Easy weeknight cooking has never been easier and more delicious thanks to this delicious take on spaghetti. Baked spaghetti is a recipe that I grew up eating and was something my mom made on a regular basis. It’s everything you love about a traditional spaghetti, but topped with gooey cheese and fresh basil to really turn that whole yummy spaghetti situation into something even more delicious. This recipe is such a good one for weeknight dinners, entertaining, and meal prep. My take on my mom’s easy baked spaghetti will quickly turn into one of your absolute favorite family meals!

What I love about this baked spaghetti is that you can prep it in advance, it freezes well, and it’s such a crowd pleaser. I also love to take my favorite store bought marinara and jazz it up a bit to make the prep even easier on me. I simply brown up some ground meat with onions, garlic, carrots, some Italian seasoning, and a touch of brown sugar and then add in a jar of marinara and let it all simmer together! While that simmers I cook off some spaghetti noodles until just al dente because they will cook a bit further in the oven when you mix the sauce with the noodles, and we definitely do not want soggy noodles here. From there I toss the noodles in with the cooked meat sauce and top off with parmesan, and some fresh and shredded mozzarella cheese. It goes into the oven until the cheese is nice and bubbly and golden and then gets topped off with fresh basil!

YUM!

This dish really is so incredibly simple, but so tasty too! It’s a kid-friendly, adult-friendly, and actually an everyone-friendly kind of meal and I can’t wait for you to give this one a try!

Substitutions-

• Instead of ground beef you can use ground turkey, a mix of ground pork and beef, or a mixture of ground beef and Italian sausage.

• Feel free to sub your favorite gluten free spaghetti noodles here, just make sure that you don’t cook them too far in the boiling water as gluten free noodles can get mushy. (especially if they are legume based such as chickpea, lentils, etc)

• Use your favorite jarred marinara sauce and feel free to add in extra veggies like mushrooms or zucchini into the mix.

• You can also sub whatever your favorite shredded cheese is on top, including dairy free if need be. I do love the fresh mozzarella here so if you can, so I would add that for sure!

Ingredients:

• 1 Lb. Spaghetti Noodles (I used thin spaghetti)

• 1 Lb. Ground Beef (or other ground meat)

• 1 Jar Marinara Sauce

• 1/2 Cup Onion

• 2 Finely Minced Garlic Cloves

• 2 Small Carrots

• 1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning

• 1 Tsp. Brown Sugar

• 1 Tsp. Salt + plus more if needed to taste

• 1/2 Tsp. Black Pepper

• 1/4 Cup Water

• 2 Cups Grated Mozzarella Cheese

• 1/2 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan

• 8 Sliced of Fresh Mozzarella Cheese (not in water, but if so place on paper towels to drain excess moisture before using)

• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

• Fresh Basil for Garnish

Directions:

• Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add ground beef to begin to brown.

• Place onion and carrot into a food processor and pulse until finely grated. You can also grate by hand or finely chop.

• Add onion, carrot, and garlic to the ground beef and continue to cook.

• Season with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper and cook until vegetables are starting to get tender.

• Add in marinara sauce, brown sugar, and water at this time and cook for another 10 minutes until meat is cooked through and flavors have combined.

• Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bring a large pot of water to a boil.

• Once water is boiling add in a good amount of salt to the water before adding noodles. Cook the noodles until just al dente, with a little bite because they will continue to cook in the sauce in the oven.

• Once noodles are done taste test the sauce, and adjust salt if necessary, and then add the noodles to the sauce, reserving 1/2 Cup of sauce to the side and stir to combine.

• Grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish and then add the tossed noodles to the pan.

• Add the remaining sauce over top of the noodles.

• Top with shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese and then finish off with slices of fresh mozzarella.

• Bake for 20-25 minutes until cheese is golden and bubbly. If need place the oven on broil for the last 2 minutes of cooking to brown the cheese.

• Top with fresh basil and serve.

This easy baked spaghetti is the perfect fall dinner that is cozy, delicious, and anyone can make it with ease! Enjoy!