This easy recipe Cheesy Baked Spaghetti with Meat Sauce is a comforting, family-style dish that takes a classic pasta dinner and turns it into a hearty baked casserole. Made with tender spaghetti, a rich meat sauce, and layers of melted cheese, this recipe is perfect for busy weeknights, make ahead meals, or feeding a crowd.
It delivers all the familiar flavors of traditional spaghetti with the added bonus of a golden, bubbly baked top!
If baked pasta dishes are your thing, you'll wan to try my Lasagna Roll Ups with a Creamy White Sauce, Cheesy Italian Baked Ziti or my mom's Calabrese Baked Polenta Style Lasagna for something different!
Visit my recipe box for some more great recipe ideas inspired by Italian tradition!
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I was skeptical at first when making this dish for the first time. Made it for lunch and planned to store leftovers in the fridge for dinner on another night. Welp, that didn't happen because by the time dinner came around that night, it was all gone! My family loved it and I'm confident that yours will too.
Here's Why You'll Love this Dish
You and your family will love this cheesy baked spaghetti pasta dish because:
- it's hearty and satisfying comfort food
- easy recipe to prepare and bake
- perfect for make-ahead and leftovers
- family-friendly, freezer-friendly and a dish that your kids will love
- uses simple, everyday ingredients
- you can use leftover spaghetti to make baked spaghetti
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Tomato Sauce - a Personal Approach
Tomato sauce is one of the most personal and adaptable components of Italian-style cooking, shaped as much by tradition as by individual taste. At its core, if often begins with simple ingredients such as tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and herbs, yet the method and proportions can vary widely.
some cooks prefer a slow-simmered sauce that develops deep, concentrated flavor over several hours, while others favor a quicker preparation that highlights the freshness and acidity of the tomatoes.
Choices such as using canned versus fresh tomatoes, adding onion and deciding when to season all influence the final result.
Sometime the availability of herbs or spices, having to trade off fresh herbs like parsley, garlic for dried garlic powder or garlic salt can influence the taste as well.
For example, our family never used Italian seasoning or dried oregano in our tomato sauce only fresh basil leaves. Sometimes, if fresh basil wasn't available we used frozen or dried basil.
In fact, there are times when if the tomatoes are too acidic, we added a pinch of sugar to eliminated that acidic taste.
These differences are not rules but reflections of experience, memory and preference, which is why tomato sauce often feels less like a recipe and more like a signature passed down and refined over time.
Ingredients
This baked spaghetti dish comes together with olive oil, garlic, onion, ground beef, tomato past, tomato passata, basil, Italian sausage, spaghetti, fresh mozzarella cheese, pecorino Romano cheese and salt and pepper.
For exact measurement details and directions see recipe card...
How to Make a Cheesy Baked Spaghetti
Remember to cook your sausage ahead of time. For the spaghetti sauce, heat up olive oil in a large skillet and cook garlic until fragrant. Add onion and sauté until transparent.
Add ground beef and season with salt and pepper and sauté until cooked. Add tomato paste and mix until well combined.
Add tomato passata and basil, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for about 25 minutes.
Cook spaghetti as per manufacturer's instructions, remember to add salt to the pasta water. Remove from water al dente - do not cook all the way through!
Preheat oven to 350℉.
Prepare a baking dish with 1 cup of the pasta water and a few scoops of sauce and spread over the bottom of the dish.
Once the spaghetti noodles are cooked, use a spaghetti spoon or drain the water and place it in a large bowl. Reserve a little bit of the pasta water in just in case.
Add the mozzarella, the sliced sausage and the Romano cheese to the bowl and mix together with the warm spaghetti. The mozzarella will help the spaghetti stick together.
Transfer the mixed pasta in to the baking dish.
Sprinkle more shredded mozzarella on top and bake covered for about 30 minutes. If you want the top to get a little crispy, uncover for the last 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Storage:
Store any leftover baked spaghetti in an airtight container refrigerated for 3 to 4 days.
You can also freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight if possible.
To re-heat, warm in microwave with a little extra sauce.
The best re-heating option for leftover spaghetti is to fry it in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil over medium-high heat.
Top Tips
Cook spaghetti just to al dente so it doesn't become mushy when baked
Let the baked spaghetti rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Use a thick meat sauce to prevent a watery casserole
Cover with foil for the first part of baking, then uncover to brown the cheese.
Season the sauce well because baking can mellow the flavors.
Reserve some pasta water in case your sauce is too thick.
Substitutions and Variations
Get creative with substitutions and variations in this recipe by using:
- Cheese - include other types of cheese like cream cheese or ricotta or a béchamel sauce
- Eggs - add chopped boiled eggs
- Tomatoes - add fresh diced tomatoes to your meat sauce
- Spicy - add hot Italian sausage or add red pepper flakes or chili oil
- Vegetables - add vegetables like mushrooms, broccoli, zucchini or spinach
- Meat - use ground chicken or ground turkey instead of ground beef for your tomato sauce
The perfect recipe isn't that far away. I'd love to know how you substituted ingredients to fit your dietary needs. Drop a comment below and let me know!
Answers to Commonly Asked Questions
Yes, assemble it ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to bake.
It likely needs more sauce because the spaghetti will absorb liquid as it bakes.
For baked spaghetti, use shredded mozzarella and pecorino roman cheese. You can also add cream cheese or ricotta to make it more cheesy.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe Details
Baked Spaghetti
https://easyhomemaderecipes.caIngredients
Meat Sauce
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 small onion
- 17 oz ground beef
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 24 oz tomato passata
- 3 leaves fresh basil or dried basil
Instructions
Pasta Sauce
- Heat up olive oil in a large skillet and cook garlic until fragrant. Add onion and sauté until transparent.3 tbsp olive oil, 1 clove garlic, 1 small onion
- Add ground beef and season with salt and pepper and sauté until cooked. Add tomato paste and mix until well combined.17 oz ground beef, 2 tbsp tomato paste, salt and pepper
- Add tomato passata and basil, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for about 25 minutes.24 oz tomato passata, 3 leaves fresh basil
Spaghetti
- For the sausage, I usually remove the casing when it's partially frozen, slice it and pop it in the toaster oven for about 10 minutes at 350℉4½ oz Italian sausage
- Cook spaghetti as per manufacturer's instructions, remember to add salt to the pasta water. Remove from water al dente - do not cook all the way through!14 oz spaghetti, ½ tsp salt
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Prepare a baking dish with 1 cup of the pasta water and a few scoops of sauce and spread over the bottom of the dish.
- Once the spaghetti is cooked, use a spaghetti spoon or drain the water and place it in a large bowl. Reserve a little bit of the pasta water in just in case.
- Add the mozzarella, the sliced sausage and the Romano cheese to the bowl and mix together with the warm spaghetti. The mozzarella will help the spaghetti stick together. Transfer all of the mixed pasta to the baking dish. Sprinkle more shredded mozzarella on top.1 cup mozzarella, ½ cup pecorino Romano
- Bake covered for about 30 minutes. If you want the top to get a little crispy, uncover for the last 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
Top Tips
Cook spaghetti just to al dente so it doesn't become mushy when baked Let the baked spaghetti rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Use a thick meat sauce to prevent a watery casserole Cover with foil for the first part of baking, then uncover to brown the cheese. Season the sauce well because baking can mellow the flavors. Reserve some pasta water in case your sauce is too thick.Nutrition
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Food Safety
Note that the storage guidelines provided on this page and site are estimates from personal experiences. We are all adults and as an adult you are responsible to ensure that the food you eat is safe to eat. Since, I'm not a food safety expert, you are responsible to review your local guidelines on food storage prior to storing any food left-overs.
Remember to:
- Not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
For Canadian Guidelines check the Government of Canada Food Safety Guidelines or see more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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