This Baked Spaghetti recipe is inspired by my friend’s mom, and I know you’ll love this family favorite! It can be made with regular or gluten-free pasta and is incredibly flavorful. This recipe also has a few tricks that make it extra tasty and impressive enough for entertaining. Plus, it has a make-ahead option and a shortcut included as well.
Baked spaghetti combines everyone’s favorite classic dish with bubbling cheese, making it a guaranteed hit. It’s easy to make and can be prepped ahead as well.
Watch How To Make Baked Spaghetti
This baked spaghetti and my Taco Casserole recipe are my 2 go-to recipes for entertaining when I don’t know what people will like. They’re both crowd-pleasers, and I’m excited to finally share my baked spaghetti recipe.
This recipe is a huge hit with kids, too. My 3 nephews and niece put this down with enthusiasm and asked for seconds. This is considered a serious win in my book, and I hope you enjoy the recipe too!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Italian sausage – I use mild Italian sausage, and it’s a huge flavor booster in this recipe. If you like spice, hot Italian sausage is really good too. I like to use sausage rather than the more traditional ground beef for flavor, but you can use ground beef. I’ve also used ground pork when I was out of sausage.
- Spaghetti – regular or gluten-free spaghetti both work in this recipe. I like to use 100% brown rice spaghetti for gluten-free for the best texture. And guess what? No one ever knows it’s gluten-free!
- Fire roasted tomatoes – add so much flavor to this dish, but I also have a shortcut jarred sauce version listed in the recipe. Just be sure to get the best quality you can because it really does make that much difference.
- Italian seasoning, onion, & garlic – are what adds lots of flavor to your homemade spaghetti sauce. These are all omitted/reduced when you use jarred sauce, and the notes are in the recipe. Yellow onion is what I like to use, but white works as well. Fresh garlic is a must in our house, we use a garlic press to speed up the prep rather than using jarred.
- Cheese – grated mozzarella and parmesan cheese go on top, and fresh mozzarella slices go in the center for my secret ingredient. The fresh mozzarella can be omitted, but it adds so much gooey cheesiness, plus it makes the finished dish moister than usual baked spaghetti, which is so good!
How to make this recipe step by step
Step 1: Start by making the spaghetti sauce. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Cook the sausage in a large Dutch oven, breaking it up over medium-high heat until it’s in small bits.
Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Next, add the blended fire-roasted tomatoes.
Step 2: Bring the sauce to a boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon, then reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes. Stir only as needed to keep the sauce from sticking, it splatters less the more it’s left alone.
Step 3 : Near the end of the cooking time, boil your spaghetti until it’s about 3/4 cooked and still very firm. (If the package directions say 8 minutes, I cook mine for about 5.)
Drain and add the cooked spaghetti to the spaghetti sauce.
Step 4: Spoon about 1/2 of the spaghetti mixture into the bottom of a 9″x13″ baking dish. Then add the layer of fresh mozzarella, followed by the remaining spaghetti.
Top the spaghetti with grated mozzarella and sprinkle with parmesan.
Step 5: Bake until the spaghetti is bubbling and the cheese is browning. You can place a parchment-lined baking sheet under your baking dish to catch any drips. If you don’t simmer the sauce down far enough, it will drip a bit!
Ways to serve this
- Serve this with your favorite veggie side dishes. For a simple dinner, add my Sautéed Green Beans . My Roasted Broccoli , Brussels Sprouts , Roasted Carrots , or Roasted Asparagus all work well too.
- Serve with chopped fresh basil or parsley if desired.
- For a kid-pleasing side dish, try my Honey Glazed Carrots ; everyone loves the touch of sweetness.
- If you’re entertaining, add a salad as well. My Italian Chopped Salad , Easy Green Salad , Apple Spinach Salad , or Caesar Salad (made without chicken) are all great options.
Yes, but I recommend using 100% brown rice spaghetti for a gluten-free option, because it has the best texture. Also, gluten-free pasta comes in 12-ounce packages, and you’ll need a bit of a 2nd package to make up the 1 pound needed.
Yes, you can use any pasta shape you’d like in this baked spaghetti recipe. It works great with penne, farfalle, rigatoni, fettuccine, and linguine. One pasta I would avoid is capellini (angel hair) because it’s too thin for this much cooking time.
Storing leftovers
- To store – place any leftover baked spaghetti in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead – you can make the spaghetti sauce ahead of time. Reheat the sauce to a simmer before cooking the spaghetti and adding it.
- Reheating – add any leftovers to a skillet, add a touch of water, cover, and simmer over medium heat until heated through, adding water as necessary.
- To freeze – place any leftovers in an airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost in the fridge overnight before reheating. The thawed leftovers will be softer.
Tips & Tricks
- My secret to the best ever baked spaghetti is the layer of fresh mozzarella in the middle. Tyler coined it the ‘ moist maker ‘ (a reference to the show Friends, where Monica adds a gravy-soaked bread layer to the Thanksgiving sandwich), and he’s not wrong! The fresh mozzarella has more liquid than the kind you grate, and it really adds a lot to this baked spaghetti.
- Undercooking the pasta is also key because it won’t overcook during the baking time.
- Make-ahead: assemble this recipe in the baking dish, cover, and refrigerate for 1-2 days before baking it. This is one of my favorite make-ahead recipes whenever I have company coming. With this spaghetti assembled and ready to go in the fridge, we can go out all day Saturday to explore and have fun. We live near Glacier National Park , and almost everyone wants to see it. When we walk back through the door after a long day, I take the dish out of the fridge and turn on the oven. It’s the simplest way to entertain! From there, I make my Sautéed Green Beans , and for dessert, I have Death by Chocolate made ahead and refrigerated.
- Pasta sauce options: you can make this with marinara sauce, tomato basil, roasted garlic, or even arrabiatta sauce for spice. For a creamier version, try 4 cheese or Vodka pasta sauce.
- I like to use a large Dutch oven to cook the spaghetti sauce so there’s ample room to add the cooked spaghetti rather than using a large skillet.
Dietary Options & Substitutions
- Dairy-free – I recommend making my Homemade Spaghetti Sauce instead and using your favorite dairy-free Parmesan. Also, double-check your labels on the Italian sausage to make sure it’s dairy-free.
- Paleo – try my Chorizo Spaghetti with Butternut Squash Noodles and use a paleo-friendly Italian sausage instead of chorizo.
More Pasta Recipe Inspiration
- Homemade Spaghetti
- Creamy Garlic Pasta
- Marry Me Chicken Pasta
- Sausage & Broccoli Pasta
- Creamy Tuscan Pasta
INGREDIENTS1x2x3x
- 1 pound spaghetti - regular or 100% brown rice for gluten-free
- 1 pound Italian sausage - see notes
- 2 cups onion - finely diced, 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 56 ounces crushed fire-roasted tomatoes - 2-28 ounce cans, blended until mostly smooth
- 1 tsp sea salt - to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 pound fresh mozzarella - sliced 1/4" thick
- 2.5 cups mozzarella cheese - grated, 8 ounces
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese - grated
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- Begin with the spaghetti sauce. Cook the sausage in a large Dutch oven, breaking it up over medium-high heat until it’s in small bits.
- Add the onion and garlic to the sausage and cook, stirring over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Next, add the Italian seasoning and blended fire-roasted tomatoes.
- Bring the sauce to a boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom, then reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.
- Near the end of the cooking time, boil your spaghetti until it’s about 3/4 cooked and still very firm. (If the package says 8 minutes, I cook mine for about 5.) Drain the spaghetti and add it to the spaghetti sauce, stirring to combine.
- Spoon about 1/2 of the spaghetti mixture into the bottom of a 9"x13" baking dish. Then add the layer of fresh mozzarella, followed by the remaining spaghetti. Top the spaghetti with grated mozzarella and parmesan.
- Bake until the spaghetti is bubbling and the cheese is browning, 20 minutes. Serve immediately. You can place a parchment-lined baking sheet under your baking dish to catch any drips. If you don’t simmer the sauce down far enough, it will drip a bit!
NOTES
nutrition facts
Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 pound spaghetti regular or 100% brown rice for gluten-free
- 1 pound Italian sausage see notes
- 2 cups onion finely diced, 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 56 ounces crushed fire-roasted tomatoes 2-28 ounce cans, blended until mostly smooth
- 1 tsp sea salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 pound fresh mozzarella sliced 1/4" thick
- 2.5 cups mozzarella cheese grated, 8 ounces
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- Begin with the spaghetti sauce. Cook the sausage in a large Dutch oven, breaking it up over medium-high heat until it’s in small bits.
- Add the onion and garlic to the sausage and cook, stirring over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Next, add the Italian seasoning and blended fire-roasted tomatoes.
- Bring the sauce to a boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom, then reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.
- Near the end of the cooking time, boil your spaghetti until it’s about 3/4 cooked and still very firm. (If the package says 8 minutes, I cook mine for about 5.) Drain the spaghetti and add it to the spaghetti sauce, stirring to combine.
- Spoon about 1/2 of the spaghetti mixture into the bottom of a 9"x13" baking dish. Then add the layer of fresh mozzarella, followed by the remaining spaghetti. Top the spaghetti with grated mozzarella and parmesan.
- Bake until the spaghetti is bubbling and the cheese is browning, 20 minutes. Serve immediately. You can place a parchment-lined baking sheet under your baking dish to catch any drips. If you don’t simmer the sauce down far enough, it will drip a bit!
Notes
Nutrition
The recipe Baked Spaghetti appeared first on Get Inspired Everyday! on November 23, 2025
https://getinspiredeveryday.com/food/baked-spaghetti/
