This easy baked spaghetti is a good and easy pasta recipe with simple ingredients! We make it with homemade sauce, but you can use your favorite instead. The sauce is made with tomatoes, tomato sauce and a few spices along with onion. Easy and delicious!
We like to make our baked spaghetti with sausage, but you can use ground beef or even leave the meat out if you prefer. Nothing says you have to use it!
The amount of sauce is just enough to give flavor and moisture without taking away the flavors of everything else. Your pasta will not be drowning in sauce tho. If you prefer a lot of sauce, you can have some at the table when serving. Do not add extra sauce to the dish before baking.
Other great dishes with pasta
Yes! You can prep it the day before and put it in the fridge before baking. Please note that you will need a longer cooking time. I would add about 10-15 minutes with it covered to the bake time if you if you make it ahead.
Also you will need to take it out of the fridge for a bit before baking if you have it in a glass baking dish. Glass can crack going from the cold fridge right to the hot oven.
You can always prepare this easy baked spaghetti recipe in a disposable baking dish as well which can go from fridge to oven. We do not use them often, but I always have them on hand.
Yes it can! I recommend using freezer safe containers and be sure to portion it in amounts you will use at once. It should not be refrozen once thawed.
To heat - it is best to thaw in the fridge first. Then you can microwave as you would other leftovers or you can heat it in the oven at 350 degrees until heated through.
We like to make garlic bread with ours and sometimes we make Nagi's Cheese and Garlic Crack Bread. Plain Italian bread is always a great option as well.
A garden salad goes well with spaghetti, baked or not. It is always a great side choice to go with most meals!
Yes you do. There is not enough room in the dish to add the amount of liquid needed to cook the pasta in the oven. And the pasta is likely to turn out with clumps and spots not fully cooked if you do not precook the noodles.
If using homemade pasta, I would still cook it until almost done as well (probably about 2 minutes.) We love homemade pasta but have not made easy baked spaghetti with it yet.
The Best Baked Spaghetti
Equipment
- casserole dish
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti
- 1 lb sausage optional, see notes
- 4 TBSP butter unsalted
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1½ cup cottage cheese small curd
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
- 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese or more for extra cheesy
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
Homemade sauce
- 3 TBSP olive oil enough to coat the pan
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 14.5 oz diced tomatoes no salt added
- 15 oz tomato sauce
- 1 tsp basil
- ¼ tsp oregano
- ½ tsp parsley
- 1 tsp salt see notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F
- Prepare the pasta as per directions on the box. Cook to al dente, not too soft. Drain, rinse slightly and set aside for about 5-10 minutes.
- Cook the sausage while pasta water is coming to a boil. Drain and set aside to add to the sauce.
Making the sauce (prep while waiting for pasta)
- Heat the oil over medium heat and add in the onions. Cook for about 4 minutes before adding the garlic. Cook for another minute
- Add in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, oregano, parsley, and salt. Add in the cooked sausage and cook for about 10-15 minutes.
Assembling and baking
- Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly.
- In a large bowl mix together the garlic powder, cottage cheese, eggs and parmesan cheese. Slowly pour in the slightly cooled butter and mix well.
- Add the pasta into the bowl and mix well to coat it all.
- In a 13x9 baking dish, spread half of the pasta mix in the bottom of the dish.Add half of the sauce with sausage and sprinkle with half of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layer.
- Loosely cover with foil - try to keep the foil off the cheese or the cheese will stick to it. Bake covered at 375° F for 25 minutes.Remove foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes.
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