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
- One Pot Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
- Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade Hamburger Helper)
- Moussaka
- Baked Ziti
- Lasagna (and Vegetarian Lasagna is a must try!)
- Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake
- Seafood Gratin Pasta Bake
- 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!🤤
Made it tonight and it was lovely. The first cheese topping I used a mandolin to cut cheddar cheese and it worked okay. The Mozzarella I used was ready shredded for pizzas and maybe better shredding a different Mozzarella. Very tasty and will be making again. Thank you, yet another great meal from Nagi..!
Hi Nagi. Made this and substited GF spaghetti (being a glutard !). Amazing. Husband had it 3 days in a row, took to work for lunch the next day and told his boss how good it was. Boss came in a few days later with same, (after telling his wife) and not too thrilled but obviously not your recipe as it was nothing like yours…have now passed your recipe on. You are amazing !!
Hello, this looks delicious and I would love to try it. I just have one question, can I leave some of the canned tomatoes out?? It seems like an awful lot, more tomatoes than mince!! My husband isn’t a real fan of “tomatoey” mince.
Hi Natalie, I suppose you could – the amount does cook down and bolognese is a tomato based sauce though. You’ll need to adjust the liquids accordingly. N X
Wow; yum. Didn’t have celery so added coriander seeds for some added flavor. We don’t have Swiss cheese in my local shops so used slices of halloumi instead. Came out perfect and enjoyed every bit of it.
Sounds perfect!! N x
OmGoodness. I am not a kitchen guru. Boiled eggs is usually what pple know is my speciality so when I challenged my self to cook I found this baked spaghetti recipe…..you just saved my reputation in the kitchen and my boyfriend loves this recipe. It was my bday surprise dinner gift for him. Thank you Nahi 🤗
WAHOO, this is the BEST! N x
Hi, what if I added some canned creamy tomato sauce to the mix, just before spreading in the casserole pan? Will it be ok or too many flavours? xx
Hi Avi, there really is no need – the flavours in the recipe alone are amazing 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi, I have made several of your recipes and they have all been a big HIT! Can’t wait for you to post more… Can I ask which kind of dry red wine is best for this bolognese sauce?
Thanks! xx
Hi Dee, I usually pick up the reds in the discount bin at the local bottle shop 🙂 N x
i use prego sauce and add meat ball besides cheddar and mozarella cheese. everyone love it!! thank you for sharing
Amazing! It’s rare that I find a recipe that my whole family will enjoy. This bake went down well with the husband and my two boys (5 and 3) devoured it! The 3 yr old asked for seconds which never happens! Thank you thank you. Your recipes are so fab – I recommend them to everyone! (The videos are so helpful too).
Wahoo! That’s great to hear Naomi!! N x
Can you give me a veg option for this recipe
Can I use chicken bouillon cubes instead of beef? It’s all I have.
Hi Sylvia, you can use chicken although it wont have the same beefy flavour like beef cubes 🙂 N x
Thank you! I ended up using the chicken and it came out amazing! My husband and 5 year old loved it. I’ll be sure to get beef bouillon for next time. Thank for a delicious meal!
So good!
Nagi !!
If there is another life after this one please accept my marriage proposal now. Your recipes are fantastic and are my go to folder when I want to impress. Thank you for ever.
😂 Love this Mac!! N x
Yes. Yum. Made this tonight, really tasty, Nagi you are truly filling my days with your amazing recipes, while we all self isolate. Thumbs up.
Wahoo! That’s awesome Michelle ❤️
I make the bolognese part of this recipe over and over again in the slow cooker and just eat it scooped onto garlic bread. It is my absolute favorite thing to eat
YUM! Love this idea! N x
Hi dear shall I cook the pasta only one min ??