Cheesy Baked Spaghetti Casserole
Baked spaghetti casserole is the perfect way to make your classic spaghetti dinner even easier. Tender noodles, yummy sauce, and tons of cheese!
Tender past noodles, rich tomato sauce, hearty ground beef, and tons of cheese make this casserole this ultimate comfort food. I mean, it’s spaghetti! And I love spaghetti any time of the day, any day of the week.
By combining the sauce and the noodles in the casserole dish, it’s even easier to make and even better for making ahead of time!
Did you think it was even possible to make spaghetti even tastier? Well, time to find out for yourself. I say it’s all the melty cheese, but I think it’s about baking it in the oven that gives the flavors extra time to mix.
If you love Italian food, especially Italian casseroles, check out my dump and bake meatball recipe, lasagna casserole, crock pot pizza casserole, and my super easy garlic bread casserole.
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See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and their quantities.
Ingredient Notes
- Ground beef – Substitute ground turkey, ground pork, or Italian sausage.
- Tomatoes – A combination of diced tomatoes and your favorite marinara sauce.
- Cheese – Ricotta, parmesan, and mozzarella. Substitute cottage cheese for the ricotta if you need to.
- Pasta – Any spaghetti noodle will work so use your favorite shape. I have tested this with all the noodles and find that angel hair is a little to thin for this and doesn’t hold up well since it’s so small. Linguine is the best in my opinion.
- Spices – Italian seasoning or a combination of oregano and basil.
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How To Make Baked Spaghetti
- In a large pot or large skillet, brown the beef, onion, and bell pepper over medium-high heat until no longer pink.
- Add the garlic, spices, tomatoes, and sauce. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and egg. Mix to combine and season with salt and black pepper if desired.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add the spaghetti noodles. Cook the spaghetti to al dente (according to package directions) and drain. Do not rinse. Combine the cooked spaghetti with the meat sauce reserving 2 cups of sauce.
- Preheat oven to 375F. In a deep 9×13 oven safe baking dish, add 1 cup of spaghetti sauce to bottom of baking dish and spread. Place 1/3 of the spaghetti mixture in the bottom in an even layer. Add 1/2 the cheese mixture and spread in an even layer.
- Add another 1/3 of the spaghetti mixture and top with the remaining ricotta mixture. Top with remaining spaghetti. Pour remaining 1 cup sauce over the top. Top with mozzarella cheese and bake 30 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes.
For the full recipe and detailed cooking instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post.
Serving Suggestions
Just like with any spaghetti dinner, you can serve so many different side dishes. I love this with my mom’s garlic knots, an Italian chopped salad or Caesar salad, and some green beans.
Storage & Freezing
You can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. Reheat in the microwave or oven until warmed through. Add a little extra sauce if it starts to dry out.
This makes a great freezer meal the whole family can enjoy on a busy weeknight. Freeze the casserole before or after baking for up to 3 months.
If baking it ahead of time, cool or bring to room temperature before freezing. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bake or reheat until warmed through.
Covering Baked Spaghetti
To prevent too much moisture from escaping, and to help seal in the flavors even more, covering the spaghetti casserole with aluminum foil for the first 20 minutes of cooking time is a good idea. This helps to keep it from drying out.
When you pull the foil off, then you can add a bit more cheese mixture if you want, but the goal now is letting the cheese bubble and melt and form a bit of a crust over the top.
When the cheese looks nice and melted, with a few browner spots and crusting at the edges, you will have casserole perfection! To make this easier, and not pull off all that yummy cheese, spray the foil with nonstick spray before covering the spaghetti.
Tips For The Best Casserole
- To avoid the pasta from becoming mushy, undercook it by a few minutes so it is still firm. Then add to the casserole. It will continue to cook while baking.
- For cheese that melts the best, shred it yourself from a block instead of buy pre-shredded cheese.
- Make your own Italian seasoning with spices like basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sometimes sage, cilantro, and red pepper flakes.
- Don’t like ricotta cheese? Use cream cheese or cottage cheese instead.
- This will be a favorite so make a double batch and freeze one for later!
If you love this recipe as much as I do, pin this to your favorite casserole Pinterest board and share it on your favorite social media channels!
This baked spaghetti casserole is a family favorite because it is pure comfort food. Tender noodles, meaty sauce, and tons of cheese make this an easy weeknight meal everyone will want seconds of.
Baked Spaghetti Casserole
Ingredients
Spaghetti Sauce
- 2 pounds ground beef lean is best
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 28 ounces tomato sauce
- 28 ounces diced tomatoes
Ricotta Filling
- 24 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 1 large egg room temperature
- salt and pepper to taste
Additional Ingredients
- 1 pound spaghetti noodles
- 2 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Prepare the spaghetti sauce
- In a large, deep skillet or pot, brown the ground beef, onion, and bell pepper until the beef is no longer pink and the onion and bell pepper are starting to soften.
- Add the garlic, spices, diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and let reduce in volume while you cook the spaghetti.
- Cook the spaghetti
- In a large pot, bring 6 quarts of water to a boil.
- Add some salt and the spaghetti noodles.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta noodles are al dente (roughly 9-11 minutes or according to package directions).
- Drain and place in a large bowl.
- Prepare the ricotta filling
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and egg.
- Mix to thoroughly combine.
- Assemble the spaghetti casserole
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Add the spaghetti sauce to the pasta noodles, reserving 2 cups.
- Toss to combine the noodles and sauce.
- In a deep dish 9 x 13 baking dish, pour the 1 cup reserved sauce and spread around, covering the bottom of the dish.
- Add 1/3 of the spaghetti and sauce mixture, spreading it into a single, even layer.
- Add 1/2 the ricotta mixture over the noodles spreading to the edges.
- Top with another 1/3 of the spaghetti and sauce mixture.
- Add the remaining ricotta mixture and spread out.
- Top with the remaining spaghetti and sauce mixture and cup of sauce.
- Cover the casserole with the shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until the casserole is bubbly and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
Notes
- To avoid the pasta from becoming mushy, undercook it by a few minutes so it is still firm. Then add to the casserole. It will continue to cook while baking.
- For cheese that melts the best, shred it yourself from a block.
- Make your own Italian seasoning with spices like basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sometimes sage, cilantro, and red pepper flakes.
- Don’t like ricotta cheese? Use cream cheese or cottage cheese.
- This will be a favorite so make a double batch and freeze one for later.
- Spray the bottom of your casserole with a cooking oil spray like avocado or olive oil.
Nutrition
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Love, love, love Baked Spaghetti! So delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
This sounds like the perfect casserole for dinner tonight.
This is the Best Spaghetti casserole. Adding to my dinner menu rotation, .
Absolute perfection! There was nothing left in the dish when dinner was done!
New family favorite, we’re loving these flavors