Easy baked spaghetti made with ground beef, marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and a hidden layer of creamy pesto sauce in the middle. Pure comfort!
This baked spaghetti has everything we love about baked pasta. There’s noodles, a hearty meat sauce, lots of cheese, and we even add a layer of sour cream mixed with basil pesto to the middle.
My
Key Ingredients
- Spaghetti: I use plain spaghetti for this recipe, but other pasta shapes work great. Use what you have! I cook the pasta briefly before tossing it with the sauce and baking. Use the boxed directions as a guide, but cook the pasta for 2 to 3 minutes less. It will continue to cook in the oven.
- Ground Beef: I usually use ground beef here, but ground sausage, chicken, and turkey are excellent. You can even leave the meat out and add a few extra veggies (see this vegetable spaghetti for suggestions).
- Marinara Sauce: I use homemade marinara when I have it, but store-bought sauce works nicely in this recipe.
- Sour Cream and Pesto: This is my favorite part of this baked spaghetti. I stir pesto into sour cream to create a creamy pesto sauce. Then, I add it as a creamy layer into the middle of the baked spaghetti. So good! Store-bought pesto is fine, but if you can, make homemade pesto (I love it!).
- Cheese: Mozzarella is perfect, but any melty, mild cheese works.
How to Make the Best Baked Spaghetti
To make the meat sauce, cook onions and ground beef until the beef is browned. (We’ve made this recipe with ground chicken and ground turkey before, both are excellent). Add the marinara sauce, bring it to a simmer, and then toss with cooked spaghetti.
Here’s a tip: Undercook the spaghetti by 1 to 2 minutes. This way, when we toss it with the marinara sauce and bake, the pasta won’t become mushy.
You can add the spaghetti and meat sauce to a baking dish and top with cheese, but to make this the best baked spaghetti, add a creamy pesto layer to the middle.
To make it, mix sour cream with basil pesto. Add half of the spaghetti and sauce to a baking dish then spread the creamy pesto on top. Finish by adding the remaining pasta on top.
To finish, add lots of mozzarella cheese to the top and bake until bubbly.
Easy Baked Spaghetti
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PREP
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COOK
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TOTAL
Our baked spaghetti recipe involves baking spaghetti with a simple meat sauce of ground beef and marinara sauce. We also sneak in a layer of creamy pesto. If you are like us, this will become your new favorite meal! Feel free to swap the ground beef for bulk sausage, ground chicken, or ground turkey. To make this meatless, remove the meat (the spaghetti will still be delicious).
8 servings
You Will Need
1 pound (450g) dry spaghetti
1 pound (450g) lean ground beef
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cups (1.4L) marinara sauce from 2 (26oz) jars, or see homemade marinara sauce
3/4 cup (170g) sour cream
1/4 cup (56g) basil pesto, see homemade basil pesto
1 cup (113g) grated mozzarella cheese, 4 ounces
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Directions
1Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Butter a 3-quart baking dish or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and follow the package directions, but cook for 1 to 2 minutes less than the package calls for. Drain.
3Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet with sides. Add onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
4Add the ground beef and cook until browned, about 10 minutes. As the beef cooks, use a wooden spoon to break it up into small pieces in the pan. Season with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Drain excess fat from the meat.
5Pour in the marinara sauce and cook until heated through. Take the pan off of the heat and add the cooked and drained pasta. Toss well, taste for seasoning, and adjust with salt and black pepper.
6In a small bowl, stir sour cream and basil pesto until well blended.
7Spoon half of the spaghetti into the baking dish. Spread the sour cream and pesto mixture over the pasta and scatter with half of the mozzarella cheese. Top with the remaining pasta, lightly press everything into the baking dish and then scatter the remaining mozzarella cheese.
8Place the baking dish onto an aluminum-lined baking dish (just in case any sauce drips over the sides of the baking dish). Bake until the cheese has melted and the sauce bubbles, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Adam and Joanne’s Tips
- Storing: Leftover baked spaghetti can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
- Make ahead tips: Assemble, cover with a sheet of parchment paper, and then cover the baking dish with foil. Refrigerate for up to 2 days before baking.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
Nutrition Per Serving
Serving Size
1/8 of the dish
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Calories
540
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Total Fat
17.8g
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Saturated Fat
6.4g
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Cholesterol
60.6mg
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Sodium
1194.8mg
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Carbohydrate
61.1g
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Dietary Fiber
6g
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Total Sugars
12.3g
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Protein
32.3g
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