Baked Spaghetti is something that we learned about from a dear friend whose children we both used to work with. What started out as a job for the two of us, over the years, became a second home. It’s even where we met! We both have Bachelors degrees in Psychology and we answered a newspaper ad to work with children with Autism. Little did we know, those children, that family, and the people we would meet there changed our lives. Without that family, we wouldn’t have each other and we wouldn’t have baked spaghetti. There would be no kids in the sink. I mean, there would be kids. But they wouldn’t be in the sink. What does that even mean anyway? Who knows? Our lives wouldn’t be as rich and blessed as they are, that about sums it up. And we might be hungry. And we definitely wouldn’t be foodies.
So, baked spaghetti is super easy and you can suit it to your tastes. We like ours extra, deliciously cheesy. Don’t go overboard with the cheese though because once, when Heather was pregnant or post-partum or some other super emotional day, she made this for us and let’s just say there were a few noodles mixed in with a cheese dinner. It resulted in her pretty much biting our heads off and telling us not to eat it if we didn’t like it. I liked it. I didn’t say anything. But she’s over it. She’s generally a very nice person. Like we said, she was super emotional. Don’t hate. The lesson we learned from that is that we don’t let Heather estimate.
Back to the spaghetti. Sorry, you know how we love asides. Suit it to your tastes. If you like a lot of cheese, put more cheese. If you like a lot of sauce or a particular sauce, add more or less. The recipe here is an estimate. Not a Heather estimate, a Melissa estimate. So it’s safe.
If you’re having a lazy day and want a dinner that is fast and delicious and a little different than your typical spaghetti dinner, this is for you. And a big shout out to the family that changed our lives. You know who you are and we love you!
-Heather and Melissa
Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients:
1- 1 ½ cups your favorite spaghetti sauce (recipe of the one we used below)
2 cups cheese, divided (we’ve used mozzarella and we’ve done a mixture of mozzarella and cheddar; use what you like)
1 package of spaghetti noodles
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350˚.
- Cook noodles according to package instructions, stopping a minute or two before al dente.
- Drain the noodles and mix with the spaghetti sauce and a cup of cheese. Place into a 9×13 baking dish and top with the remaining cup of cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese is golden and bubbly.
For the sauce:
3 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp salt
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1-2 tsp lemon juice
- In a medium sauce pan, combine the olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes and saute over medium-high heat until the garlic sizzles.
- Stir in the tomatoes and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the sauce starts to thicken.
- Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and salt.
Source: Baked spaghetti from a family friend, sauce from A Couple Cooks
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So you’ve dirtied two dishes. I’m think ing add some extra water to the sauce (1/2 cup per 8 oz) and throw it in the oven. Pull it out at the same time at you would for the cheese but just stir it well first then add the cheese and finish from there. Great idea.
looks good what size package of spaghetti did you use for that dish?
We used a standard 13 ounce box but if you’re serving more or less people, you can adjust the amount you use. Just make sure to also adjust your cheese and sauce ratios too. Good luck!
A standard box of spaghetti comes in 8oz and 16oz…I’ve never seen a 13oz box.
Hmm, ours always comes in 13 oz. I would say just use your standard 8 oz box. You make need to leave a little sauce out if you want it to be more baked than the typical wet spaghetti. Weird how different other places are!
Did you use shredded cheese?
Yep!
My Grandmother has made this since my father can remember and the one thing that makes hers super super delicious and even better the next day is one can of cream of mushroom soup!! You add it to the cooked noodles before you spread them across the bottom of the pan! Keeps the noodles super moist and very yummy!
Could you make this to freeze? If so would you freeze before or after step 4 where you bake it?
We have frozen this for quick meals after baby and it was great! We froze it before we baked it since everything is already cooked anyways, then just threw it in a 350 oven until warm and bubbly.
Thank you! I am going to make one for a family with a new baby and another for myself for when our next arrives in a few weeks. Can’t wait to try it!
Congratulations! We hope you enjoy this easy meal!
how many people does the above recipe feed/ how many servings (estimated) 😉
Approximately 4-6, depending on your portion sizes.
Does anything change, like cooking times, if you add ground beef or ground turkey?
If you were adding ground beef or turkey, we would recommend cooking it as you normally would with spaghetti and adding it to the sauce, then to the noodles. That way, it will already be cooked when you bake it and it shouldn’t change the cooking times on it and you will really just be heating everything through and getting everything all melty and gooey. Let us know if you try and how it turns out! Hope you enjoy it!
My Grandma made this almost every Friday, but she just used tomato juice for the tomato sauce. We always liked it cold the next day almost better than the hot the night before!!
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Sounds good and easy my kind of meal .
[…] Baked Spaghetti […]
I love this recipe. So easy and tasty! I use ketchup in place of spaghetti sauce. Much better if you ask me. Of and a can of tomato soup.
Found this recipe on Pinterest…. Going to give it a try tonight for dinner! 🙂
This is a great dish. I used the mushroom soup and it was delicious. Will be making more now that we have tried it.
Did you just add the soup to the noodles before you added the spaghetti sauce and cheese?
Made something like this years ago, only right before I put it in the oven, I placed pepperoni on top and then baked. So good!!!
That’s how we’ve started making it around here! My (Heather) husband loves pepperoni on his spaghetti!
My kids and grandkids, when they were aged 6 mo to one and a half or so, frequently had baths in my kitchen sink. My Mom did with toddlers too. Quick and fast way to get them ready for fresh PJs and bed.
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I have just started a food blog in which I will be making recipes I found on Pinterest and “reviewing” them. Just wanted to let you ladies know that yours will be my first post! I am also adding a tag to make sure credit goes back to you! Just thought I would let you know and hopefully you will be able to check it out in the next couple of days!
http://www.pinterestdinner.blogspot.com
Wow! What an honor! Thanks so much. Hope you enjoy. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say about it!
Just another helpful tip of something delicious! my grandmother use to make this recipe except it was called chicken spaghetti. if you add chicken to this it gives you a little meat and is AMAZING! we also use rotel crushed tomotoes with the peppers in to save time! (:
How much ground beef or turkey should I add to this recipe?
I think a pound would be great! You may need to add a bit more sauce to compensate for the extra filling ingredients. That sounds like a great addition, though!
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Sounds so good. Gonna try it tomorrow evening for dinner. I love spaghetti. Lol.
Looks good!!
My husband cant eat spaghetti noodles since his stomach surgery, crazy huh, I love spaghetti so he suggested trying it baked cause he likes it that way, so I’m going to give yours a try tonight. this is the first recipe I found so you win. Love your blog by the way real funny.
Do you bake it uncovered?
Yep! If it starts to brown more than you would like, you can throw some aluminum foil over it to stop that!
My mom used to make us spaguetti somewhat like this one but she used American cheese (like the sandwich type) instead. It was delicious. I’ll try this baked spaguetti today, thanks!
So…I have meatballs in the oven, sauce on the stove and I got on the iPad to look for a baked spaghetti recipe. Pinterest pops up and, voila – here is your dish. It takes me to your blog and I find myself smiling at this post…YOU WON ME OVER! Let me explain – You see, my daughter (with autism) is in the living room with a therapist working – this is why I have have time to cook today 🙂 Thank you for the lovely post and tonight’s dinner recipe.
Thanks so much!
[…] Similar to the one pot meals I prefer, this is also pretty darn easy. Take ingredients, put in baking dish, bake. Easy, Cheesy, Peasy. (via Kids In The Sink) […]
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I’m adding meat to mine! Hope it taste as good as the picture looks! 🙂
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