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by Laurie 41 Comments
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Take a look at this delicious Cheesy Baked Spaghetti recipe. It's simple and great to prepare ahead of time. Find out how to make this now!
I can't even begin to tell you how delicious this cheesy baked spaghetti was for dinner tonight!
Here's just a hint: I don't much like spaghetti (at all, really. . . ), but I'm pretty sure I could eat the entire. pan. all. by. my. self. My hubby even proclaimed it “good-enough-to-take-to-a-pot-luck”. (Which apparently means really, really, good at our house.)
Now, if you're on a diet, do yourself a favor and don't even think about making this recipe. (I know – I hate that too, but no matter how solid your will power is you won't be able to stop at one serving ~ you just won't!)
🍴TIP: You can find this recipe in week four of our Freezer Menu Planning Made Easy Set!
If you're making supper for a new mom or someone who's been a bit under the weather, this is just the perfect make-and-take recipe. You can even make it ahead of time (minus theFrench's onions),pop it inthe freezer, and then bake when you're readyto eat. So, try it out and letme know what you think!
Print Recipe
Cheesy Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 8 oz Spaghetti Uncooked
- 1 Pound Ground Beef
- 26.5 oz Spaghetti Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Butter
- 1/2 Cup Green Peppers Chopped, Optional
- 1/3 Cup Onions Chopped
- 8 oz Cream Cheese Softened
- 2 Tbsp Milk
- Parmesan Cheese or Mozzarella Cheese Fresh
- French's Fried Onions Small Can
- Parmesan Cheese Grated
Instructions
Cook spaghetti according to directions on the package. Cook to al dente, drain, and set aside.
Brown Ground Beef, and drain grease. Pour spaghetti sauce into ground beef and heat.
While spaghetti & ground beef are cooking, combine onions, peppers, and butter in microwave safe bowl. Cover and heat on high for four minutes. NOTE: Times may vary - start with 1 or 2 minutes and adjust timing until onions are translucent
Add cream cheese and milk to microwaved onions & pepper mixture and stir (You may need to warm the cream cheese up a few seconds in the microwave to make it easier to mix together)
In a 10 x 6 oval Pyrex dish (or similar size), put a thin layer of the spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the dish
Add the spaghetti noodles then add the cream cheese mixture, and then spaghetti sauce
Sprinkle parmesan cheese (or mozzarella if you prefer) over the top of the casserole
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes
Add Fried Onions and bake and additional five minutes
Garnish with Grated Parmesan
Make this a complete meal with a salad and some garlic bread – YUM!
Find more easy to make recipes for your family!
Comments
Suzanne Williams-McAuliffe saysHow long do you bake it if it’s frozen? Covered or uncovered?
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- Alice -PPP Team says
If frozen, I would cover it and bake for 35 min. Then remove cover and bake an additional 5-10? Hope this helps!
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- Karen says
Oh. My. I made this for the first time this evening. I followed the recipe exactly, and it was SO yummy! Will absolutely make this one again and again! Thank you!
- Laurie says
It is one of our all time favorites Karen ~ I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
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- Teresa says
Thanks for this easy idea! I had everything. There are 7 of us (adults and 2 teen boys), so I stretched this by adding a bag of frozen spinach to the meat sauce. I doubled this into 2- 9×13 pans. Lunch is in the oven!
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- Marie says
Made this last night and it was delicious! My 6 yr old had 2nd’s 🙂 Thank you!
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- Laurie says
Sooooo glad you all enjoyed it Marie ~ thank you for taking the time to let me know!
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- Rachael Randall says
I made this tonight…I microwaved the onions with the butter for 4 minutes like it said…the onions were burnt to a crisp. I did it again and only microwaved it for a minute. Am I the only one that had this problem? Other than that….it was AMAZING!!!! Thank you!!!
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- Laurie says
Oh no Rachael! It may depend on your microwave – the one I used when making this was an older one and it may have taken longer to cook? I’ll update the post though to let people to know to watch that just to be on the safe side. So glad you liked the recipe (it’s definitely a favorite here!)
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- Theresa Seibel Emans says
that could be done easily with this minus the Fried onions on top, and may need to increase cook time 15-20 minutes then put the onions on for the last 5 min. as directed.
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- Michelle Hankton says
will be making this maybe today
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- Debbie Williams says
would there be any reason i couldn't assemble early, stick in the fridge, then in the oven when get home from work?
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- Susan Linville says
Helllllllo……my hubby who hates anything with cream cheese LOVED this and my son said it was deeeeeeelisious!! A lot of times internet recipes are not very good. This is the first recipe of yours I have ever tried and it is very, very good. It would make a great crowd pleaser, too. I used 100% whole wheat speghetti. That is the only change I made.
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- Laurie says
I’m soooooo glad Susan (I would have been so disappointed for you if it hadn’t turned out well!) Thank you so much for letting me know ~ I would never normally think to put cream cheese in a recipe like this but we just loved it too. Thank you so much for letting me know you all enjoyed it!
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- Kara Jones says
Thanks for the recipe! I can't wait to try it!! Plus, I just signed up for the Meal Ministry at church…this will be perfect. 🙂
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- Laurie says
It’s soooooo good Kara – I think you’ll love it! 🙂
- Karin says
So delicious I felt compelled to comment. And for those wondering if you can do it vegetarian- you definitely can! I used 16 oz of white mushrooms (on sale at Publix for 2.69), one whole green pepper, and one whole Vidalia onion. I added about 2 heaping teaspoons of minced garlic and a couple of dashes of crushed red pepper. I thing a good red sauce is always essential so used 1 jar of Bertolli Tomato & Basil (which I have a ton of in my stockpile). Laurie, I am so with you- I could eat the whole pan! Thank you for all you do!
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- Laurie says
Thanks so much for sharing Karin ~ what a great way to make it vegetarian! So glad you all enjoyed it … definitely a favorite here too. 🙂
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- Emily B. says
We have made this quite a few times now and super yum!! The main cost for us is the beef which we buy when it’s $2.99/lb. Thanks for the recipe!
I wish I could “pin it” 😉
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- Kristin says
does anyone know whether this would work with gluten-free pasta?
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- Laurie says
Hi Kristin! I can’t think of any reason that it wouldn’t work with gluten free pasta, however I don’t regularly use GF past so I could be wrong. As long as the pasta can be used in any baked spaghetti recipe, it should be fine!
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- Patricia Francis says
This recipe is delicious! I have made it with gluten free pasta and it turned
out good. I would recommend boiling your pasta for only 4 or 5 minutes before adding it.Reply
- Ali says
Tried this recipe when you first posted it with some tweaks to make it a bit healthier and it was still delicious: used whole wheat spaghetti, ground turkey, low fat cream cheese, and no extra garnish of cheese.
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- Laurie says
Those are great ways to lighten it up Ali! I think I did use low fat cream cheese, I need to try using the whole wheat spaghetti and ground turkey (great ideas ~ thanks so much for sharing!) 🙂
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- angie says
this looks so yummy come see what I shared on my blog was def another family pleaser http://shopannies.blogspot.com/2012/01/savory-chicken-and-veggie-soup.html
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- Molly says
I love trying the recipes you post! This one was a hit at our house. DELICIOUS! I totally understand what you meant about eating the whole pan by yourself. I’m considering hiding the leftovers so my husband can’t take them to work tomorrow. (Not really. But the thought did cross my mind for a split second.) Thank you for sharing!
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- Laurie says
Yayyyy – so glad you liked it Molly! 🙂 (And so glad you enjoy the recipes – I’m working on coming up with new ones for this week right now!)
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- Susan says
I made this without peppers and onions and it was great. Next time I will substitute ricotta cheese for the cream cheese. It may be more expensive, but I think it will definitely taste more Italian. My very Italian husband thought the cream cheese was a travesty.
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- Laurie says
Oh no Susan – I’m so sorry! I definitely think it’s not a real “Italian” dish …. so I can see what you’re saying. We only used the onions, and they made a huge difference too. I do think it would also taste great with ricotta cheese! 🙂
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- Andraliz says
This is very simple to make and looks yummy so far, i just popped it in the oven, will update as soon as dinner is over 🙂
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- Laurie says
Let me know how it goes Andraliz – can’t wait to hear!
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- Jennifer B. says
Another question about the cream cheese . . .
In step 6, is the cream cheese “mixture” the cream cheese mixed with the milk? I didn’t see that you used the milk otherwise and figured that was the only other thing that could be added to the cream cheese.
Separate question: Do you think this would be any good without the meat?
Thanks in advance for your responses. You are so good about answering!!
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- Laurie says
Ughhh – I’m so sorry! I updated it last night but apparently the updates didn’t save in the post. Okay, I just fixed it, but basically after you cook the onions & peppers with the butter, you then add the cream cheese and milk and stir (if your cream cheese isn’t soft enough, you’ll need to let it cook a few seconds in the microwave so that it stirs.)
You could definitely make it meatless, but it might be a little on the runny side? Probably not too bad though, especially if you used a thick, chunky sauce. Hope that helps!
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- darbe says
i would think it would be fine without meat, maybe just add more veggies! i was thinking mushrooms
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- Lauren says
Wait…where does the cream cheese go? In with the peppers, onions, and butter? This sounds AMAZING Laurie…can’t wait to try it!
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- Laurie says
Yes Lauren- thanks for catching that! I just updated it 🙂 Let me know if you try it!
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- Lisa says
I will definitely be trying it soon! Sounds great! I love your receipes! Thanks to you my hubby says I’m not quiet the cook. Its all your site. lol LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!
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- Laurie says
I’m so glad Lisa! This one was definitely a hit – probably one of my all-time favorites. Love that the recipes help you out! 🙂
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