Million Dollar Baked Spaghetti
Here’s how to make the best spaghetti casserole, ever!
As every busy mom knows, spaghetti is super handy when you need a quick and easy dinner. It cooks up in 20 minutes flat, and basically everyone likes it, even if they don’t get excited about it.
The thing is, when you use spaghetti this way all the time, you start to think of it as just a quick and easy dinner. And it can be so much more than that.
How, you ask? Well, picture your basic spaghetti smothered in red sauce. Then imagine layering it in a dish with an ultra-creamy cheese sauce made from cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, mozzarella, and parmesan, plus a touch of parsley.
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Sounds pretty good, right? But we’re just getting started. Because after layering the spaghetti and the cheese mixture in a pan, we’re going to top it with a hearty meat sauce containing both ground beef and Italian sausage, cooked with onion, garlic, parsley, oregano, and basil.
Okay, now this sounds really good. But we’re still not done! We’re going to top all that with even more mozzarella, and then bake it until all those flavors blend together.
No, this Million Dollar Baked Spaghetti dinner isn’t quick and easy. But it’s definitely worth getting excited about.
How to make Million Dollar Baked Spaghetti
Printable recipe directions and ingredients at bottom of post.
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package. Drain your pasta well and then return pasta back into the original pot. Add 1, 24 oz jar of spaghetti sauce. Stir until well combined and set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes.
Add in sausage, ground beef, basil, 1 Tablespoon of parsley and oregano. Season well with salt and pepper.
- Stir and cook until meat is cook through, and no pink remains. Drain off fat. Add in the other 24oz jar of spaghetti sauce to skillet. Stir until combined. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, 1 cup mozzarella, parmesan cheese, and your other 1 tablespoon of dried parsley. Set aside.
- Prepare a 9 x 13 casserole dish with cooking spay. Spread half the spaghetti in the dish, then spread cheese mixture evenly over spaghetti. Spread remaining spaghetti over cheese mixture.
- Top meat sauce evenly over top layer of spaghetti. Top with remaining mozzarella and bake uncovered for 35-40 mins, or until heated through.
Tools used for this Million Dollar Baked Spaghetti
Pyrex Baking Dish: You can’t go wrong with these baking dishes. They can be used in so many different recipes.
Spaghetti Pot: The best thing about this pot is it also functions as a steamer!
Million Dollar Baked Spaghetti
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Ingredients
- 16 oz dried spaghetti noodles
- 2 – 24 oz jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce divided
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 lb Italian Sausage
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley divided
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 8 oz cottage cheese
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella divided
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package. Drain your pasta well and then return pasta back into the original pot. Add 1, 24 oz jar of spaghetti sauce. Stir until well combined and set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Add in sausage, ground beef, basil, 1 Tablespoon of parsley and oregano. Season well with salt and pepper. Stir and cook until meat is cook through, and no pink remains. Drain off fat. Add in the other 24oz jar of spaghetti sauce to skillet. Stir until combined. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, 1 cup mozzarella, parmesan cheese, and your other 1 tablespoon of dried parsley. Set aside.
- Prepare a 9 x 13 casserole dish with cooking spay. Spread half the spaghetti in the dish, then spread cheese mixture evenly over spaghetti. Spread remaining spaghetti over cheese mixture. Top meat sauce evenly over top layer of spaghetti.
- Top with remaining mozzarella and bake uncovered for 35-40 mins, or until heated through.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer: Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Make sure to share it with me below!
This sound great and will be easy to cut the recipe in half for just the 2 of us. Actually, you had me at all the cheese.
Thanks.
My daughter and I made this today for Father’s Day dinner. It was delicious! My husband was very pleased with it and we have plenty for left overs. We loved it!
So happy you loved it Sandy!
My family loved this so much! I posted a picture on Instagram. Tomorrow is my birthday and I’ve asked my daughter and husband to make it for my meal.
Awesome Sandy! I am so happy you all love this recipe:)
I loved this meal so much made it for dinner tonight 100 percent the best one yet.
Awesome Kaylyn! So happy you loved it!
Hi Corey – love your recipes!
A little confusion regarding basil and parsley – recipe reads
▢1 tablespoon dried basil
▢2 tablespoon
▢2 dried parsley divided
Can you define that for all of us, please. Thank you – Nancy
I am so sorry that got cut off like that in the recipe card. It should be 2 tablespoons of dried parsley. Thank you for letting me know