You might be asking yourself, “Why on earth would I bake spaghetti??” Well, the same reason you’d want to bake ziti or any other pasta casserole. Baking spaghetti in the oven lets the spaghetti soak up flavor from the sauce and when you add in a layer of gooey melted cheese, you get an absolutely delicious and comforting casserole. It’s worth the extra 30 minutes. Promise.
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What’s in Baked Spaghetti
This super simple baked spaghetti casserole has three main components: spaghetti (of course), meat sauce, and cheese. What more do you really need?
I made a really easy homemade meat sauce for this casserole, but if you’re short on time you can absolutely substitute a jar of store-bought pasta sauce. And if you want more meat in your meat sauce and have room in your budget, you can double up on the sausage and use a whole pound.
Can You Sub Ground Beef?
If you prefer ground beef in your meat sauce as opposed to Italian sausage, just make sure to double up on the herbs and spices that you add to the sauce. Italian sausage is packed with a lot of spices that bring tons of flavor to the sauce, so you’ll be missing that if you substitute it with plain ground beef.
What Else Can I Add?
There is so much room for customization with this recipe. You could add sautéed mushrooms, chopped spinach, olives, or maybe even some sautéed zucchini to add extra vegetables.
If you want to make it extra cheesy, try adding in some crumbled feta or maybe extra mozzarella to the cheese layer. I wanted to keep mine budget-friendly, so I went kind of light on the cheese and sausage this time around.
How to Store Baked Spaghetti
After baking, slice the baked spaghetti into six servings and refrigerate. The spaghetti will stay good in the fridge for about 4-5 days, or, once fully chilled, you can package up individual slices and freeze them for longer storage. This dish is so perfect for meal prepping. It’s such a lifesaver to be able to pull a serving of this out of the back of the freezer on a busy night!
What to Serve with Baked Spaghetti
Homemade Garlic Bread is awesome with baked spaghetti, but if you want some vegetables on the side I would go with something like Oven Roasted Frozen Broccoli or a simple side salad.
Baked Spaghetti with Sausage
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.42)
- 3 cloves garlic ($0.24)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1/2 lb. Italian Sausage ($3.00)
- 3 oz. tomato paste ($0.45)
- 1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes ($0.85)
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/2 cup water ($0.00)
- 12 oz. spaghetti ($1.00)
- 1 cup small curd cottage cheese ($0.93)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.50)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella ($1.25)
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley (optional garnish) ($0.05)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
- Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium. Add the Italian sausage and cook until browned.
- Add the chopped onion and minced garlic to the skillet and continue to stir and cook until the onions are soft and translucent.
- Add the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, and water. Stir to combine, then allow the sauce to come up to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the sauce simmer while you cook the pasta.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add ½ Tbsp salt to a large pot of water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add the spaghetti and continue to boil until the pasta is tender, but not fully cooked. Drain the pasta in a colander.
- Add the drained pasta to the sauce and stir to combine.
- Combine the cottage cheese, Parmesan, and pepper in a bowl.
- Lightly grease an 8×11" casserole dish. Layer in half of the spaghetti and sauce, then top with the cottage cheese mixture. Add the second half of the spaghetti and sauce, then top with the shredded mozzarella.
- Cover the dish with foil then bake the spaghetti for 30 minutes. Top the spaghetti with chopped parsley, if desired. Slice into six pieces, then serve!
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Nutrition
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How to Make Baked Spaghetti – Step By Step Photos
Dice one yellow onion and mince four cloves of garlic.
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium. Once hot, add ½ lb. Italian sausage and cook until browned.
Add the diced onion and minced garlic, and continue to cook and stir for a few more minutes, or until the onions are soft and translucent.
Add one 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes, 3oz. tomato paste, ½ tsp Italian seasoning, ½ tsp salt, and ½ cup water to the skillet.
Stir the sauce until everything is well combined and then let the sauce simmer while you make the pasta. Also, begin to preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Add 1/2 Tbsp salt to a large pot of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add 12 ounces of spaghetti and continue to boil until it is just barely undercooked (it will cook more as it bakes). Drain the spaghetti in a colander.
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheese layer. Stir together 1 cup small curd cottage cheese, ¼ cup grated Parmesan, and ¼ tsp pepper.
Stir the drained spaghetti into the simmered meat sauce.
Lightly grease one 8×11-inch (or 2 liter) casserole dish. Layer in half of the spaghetti and meat sauce, then top with the cheese mixture.
Add the second half of the spaghetti and meat sauce, then top with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella.
Cover the casserole dish with foil then bake in the preheated 350ºF oven for 30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly around the edges.
Let the pasta cool for about 5 minutes, then slice into six pieces and serve. You can top with chopped parsley garnish for visual effect, but it’s not needed for flavor.
I absolutely love making this as it appears to be The best of both worlds: spaghetti and lasagna!
Hi! I have been making the original recipe with Feta cheese for years. Can you send me the original one?
Thank you!
Just emailed it to you! :)
This recipe is good. I have made it several times,but the old one was one of my favorites. Is there a way for me to get the original version?
Just emailed it to you! :)
Can I get the original verson as well?
Just emailed it to you! :)
Hi! Can this be frozen?
Definitely!
Delicious!! I used minced beef (couldn’t find italian sausage in the UK) and upped the seasoning as suggested. It’s basically my go-to spag bol with added cheese, so I’m very happy. Recipe was perfect but I added a bit more mozzarella because I couldn’t resist!
I made this for our youth group. It was loved by all! Thank you very much for sharing this great recipe! God bless you.
This is a family favorite. I usually simplify and use jarred sauce and leave out the meat – still seems to be plenty of flavor and protein. My young kids gobble it right up!
Hello
What is small curd cottage cheese I see many US recipes calling for this but not sure
I can buy it in Canada
Thanks
It just has a slightly smaller curd than large curd cottage cheese. It’s possible that cottage cheese in Canada just comes with one size curd, but check the front of the package to see if it specifies.
I have made this so many times now and in different ways. It’s a family hit. If I don’t have any sausage or even ground beef available I have used just a jar of meat sauce or added in meatballs to it. I use just a jar of pasta sauce and it has worked well. My autistic son will happily eat this kind of spaghetti because it’s not as messy and easier for him to eat. 👏
I doubled this recipe and served to dinner guests last week. I followed the recipe as written but doubled the Italian sausage. The results were fantastic and it was enjoyed by everyone. It was a familiar dish, but the baked part made it seem a little fancier. I’ve enjoyed the leftovers too.
I added a layer of spinach in between and replaced sausage with white beans and it was delicious!
The ingredient amounts ended up being strangely off for me. I had much less sauce and cheese mixture than the photos show (I weighed my ingredients, so not sure why the discrepancy). The spaghetti still cooked fine, though, and I liked the flavor overall. Will try doubling the cheese mix next time, and maybe use a jarred sauce to make it even simpler. Thanks for the recipe!
Where’s the old recipe? I bought the ingredients last week to make this and now discover a totally different recipe, needing cottage cheese instead of feta for example. Now I’m not sure what to do. This should have been posted as a different recipe; the original baked spaghetti recipe was my go-to dinner. I guess I should have printed it out.
Hi Caitlin, I’d be happy to email you a copy of the old recipe. Is the email that you registered with the best one to use? XOXO -Monti
Monti,
I too would like a copy, thank you
Sure thing Just tell me the best email to send it to. XOXO -Monti
May I get one as well? This recipe sounds amazing but, I would really love to try both.
Sure! Is the email associated with your comment the best one to send it to? If not, you can respond with a better one, or email support@budgetbytes.com directly and ask for the recipe (and any other older recipes that we may have removed/updated on the site). ~ Marion :)
You’ll definitely have time shop around for those prices now. Still a 10/10 , rockin’ easy meal! Thank you 😊
Baked Spaghetti Con Queso
Been making this for years.
No meat.
1 can of spicy pasta sauce.
Shredded zucchini and shredded carrot
250 g spaghetti (break in half) and boil for 7 min
some pasta water
mixed all together in 9″ sqare pan and topped with grated Jack or Mozzerella cheese
I sprinkle chopped green onions on top of cheese and bake at 350 F about 30 min.
My vegtarian frends love it too.
Very budget friendly and makes 6 servings.
Gotta say my version is a lot cheaper than yours and it is still delicious,
Hi Beth, could I please also know if it’s an equal swap between the amount of feta and cottage cheese in the recipe? I’m dairy free and have a feta substitute but not one for cottage cheese. Thank you!
Yes, It’s a 1 to 1 substitute. Though it doesn’t melt as well. XOXO -Monti
Am saving this recipe to make later, so I can’t rate it. I wonder if cooking the pasta could be skipped, especially if using thin spaghetti?
As we haven’t tested i, we can’t say for sure. But if you experiment, let us know the results! XOXO -Monti
Absolutely Fantastico!!!
Hi Beth. For the original recipe including feta, is everything the same except replace the cottage cheese with the same amount of feta? If not, can you include a link to the original recipe? Thanks.
HI Susan, we can send you the old recipe. Is the email you registered with still a good email for you? xoxo Monti
Hey, Beth. Is there a way to access the original recipe – the one w/ feta and w/o cottage cheese? Thanks!
Hi Laura- is your email address still the same as the one you registered with? If so, I can email you a copy. XOXO -Monti
Yes, please email a copy. Thanks!
Done! XOXO -Monti
Love this layered cheesy casserole! Baked spagetti has been a treat at our house for years as a way to use up leftover spagetti and meat sauce–mixing up the leftovers (or planned overs), plopping in a greased pan or casserole dish and covering with grated cheese and baking until the cheese is lightly browned and bubbly. I think layering the pasta with cottage cheese or ricotta is brilliant!
I didn’t see Feta in the recipe, but it was mentioned in the comments. I enjoyed wonderful pasta and pizza dishes in Greece that included it, so adding here would definitely create a hint of Greece in the dish–as would using just oregano instead of mixed Italian herbs. Folks looking for a sub can always use Mexican queso fresco which has a very short life time. Putting it into anything else is a way to salvage a delicious crumbly and salty cheese that can go off in only a few days after opening.
This is so good! I was a little hesitant about the feta but it adds such a great flavor. I served it with a side salad and breadsticks, yum!
What can replace Feta cheese with?
I guess it depends on why you need to replace it. Are you dairy-free? Just don’t like feta? Is there something particular about feta’s flavor that you don’t like (so I know whether to suggest something similar in flavor or different in flavor)?
This was a totally yummy recipe!
I found this in the recipe index to use up some feta. I only had two hot sausage links, so I added a half lb of ground beef with some extra Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. SO GOOD. My only suggestion is to use a bigger dish, this barely fit in my 8×11.
This was great I like the fact that it broken down far as how much is going to cost parag redient how many servings also specified pictures this was great and I would also use it again thanks so much!
Would like to make to take camping. How long in micro to reheat and at what power?
one of my favorite dishes growing up was baked spaghetti… My mom did it with pork chops on top of the spaghetti.. I can’t wait to try your version (but with GF pasta – cause I have to )
Thank you for sharing this – every time I talk about baked spaghetti people look at me like I’m nuts!
LOVE LOVE this recipe! I used 2 cans of petite diced tomatoes, and wondered if I was supposed to drain them? Thanks, keep the great recipes coming (btw, my 3 20-something kids are also making your easy, delicious recipes)!
I did not drain mine, but I think I used crushed, which is much closer to a sauce (you wouldn’t be able to drain the juice out from the pulp).
This sounds easy to make I’m going to try it out it will be something different
First, thanks for your site/recipes. I hate to cook, but you inspire me. Love your cookbook too – so much I just bought a another copy to gift.
My substitutions for my sensitive stomach:
-My Italian sausage was lean chicken
-Fresh basil – chopped a few rounds, no clue how much total
-No sugar
-Red wine vinegar – a *tiny* amount to deglaze the pan
-Pumpkin (unsweetened, plain) in place of tomato paste and most of the canned ‘matos, to avoid all the extra citric acid, no clue exactly how much. It’s a great sub for tomato for iffy stomachs!
-4 fresh Roma ‘matoes, diced
-A dash of tamarind sauce to make the pumpkin tart like ‘matos
-A tiny dash of smoked paprika,mostly to darken the ‘mato
-One small can of zucchini and ‘matoes in Italian seasoning
-After a good round of sniffing, a little more garlic powder, onion powder, a dash of Kosher salt, a dash of pepper
-Glace de Poulet Gold (a mega-reduced chicken stock) – maybe a tbs in the sauce, possibly less?
-Whole wheat spaghetti, barley moistened/tossed with olive oil before baking
-Ghee to prep the garlic and onions and grease the pan
-Chihuahua cheese in place of the mozzarella
-I let my sauce simmer for about an hour, give or take
But ya’know, aside from that, I followed the recipe lol.
Hahaha, I LOVE reading variations on the recipes, so thank you for sharing! :D
This was our first recipe to try, and kids adored this dish (spaghetti with sauce was actually devoured… must be the flavors and the cheese, not to mention Sausage!)
So definitely a keeper, we’ll be making this again and possibly freezing it in portion sizes.
He just said, “the ultimate compliment you can pay to the chef is “thirds””. Yay! Made this recipe vegetarian style, using your wonderful suggested addition of 1 Tablespoon of Italian Seasoning, along with adding 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper at the end (to the cheese) and also adding a container of fresh sliced mushrooms and stirring in 1/2 a bag of fresh spinach to the sautee pan (without overcooking either). Truly scrumptious on a wintry Midwest evening. Thank you!
Yummy!!!
I love this recipie!! I’m wanting to make a meal for my sister when she has her baby. Will this work good for a freezer meal? If so, do I put everything together and freeze it before I bake it? Also, how long would I cook it for and at what tempature? Thanks!!
Yes, I would suggest assembling it and then freezing before baking. As far as how long and what temperature to bake, I’m not sure because I’ve never tried it :( I wouldn’t suggest heat any higher than 350, though, because you’ll want to cook it slow to allow the center to heat up without overcooking the outer edges.
Making this tonight.. I was just browsing recipes as I am pretty bored with the traditional spagetti dinner. I will let you know how it turns out. Yours looks delicious.
AMAZING.
I cooked this last night, I have left overs for like half the week and it is amazing.
I did this with a package of veggie crumble instead of the meat, and added a good douse of basil, oregano, and parsley. Good stuff!
I’ve made this a couple of times now and the whole family loves it. Made a couple small changes: I got the onions pretty golden before adding the sausage and made sure to get a nice brown bit of goodness on the bottom of the pan. Then I added about 1/4 cup of wine, cooked that down for a couple of minutes, then went on with the recipe. I left out the sugar since the onion became nice and sweet on it’s own.
i would like to make this but i don’t have the canned tomatoes or paste, would a jar of my favorite pasta sauce work?
Yep, that will work fine. :)
I make a baked spaghetti. Mine is slightly different. I make a sauce using 1 lb or ground round and 1 lb. italian sausage. I cook the pasta and stir the two together. Put 1/3 in the lasagna pan, add ricotta cheese, a layer of pepperoni and repeat. The 3rd and final layer is the remaining 1/3 of the spaghetti, then pepperoni and top with mozzarella cheese.
I tried this recipe a while ago and I absolutely loved it!! Another winner :)
Quick question for you. I’d like to make this again soon, and I also have a container of cream cheese in my fridge that needs to get used up. Do you think it would taste okay if I mixed cream cheese into the sausage/tomato-y sauce before adding the noodles, and then baked as normal? I’d omit the feta and maybe also the mozzarella depending on how cheesy it looks once I’ve stirred it all in.
(By the way, I just got your book and I have about 50 different recipes bookmarked to try. Thanks for all your work!!)
Yes, I think that would be absolutely amazing! You could also try adding little dollops of the cream cheese in the middle layer and it will kind of melt in as it bakes!
If you are using canned tomatoes that require sugar to counter the acidity of the tomatoes try using a diced carrot, it will counter the acidity without sugar and add color to the dish.
Thanks for the idea!
My first time making Italian sausage and this dish was amazing!!!!
Just made this and I used ricotta cheese. It was amazing! Thanks
Update, I made the Italian wonder pot and was afraid stuff would stick to the bottom but it didn’t. I made the sausage spaghetti bake for the poker game and everyone loved it. Sorry for the confusion, I just got the two recipes mixed up.
Omg, Beth this was awesome! Took it to the weekly neighborhood poker game…seven old men and a lady…and they wanted seconds. I did, however, increase the Italian sausage to 1pound and used 16 oz of penne. At certain times I thought it would end up sticking to the bottom because of the extra meat pasta but I just kept stirring it and everything came out fine. This week I will add mushrooms. Maybe. Great recipe! I would give ten stars if I could.
We made this in a 9×13 glass dish (in 2 layers) and with a full pound of italian sausage. It was super sausagy but delicious! I will try ricotta next time in the middle to mix it up… A cheaper (and easier) alternative to lasagna!
I’m not a big fan of feta cheese is there any other cheeses i could swap in? I’m thinking of using cottage cheese with some Italian spices blended in ( I could probably use ricotta but cottage cheese works as the poor college student’s ricotta).
Yes, you could use either ricotta or cottage cheese, although it contains a lot more moisture so the end product won’t be as solid. You can try whisking the cheese with an egg before adding it to the spaghetti to help it solidify as it bakes (a lot of lasagna recipes use that trick).
Made this last night. Doubled the sausage, used a Lb of spaghetti, added an 8oz can of tom sauce with the paste since it was all i had and put it in a 13x9x2 pan and it fit perfectly…delicious!
I made this last and it was delicious! Defiantly making this again!
Yes, I measured out the 12 oz cuz mine came in a 16 oz box, but my boys aren’t complaining!
Wifey – I think the dish that I used might actually be 8×9 (it’s slightly rectangular instead of square). Did you use a full pound of spaghetti? I only used 12 oz. Glad the extras got put to use, though ;D
I’ve had this starred for awhile and finally tried it tonight. It’s in the oven right now. Did you use a 8×8 or a 9×9? I followed the measurements precisely and had a bunch left over that would not fit in the 8×8. Worked out though cuz my toddler wasn’t willing to wait and he’s eating the leftover!
This looks absolutely wonderful. I haven’t made this recipe for such a long time I’ve forgotten how good it tastes. And your recipe is far impressive than what I used to make. Thanks!
I made this tonight and my family loved it. It’s a keeper – many thanks!
I made this tonight and my family loved it. It’s a keeper – many thanks!
The dishes were really looking great and so yummy! Can’t resist to taste it.
I made this the other night and our dinner guests immediately asked for the recipe. I prefer a spaghetti casserole that uses ground beef/turkey and has a more complicated sauce, but this was such an easy meal to put together and a great way to use Italian sausage. thanks!
I made this a few weekends ago for my family. My brother-in-law doesn’t do “spicy,” so I used mild sausage. It turned out great! We were eating the leftovers the rest of the week, and it tasted just as good.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Made this for my boyfriend last week – HUGE hit :) we’re eating the leftovers tonight. Thanks for the great recipes!
Yum, My mother makes this with cream of mushroom soup and black olives and mushrooms. So good!
I made this last night and it was great. Everyone loved it. I was worried about it not being enough so I just used 1lb of sausage. It easily filled a 9×13 dish and came out wonderful.
I find the shape of spaghetti, linguini, fettucini, etc. just doesn’t lend itself well to baked pasta dishes. Love the recipe, but am making it with penne, my go to for any baked pasta dish.
I made this last night and it turned out great! If you can find the cut spaghetti (basically spaghetti cut into little pieces) I would highly recommend it.
Oh how I love love love your blog. This looks delicious. I have similar items in the pantry/fridge right now and this sounds like a winner for dinner tonight.
I can’t even explain the levels of desire I have for this spaghetti right now; they may even hinge on strange. But seriously this looks amazing and I agree, baking pasta takes it to a whole new level and I love how you brought out all the flavors of the Italian Sausage. Yum. :)
Eeek, I have no idea! I think you might just have to test it in the center to see if it’s hot. Since everything is cooked prior to going in, you don’t have to worry so much about anything being raw.
Any guesses on what would be a good cook time if it was frozen before going into the oven?
I never got the idea of baked spaghetti either, but this sounds wonderful. I need to try it with whole wheat spaghetti!
WOW, looks amazing :) Love your blog
My first job as a teenager was at Fazoli’s, and the baked spaghetti is still the only thing I will eat there on the rare occasion that I get a craving. It is ALL about that crazy layer of melted mozzarella. I am definitely going to have to give this one a try as it sounds more flavorful and costs less per serving.
This looks so yummy!
Ashlee – It would work, but you’ll need to add seasoning to the sauce to make up for what was in the Italian sausage. I bet it wlll be just like lasagna! :D
Ooh, how would this work with ground beef instead of sausage and ricotta instead of feta? Just thinking of what I have in the fridge now. Though, it might be worth an extra trip for some Italian turkey sausage…love the flavor.
i made one similar to this for the first time the other day. instead of feta i mixed in ricotta, no meat in the sauce, and mixed in fresh sliced tomato in sauce and on top of cheese. yum!
That has “comfort food” written all over it! I’d probably add sliced mushrooms anyway because I like mushrooms. :D
Meg – Spaghetti squash is an excellent idea! Or you could also try a low carb pasta… although I don’t know how good those are :P
Dreamfields pasta is low carb and it’s delicious! it cooks for the same time as regular pasta and it even tastes better than whole grain pasta!
This looks so yummy! I wonder if using spaghetti squash instead of the pasta would work OK? I’m diabetic, living a low carb lifestyle, but I’m so craving some comfort food!