Baked Spaghetti is total comfort food with homemade meat sauce and cheesy goodness. Make it ahead of time and throw it in the oven for the best warm dinner.
As a lover of cooking and food, I treasure having my kids in the kitchen with me. I love teaching them simple cooking skills that I know they will carry with them as they grow. And they learn how to feel confident in the kitchen as I pass down this tradition of sharing love through food.
My Baked Spaghetti recipe is a great recipe to make with kids. It has moving parts and timing, so it is perfect for teaching those skills, while being a relatively uncomplicated recipe.
We had friends over this weekend and I was looking for a simple meal to fix. This baked spaghetti was just the ticket. Simple to make and everyone loved it.
How to Make Baked Spaghetti
Cook the Spaghetti and Ground Beef
Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook your spaghetti noodles. You can find all of my tips for cooking pasta here: How to Cook Pasta. While they are cooking, cook your ground beef with onion and garlic. Break it up as it cooks until you no longer see any pink.
Make the Sauce
Drain the grease from the ground beef and stir in the marinara sauce and seasonings and allow to simmer.
Make the Spaghetti Filling
Drain and rinse the cooked noodles and stir in Parmesan cheese and eggs.
Put it All Together
Layer the ingredients by starting with a little meat sauce, then adding the spaghetti mixture. Add the rest of the sauce and then top with shredded mozzarella.
Bake and Enjoy!
Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Enjoy!
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. To reheat, cover and microwave the portion you plan to eat at half power until warmed through. You can also cover and bake just the portion you want to eat. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
Making Easy Baked Spaghetti Ahead
This is a great recipe to make on a Sunday afternoon, and then wrap and put in the refrigerator until you get home from work Monday evening. Put the dish together as the recipe calls for up to the point of putting it in the oven. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and put in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. When ready to bake, put it in the preheated oven (straight from the refrigerator) for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 20 minutes.
If you would like to make ahead and freeze, it can be stored, tightly wrapped for up to three months in your freezer. Thaw in the refrigerator the overnight before baking.
Pro Tip: Make a Double Batch!
Double all of the ingredients and make it in two casserole dishes. Make one to eat right away, and freeze the second dish. It’s double the dinners without double the work.
Tips and Tricks
- Grate your own cheese. The melty cheese is one of the highlights of this recipe. A block of cheese that you grate yourself will melt a lot better than pre-shredded cheese.
- Make it vegetarian. Swap the meat that you brown at the beginning for vegetables. Good options are carrots, celery, zucchini, and bell peppers. Sauce them in two tablespoons of olive oil before moving on to Step 4.
- Swap the ground beef for ground turkey. Brown the ground turkey in two tablespoons of olive oil.
- Make your own marinara sauce: I love to make my Easy Homemade Marinara Sauce for this recipe. It is also delicious with meatballs.
- Leave out the eggs: If you are cooking for someone who can’t have eggs, you can leave them out of this recipe.
What to Serve with Baked Spaghetti
I love the delicious flavors in this recipe for baked spaghetti. To round it out for dinner, I like adding a vegetable side dish. Here are a few that would go perfectly with this casserole.
If you make this baked spaghetti recipe or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 pound spaghetti (see note 1)
- 1 pound ground beef (I used 80/20)
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 32 ounces marinara sauce homemade or store-bought
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (see note 2)
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 eggs beaten, see note 3
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9 by 13 inch baking dish and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a roaring boil and cook the spaghetti according to package directions, boiling for 2 minutes less than is indicated on the package, drain the noodles, and rinse in room-temperature water. (Continue to Step 3 while the water is coming to a boil.)1 pound spaghetti
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef, onion, and garlic. Break up the beef and cook until just after the beef is no longer pink and the onions are soft. Drain any excess grease and return the skillet to the heat.1 pound ground beef, 1 small yellow onion, 2 cloves garlic
- Stir in the marinara sauce, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer.32 ounces marinara sauce, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- In a large bowl, toss the cooked spaghetti with the beaten eggs and Parmesan cheese.2 eggs, 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- Pour just enough of the meat sauce into the bottom of the pan to coat it. Then add the spaghetti. Pour the remaining meat sauce over the spaghetti and top with mozzarella.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additonal 20 minutes.2 cups mozzarella cheese
Notes
- Because this recipe will be baked, you want to make sure that you don’t overcook your pasta. To be on the safe side, cook it for the shorter length of time suggested on the box. For example, if it says 8 to 10 minutes, drain after 8 minutes of boiling the noodles.
- You can replace the Italian seasoning with 1 teaspoon of basil and 1 teaspoon of oregano.
- You can leave out the eggs in this recipe if you want or need to.
Patricia says
Baked spaghetti is the ONLY way to cook spaghetti and your recipe is great–I’ve never tried it with eggs before–but it adds that special extra taste!! :)
I’m so glad you liked it!
Carol says
I made the baked spaghetti for supper last night and it was so good. I had lettuce with. Will be making again.❤
I’m so glad you liked it!
Julia says
Lisa is a God send for beginners like me. I didn’t have a parent who cooked so I have tried to find easy recipes and this is perfect. It is so delicious and definitely made it into my recipe book
Thank you! This means so much to me!
Ellie says
We loved this recipe, and it is going on our regular rotation! Have made other Baked Spaghetti recipes, but the addition of eggs/parmesan to the spaghetti noodles took this over the top. (Full disclosure — instead of the crushed tomatoes/seasonings, I used a 28 oz jar of Rao’s marinara sauce. Otherwise followed recipe exactly.) It was not dry at all – so I think that as long as you use 28 oz of whatever tomato mixture you choose, you will not have any issues with it being dry.
I’m so happy you liked this, Ellie!
Julie Slominski says
I love your recipes!!!!! Is the spaghetti a crockpot recipe or do you have one for the crockpot? Julie
I’m so glad you are enjoying them! Yes! I do have a recipe for that: Crockpot Spaghetti.
Valerie says
My grand kids absolutely loved this! I made it with chicken instead of hamburger and it turned out great. I can’t wait to make again for our Friday night dinner.
I’m so happy to hear this, Valerie!
Mary Ann says
How long should I bake 2 full casseroles in the same oven? Need to serve 16 at the same time. I’ll assemble and bake right away.
If you have the space in the oven, they should be able to bake at the same time. If anything they will only need five minutes more.
Sarah W says
So I recently made this and it knocked my socks off! I have never made a baked spaghetti before so I didn’t know what to expect. It was an elevated spaghetti in my opinion and my new favorite way to make this dish for the family. I love your homemade sauce but I did sub a large jar of Rao’s marinara and about 8 ounces of tomato sauce. To that, I added additional spices as suggested. It was over the top good! Thank you.
I’m so happy you liked it!
Vicki says
Hi Lisa! I love your comfort food recipes! The baked spaghetti is a favorite. I’m a widow with just myself to feed, but I freeze individual portions in good freezer containers and soon the spaghetti is gone because it’s SO easy to reheat. I change up the sides, sometimes just enjoying a green salad or broccoli. My granddaughter often shares her sourdough with me, which is delicious toasted with garlic butter and eaten alongside your yummy baked spaghetti recipe. Thank you for sharing!
I’m so glad you like this recipe as much as I do! Thank you for following along, Vicki!
Virginia Holladay says
I love easy oven dinners
Me too!