Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole is a hearty and delicious recipe sure to be a hit with the whole family! Layers of pasta, meat sauce, and cheese, its like a million dollars in every bite! Serve with a side salad and/or garlic bread and you have a dish that everyone will devour!
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Don’t you just love a good casserole? Not only are they budget friendly, but its a great way to feed a large crowd. Using simple ingredients, this million dollar baked spaghetti comes together quickly and evenfreezes perfectly making it a great freezer meal! It’s the perfect cross between baked spaghetti and lasagna!If you’re looking for more comfort food recipes, also check out my Italian Noodle Casserole and Creamy Baked Ziti!
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Million Dollar Spaghetti Ingredient Notes
See printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for exact ingredient amounts and step by step directions.
- Spaghetti– we use spaghetti pasta for this recipe, however, you can also experiment with other pastas such as ziti or rigatoni.
- Spaghetti Sauce– use your favorite pasta sauce as this is the base of the recipe. Whether that be jarred or homemade, we love adding in some fresh herbs if using store bought.
- Beef– although this recipe calls for lean ground beef, you can also use Italian sausage or ground turkey depending on what you have on hand.
- Garlic Powder– this seasons the meat, feel free to add in additional seasonings such as Italian seasoning, black pepper, salt, Basil, Oregano, etc.
- Cream Cheese– this combines with the sour cream and cottage cheese to make the creamy, cheesy layer. Use full fat for the most flavor addition.
- Sour Cream– this adds to the overall creaminess of the pasta recipe and cheese layers.
- Cottage Cheese– any type works, I use 2% low-fat since I typically have it on hand.
- Parmesan Cheese– I love shredded fresh Parmesan for this recipe, however, if you only have the green can, that works too.
- Cheddar Cheese– freshly shredded Cheddar cheese is best as it melts evenly. Pre-shredded cheese is coated with an additive to prevent clumping when being shipped and causes the cheese not to melt evenly or at all.
How to make Million Dollar Baked Spaghetti Casserole
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
- Boil noodles in a large pot of salted water according to package directions. Drain water and toss with some olive oil to prevent sticking. Set aside.
- Cook the turkey/beef in a skillet over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain fat and season with garlic powder.
- Add in the spaghetti sauce and stir to incorporate the meat evenly. Simmer on low.
- In a medium bowl, use a mixer to combine the cream cheese, sour cream, and cottage cheese.
- To assemble, add half the pasta to the bottom of the baking pan.
- Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of pasta.
- Layer the cream cheese mixture next.
- Top with remaining pasta, and end with the meat sauce.
- Bake in oven for about 35 minutes. Remove pan and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.
- Place pan back into over for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and serve!!
Recipe Variations
- Vegetarian– to make this meatless, simply omit the ground beef/turkey and use a marinara sauce versus jarred meat sauce.
- Ricotta Cheese– feel free to use this in place of the cottage cheese if desired. It can be substituted at a 1:1 ratio.
- Pasta– if you don’t want to use spaghetti noodles, any type of pasta will work in its place. Experiment and try your favorite!
- Meat– use ground sausage or Italian sausage in place of the ground beef for more flavor.
- Cheese– use shredded Mozzarella cheese in place of the Cheddar Cheese or Parmesan cheese.
Storage and Make Ahead Instructions
Leftovers of this casserole reheat perfectly! Of course, the pasta softens, however, all the flavors remain and fuse together even better the next day!
- Prep Ahead: this Million Dollar Spaghetti recipe can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance and stored in the refrigerator covered. Simply remove from fridge 30 minutes before ready to cook to allow to come to room temperature a bit. You will want to add an additional 20 minutes to the cook time.
- Freezing Ahead of Cooking: once assembled, allow to fully cool before wrapping the pan in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Allow to thaw overnight in fridge before cooking.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container up to 4 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. Reheat in the microwave until heated through.
Serving Suggestions
This Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole recipe is a hearty meal on its own, but here are some great additions that pair perfectly:
- Garlic Parmesan Pull Apart Bread
- Crispy Brussel Sprouts
- Side Salad
- Mini Garlic Monkey Bread
- Lemon Garlic Asparagus
More Pasta Recipes to try
Creamy Beef Stroganoff Casserole
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Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti noodles
- 32 oz spaghetti sauce
- 1 lb ground beef *or turkey
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 8 oz cream cheese
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese *shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.
- Boil noodles according to directions. Drain water and toss with some olive oil to prevent sticking. Set aside.
- Cook the turkey/beef over medium heat in a large skillet until no longer pink.
- Drain fat and season with garlic powder.
- Add in the spaghetti sauce and stir to incorporate the meat evenly. Simmer on low.
- In a medium bowl, use a mixer to combine the cream cheese, sour cream, and cottage cheese.
- To assemble, add half the pasta to the bottom of the baking pan.
- Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of pasta.
- Layer the cream cheese mixture next.
- Top with remaining pasta, and end with the meat sauce.
- Bake in oven for about 35 minutes.
- Remove pan and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.
- Place pan back into over for an additional 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and serve!!
Nutrition
Cindy Biesecker says
Hi, Kristin – This sounds heavenly and I can’t wait to try it. I’m tempted to also put some of the spaghetti sauce over the top of the first layer of pasta (between steps 7 & 8 above), to distribute the tomato flavor throughout and make sure the bottom layer of pasta doesn’t dry out. Your thoughts?
Kristin says
Thats a wonderful idea and I bet that would be scrumptious! Be sure to let me know what you think if you try it!! It is one of my favorites!!!
Monica says
Can you replace ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese?
Kristin says
Sure!! That would work great!!