Baked Spaghetti – Budget Bytes

You may be asking your self, “Why on earth would I bake spaghetti??” Nicely, the identical purpose you’d wish to bake ziti or another pasta casserole. Baking spaghetti within the oven lets the spaghetti absorb taste from the sauce and once you add in a layer of gooey melted cheese, you get a completely scrumptious and comforting casserole. It’s value the additional half-hour. Promise.

What’s in Baked Spaghetti

This tremendous easy baked spaghetti casserole has three predominant elements: spaghetti (in fact), meat sauce, and cheese. What extra do you really want?

I made a very easy do-it-yourself meat sauce for this casserole, however when you’re brief on time you may completely substitute a jar of store-bought pasta sauce. And if you need extra meat in your meat sauce and have room in your price range, you may double up on the sausage and use an entire pound.

Can You Sub Floor Beef?

For those who want floor beef in your meat sauce versus Italian sausage, simply make certain to double up on the herbs and spices that you simply add to the sauce. Italian sausage is full of a number of spices that convey tons of taste to the sauce, so that you’ll be lacking that when you substitute it with plain floor beef.

What Else Can I Add?

There may be a lot room for personalisation with this recipe. You can add sautéed mushrooms, chopped spinach, olives, or perhaps even some sautéed zucchini so as to add additional greens.

If you wish to make it additional tacky, attempt including in some crumbled feta or perhaps additional mozzarella to the cheese layer. I needed to maintain mine budget-friendly, so I went sort of gentle on the cheese and sausage this time round.

What to Serve with Baked Spaghetti

Do-it-yourself Garlic Bread is superior with baked spaghetti, however if you need some greens on the facet I might go together with one thing like Oven Roasted Frozen Broccoli or a easy facet salad.

Baked Spaghetti with Sausage

Baked spaghetti is a heat and comforting pasta casserole. Because the pasta bakes, taste infuses into the spaghetti, making it much more flavorful.

Writer: Beth – Price range Bytes

• 1 yellow onion ($0.42)
• 3 cloves garlic ($0.24)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
• 1/2 lb. Italian Sausage ($3.00)
• 3 oz. tomato paste ($0.45)
• 1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes ($0.85)
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning ($0.10)
• 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
• 1/2 cup water ($0.00)
• 12 oz. spaghetti ($1.00)
• 1 cup small curd cottage cheese ($0.93)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.50)
• 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella ($1.25)
• 1 Tbsp chopped parsley (optionally available garnish) ($0.05)

• Cube the onion and mince the garlic.

• Add the olive oil to a big skillet and warmth over medium. Add the Italian sausage and cook dinner till browned.

• Add the chopped onion and minced garlic to the skillet and proceed to stir and cook dinner till the onions are smooth and translucent.

• Add the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, and water. Stir to mix, then enable the sauce to come back as much as a simmer. Cut back the warmth to medium-low and let the sauce simmer when you cook dinner the pasta.

• Preheat the oven to 350 levels. Add ½ Tbsp salt to a big pot of water and produce it to a boil over excessive warmth. Add the spaghetti and proceed to boil till the pasta is tender, however not absolutely cooked. Drain the pasta in a colander.

• Add the drained pasta to the sauce and stir to mix.

• Mix the cottage cheese, Parmesan, and pepper in a bowl.

• Calmly grease an 8×11″ casserole dish. Layer in half of the spaghetti and sauce, then high with the cottage cheese combination. Add the second half of the spaghetti and sauce, then high with the shredded mozzarella.

• Cowl the dish with foil then bake the spaghetti for half-hour. High the spaghetti with chopped parsley, if desired. Slice into six items, then serve!

See how we calculate recipe prices right here.

Serving: 1ServingEnergy: 534kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 25gFats: 22gSodium: 1063mgFiber: 5g

Make Baked Spaghetti – Step By Step Photographs

Cube one yellow onion and mince 4 cloves of garlic.

Warmth 1 Tbsp olive oil in a big skillet over medium. As soon as scorching, add ½ lb. Italian sausage and cook dinner till browned.

Add the diced onion and minced garlic, and proceed to cook dinner and stir for a couple of extra minutes, or till the onions are smooth and translucent.

Add one 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes, 3oz. tomato paste, ½ tsp Italian seasoning, ½ tsp salt, and ½ cup water to the skillet.

Stir the sauce till the whole lot is effectively mixed after which let the sauce simmer when you make the pasta. Additionally, start to preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Add 1/2 Tbsp salt to a big pot of water and produce to a boil over excessive warmth. Add 12 ounces of spaghetti and proceed to boil till it’s simply barely undercooked (it’ll cook dinner extra because it bakes). Drain the spaghetti in a colander.

Whereas the pasta is cooking, put together the cheese layer. Stir collectively 1 cup small curd cottage cheese, ¼ cup grated Parmesan, and ¼ tsp pepper.

Stir the drained spaghetti into the simmered meat sauce.

Calmly grease one 8×11-inch (or 2 liter) casserole dish. Layer in half of the spaghetti and meat sauce, then high with the cheese combination.

Add the second half of the spaghetti and meat sauce, then high with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella.

Cowl the casserole dish with foil then bake within the preheated 350ºF oven for half-hour, or till the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly across the edges.

Let the pasta cool for about 5 minutes, then slice into six items and serve. You possibly can high with chopped parsley garnish for visible impact, nevertheless it’s not wanted for taste.