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Change up your typical spaghetti dinner with this easy and delicious baked spaghetti. Made with Italian Sausage, marinara sauce and a blend of cheese for amazing flavor and a easy to make meal.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
Comfort Food. Spaghetti is one of my favorite childhood food memories. It was one of my mom’s go to meals when we were growing up. Today’s recipe is a fun twist on my favorite homemade Spaghetti and Meat Sauce. Instead of the usual ground beef, I spice it up with some ground Italian sausage. It is then layered with cheese and baked.
Easy and Delicious. Baked spaghetti casserole is easy, delicious and fun to eat. The process is simple and can easily be done ahead of time and refrigerated to make dinner time easier. It is layered with spaghetti noodles, cheese and meat sauce. This recipe uses small curd cottage cheese which gives it extra protein, but I promise you will never know there is cottage cheese in this dish!
Ingredients Needed
- Spaghetti Noodles
- Italian Sausage or use Ground Hamburger
- Onion, yellow or white
- Marinara Sauce, you can use a jar of sauce or your favorite homemade recipe
- Eggs
- Butter, salted
- Cottage Cheese, small curd. You can also use ricotta cheese if you prefer.
- Mozzarella Cheese, grated
- Parmesan Cheese, grated
- Italian Blend Cheese, grated
- Sugar
- Salt
- Seasoning such as dried basil, dried oregano, dried parsley or use an Italian Seasoning blend.
How to make Baked Spaghetti
- Boil water and cook spaghetti until al dente stage in a large pot. Drain pasta. Follow package directions.
- Cook sausage and onion in a large skillet until meat is browned and onion is soft.
- Stir in spaghetti sauce, seasoned salt, sugar, basil, oregano and parsley into meat mixture. Simmer mixture to allow it to thicken up.
- Mix eggs, Parmesan cheese and melted butter in a bowl. Pour over cooked spaghetti and toss to combine.
- Combine Mozzarella Cheese and Italian Blend Cheese.
- Place half of noodles in bottom of lightly greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
- Top with half of the meat mixture.
- Add half of the cottage cheese and half of the shredded cheese mixture.
- Repeat, layers of spaghetti, sauce, cottage cheese and finish with the remaining cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake for 350 degrees F for 35 minutes.
- Remove aluminum foil and continue to bake until cheese is melted and golden brown. About 20 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh parsley or fresh basil.
Tips
- If making ahead, cover the baked spaghetti with tin foil and store in the fridge until ready to bake.
- If using a jarred sauce, add in the sugar and extra spices. If making a homemade sauce, you can add those additions into your sauce.
Pair This With:
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I use instead of Italian Sausage?
You could use ground hamburger, ground chicken or ground turkey if you prefer.
How long will baked spaghetti last?
After it is baked, it will last for 3-4 days, covered in the refrigerator.
How do you reheat baked spaghetti?
The fastest and easiest way is to reheat it by the slice in the microwave.
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Baked Spaghetti Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb. spaghetti noodles
- 1 lb. mild Italian sausage
- 1 cup onion chopped
- 1 jar 32 oz. of your favorite meatless spaghetti sauce or homemade version
- 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 2 eggs
- 4 Tbsp. butter melted
- 1 cup small curd cottage cheese
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 2 cups Italian blend cheese I used Monterey Jack and Colby, shredded
- 1 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Grease a 9 x 13 pan
- Cook spaghetti in boiling water until al dente.
- In a large pan cook sausage and onion until meat is browned and onion is soft. Drain
- Stir in spaghetti sauce, salt and sugar if you'd like sauce a bit sweeter like I do.. If using a store bought sauce I like to add some extra spice – add in basil, oregano and parsley.
- Mix together eggs, Parmesan cheese and butter in a bowl.
- Mix in spaghetti noodles and stir to coat.
- Place half of noodles in bottom of baking dish
- Top with cottage cheese and half of the other two cheeses.
- Top that with half of meat sauce.
- Repeat layers by adding remaining noodles on top, remaining sauce and then cottage cheese and remaining cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes.
- Remove foil and continue to bake until cheese is melted and golden brown. About 20 minutes
Tips & Notes:
- If making ahead, cover the baked spaghetti with tin foil and store in the fridge until ready to bake.
- If using a jarred sauce, add in the sugar and extra spices. If making a homemade sauce, you can add those additions into your sauce.
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Nutrition Facts:
Tammy says
Making this right now. Sugar is listed but not when to use it. So I add it to the Spaghetti sauce?
Leigh Anne says
Sorry about that – you are right. It was a last minute addition I made because I used sauce from a jar and I like my sauce a bit sweeter. If I were making my own sauce I wouldn’t add it because I already add sugar in. Thanks – I’ll fix the recipe
Tammy A says
I can’t wait to try this! I have the next 5 days off from work so this WILL BE cooked within the next day or two!! Looks wonderful! I’m a new follower so I’ll be seeing what else from your blog I can make! Cooking/baking is my PASSION! Love to try new recipes!!
Leigh Anne says
So glad you found the blog! Enjoy cooking!
Amy Huntley@theidearoom.net says
Can’t wait to try this recipe out on my family! Pinned!
Mike says
I’ve done this but found I like Ricotta cheese better than cottage cheese.
(Happy experiment).
Leigh Anne says
I will have to try it with ricotta next time. Thanks
Diane Harris says
Can the baked spaghetti be prepared ahead and then frozen?
Leigh Anne says
I am sure it would freeze great.