Baked Spaghetti is everything you know and love about Bolognese in the form of an epic, juicy pasta bake with a bonus layer of molten cheese in the middle!
This is one of those rare foods that is a truly fabulous freezer meal and keeps for days in the fridge!
Baked Spaghetti
I call it a casserole, I call it a pie, I call it a pasta bake.
I actually don’t really know if there’s a proper name for this, but what I do know is this:
You are going to love it.
Because it’s everybody’s favourite Spaghetti Bolognese – PLUS CHEESE. Need I say more?? 🤷🏻♀️
So now, even if you’ve never made anything like this before, you know full well it’s going to be a home run right??
How to make it
On the face of it, you’re really just making a big batch of Bolognese Sauce then mixing it through pasta and baking it with a generous slug of cheese.
The Bolognese Sauce can be made in 30 minutes (minimum) or if you want to go all out, simmer it for a couple of hours and you’ll be rewarded with deeper flavours, a richer sauce and melt-in-your-mouth beef.
And to make the Spaghetti Pie ultra juicy, what I like to do is mix some of the sauce through the pasta and reserve some to spread on the layers.
Adding a layer of cheese slices in the middle also helps. You can use shredded if you prefer, but you get better cheese coverage using less cheese if you use slices. <– Pro cheese tip right there!
What you need
No surprises here – basically, you just need everything you use for Bolognese – plus cheese!
Carrot and celery is optional – ups the veg quota a bit but more importantly, adds to the flavour base of the sauce.
Sugar??
Only if needed. Many of the mainstream canned tomato brands here in Australia tend to be on the sour side rather than sweet and full of flavour as Italian ones are.
So if you’re dead set on Aussie-grown, add a touch of sugar to counteract the sourness. This can make all the difference especially if you’re doing a quick simmer rather than slow cooking!
BEST freezer meal!!
There are many recipes where I say “freezes fine”, but few where I say “freezes 100% perfectly!”
This is one of those freezer beauties. It is one of those dishes that comes out perfectly even after keeping it for months in the freezer.
And though it’s best cooked after thawing, it can even be cooked from frozen (though it does take over an hour, being a formidable block of ice that it is straight out of the freezer).
But the clincher is how smug you’ll feel, knowing you’ve got this in your freezer.
Open freezer door, plonk in oven.
Dinner.
Done.
– Nagi x
More Cosy Casseroles and Bakes
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Lasagna (and Vegetarian Lasagna is a must try!)
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Browse all Casseroles and Cosy Bakes
Watch how to make it
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Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
Bolognese Sauce:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 1 carrot , finely diced (optional)
- 1 stick celery , finely diced (optional)
- 750g / 1.5lb ground beef (mince)
- 3/4 cup (185ml) dry red wine (or sub with water or beef broth/stock)
- 3 beef bouillon cubes , crumbled (Note 1)
- 1.2kg / 2.4 lb crushed tomato , canned
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 - 3 tsp white sugar , if needed (Note 2)
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3 dried bay leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried thyme or oregano)
- Salt and pepper
Spaghetti Bake:
- 500g/ 1lb spaghetti
- 8 - 10 slices Swiss cheese (or other type), enough for a layer
- 2 cups (200g) mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
Sauce:
- Heat oil in a large, heavy based pot over medium high heat.
- Add garlic and onion, cook 2 minutes.
- Add celery and carrot, cook 3 minutes.
- Turn heat up to high, add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go.
- Once beef is brown, add wine. Simmer rapidly for 2 minutes.
- Add remaining Sauce ingredients, stir.
- Bring to simmer, lower heat, cover with lid. Simmer for 45 minutes (minimum) or 1.5 - 2 hours (best!).
- If liquid evaporates too much, add water - should be saucy (see video/pics). Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Assemble & Bake:
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Cook pasta per packet directions, minus 1 minute.
- Drain, then return into pot.
- Add just over half the Sauce, toss.
- Spread half the pasta in a casserole pan, spread with half remaining Sauce.
- Top with cheese slices, then remaining pasta, remaining Sauce, finish with mozzarella.
- Cover loosely with foil (so cheese doesn't stick), bake 25 minutes.
- Remove foil (reserve), bake further 10 minutes than remove.
- Cover loosely with foil, stand 10 - 15 minutes. Then cut slices with a knife and use a spatula to serve pieces like lasagna!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
This is what happens at dinners: wiping away a disgraceful amount of drool ALL down his front – literally!🤤
We love this! I make the sauce in the morning and assemble it in the afternoon and bake it in time for my kids to come home from school. It is always a hit! It holds well in the oven on a low temperature so my hubby can enjoy it nice and hot when he gets home later.
In order to prevent the foil from sticking to the cheese you can spray the foil lightly with some cooking spray. Thanks for a super easy meal that only requires one dish to wash after it is served.
Best recipe ever! Made it a few times now and there are NO left overs! Just made it again tonight but had to sub a few things, used sun-dried tomato paste instead of 🍅 paste, and burattea instead of mozzarella as this was what I had. It will be ready in 10 and everyone is so excited! Let’s hope the subs don’t disappoint us from the wonderful original! If you are reading this – you MUST make this recipe, you will not be sorry!!
Let’s face it…spaghetti is a pretty simple mid-week meal any time. But this baked version took it “next level simple” when de-frosted and placed in the oven. The kids gave mixed reviews about the Swiss cheese but husband and I loved the addition. Thank you past Me for pre-cooking and Nagi for the recipe
Yum my Mum makes this but with a cheese béchamel sauce on top 🤗
My favourite pasta recipe. Want to make this for a friend to freeze and eat later .. would it be ok to put it a foil dish with cover ? Learner chef here… love your recipes Nagi xx
Do not hesitate to make this! Top fave with the kiddos! I blended and snuck in some spinach. my 1 anti-veg son had no idea 🤫
As always, your recipes are delicious and so informative. Made this today for the first time and it is delicious. Thank you, Nagi!
Just had this for dinner tonight and it was a major hit with everyone. Thank you Nagi for always coming up with such delicious recipes.
I wanted something different to make with ground beef so I came straight to your website and searched. I always know your recipes will be easy to follow and turn out well!
My whole family loved this! Will definitely be making it again!
U forgot the worchestersauce…. 🙂
“add the sauce ingredients”
Easy and a crowd pleaser
Another winner!
Another winner! Added in sliced mushroom and 2 handfuls of fresh spinach.
Can this be made with minced chicken breast?
Love this recipe.I use chicken mince.Tastes even better a couple of days later..
I left a comment below but forgot to give the five stars!!
I didn’t have any meat in my kitchen! I used mushrooms and olives in the sauce and this turned out extremely well!! Very delicious. Thank you!
Could you please tell me what size dish is needed for this recipe. Thanks
You can use a 9×13 or slightly larger one here! N x
Hi Nagi. I made this and froze for my daughter plus 2 children to feed when when she didn’t have much time to cook. All she had to do was pop it in the oven without any preparation. They all loved it, not a scrap left. Another one requested. A success on all fronts. Thank you.
Can you make sauce first and keep in fridge and make it a few days later
Yes you can Glen! N x
In Canada, our crushed tomatoes come in 14- or 28-ounce cans. How do I translate your 2.4 pounds into liquid ounces?
Hi Libby – the 14oz can is equivalent to our 400 gram can in Australia and the 28oz can is equivalent to our 800 gram cans here. For this recipe you would use 1.2kg which is 1 x 28oz can plus 1 x 48oz can (total 76oz)! N x