Million Dollar Spaghetti Recipe (Baked Spaghetti)
This Million Dollar Spaghetti is rich and so delicious! Made with layers of noodles, ground beef, pasta sauce and 3 kinds of cheese. Ready in 1 hour.
Have you ever heard of or tried Million Dollar Spaghetti? This pasta casserole is creamy and so delicious. A simple recipe that can be on your dinner table in about 1 hour.
What is Million Dollar Spaghetti?
After a lot of research I have no idea where this recipe originated from, yet there it is all over the internet, going viral on TikTok. So naturally I had to make it. But why is it called Million Dollar Spaghetti? It’s not because it costs an arm and a leg to make, in fact it’s quite budget friendly. It seems to be called Million Dollar Spaghetti because it’s so rich and decadent that you’ll feel like a million bucks when you eat it? That’s a bit of a stretch to be honest haha! It is delicious though, and I’m pretty sure if you love spaghetti and lasagna, then you’ll love this too!
About this recipe:
Million Dollar Spaghetti in the most simplest of terms is really just a spaghetti lasagna. It’s made with layers of cooked spaghetti noodles, a layer of cream cheese and cottage cheese, a layer of ground beef and pasta sauce, then a cheesy layer of mozzarella cheese, all baked in a casserole dish. It’s delicious.
How to make Million Dollar Spaghetti:
Here is a simple visual on how to put together Million Dollar Spaghetti. Sometimes I find it useful to see pictures on how to layer the ingredients.
Million Dollar Spaghetti Recipe Tips:
- Creamy Cheese Mixture: This recipe calls for cream cheese and cottage cheese. You can substitute the cottage cheese with ricotta cheese.
- Shredded Cheese: You can use really any type of cheese: mozzarella, cheddar, Monterey Jack. You can also add Parmesan cheese to the mixture.
- Meat: I use ground beef. You can also use ground chicken, ground turkey or a mixture of ground meats including Italian sausage and ground pork.
- Noodles: Use 1 pound spaghetti noodles.
- Can I use different noodles? Well technically you can, but why would you? It wouldn’t be Million Dollar Spaghetti then would it? 😉
- Sauce: Use your favourite jar of spaghetti sauce (marinara sauce).
- Sauce Option: You can make a homemade layer of tomato meat sauce for this casserole. This is my favourite recipe (I use about 1/2 of it).
- Leftovers: Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just reheat in the microwave.
FAQs about this recipe:
What to serve with Million Dollar Spaghetti:
Million Dollar Spaghetti Recipe (Baked Spaghetti)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Oven
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
- 1 small onion, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 lb dried spaghetti noodles (454 grams)
- 1 (650 mL) jar pasta sauce (separated: you will need 1/2 cup removed)
- 1 (8 oz) block cream cheese
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Generously grease a 9 x 13 baking pan with butter. Set aside.
Browning the beef:
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef with the minced onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper.
- When the beef is fully cooked drain any excess fat.
- Then stir in all of the pasta sauce EXCEPT about 1/2 cup which will get mixed in with the spaghetti noodles. Set aside.
Boiling the noodles:
- While the ground beef is browning, you can boil the spaghetti noodles.
- In a large pot with generously salted water, cook the noodles until they’re al dente.
- Once the noodles are cooked, drain, then stir the 1/2 cup of remaining pasta sauce.
Making the cheese mixture:
- Using a stand mixer cream together the cream cheese and cottage cheese until smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.
Now it’s time to put it all together:
- To the prepared baking dish, add 1/2 of the noodles.
- Then spread on all of the cheese mixture.
- Layer on the remaining noodles.
- Spread on all of the meat mixture.
- Top with the shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- Let the casserole rest for about 5 minutes before cutting into it.
- Enjoy!
Keywords: million dollar spaghetti, baked spaghetti, spaghetti lasagna
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