Southwestern Baked Spaghetti

Southwestern Baked Spaghetti Recipe – great make-ahead dinner! Baked spaghetti loaded with ground beef, chili seasoning, diced tomatoes and green chiles, spaghetti sauce, corn, peas, French fried onions, and cheese. We loved every single bite! Can make ahead and refrigerate or freeze for later. All you need is a salad and bread and dinner is done! Everyone cleaned their plate!

Easy Baked Spaghetti Recipe

This Southwestern Baked Spaghetti is one of our favorite weeknight meals. It is super easy to make and tastes great! Ground beef, chili seasoning, diced tomatoes and green chiles, spaghetti sauce, corn, peas, French fried onions, and cheese. We loved every single bite! It was so good that we ate it leftover for lunch the next day. It was equally delicious!

How to Make Southwestern Baked Spaghetti

This Southwestern Baked Spaghetti Casserole is super easy to make. Start by browning the ground beef. While the beef is browning, get the pasta going. Once the ground beef is cooked, drain the fat and place in a large bowl. Combine the cooked meat with some Rotel tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, chili seasoning, corn, and peas. Drain the cooked pasta and add to the ground beef mixture. Transfer to a baking dish and top with cheese and French fried onions. Pop it in the oven and you are done.

If you aren’t a fan of green peas or corn feel free to change them out for some mushrooms and/or green bell peppers. I used cheddar cheese in this casserole but any cheese will work great. You can also swap the ground beef for ground turkey.

Can I Make Baked Spaghetti in Advance?

You can make this Southwestern Baked Spaghetti in advance and refrigerate until ready to bake. Take the casserole dish out of the refrigerator and preheat the oven. You may need to add 5 or 10 minutes to the baking time when baking straight out of the refrigerator. 

Can I Freeze Baked Spaghetti?

This Southwestern Baked Spaghetti makes a great freezer meal! I will sometimes split the casserole between two pans. I will bake one and freeze the other one for later. To bake after freezing, thaw completely in the refrigerator and follow the baking directions below.

What to Serve With Southwestern Baked Spaghetti

We loved this yummy Southwestern Baked Spaghetti. The flavors were great and it was easy to make. You don’t need a lot of side dishes to go with this spaghetti casserole. We usually just make a simple salad and some rolls. Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this easy Southwestern Baked Spaghetti:

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Recipe Print Recipe

Southwestern Baked Spaghetti Recipe

Author: Plain Chicken

Yield: 8 people

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Southwestern Baked Spaghetti Recipe – great make-ahead dinner! Baked spaghetti loaded with ground beef, chili seasoning, diced tomatoes and green chiles, spaghetti sauce, corn, peas, French fried onions, and cheese. We loved every single bite! Can make ahead and refrigerate or freeze for later. All you need is a salad and bread and dinner is done! Everyone cleaned their plate! #casserole #pasta #groundbeef #freezermeal #makeahead

Equipment:

• 10-inch Skillet
• Meat Masher Tool
• 6-quart saucepot
• Glass Mixing Bowls
• 9×13-inch Baking Dish

Ingredients:

• 12- oz spaghetti
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 (1.75-oz) packet chili seasoning
• 1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes & green chile’s
• 1 (24-oz) jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 (10-oz) package frozen corn, thawed
• 1 (10-oz) package frozen green peas, thawed
• 1 (3-oz) package French fried onions
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
• Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
• In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef until no longer pink. Drain fat.
• In a large bowl, combine cooked ground beef, chili seasoning packet, diced tomatoes and green chiles, spaghetti sauce, corn, and peas. Add cooked pasta and stir until combined.
• Pour spaghetti mixture into prepared pan. Top with French fried onions and cheese.
• Bake uncovered for 40 to 50 minutes.

Notes:

Can substitute ground turkey for ground beef.

Can make in advance and refrigerate overnight. You may need to add 5 or 10 minutes to cooking time.

Can assemble casserole through step 5 and freeze. To bake from frozen, thaw completely in the refrigerator and bake as directed above.

I used a can of Del Monte diced tomatoes and green chiles.

Plain Chicken

https://www.plainchicken.com/southwestern-baked-spaghetti/

All images and text © Plain Chicken, Inc.

Did you make this recipe?Mention @plainchicken or tag #plainchicken!

Steph