Baked Spasagna – The BEST Baked Spaghetti

Baked Spasagna – lasagna and spaghetti in one! Baked pasta with mozzarella, ricotta, sour cream, half-and-half and parmesan. Topped with a quick meat sauce. SOOO good! Makes a great freezer meal too. Perfect for a potluck!

Baked Spasanga - lasagna and spaghetti in one! Baked pasta with mozzarella, ricotta, sour cream, half-and-half and parmesan. Topped with a quick meat sauce. SOOO good! Makes a great freezer meal too. Perfect for a potluck!

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The BEST Baked Spaghetti

I came across this recipe for Baked Spasagna on the internet.  The description said this was the recipe for a dish at the restaurant Cheddar’s.  I’ve never been to (or heard of) Cheddar’s, but the recipes sounded delicious. I immediately added it to the weekly menu.

We both really liked this dish.  It makes a ton.  We made half of the recipe below and it was easily enough for 6 to 8 people.  This would be a great dish for a potluck or any other time to need to feed a crowd.

How to Make Baked Spasagna

This was similar to my Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti Casserole, but cheesier.  It uses 2 pounds of mozzarella cheese. Yes, 2 pounds. I told you it was cheesier! It came together quickly.  I mixed the cheese mixture up while the pasta cooked and finished the meat sauce off while the casserole was in the oven.  

  • Can use Italian sausage, breakfast sausage, ground beef, or ground turkey in this recipe.
  • I used 2 pounds of shredded mozzarella cheese. Feel free to use an Italian cheese blend or provolone.
  • Can I make Baked Spasagna Casserole ahead of time? Yes! You can make the casserole ahead of time and refrigerate. You may need to add a few minutes to the cooking time if baking straight from the refrigerator.
  • Can I freeze Baked Spasagna Casserole? Yes! You can assemble the casserole and freeze for later.
  • To bake casserole after freezing, thaw completely and bake as directed below.
  • Can I half the recipe? Yes. You can make half of the recipe and bake it in a 9-inch baking dish. The cooking time would stay the same.
  • This makes a lot of pasta. I sometimes divide the recipe into two pans and bake one and freeze one for later.
  • I used a jar of store-bought spaghetti sauce. My favorite brands are Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara (green label), Rao’s, or La Famiglia DelGrosso sauce.
  • If you don’t like ricotta, you can try substituting cottage cheese.
Baked Spasanga - lasagna and spaghetti in one! Baked pasta with mozzarella, ricotta, sour cream, half-and-half and parmesan. Topped with a quick meat sauce. SOOO good! Makes a great freezer meal too. Perfect for a potluck!

What to Serve with Cheddar’s Baked Spasagna

This Baked Spasagna has quickly become a family favorite. It is super easy to make and everyone LOVES it. This is a very hearty dish so you don’t need very many side dishes to go with it. A simple salad and some garlic bread is perfect! Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this cheesy spaghetti casserole:

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cheddars baked spasagna

Baked Spasagna

Yield: 8 people
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Baked Spasagna – lasagna and spaghetti in one! Baked pasta with mozzarella, ricotta, sour cream, half-and-half and parmesan. Topped with a quick meat sauce. SOOO good! Makes a great freezer meal too. Perfect for a potluck!

Ingredients:

  • 24- oz spaghetti
  • 4 (8-oz) packages shredded mozzarella cheese (yes – 2 lb of cheese)
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • cups half-and-half
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp basil
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 (26-oz) jar spaghetti sauce
  • 1 lb Italian sausage or ground beef

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF.
  • Cook spaghetti according to package directions, drain.
  • In a large bowl, stir together sour cream, ricotta, half-and-half, mozzarella, oregano, basil, pepper, garlic, salt, and half the Parmesan cheese. Add spaghetti and toss until well coated.
  • Pour spaghetti mixture into 9×13 pan lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Top spaghetti with remaining Parmesan cheese.
  • Cover dish aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes.
  • While pasta is baking, prepare meat sauce. Brown Italian sausage in skillet. Drain and return to skillet. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
  • Remove pasta from the oven. Cut into squares and top with meat sauce. Sprinkle with additional grated parmesan cheese.

Notes:

Can use Italian sausage, breakfast sausage, ground beef, or ground turkey in this recipe.
I used 2 pounds of shredded mozzarella cheese. Feel free to use an Italian cheese blend or provolone.
You can make the casserole ahead of time and refrigerate. You may need to add a few minutes to the cooking time if baking straight from the refrigerator.
You can assemble the casserole and freeze for later.
To bake casserole after freezing, thaw completely and bake as directed below.
You can make half of the recipe and bake it in a 9-inch baking dish. The cooking time would stay the same.
This makes a lot of pasta. I sometimes divide the recipe into two pans and bake one and freeze one for later.
I used a jar of store-bought spaghetti sauce. My favorite brands are Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara (green label), Rao’s, or La Famiglia DelGrosso sauce.
If you don’t like ricotta, you can try substituting cottage cheese.

Steph

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Comments

  1. Soooooo good. It’s not a web of dried out baked spaghetti because you top it with the sauce afterwards. And just the proportions of the ingredients in the pasta mix keep it from being dried out. I roast garlic on my stove top and caramelize some chopped onions to add to it for us. This is a repeat tonight. Thank you 🙂

  2. Made it! It was fantastic! My family practically licked their plates! This will be a staple from now on at my house.

  3. EVERYONE LOVED IT! I loved it because it was so much easier than lasagna! Thanks for the great recipe, will be a keeper!

  4. I made the recipe and cooked it all. Can I freeze 1/2 after cooking it? I’d assume so – just wondering if you’ve ever done it this way.

  5. Sorry, can’t rate yet, I haven’t made it. I have a question though – why don’t you mix the spaghetti sauce in with the noodles? Could you do that? It seems like the spaghetti part would be dry without the sauce mixed in. I want to make it for Christmas but don’t want it to be dry. Thanks!

  6. I made this using spaghetti squash instead of noodles. It turned out great and my super picky daughter didn't even notice the difference. In fact, I am making it again tonight at her request! Thanks for sharing!

  7. My family LOVES this recipe almost as much as they love my lasagna recipe (which also has a couple of pounds of cheese). Thanks!

  8. I made my own version of this using linguine instead of spaghetti noodles and 16oz filled a 9×13 pan to the top. No way would 32oz work in a 9×13, mine was piled up as is. I mixed the cooked noodles with a mixture of cream cheese, ricotta, sour cream, 8oz mozzarella, parmesan. Put it in the pan then topped with crumbled italian sausage and chopped smoked sausage. then poured pasta and alfredo on top, then provel cheese. Baked 30min with foil on top. Came out good, going to use more seasoning in the cheese mixture next time. Thanks for the concept!!

  9. TC – I would still cook it for about 30 minutes even if you half it. I would check it at 25 minutes. It just needs to be heated through and starting to bubble. I didn't think it was too cheesy, but feel free to reduce the cheese to your liking. Enjoy!!

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