There's nothing more comforting than a good spaghetti casserole. Try this southern chicken spaghetti with Ro*tel next time!
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❤️ Why you'll love it
- Easy
- Takes just 30 minutes
- Kid friendly and feeds a crowd
Million dollar spaghetti is a hearty casserole that is a mash-up between a lasagna and a spaghetti recipe.
It's full of rich marinara, seasoned ground beef, and creamy cheeses... with a gooey cheese topping.
🧾 Ingredients
🔪 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.
Step one
- Preheat the oven to 350°
- Cook spaghetti in salted, boiling water - don't overcook!
- Drain. Add 12 ounces (½ a jar) of marinara sauce to the spaghetti and set aside.
Step two
- Add onion and ground beef to pan.
- Saute until beef is cooked and onion is almost translucent.
- Add garlic and 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning; cook for a minute or two more.
- Drain excess fat from pan.
- Add half the sauce to the meat mixture and stir well. Set aside.
Step three
- Heat the cream cheese in the microwave until soft.
- Mix ½ cup of the Mozzarella, cottage cheese, and cream cheese with 1 teaspoon of the Italian seasoning.
- Blend until smooth and well mixed.
Step four
- Place 8 squares of butter in the bottom of the 13x9-inch pan.
- Cover with half the spaghetti.
- Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the spaghetti and gently smooth into a layer.
- Sprinkle with 1-½ cups of Mozzarella.
- Cover with the remaining spaghetti.
- Add the meat sauce in a smooth layer.
- Add the remaining spaghetti sauce over the meat.
- Cover with the remaining cheese.
Step five
- Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
- Check and if the cheese is getting too brown cover with aluminum foil and bake 10-15 more minutes - or until the center registers 165° on an insta-read thermometer.
- Remove from the oven and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.
🥫 Storage
This easy spaghetti bake should be covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to three days. You can even assemble it ahead
You can freeze it before or after baking. Just cover tightly and freeze for up to four months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking as instructed in the recipe.
If the dish has been in the refrigerator let it sit out on the counter for 30 minutes or so so the glass doesn't shatter with the quick temperature change when it goes in the oven.
📖 Variations
- Use Italian sausage in place of half or all of the ground beef.
- Ricotta can be substituted for cottage cheese.
- Provolone can be used as the top layer instead of Mozzarella.
- Add a little Parmesan as well.
- Some people like it with Cheddar cheese on top.
- Add a sprinkle of crushed red peppers for a little more bite.
- Use any type of pasta that you like.
- Love cheese? Double the ingredients in the creamy filling.
🍽️ Serve with...
Million dollar spaghetti is such a hearty casserole you don't need much else. I like to serve it with a salad and garlic bread.
And for dessert? You just can't go wrong with these easy brownies.
💭 Tips
Expert Tip: I like to break the spaghetti up into thirds before cooking. The smaller sized noodles make it easier to cut and serve.
- This is a good dish for sneaking in vegetables if you have veggie-haters at your house. Chop them and add in with the meat and sauce mixture.
- Let the million dollar spaghetti casserole sit for about 5-10 minutes after you remove it from the oven. This gives it a chance to solidify a little and it won't fall apart (much) when you cut into it to serve.
- Use a lean ground beef. I like the 90/10 mix.
- This is amazing for potlucks! It doesn't have to be steaming hot to be good AND it's easy to take with you. Plus it makes a ton. I've never brought any leftovers home - the dish is always clean.
👩🍳 FAQs
Here are the most commonly asked questions about this recipe. If you don't find the answer to yours here leave a comment below or email me - I'll get back to you as soon as I can!
Well, because it tastes like a million dollars! It's a super rich casserole and I imagine that's where the name comes from.
Yes you can. Make sure you freeze it in an aluminum baking pan so there's no concern for breakage. Cover with aluminum foil and bake covered for about 30 minutes, then uncover and bake 20 minutes longer, or until it is hot all the way through. I stick an insta-read thermometer in the center. When it reads 165F it's done.
Related recipes
📞 The last word
- Use block Mozzarella and shred it yourself. I was in a hurry and grabbed a bag of shredded from Costco. It had so much cellulose stuff on it to keep it from sticking together that it didn't melt properly (at all - it was still just strips of cheese) and I had to have my son run to the store for a block of Mozzarella while I scraped it off and then added the real stuff. It was frustrating so don't make this mistake!
- The recipe says to put part of the marinara sauce on the spaghetti. How much you add depends on your taste. If you like a real saucy spaghetti then add more. The sauce will not sink down and mix with the spaghetti so get it the way you like it before layering.
📖 Recipe
Million Dollar Spaghetti
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons butter, sliced
- 2 pounds ground beef, lean
- ½ cup cottage cheese
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 3 cups Mozzarella, grated
- 1 cup onions, diced
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 pound spaghetti, broken into thirds
- 3 cloves garlic
- 48 ounces marinara sauce
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°
- Cook spaghetti in salted, boiling water - don't overcook!
- Drain. Add 12 ounces (½ a jar) of marinara sauce to the spaghetti and set aside.
- Add onion and ground beef to pan.
- Saute until beef is cooked and onion is almost translucent.
- Add garlic, smoked paprika, and 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning; cook for a minute or two more.
- Drain excess fat from pan.
- Add half the sauce to the meat mixture and stir well. Set aside.
- Heat the cream cheese in the microwave until soft.
- Mix ½ cup of the Mozzarella, sour cream, cottage cheese, and cream cheese with 1 teaspoon of the Italian seasoning.
- Blend until smooth and well mixed.
- Place 8 squares of butter in the bottom of the 13x9-inch pan.
- Cover with half the spaghetti.
- Spoon the cheese mixture over the spaghetti and gently smooth into a layer.
- Sprinkle with 1-½ cups of Mozzarella.
- Cover with the remaining spaghetti.
- Add the meat sauce in a smooth layer.
- Add the remaining sauce over the meat.
- Cover with the remaining cheese.
- Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
- Check and if the cheese is getting too brown cover with aluminum foil and bake 10-15 more minutes - or until the center registers 165° on an insta-read thermometer.
- Remove from the oven and let stand 5-10 minutes.
Notes
- This is a good dish for sneaking in vegetables if you have veggie-haters at your house. Chop them and add in with the meat and sauce mixture.
- Let the million dollar spaghetti casserole sit for about 5-10 minutes after you remove it from the oven. This gives it a chance to solidify a little and it won't fall apart (much) when you cut into it to serve.
- Use a lean ground beef. I like the 90/10 mix.
- This is amazing for potlucks! It doesn't have to be steaming hot to be good AND it's easy to take with you. Plus it makes a ton. I've never brought any leftovers home - the dish is always clean.
Julie
Turned out great! Changed my rating to 5 stars!!! Thanks for the clarification on the process! 🤩
Julie
I'm a little confused about your directions. #10 says to mix the Mozzarella, cottage cheese, and cream cheese with 1 tsp. Italian seasoning. #15 says to sprinkle 1 1/2 cups of the Mozzarella over the cheese mixture. #19 says cover with remaining cheese. Can you clarify those directions. Also, I don't see mention of the sour cream or cayenne in the directions and also wonder about the smoked paprika that's in the picture but not in the recipe. I think I will use a larger pan next time because the 9 X 13 was a bit small. Looking forward to dinner tonight but would appreciate it if you could clarify the directions for me. Thanks!
Marye
The instructions are fixed. 1/2 cup of Mozzarella goes in with the cottage cheese, sour cream, and cream cheese in #10. 1-1/2 cups get sprinkled over the cheese mixture. and the remaining 1 cup goes on top.