This easy baked spaghetti recipe is sure to become a family favorite! It’s kid-friendly, quick, and uses basic ingredients everyone will love.
This easy baked spaghetti recipe is a Drake family favorite. I’m pretty sure most moms have their own version of this that they make on a regular basis. It’s got a lot of things going for it…it’s easy, pretty quick, hearty, usually there are leftovers and it’s relatively healthy. When my kids were home, I knew I could make this and everyone would eat it. No one complained! All I needed was this casserole with some garlic bread and we were ready to eat.
Easy Baked Spaghetti Recipe
Easy Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 - 1.5 lbs. ground beef
- 24 oz. jar of your favorite tomato/spaghetti sauce
- 12 oz. rotini pasta
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large pot, cook the pasta according to package directions.
- (I always add salt and a little olive oil.)
- Drain pasta.
- In the same large pot, cook the ground beef until it is no longer pink.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Drain or pat off any excess fat/grease.
- Pour the spaghetti sauce into the pot of ground beef.
- Stir and add chopped fresh basil if desired.
- A little at a time, add the cooked pasta to the sauce/beef mixture.
- (You want plenty of sauce because the pasta continues to cook as it bakes.)
- At this point you can put the pasta/sauce mixture into a casserole dish or
- keep it in the cooking pot.
- Top with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
- Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until bubbly around the edges.
I’ve been making this dish for so long that I honestly don’t remember how I came up with it. It’s certainly not anything complicated, but sometimes those types of recipes turn out to be the best. Kids love this because there are no weird ingredients and it’s not spicey. I love using fresh basil when I have it in my garden and it’s wonderful in this easy baked spaghetti recipe. I just chop up about 6 – 8 leaves and throw it in. It adds freshness and a little color.
I have, on occasion, doubled this recipe and it works well if you need to feed a crowd. A double recipe fits in a 9 x 13 pan and bakes very evenly. When I make a single recipe, I use the same pot for everything. I first cook the pasta, followed by the hamburger. I mix everything together, top with the mozzarella cheese and bake it right in that same pot. One last thing. When this is baking in the oven, it smells wonderful. It smells like mom is in the kitchen. It smells like home.
More easy family favorites:
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