On Sunday I made a double batch of my favorite baked spaghetti recipe to bring to a few mamas that could use a night off from cooking.
I love this recipe because it is easy to make in large batches, is super delicious and toddler approved. This dish is also freezer friendly, so if the recipient is stocked on food it can easily be frozen for later.
A Few Baked Spaghetti Recipe Tips
- Butter Hack! If you didn’t pull your butter out of the fridge early enough to soften for the recipe, set it on the stove top near the pasta noodles to slowly warm up!
- Use your favorite pasta sauce for this recipe — it can be homemade or store bought.
- Make sure your layers of ricotta and sauce are very thin to avoid too much liquid in the pasta.
- Use your stand mixer to mix up all the ingredients! This is so much easier than stirring by hand to coat the noodles and the attachment cuts up the pasta into much smaller noodles which makes it easier for serving.
- When gifting this dish to others, consider using disposable cake pans so the recipient doesn’t have to clean and return dishes. I use 8″ square or round pans and one pan feeds 2-3 adults or 2 adults and 2 small kids.
- You can freeze this dish for up to 3 months.
Baked Spaghetti
An Easy Freezer Meal to Bring to Others
Ingredients
- 1 16 oz package spaghetti
- 1 26 oz jar spaghetti sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 5 tbsp butter, softened
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, whisk the eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt and butter.
3. Add spaghetti noodles to egg mixture and mix well.
4. Place half of the spaghetti mixture in a large greased baking dish.
5. Top with a very thin layer of ricotta cheese, sauce and mozzarella cheese.
6. Repeat layers.
7. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 15-20 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Notes
I use 8" round or square disposable cake pans when gifting this meal to others. This recipe makes two small pans, but I usually double or triple the recipe to make a lot at once.
Want another meal idea for bringing to others? Check out my Greek Chicken Bowls! This meal is ALWAYS a hit. It’s not a freezer-friendly option but the ingredients keep really well in the fridge for several days so your recipient can eat it for a few meals.
This sounds like an awesome recipe!! Can't wait to try it! Ps- love those stickers on the top of your casseroles!
how would you prepare to freeze?
After you assemble the spaghetti, skip the baking step and cover it with foil then pop it into the freezer.
So you have baking directions if baked right away…what about after freezing it..how do you bake?
This looks so good! If I freeze do I let it thaw before popping in the oven? Also, do I bake as if I just made it?
Thank you,
Lisa
Baked spaghetti is one of my favorite comfort foods, and it does make such a great new mama meal! Those recipe cards are SO cute – any idea where your friend got them?
I love your recipe cards – so cute!! This looks like a yummy/ easy recipe, thanks for sharing!
This recipe sounds very similar to the one I use. it is so yummy! I love your recipe cards. That is a nice touch when gifting a meal.Chels @ Red Velvet Rooster
Yum! This sounds really good!
Yum! How much does one batch make? One 9" pan?
I was wondering the same thing, I need to deliver two meals next week to some mommies who just welcomed their second babies.
I made these for families of 4 (two adults).
Perfect! So one recipe makes one meal?
One recipe yields two 9" rounds! I doubled this batch for 4 pans!
perfect! Thank you for your response!!
Have you seen this? http://9gag.com/gag/appQMrM
Thank you for sharing this! I have so many meals to get out to new mamas next week! Sorry I'm a little confused…do you bake it first and then the instructions are just for reheating or do you send it "raw"
Good question! I'll update the post! I do NOT bake it before freezing. I also do not bake it for the recipient in case they want to freeze!
Yum!! This looks delish and would be great for a dinner at home or for someone else!
These are absolutely perfect and such a thoughtful thing for friends. I had the same question as Sarah…do you freeze it raw or bake and the card instructions are reheating instructions?
Freeze it raw! Skip the baking step! Then thaw it before baking.
I need to keep this in mind for the neighbors! I have my "go-to" meal when I drop off food for a new mommy, but love this idea for "just because."
So the recipe says to bake covered for 40 minutes and then uncover for 20-25 min. But the “card” attached to the dish says to bake 25-30 minutes covered and then uncover for 15. ??
I’ve updated the instructions — sorry for the confusion.
Can you please confirm baking instructions for:
Baking if frozen
Baking if thawed
Thank you for already confirming in above comments that either way, casserole should be baked from “raw” state. Thanks and I look forward to trying your recipe and sharing with others! 🙂
I haven’t baked it from frozen because my kids will never wait long enough to eat it. haha. But if from frozen, I would guess it would be about at least an hour from frozen (covered) then uncovered for another 15.
From thaw, bake at 350 for 30 minutes then uncover and bake for another 15-20 (or until the cheese is bubbly).
Could meat be added to this recipe?
I added a block of cream cheese and used my own canned spaghetti meat sauce and it was delicious. The cream cheese knocked it up a notch. Great freezable recipe.
I’m wanting to use this recipe in a cooking project for meal distribution in a couple weeks. One recipe will make 2 – 8×8 square pans, correct? (I need 20 pans) Also can I substitute cottage cheese for ricotta?
It seems unbelievable this is something your family eats with how slim and trim you are! Do you actually eat this yourself?
Haha! Well thank you! I only make this a few times a year but most definitely eat it!!! Also, i promise I’m not slim and trim everywhere — I’m just good at hiding it. Lol.
Love the recipe! Do you use unsalted butter? I never know, is there a trick to determine if a recipe that calls for butter is intended to use salted or unsalted?
i used unsalted butter but I think it would be better with salted butter!!
The instructions don’t include the red pasta sauce. Where does it come in?
Have you ever added frozen meatballs?
no, but I don’t see why you couldn’t!
How many adult-sized servings are in one pan?
I’m wanting to make this into individual frozen meals. Would the cooking time be the same? Or would it be adjusted? How many meals can I get out of one recipe?
Thanks for the recipe! I love pasta!! I’m taking care of my mom who is suffering from cancer. I’m trying to get some freezer meals cooked up to make things a little easier for both of us and this sounds great. I am wondering how long this keeps in the freezer.
How many single servings does this make? What size foil pan would I use?
And how do the cooking times vary if at all? Sorry for the loaded questions. Just trying to figure things out. Please let me know. I look forward to your response.
Thank you
Just made this into 6 individual square servings.
Found containers on Amazon. I’m planning to share with a few elderly neighbors.
Thanks for sharing. Delicious and easy
Friends children are allergic to tomatoes. Wonder if Alfredo sauce would work with this instead of spaghetti sauce.
This was great made fresh and cooked right away. I doubled the recipe and made 2, one for that day and one that I froze for later. The cooking from frozen directions were way off, after the first hour at 350 covered it was still basically a solid block of ice. I used a 9×9 pan so it was pretty thick. Maybe would be better in a bigger, thinner pan. If it’s thick like mine was I would consider heating at 375 and for longer than an hour before uncovering.