Million Dollar Baked Spaghetti is a layered pasta casserole made with spaghetti, a super creamy cheese mixture, a savory meat sauce, and melted cheese.
Million dollar baked spaghetti is similar to both spaghetti pie and beef lasagna. Is it really worth the million dollar hype? Well, my husband would say, “Yes!” It’s made with a homemade meat sauce and plenty of other goodies that make it a decadent and amazing baked pasta dinner.
Ingredients Needed:
- Pasta: We use spaghetti for this recipe, but you can certainly experiment with using different kinds of pasta. I’d suggest rigatoni, ziti or penne.
- Onion: A sweet onion is perfect. You’ll want to have finely chopped onions.
- Flavor: The flavor boom in this recipe includes garlic, fresh basil, salt and pepper. Some people like to add a bit of Italian seasoning too.
- Ricotta Cheese: You can use whole milk ricotta cheese or skim ricotta cheese. Whole will make the cheesy portion richer! Alternately, you can sub cottage cheese, which will give the cheese layer a creamier consistency.
- Mozzarella Cheese: Buy the ball of mozzarella and shred it yourself. It’s more flavorful than the already shredded mozzarella.
- Cream Cheese: Use full fat cream cheese for a richer cheese layer. You can also use reduced-fat cream cheese. Make sure it’s softened or at room temperature for easier mixing.
- Parmesan Cheese: Buy a wedge and shred it yourself. So much better!
- Sour Cream: Use full fat sour cream or low fat sour cream.
- Marinara Sauce: Use your favorite brand of jarred marinara sauce. Since the sauce will provide a good amount of flavor to your baked spaghetti, you want to be sure that you like the sauce. Just don’t choose one that already has meat in it since you’ll be adding that to the sauce. You can also make your own homemade marinara sauce.
- Ground Beef: I like to use 90% ground beef (drain the fat). I find that it has more flavor that the super lean ground beef. You can also use half beef and half sausage (or all sausage). Use any extra sausage to make a meat lover’s pizza casserole.
- Oil: We use olive oil, but you can certainly use something like avocado oil instead.
How to make Million Dollar Baked Spaghetti (complete recipe in recipe card below):
- Preheat your oven, and spray a smaller baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Cook the pasta in salted water to the al dente state, and drain.
- Cook the beef in a nonstick skillet until browned. Spoon out the fat and discard and remove the meat from the skillet. Heat oil and onion in a skillet. Add the garlic. Then add the cooked beef and sauce.
- In a bowl, stir together the ricotta cheese, cream cheese and sour cream. Add salt and pepper.
- Layer the casserole: some meat sauce on the bottom, half of the spaghetti, more meat sauce, half of the ricotta mixture and half of the mozzarella. Then spaghetti, meat sauce, ricotta and mozzarella. Parmesan cheese goes on top.
- Bake (no need to cover) 25 minutes. Check to make sure not too browned (if so, add foil), then bake about 15 more minutes.
Recipe Tips
- HOT TIP: In some versions that you will see of this recipe, several tablespoons of butter are added to the top of the first layer of the spaghetti. This will definitely make the casserole way more decadent (and add the calories too), but I just couldn’t do it. Feel free to add the butter, if you’d like!
- Make this a vegetarian million dollar spaghetti casserole by leaving out the meat. Add in a few sauteed vegetables like mushrooms and zucchini instead!
- Use ground turkey in place of the ground beef to lighten things up.
- Cook the spaghetti to an “al dente” state so it can continue cooking in the liquid during the baking process.
What to serve with Million Dollar Spaghetti:
Since this is an Italian sort of meal, it will go best with typical Italian side dishes. Try serving with caesar salad, garlic bread or focaccia. You can also choose to serve it all on its own with no sides. It’s perfectly filling enough to stand on its own! Add some Italian tiramisu to serve for dessert.
Make Ahead / Freezing Instructions:
To prep ahead, make everything and cover with plastic wrap. It’s okay to do this early in the day and then bake.
To make ahead and freeze without baking, prep through step 5. Cover with plastic wrap. Then cover tightly with foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in fridge for 24 to 48 hours. Remove foil and plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Then bake as directed in the recipe. It might need a little more baking time since it’s cold.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- It’s a great recipe to make and bring to a friend in need (new baby, surgery, etc).
- It doesn’t make a ridiculous amount (serves about 5). So it’s the perfect recipe for two people or for a smaller family. You can, of course, double the recipe and make two if you need it to feed a crowd!
- It’s a super kid friendly recipe. Everyone loves Million Dollar Baked Spaghetti!
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Preheat the oven to 375℉. Spray a 9×9-inch pan or 11×7-inch casserole dish with nonstick spray.
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Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta in the water, according to package instructions. Drain.
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Cook the beef in a nonstick skillet until browned. Spoon out the fat and discard and remove the meat from the skillet.
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In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until softened (about 5 minutes). Stir in the garlic for 1 minute. Stir in the cooked beef and the marinara sauce. and remove the pan from heat.
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In a medium bowl, use a wooden spoon to combine the ricotta, cream cheese and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper.
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Add some of the meat sauce to the bottom of the prepared baking dish (just enough to cover the bottom of the dish). Add half of the cooked spaghetti to the top of the sauce. Then spread on half of the meat sauce, half of the ricotta mixture and half of the mozzarella cheese. Layer again with spaghetti, meat sauce, ricotta and mozzarella. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top.
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Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes (then check to make sure the cheese isn’t browning too quickly– if so, lightly cover with foil). Bake another 15 to 20 minutes until hot and bubbly.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 671kcal, Carbohydrates: 49g, Protein: 42g, Fat: 34g, Saturated Fat: 17g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 11g, Trans Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 140mg, Sodium: 1426mg, Potassium: 992mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 1452IU, Vitamin C: 12mg, Calcium: 397mg, Iron: 5mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.