Our Baked Spaghetti Casserole is one of our absolute favorite comfort food recipes. The sauce is made from scratch, full of tantalizing aromas and flavors. There is lots of gooey creamy cheese, surprise, it’s low fat, along with Tanya’s surprise secret ingredient. More on that later!

We haven’t had this since before her back surgeries last summer, and boy, has it been missed! There is a bit of work involved, but it is so incredibly worth it.

We use spaghetti in our recipe because it is so easy to use and is a common staple in our house. Spaghetti is popular worldwide and even has several websites dedicated to it. If you like food history, then check out this link: http://www.historyofspaghetti.com/

The best part is, it can be made with low fat cheeses!! And you won’t even be able to tell the difference, and, neither will anyone else at the table!!!

Prep work of our Baked Spaghetti Casserole

The trick is to have everything ready to go, all of your prep work done. Things just flow better that way, for Our Baked Spaghetti Casserole recipe, as well as any recipe. Our advice, have everything out and measured before heating the 1st pan!

All said and done, it is a simple recipe, easy to make. Although it needs some time for the sauce to simmer and reduce, you can work on the pasta and part of cheese during this time and set aside.

Make the sauce first! And don’t fall for that jarred sauce!

The sauce is so easy, and full of flavor. Much better than anything in a jar, although there are days where we have been too tired and used the jarred sauces, with some additions.

It all starts with browning the meat. While the ground beef is browning, you can be finely chopping garlic and onions. Just remember to stir the meat every couple of minutes.

As soon as the meat is browned, drain thoroughly, and return to the stove. Add in the garlic and onions. Then add in the oregano, salt, garlic powder, italian seasoning, mix well.

Pour in the pureed tomatoes, and 2 cans of diced tomatoes, undrained. Bring the mixture to a boil, and reduce heat to low, simmering for about 15 to 20 minutes, uncovered. You want the sauce to reduce and intensify that glorious flavor. Taste it at the 15 minute mark, does it need more salt, gasp, or more garlic?? Now is the time to add last minute seasoning.

Time for the pasta part of our Baked Spaghetti Casserole

While the sauce is in the last stages, get the pasta cooking. You can use thick or thin spaghetti noodles. Even Angel Hair pasta would be good. While the pasta is cooking, take the cream cheese and place it in a microwave safe bowl, covered (trust us!) and zap for a minute. It is far easier to work into the pasta with melty cream cheese than room temp.

When the pasta is cooked, drain and return to the pot. Preheat oven to 350 F. Dump the cream cheese onto the pasta, and using a sturdy pair of tongs, work into the pasta. Don’t stir!! We don’t want to break the pasta, do we? Just keep tossing the pasta, gently, working in the cream cheese.

The secret ingredient revealed

After about halfway combined, now it is time for the secret ingredient. Sour cream!! Yep, 1/2 cup of sour cream gets added to the mix, and continue to toss pasta until it is combined as smoothly as you can get it.

Assembly time of our Baked Spaghetti Casserole!

Now, the assembly part!! Take your 9×13 pan, and ladle in a couple scoops of the sauce, enough to cover the bottom. Next, add in about half of the pasta, spreading it out a bit, to cover the sauce. Cheese time!! A couple handfuls of the mozzarella evenly over the pasta, topped by about 1 handful of cheddar, followed by eh, 3/4 handful of Parmesan.

More sauce, the other half of the pasta, and more cheese. The last layer will be the sauce and remainder of the cheese. Try to make sure that you cover any pasta showing, with either sauce or cheese. By this time, your pan will be almost overflowing! That is just what we are looking for.

Now, oven time. Into the 350 F oven for 20 minutes. Honestly, We recommend putting it onto a baking sheet, in case of any bubbling over. And, it makes it a heck of a lot easier to get that very full, very hot pan out of the oven when done.

Whew, even the food needs to rest!

Now here is the bad news. It needs to rest, for about 10 minutes, before cutting into it. This helps those layers to firm up a bit, like in lasagna. Many times, we admit, we haven’t waited, just grabbed a spoon and dug right into the bubbling hot mess!

It is well worth having some patience, however. Not only is it easier to serve, and looks pretty, but it is easier to eat as well!

Wrap up time

This Baked Spaghetti Casserole recipe is one of our favorites in the Morgan house. The overall flavor and mix of textures is sure delicious! It is not hard to make but is rather time consuming.

Rest assured, it is so well worth it!

This recipe is even better the next day, when all the flavors have had time to meld together. This is one recipe you won’t mind having as leftovers!

Be sure to check out our other pasta recipes such as One Pot Caprese Pasta, One Pot Savory Ricotta Pasta, Easy Creamy Parmesan Lemon Pasta, and Makeover Four Cheese Chicken Fettuccine just to name a few.

Hey, leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Love

The Morgan Sisters

Our Baked Spaghetti Casserole

Recipe by yvonneCourse: DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: intermediate

Servings

8-12

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

Our Baked Spaghetti Casserole is a delicious blend of pasta, meat, cheese, and spices and is even better the next day! This is a must have!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef

• 6-8 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 small onion, diced

• 2 tbsp garlic powder

• 2 tbsp dried oregano, crushed

• 1 tbsp italian seasoning

• 1 tsp kosher salt

• 1 28 oz can of pureed tomatoes

• 2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained

• 1 lb spaghetti

• 2 1/2 – 3 cups shredded low fat mozzarella

• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar

• 1 block of cream cheese, low fat

• 1 cup shredded Parmesan

• 1/2 cup low fat sour cream

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large pot, brown the hamburger until no longer pink. Drain well and return to pan. Add in the garlic and onions, stir often for about a minute or two. Add in the spices, stir to coat the meat.
• Add in all of the tomatoes, pureed and diced. Give it a good stir, bringing it to a boil, then reduce to low, allowing the sauce to simmer for about 15 minutes. Taste at this time, to check seasoning, add salt or more garlic powder as needed.
• Cook the pasta as directed for al dente. While the pasta is cooking, place the cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl, cover, and microwave for 1 minute.
• Drain the pasta, return to pan, and add in the cream cheese. Using sturdy tongs, mix the cream cheese thru the pasta by tossing it as you would to combine a sauce and pasta. When it is about halfway mixed, add in the sour cream, and keep tossing. When it is mixed thoroughly, it is time for the next phase.
• Place a scoop or two of the sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan, and spread evenly. Top this with about half of the pasta, spreading it out to coat the bottom. Now, sprinkle 1/3 of each of the cheeses over the pasta. Top with another layer of sauce, last half of noodles, another 3rd of the cheeses.
• At this point, yes, the pan is getting full! Don’t worry, it really does all fit! Top with the last of the sauce, trying to cover as much as possible. Now, top with the remaining cheeses. Try to cover any areas of pasta that are not covered by sauce.
• Place your pan onto a sturdy baking sheet, and place into the 350 F oven. Bake for 20 minutes, until cheese is melty and bubbling. Remove from the oven, and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
  Enjoy!!!

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