Best Baked Spaghetti
Baked spaghetti is full of spaghetti goodness and cheese. You can't go wrong with cheese! I usually make baked spaghetti out of our spaghetti leftovers so it is a really easy meal! The day before, I cook my hamburger and let my sauce simmer for hours so my sauce is extra delicious. Sometimes I add ricotta cheese to the middle, sometimes I just have noodles, sauce and cheese. I love using leftovers, it makes the meal easy and we do not waste food. I hate wasting food!
This meal is even easier than most leftovers, when we are done eating our spaghetti, I combine the noodles and sauce so the next night all I have to do it top it with cheese and bake it. It really does not get much easier than that!
The edges get nice and crispy, I love crispy cheese, it is one of my all time favorite foods! I make sure I have plenty of cheese around the edges when I make this meal, or any pasta meal!
This meal is made complete with some garlic bread and vegetables. I love it with garden green beans and parmesan mushrooms!
Sometimes I make smaller dishes of it and add mushrooms to my own dish, since not everyone in my family likes mushrooms. I also like to add green beans to my spaghetti, they taste so good baked in the sauce! You can add any vegetables you like, you can also sub the hamburger for ground turkey or chicken or even sausage.
You can also change out the noodles, sometimes I use penne or rotini noodles, they are great with this dish. I also always try to use either whole wheat or extra fiber noodles. No one usually notices that they are not white noodles, it makes it a little healthier.
If you are using leftovers, take them out of the refrigerator to warm before you put them in the oven. I let them sit on the counter and come to room temperature before I start cooking them.
Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
24 oz spaghetti sauce
1 lb hamburger, cooked
1/2 onion
2 TBSP minced garlic
2 tsp black pepper
1 LB spaghetti noodles
2 cups cheddar cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese
Optional - mushrooms, green beans, zucchini, green peppers, carrots
Directions
Combine sauce, hamburger, onion, garlic and black pepper. Let simmer for 6- 8 hours
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Boil pot of water, put noodles in and cook for 8 -10 minutes, they will not be done
Combine sauce and noodles, put in baking pan. Top with cheese
Cook for about 35 minutes, or until top is brown and sauce is bubbly
Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes
