When I’m ready to impress some folks, I make this baked spaghetti in a hot second. I love using my homemade spaghetti sauce (that thing is meaty y’all), then I layer in pasta, a creamy filling, and plenty of cheese. This is Italian comfort food done the Southern way boos, so I don’t hold back on the cheese! Serve it for a potluck, game day, or Sunday supper. But don’t serve it too much because your guests will never leave.
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How to Make Baked Spaghetti
These step-by-step photos show how to make easy baked spaghetti, but be sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and detailed instructions. Skip to the → Best Baked Spaghetti Recipe
1. Cook the ground beef, Italian sausage, onion, green pepper, salt, and pepper in olive oil until browned
Add the garlic and cook briefly.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and finish your homemade meat and tomato spaghetti sauce
Let the sauce simmer until thickened.
3. Combine ricotta cheese, egg, basil, parmesan cheese, and salt
Mix until smooth and creamy.
4. Combine the spaghetti with the sauce and start the layers
Cook the spaghetti and drain. Toss the noodles with some of the sauce, then spread about one-third of the spaghetti and sauce into the baking dish.
5. Spread half of the ricotta mixture over the spaghetti
Sprinkle generously with mozzarella cheese.
6. Finish layering and bake your Southern baked spaghetti
Repeat the layers, finishing with the remaining spaghetti and sauce and topping with more cheese. Bake until the cheese is bubbly and golden. Let rest briefly, sprinkle with parsley, and serve.
PRO TIP: Don’t rinse the spaghetti after cooking, boos. The starch left on the noodles helps the sauce cling to the pasta and even thickens the casserole as it bakes.
Recipe Video
Full Baked Spaghetti Recipe
Baked Spaghetti Recipe
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Ingredients
For the Spaghetti Sauce
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
- 1 lb Italian sausage
- 1 cup chopped onions
- ½ cup chopped green peppers
- Seasoned salt to taste
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 42 oz crushed tomatoes
- 29 oz tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp red wine
- ¼ cup chicken stock
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tbsp + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ⅛ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
For the Ricotta Filling
- 15 oz ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ tsp basil chopped
- ¼ cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
- ½ tsp salt
For the Remaining Ingredients
- 16 ounces spaghetti
- 3-4 cups mozzarella or Italian blend shredded cheese
- Parsley for garnish
Instructions
For the Spaghetti Sauce
- Add olive oil to large pot over medium high heat on stove.
- Add ground beef, Italian sausage, onion, green pepper and salt and pepper. Brown until cooked.
- Next add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Then add in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, red wine, chicken stock, Italian seasoning, sugar, and red pepper flakes. Continue to simmer until sauce has thickened about 30-40 minutes.
For the Ricotta Filling
- Combine ricotta cheese, egg, basil, parmesan cheese and salt in a large bowl and mix until combined.
- Set aside.
For the Spaghetti Pasta
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil then add spaghetti and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Don't cook all the way. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water. Add sauce to spaghetti and toss to combine then set sauced spaghetti aside.
- Preheat oven to 375.
For Assembly
- Begin layering by adding ⅓ of sauced spaghetti to bottom of the 9×13 deep baking dish.
- Next spread with half of ricotta filling then top with a large amount of mozzarella cheese..
- Repeat steps with layering of spaghetti then the remaining half of ricotta cheese and mozzarella.
- Finally add final layer of spaghetti then top with shredded cheese.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown and cheese is bubbly and delicious. Cool for 10-15 minutes, sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Video
Notes
How to Store
- Fridge: Let the baked spaghetti cool to room temp first, boos. Then transfer it to an airtight container or cover the casserole dish tightly and pop it in the fridge. It will keep for about 3-4 days.
- Freezer: You can freeze it before or after baking. Wrap the dish tightly in plastic wrap, then foil, and label it with the date. It will keep well for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Warm a single portion in the microwave until hot. If you’re reheating the whole casserole, cover it with foil and bake at 350°F for 15-25 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Use homemade sauce. I know that making your own sauce can be a pain, but I promise it’s worth it y’all. Jarred sauces tend to be heavy on sugar, salt, and artificial meat flavorings that just don’t compare to the real thing.
- Cook the spaghetti al dente. Don’t let it get too soft in the pot because it will keep cooking in the oven. If it’s overcooked now, it will turn mushy later.
- Use a deep baking dish. A deeper pan lets you stack those layers of pasta, creamy filling, and cheese without everything spilling over.
- Grate your cheese fresh. Pre-shredded cheese doesn’t melt the same. And don’t grab canned parmesan cheese off the shelves either! You will want freshly grated or shredded parmesan cheese from a block.
- Let your baked spaghetti casserole rest before serving. All it takes is 10 minutes, boos. Makes it easier to serve up.
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Serving Ideas
- With Salad: This Caesar salad or harvest salad are perfect pairs.
- Get Bready: Get you a filling bread like these garlic cheese breadsticks or this delish garlic bread on deck.
- Veggies Galore: Keep it low key with garlic green beans, glazed carrots, or double down on creamy vibes with creamed spinach.
Recipe Help
For sure boos! You can prep each of the ingredients in advance but I recommend assembling the day you want to bake it. Cooked noodles will soak up liquid from the sauce if it sits in it too long making the dish mushy.
More Italian-Inspired Recipes
- Shrimp Scampi Pasta
- Cheese Manicotti
- Italian Pot Roast with Bolognese Sauce
- Homemade Pizza Sauce
- Chicken Alfredo Casserole
- White Lasagna Soup
- Baked Ziti
- Lasagna
This post was originally published in September 2019. It has been updated with some new images and content.
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She has the best recipes.
Thanks, boo!
I prepared this dish, which I found to be quite satisfactory. In retrospect, I wish I had doubled the amount of ricotta filling, as I have noted that others have suggested. I have consistently enjoyed all of the recipes I have tried; for instance, I also made fried zucchini in the air fryer to accompany this meal. My family consumed all of the spaghetti, and I believe that an additional quantity of red peppers could have enhanced the dish by providing a bit more spice.
Delisious
Recipe is good. I will make again but next time will likely double ricotta cheese mixture. I felt it needed more of this.
Glad you liked it!
I love the recipe, but have a few comments. I had a lot of leftover sauce so next time I will cook 1 1/2 lbs spaghetti instead of just 1 lb …. I really feel the 1 1/2 lbs would be a lot better. I also liked the addition of the Ricotta cheese, but I would double all the “ricotta ingredients). You could also add another 1/2 lb of meat. I would also increase the peppers to 3/4 cup. It feeds 8 people with some Garlic Bread. It’s sort of like lasagna with spaghetti. Delicious. Everybody loved the flavors.
Love these suggestions! Thanks for sharing, Carol!
I have made this dish many times and freeze the leftovers. Also, have frozen the unbaked version. When my sons were in college I would divide the casserole, cooked leftovers and uncooked as well, into two servings containers and give to them to take back with them in a cooler.
Looks yummy & can’t wait to make it. Question: you recommend not freezing left overs but what about dividing into 2 different pans & freezing one uncooked? Assume need extra cook time for frozen one.
fun dish, thank you, and another new one for me, a nice change to my traditional spaghetti recipe, love all of the extra ingredients, compared with my recipe, that are literally baked in!