Million Dollar Spaghetti

Million Dollar Spaghetti recipe – tastes like a million bucks! Great freezer meal too! Spaghetti, Italian sausage, spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and mozzarella. EVERYONE cleaned their plates and asked for seconds. Even our picky eaters!! This is definitely going into the dinner rotation. Serve with some garlic bread and a caesar salad for a meal better than any restaurant. Add this to your menu the next time you need an easy meal the entire family will enjoy!

plate of baked spaghetti casserole

The Best Spaghetti

This Million Dollar Spaghetti is our go-to recipe for spaghetti. It is super easy to make and tastes like a million bucks! Layers of noodles, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and mozzarella baked in a hearty meat sauce. It is a combination of baked spaghetti and lasagna. One bite and you will be blown away! We ate this for dinner and fought over the leftovers for lunch! So good! One bite and this is sure to become a family favorite!

How to Make Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole

This casserole is super easy to make with only a few basic ingredients. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook a package of spaghetti noodles according to package instructions for al dente. Drain and set aside. While the spaghetti is cooking, cook Italian sausage in a large skillet until no longer pink. Add a jar of spaghetti sauce and set aside. In a large bowl, combine cottage cheese, softened cream cheese, sour cream, parsley, and garlic powder. Place half of the cooked spaghetti in the bottom of the baking dish. Spread the sour cream mixture on top of the noodles. Spread the remaining spaghetti noodles on top of the cream cheese mixture. Pour meat sauce over noodles, top with mozzarella cheese, and bake until bubbly. Garnish with some fresh basil.

Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions

  • I like to use Italian sausage in this recipe. Feel free to substitute lean ground beef, ground chicken, ground turkey, or turkey sausage.
  • Can substitute ricotta cheese for cottage cheese.
  • Can use low fat cream cheese and low-fat sour cream.
  • My favorite store-bought jarred spaghetti sauces are Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara, Rao’s, and La Famiglia Del Grosso.
  • Feel free to add diced onions and green peppers to the meat sauce.
  • You can use any shredded cheese that you prefer in this dish. A combination of Italian cheeses, cheddar cheese, and parmesan cheese are all delicious.
  • Add a little bit of red pepper flakes for a little kick.
  • Can Million Dollar Spaghetti be made in advance? Yes! You can assemble the casserole ahead of time and refrigerate it until you are ready to bake. You may need to add a few minutes to the cooking time if baking straight from the refrigerator.
  • Can Million Dollar Spaghetti be frozen? Yes! Assemble the casserole and cool completely. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze. When ready to bake, thaw and bake as directed.
  • Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
plate of baked spaghetti casserole

What to Serve with Spaghetti Casserole

This spaghetti is one of our favorite meals. It is on the menu at least once a month. I always have a disposable foil pan of this spaghetti in the freezer. We usually serve this delicious meal with a salad and some garlic knots. It is equally delicious with some green beans and rolls. Give this a try ASAP! It is sure to please the whole family!

Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this cheesy baked spaghetti casserole:

Creamy Greek Salad

Creamy Greek Salad – our favorite salad!!! Romaine, tomatoes, thinly sliced seedless cucumbers, sliced banana peppers, olives, feta cheese, croutons…

Italian Green Bean Salad

Italian Green Bean Salad – quick and delicious side dish! Green beans, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, prosciutto, and mozzarella tossed…

Italian Herb Skillet Bread

Italian Herb Skillet Bread – Super easy garlic bread that tastes AMAZING! Only a few simple ingredients – frozen bread…

plate of baked spaghetti casserole

Million Dollar Spaghetti

Yield: 8 people
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Million Dollar Spaghetti recipe – tastes like a million bucks! Great freezer meal too! Spaghetti, Italian sausage, spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and mozzarella. EVERYONE cleaned their plates and asked for seconds. Even our picky eaters!! This is definitely going into the dinner rotation.

Ingredients:

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
  • Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
  • In a large skillet brown Italian sausage. Drain fat from skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, combine cottage cheese, softened cream cheese, sour cream, parsley, and garlic powder.
  • Place half of the cooked pasta in the bottom of the baking dish. Spread cream cheese mixture over noodles. Top with remaining noodles. Pour meat sauce over noodles and top with mozzarella cheese.
  • Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Notes:

  • I like to use Italian sausage in this recipe. Feel free to substitute ground beef, ground turkey, or turkey sausage.
  • My favorite store-bought jarred spaghetti sauces are Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara, Rao’s, and La Famiglia Del Grosso.
  • Can Million Dollar Spaghetti be made in advance? Yes! You can assemble the casserole ahead of time and refrigerate it until you are ready to bake.
  • Can Million Dollar Spaghetti be frozen? Yes! Assemble the casserole and cool completely. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze. When ready to bake, thaw and bake as directed.

Steph

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plate of baked spaghetti casserole

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Comments

  1. This was so good. Loved it and so did hubby! Will keep this recipe and make for company as it is easy.
    Thank you.

  2. This was perfect for our little kids party. I used hamburger, turned out great. Lot's of compliments. Made it the night before and baked it 45 min before the party. I'll do this again.

  3. I didn't see Italian Sausage at the store…..should i use regular pork sausage and add some fennel to it? or should i use ground beef?

  4. Is 8 oz. of spaghetti really all you use in this recipe? It doesn't seem like much, especially when you split it in half for the layers.

    1. I urge you to try it with the cottage cheese. I don't eat cottage cheese plain, but it is wonderful in casseroles. You can substitute ricotta if you would like. I really don't think this would be anything special without the cottage cheese or ricotta.

  5. This was great and although it was a variation of the Baked Spasanga, etc. casserole, it was definitely well worth the try. I added some onions with the pork sausage and it turned out really well. I added the onions only after the pork was done and they cooked well in the oven.

    You have great recipes and they're so tempting that I have to cook them! Keep up the great work!

  6. Hi Steph,
    First and foremost, I want to say I truly love your blog & the many excellent recipes you post Alot of times when I'm in a pinch for something to make for dinner, I look at your blog & voila problem solved! :-)I'm making the Million-dollar Spaghetti for dinner tonight as a matter of fact! Just to clear up any confusion others may have tho, I wanted to mention you said to add cottage cheese & "softened cottage cheese" in recipe directions & i'm quite sure it should have read "cottage cheese & softened cream cheese" lol Keep u p the great work with your blog & thanks for the fabulous dinner ideas!

  7. You're a life saver, just what I need to make for my inlaws this weekend (one is having surgery) and one for my 83 year old mom to have. Looks delicious-hope to have a little for us too :0).

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