THE BEST BAKED SPAGHETTI (2024)

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ByBrandie February 26, 2021August 24, 2023

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The Best Baked Spaghetti also known as Spasagna is inspired by the meal at Cheddar’s. Alfredo spaghetti topped with meat sauce and cheese!

A DELICIOUS SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE

Sometimes the meals I make are inspired by my favorite restaurant foods. If you’ve ever been to a Cheddar’s restaurant then this will be a familiar dish to you. They call it Spasagna* (spaghetti plus lasagna.)If you’ve never heard of it, well, it’s about time you do. Basically, it is cooked spaghetti noodles tossed with alfredo (cheese) sauce, topped with a meaty red sauce, cheese and then baked.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Do you cook pasta before making pasta bake?

Yes. For most pasta casseroles/bakes, the pasta does need to be cooked before adding to the rest of the ingredients in the dish.

Why is baked pasta dry?

Most of the times it is because there is not enough liquid or sauce coating the pasta as it bakes. In this recipe the spaghetti is coated with Alfredo sauce which keeps the spaghetti from drying out.

Should baked pasta be covered?

Yes. This helps to keep the pasta from drying out as well as it keeps the steam contained within the casserole dish.

Can you freeze baked spaghetti?

This can be made ahead of time and frozen. Then just pull it out of your freezer when ready to cook. Just be sure to add on a few minutes to the cooking time.

How do you store leftover baked spaghetti?

Place any leftovers in a lidded container. Place into the refrigerator and eat within 3 days. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave.

INGREDIENTS FOR BAKED SPAGHETTI: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)

spaghetti noodles
ground beef
spaghetti sauce
jar alfredo sauce (cheese sauce)
Italian seasoning
shredded mozzarella

HOW DO YOU MAKE BAKED SPAGHETTI:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions.Drain noodles very well.

While the spaghetti noodles are cooking, brown and crumble ground beef in a large sauce pan. Drain excess grease.

Put ground beef back in pan and add spaghetti sauce. Stir to combine well.

Meanwhile, once the cooked noodles are drained, put them back into the pot. Stir in alfredo (cheese) sauce and Italian seasoning. Stir well to thoroughly coat noodles.

Place spaghetti noodles into prepared baking dish.

Cover with spaghetti sauce mixture.

Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes (until cheese is melted and bubbly.)

Allow to cool for about 5-8 minutes. Then slice.

Serve with a salad and garlic bread!

CRAVING MORE RECIPES?

Taco Spaghetti (+Video)
Chicken Spaghetti
Cowboy Spaghetti
Spaghetti “Cupcakes”
Spaghetti Cups
Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs (+Video)

Originally published: June 2011
Updated and republished: March 2021

The Best Baked Spaghetti (a.k.a. Spasagna)

The Best Baked Spaghetti, also known as Spasagna, is inspired by the meal at Cheddar's. Alfredo spaghetti topped with meat sauce and cheese!

4.74 from 107 votes

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Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 8

Author: Brandie @ The Country Cook

Ingredients

▢ 1 pound spaghetti noodles
▢ 1 pound ground beef
▢ 26 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
▢ 16 ounce jar alfredo sauce
▢ 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
▢ 2 cups shredded mozzarella

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray 9" x 13" baking dish with nonstick spray.
Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions. Drain noodles very well.
While the spaghetti noodles are cooking, brown and crumble ground beef in a large sauce pan. Drain excess grease.
Put ground beef back in pan and add spaghetti sauce. Stir to combine well.
Meanwhile, once the cooked noodles are drained, put them back into the pot. Stir in alfredo (cheese) sauce and Italian seasoning.
Stir well to thoroughly coat noodles.
Place spaghetti noodles into prepared baking dish.
Cover with spaghetti sauce mixture.
Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes (until cheese is melted and bubbly.)

Video

Notes

Allow to cool for about 5-8 minutes then slice and serve with a salad and garlic bread.
Baked Spaghetti can be frozen (see my tips above).
Other pasta can be used: fettuccine, linguine, etc.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Nutritional Disclaimer

“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.