The Ultimate Baked Spaghetti recipe – cheesy spaghetti topped with Italian seasoned cream cheese, meat sauce and mozzarella cheese – SOOOO good! Spaghetti, eggs, parmesan cheese, melted butter, Italian seasoning, garlic, cream cheese, sour cream, Italian sausage, marinara sauce, and mozzarella cheese. Can make in advance and refrigerate or freeze for a quick meal later. Serve with a salad and some garlic bread for a meal better than any restaurant!
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Pin This RecipeThe Ultimate Baked Spaghetti
I call this The Ultimate Baked Spaghetti because I combined two of my favorite baked spaghetti recipes and made one great recipe. The “ultimate” if you will. This baked pasta is crazy good. I wanted to eat the whole pan! We ate this for dinner and again for lunch the next day. O-M-YUM! So delicious! I will take this casserole over a meal at a restaurant any day. One bite and you will surely agree!
How To Make Baked Spaghetti
This baked pasta recipe is very easy to make with only a few ingredients. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions for al dente. Drain and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, parmesan, and melted butter. Season with salt and black pepper. Add cooked spaghetti and toss to coat. Spread spaghetti mixture in the bottom of a baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
In another bowl, mix together Italian seasoning, garlic, cream cheese, and sour cream. Spread an even layer over the pasta.
In a large skillet, cook Italian sausage or ground beef over medium heat until browned and no longer pink. Drain excess grease. Stir in a jar of your favorite marinara sauce. Spread sauce over the cream cheese layer. Top casserole with mozzarella cheese. Bake in a preheated oven until bubbly and the cheese has melted. Garnish with fresh basil or parsley.
Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
- Can substitute ground turkey or turkey sausage for reduced calories.
- Feel free to add some fresh chopped yellow onion and bell pepper to the skillet when cooking the meat.
- My favorite store-bought spaghetti sauces are Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Marinara (green label), Carbone, Rao’s, and La Famiglia DelGrosso.
- Can Baked Spaghetti be made in advance? Yes! Assemble the casserole and cover the pan with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
- If baking cold straight from the fridge, you will need to add 15 to 20 minutes to the cooking time.
- Can I freeze Baked Spaghetti? Absolutely! Assemble the casserole and cool completely. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- When ready to bake, thaw completely and bake as directed below.
- This makes a lot of food. You can split the recipe into two 8×8 foil pans – bake one now and freeze one unbaked for later.
- For the leftovers, I cut them into single-serving squares and freeze them wrapped in plastic wrap. When ready to eat, just thaw and pop in the microwave. Perfect for a quick and easy meal later!
Baked Spaghetti Casserole for a Crowd
This makes a ton. It would be great for a potluck. You can serve about 12 people with this casserole. If you have a larger crowd, just double or triple the recipe. You can make this in advance, so it is great for parties! Serve this with a simple salad and some garlic bread and olive oil dip for an amazing Italian feast!
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The Ultimate Baked Spaghetti
Equipment:
Ingredients:
- 16- oz thin spaghetti
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 5 Tbsp butter melted
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 (8-oz) package cream cheese softened
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 lb Italian sausage or hamburger cooked
- 1 (24-oz) jar spaghetti sauce
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly spray a 9×13-inch pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain. Whisk together eggs, parmesan cheese, and melted butter. Toss with pasta. Place in prepared pan.
- Combine Italian seasoning, garlic, cream cheese, and sour cream. Spread over pasta.
- Combined cooked sausage or hamburger and spaghetti sauce. Spread over cream cheese mixture. Top with 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 45 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Steph
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Made this and was delicious. Making it for church potluck..i might add more sauce when serving..
My family loves this dish. We do use less spaghetti because for our taste it’s just too much base. Since we all work different shifts it’s so good right then or as a warm up. Thank you for sharing!
Made this tonight for my family. Just didn’t add meat and my picky girls loved as did my husband. I thought it was good too! I’m rating it 5 stars because it was very easy to make and tasted good.
Our family loves this so much that I’m making it for about 250 guests at my daughters wedding in December. I have done a couple trial runs and the spaghetti mixture seems to dry out a bit and the cream cheese mixture seems chunky and not creamy. I prepared it per the instructions, baked it, cooled it and wrapped it generously with foil/saran wrap. I frozen it for 3 weeks and thawed in the refrigerator, then reheated. Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated to make this taste as amazing as it does when it is freshly made. I am freezing it a few weeks before, so we are not so overwhelmed the week of the wedding. Thank you in advance for any helpful hints
This was amazing! Thanks for sharing!
WE MADE THIS AND EVERYONE LOVED IT SOOOOO AWESOME!!!
WE MADE THIS LAST WEEK EVERYONE LOVED IT MY HUSBAND BRAGGED TO EVERYONE THAT WOULD LISTON HOW AWESOME IT WAS………AND IT WAS!!!
Is 350 degrees for Australia also?
Yum!
Can anyone tell me where in aus I can get the Italian sausage from please?
Or will I just use normal mince
Thanks
You can use ground beef or ground pork and add Italian seasoning (oregano, basil, garlic, onion)
Pork sausage is cheaper at least where I live. I mix pork sausage and hamburger. Add basil pesto.
This looks awesome! Do you think I could make this with shredded chicken instead of sausage?
I just made this baked spaghetti and it was a hit.my husban love it .I will definately be making this again.I have never had baked spaghetti before.
How long can you freeze this? Thaw in refrigerator; bring out for how many mins. to come to room temperature and would you bake it at the same temperture and time.
This is one of mine and my husband’s favorite dinners so I’m going to make a couple pans for a big get together we’re having tomorrow. Would it be ok to make the pans tonight and keep in the refrigerator for 24 hours? Also, how much do you think I need to increase the cook time for 2 or 3 pans?
Is it possible to make this in a slow cooker
Sure! Try it on LOW for about 2 hours or so
I really like this recipe! Mine was a little dry & the spaghetti stuck together…..is that normal? The mozzarella cheese burned a little on the edges…should I not bake it as long?
LaKeshia – I've never had issues with the spaghetti being dry. Maybe try and cook it a minute or two less than the directions on the package. If the cheese is getting too browned, try covering the dish during the last few minutes of baking.
Made this tonight and it was really delicious! The only thing I did different was add diced onion to the ground beef, but thatsca personal preference. Thank you for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed it!!