Cheesy Baked Spaghetti
This Easy and Cheesy Baked Spaghetti is a delicious and filling Italian- inspired spaghetti casserole dish made with tender spaghetti noodles, rich tomato sauce, and plenty of gooey cheese. Perfect for a quick cozy weeknight dinner! This hearty baked spaghetti recipe is sure to become a family favorite
Be sure to check out this Easy and Delicious Lasagna, as well as this Rasta Pasta with Sausage, Shrimp, and Chicken while you are here!
Having the ability to cook for a large family of six is a must in my household. So a good spaghetti bake is in constant rotation. Even more important, being able to cook for my family of six, as well as any additional company we may have!
Why you will love this recipe
Make ahead: Save yourself some time in the kitchen and make this ahead of time. Just add your cooked spaghetti to your sauce, add in the cheese mixture, and bake it when you are ready.
Comfort food: This spaghetti bake is the ultimate comfort dish. There is nothing like a quick and easy plate of pasta for dinner!
Everyday ingredients: Most people keep a box of spaghetti noodles and spaghetti sauce in the pantry! These are the main ingredients that make up this spaghetti mixture for the dish!
What you need to make the Cheesy Baked Spaghetti:
Here are the key ingredients you should gather prior to getting started:
- Meat: you can definitely use Italian sausage instead of ground beef, or use both Italian sausage and beef! Ground turkey is another great substitution.
- Cheese: adding American cheese to the spaghetti sauce helps give you that overall cheesiness that you want. You will also need mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese
- Garlic and onion: these are necessary to add that extra flavor to your marinara sauce.
- Spaghetti noodles: grab your favorite brand of noodles for this baked spaghetti casserole.
- Seasonings: seasoned salt, garlic and onion powder, pepper, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes and sugar (which are optional, keep reading)!
How to make a spaghetti bake
To begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Now boil your spaghetti noodles according to the package directions, and drain them, reserve at least 1 cup of the pasta water et.
Brown your ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain any excess fat and add in your garlic and onion and saute until they are soft, for about 5 minutes.
If you are using ground turkey, be sure to add olive oil to the skillet prior to adding the meat.
Now add your tomato sauce, reserved water, and seasonings, including Italian seasoning. Stir until everything is combined.
Then add in your American cheese directly into the meaty marinara sauce and stir it around until it melts.
Place your noodles in the baking dish and pour your sauce right over the top. Mix it up until everything is fully combined.
Sprinkle your mozzerella cheese over the top. Now you will place a sheet of aluminum foil right over it and place the dish in your 350 degrees oven. Bake the spaghetti for 25 minutes, then remove it.
Sprinkle some fresh basil right over the top, and serve with some garlic bread!
Cheese additions and alternatives
The American cheese is the most delicious to add that scrumptious cheesiness that you want. Instead of American cheese you can add: ricotta cheese, cream cheese, cottage cheese, or even sour cream.
Meat variations:
- Add pepperoni: chop it up and add it to the meat sauce, then layer whole slices of pepperoni on top of the spaghetti before you bake it
- Italian sausage: mix the Italian sausage with the ground beef for an added layer of flavor.
FAQ & Pro Tips
Pro Tips
- Bring your water to a rapid boil prior to adding your spaghetti noodles to ensure they cook evenly.
- Do not overcook the thin spaghetti or noodles because the pasta will continue cooking in the sauce when you bake it in the oven.
- If your sauce is too thick, add an extra can of tomato sauce and be sure to adjust the seasonings to taste.
What is Al Dente Pasta
Al dente pasta is the best way to cook any dry pasta. It is where the pasta still has a “bite” to it. So instead of being super soggy, it is still a bit firm, and has a slight chew to it.
The term al dente means “to the tooth in Italian. One of the main reasons this is important for this dish, is because the cooking process is going to continue when it is mixed with the tomato meat sauce.
How do I cook pasta al dente?
Bring water to a rapid boil, add pasta, cook for 7-10 minutes. After 7-10 minutes, use a strainer to drain the water. Rinse it with cold water to stop the cooking process.
What do I do if my pasta sauce is too thick?
Before draining the water the spaghetti noodles boil in, be sure to reserve at least two cups. This starchy pasta water will help thin out the tomato meat sauce.
What’s the difference between baked spaghetti and lasagna?
Lasagna uses sheets of pasta made into layers in a baking dish, whereas baked spaghetti is thin pasta mixed in with your meat sauce and other ingredients and baked in a dish.
More Pasta Recipes to Try:
Since you love this baked spaghetti, be sure to try these pasta dishes too!
After you try this Baked Spaghetti recipe, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Comment below and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube for more delicious recipes!
Cheesy Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 pound Ground beef
- 1 small Onion, diced
- 1 clove Garlic, minced
- 16 ounces Tomato sauce, or a jar of spaghetti sauce of choice
- 2 cups Water, reserved water that pasta cooked in
- 1 tablespoon Seasoned salt
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tablespoon Garlic powder
- 1/2 tablespoon Onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Red pepper flakes, (optional)
- 1 tablespoon Sugar, (optional)
- 8 ounces Velveeta cheese, cubed
- 3 cups Mozzarella cheese
- 2 cups Italian cheese blend
- 16 ounces Spaghetti noodles
- Enough water to cover and boil spaghetti
- 1 teaspoon Salt, for water to boil pasta
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large stockpot of water to a rapid boil. Put enough water in the stockpot to cover the spaghetti noodles. Add the teaspoon of salt to the water.
- Once the water comes to a rapid boil, slowly add the pasta. Use a large spoon to separate the spaghetti noodles while they cook.
- Reserve two cups of the cooking liquid and set aside. Once the pasta reaches an al dente texture, about 7-8 minutes of cooking (tender, but not soggy), strain the water and rinse the spaghetti with cold water to stop the cooking process; and set aside.
- While the pasta is boiling, in a separate, deep skillet, add the ground beef and cook over medium heat. Use a spoon or spatula to break the ground beef up into small pieces.
- After almost all of the pink is cooked out of the beef, add the onions and garlic. Continue to stir the mixture until all of the pink is cooked out of the ground beef.
- Use a strainer to drain the grease off of the ground beef mixture, (do not rinse the meat). Add the ground beef back to the skillet, and turn heat to low-med.
- Gently pour the tomato sauce into the skillet with the ground beef, and mix well. Add one cup of the reserved pasta water into the skillet and mix it together.
- Sprinkle in all of the seasonings, and sugar (optional), and mix until combined. Next, add the Velveeta cheese and stir until the cheese is melted into the sauce. If it is too thick, slowly add in the remaining one cup of water.
- Spray a deep casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Gently pour the spaghetti sauce into the dish. Next pour the cooked spaghetti noodles into the dish.
- Add half of the mozzarella cheese into the dish with the pasta. Using tongs or a spoon, mix the sauce into the pasta and cheese until combined well.
- Sprinkle the remaining remaining cheeses on over the top of the spaghetti. Add fresh basil or Italian seasoning over the top if desired.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. After the spaghetti bakes for 30 minutes, remove the foil and set the oven to broil.
- Optional: Broil the spaghetti for 2-3 minutes KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON IT SO IT DOES NOT BURN! This step is to brown and crisp up the cheese on top of the spaghetti.
- Remove the spaghetti from the oven and let it set for 5-7 minutes before serving. And enjoy!
So good!
My family asked me to make this again while we were still eating!
Brought back so many memories of when my mother used to make baked spaghetti! It’s so delicious and cheesy! I’ll definitely be making this again.
This made for a splendid weeknight meal! I followed the instructions to the letter and everything came out so perfect!! Thanks so much for this!
Yay! I am so happy you guys enjoyed it!
I LOVE this recipe. It’s not only easy to make, but the cheesiness is unreal!
Thank you! It is our favorite!
the combination of mozzarella with Velveeta made this just so super gooey the way a good pasta casserole should be. Definitely a kid fave for sure!
Yes! Our kids absolutely love this baked spaghetti!
I trusted you and used the Velveeta cheese and WOW! This bakes spaghetti is so good! I made it for meal prep this week and have been enjoying it over the last couple of days! Thanks for the recipe
Yay! I am so glad you enjoyed it!
This spaghetti recipe was so flavorful and my whole family loved it! I also learned a lot, thank you for the detailed article.
I substituted veggie crumbles for the ground beef and was blown away. I honestly could not stop eating it!
I am glad you enjoyed it!
It’s nothing like a bowl of hearty spaghetti, this cheesy recipe was absolutely perfect for a weeknight meal.
Yes! Thank you.
Spaghetti with tomato sauce is my go-to meal when I have a bartending event. I can prep it in advance because it’s so easy to make. For this recipe, I swapped out the ground beef with lean ground turkey and it still came out delicious. So happy I was finally able to make a baked spaghetti dish that I’ve been hearing so much about. Definitely adding this to my meal rotation.
I am so happy to hear that! It is the best food for entertaining!
Great tasting weeknight meal that made it to the plate in record time. Thank you for sharing!
I have a large family, and this spaghetti was perfect for us! It was easy to make and super cheesy.
My kids have asked for it again.