scroll down to the bottom of the post and you will see a signup box.
For a healthier (or gluten free version), I make this with spaghetti squash. Turns out amazing.
Made Spaghetti Pie many years ago & loved it.
I tried your Spaghetti pie, it came out really good my only problem was how to measure 6 oz of spaghetti,
So glad you enjoyed it Donna!
6 oz. would be approximately 1/3 (plus a little extra) of 1 lb. You can eyeball it, it really won’t matter. Also, after preparing the pasta mixture, I like to use a scissors to cut into smaller pieces. It is easier to fit it into pie plate.
Easy, quick, straightforward recipe good for quick & easy weekday night dinners. I doubled the cheese & threw in a couple extra noodles = doubled the results. 2 pies!!
Great idea Kimberly! Can never go wrong with leftovers of this delicious pie.
Under the ingredients, you have the 1/2 cup of parmesan listed as part of the cheese layer, but under the instructions, you say to toss it with the crust layer. Which one is correct? Just want to be sure! :)
Thanks for all the wonderful recipes! Really excited to try this one.
Yikes, it ended up on the wrong section. It goes into the spaghetti crust.
Sorry for the confusion, I’ve updated the recipe. I hope you enjoy it!
It’s no problem. Thanks for replying so quickly!
Can you use cream cheese instead of ricotta? My husband is not a fan of ricotta.
Thank you
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Becky. I am sure cream cheese would be delicious, but it may be quite hard to spread as written in the recipe. You can substitute cottage cheese for ricotta or just leave the ricotta layer out. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Please send me the Spaghetti Pie recipe. I tried to save it to Face Book, but it’s not working right.
You’ll find the recipe for Spaghetti Pie if you scroll down the Spaghetti Pie page, or if you hit the “jump to recipe” link at the top of the page. Enjoy Cathyleen!
It looks so amazing.
I desperately want to taste this.
Loved your recipe.
Its wonderful.
Thanks for sharing !!
Thanks Fiona!
What is 6 oz of spaghetti?
Heather, it’s 6 ounces by weight of the spaghetti noodles, before cooking. Enjoy the recipe!