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Our CREAMY BAKED SPAGHETTI WITH CREAM CHEESE is going to quickly become a new family favorite. Layers of saucy pasta, beef, and a rich, cheesy, melty center!
When it comes to pasta, I’ve got quite a few ‘go to’ recipes that we eat again and again.
Our homemade Alfredo sauce happens often. Ravioli Lasagna is my favorite way to get lasagna on the table quickly. This garlic shrimp pasta is ready in just 25 minutes.
But the number one pasta recipe that I make for my family, friends, and guests…is this Cheesy Baked Spaghetti.
You’ll start with spaghetti noodles, beef, and sauce. Standard spaghetti stuff.
But then the magic happens and you find yourself mixing together cream cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream into this heavenly concoction that makes for the ultimate cheesy pasta.
This recipe, you guys. It’s a winner in my family and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a winner in your family, too.
Ingredient Notes:
Pasta – We use spaghetti, but you could really use any shape you like here. You can’t mess this up.
Spaghetti Sauce – This is supposed to be a quick, easy family dish so feel free to grab your favorite jarred brand of sauce from the store. But if you want to get fancy, check out my homemade spaghetti sauce recipe! Just keep in mind that recipe makes a lot more sauce than what is needed for this baked spaghetti so you’ll have leftovers.
Cottage Cheese – It really melts in with the rest of the dairy so cottage cheese haters are unlikely to notice this one. You could swap in ricotta if you prefer.
Cheddar – This is a very polarizing ingredient for a pasta dish, so feel free to use mozzarella if you prefer. The cheddar really adds something though.
What Readers are Saying!
“Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I have made it 3 times, and will make it many more. So delicious!” – Anna
What do you call this recipe?
You’ve probably seen different versions of this recipe all over the Internet with a bunch of different names.
Million Dollar Spaghetti is the common name, but that recipe adds an entire stick of butter to the casserole and we just think its unnecessary (and we love butter).
We think this is pretty similar to Cheddar’s spasagna recipe too, but it’s been many years since we’ve eaten at Cheddar’s so I could be wrong on that.
Whether you call this cream cheese spaghetti, creamy baked spaghetti, million dollar spaghetti, or some other variation, these recipes are pretty similar in that they are rich, decadent, and oh so delicious! We’re obviously partial to our version.
How to Make Baked Spaghetti:
Pasta: To get started you’ll want to boil up some salted water in a large pot.
Use your favorite packaged brand of spaghetti and cook it for one minute less than it says to in the instructions. While the pasta boils you can move on to the next step!
Note: If you are all out of spaghetti noodles then macaroni, rigatoni, ziti and other types of pasta would work just as well!
Spaghetti Sauce: Start making the sauce by cooking the ground beef in a large skillet until it has browned, breaking it up into smaller pieces as it cooks. Drain the fat when it has cooked through.
Pour your favorite brand of spaghetti sauce in with the meat and simmer on low for a few minutes while the pasta cooks and you move on to the next step.
Cheese: Now we can get down to the good stuff! We’re going for a creamy, decadent dish so we’ll need lots of dairy.
We’re mixing together cream cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream to create this insanely decadent filling.
Stir garlic, salt, and pepper in to this mixture and then give it a taste. It’s divine.
Layer: Place half of the cooked spaghetti in a 9×13 baking dish, top with half of the cream cheese mixture and half of the sauce. Repeat the layers and sprinkle on some cheddar cheese.
Bake: Pop this in a hot oven and bake for 30 minutes.
You’ll want to let this set for 5 minutes or so before serving.
Just wait til you dig into this one!
Move over, lasagna. We don’t need you. <— Yes. I just said that and I don’t regret it one bit.
(Unless we’re talking about my taco lasagna. I still need that guy.)
Helpful Tip!
Short on Time?
Try our stove top version for a quick way to get that creamy baked spaghetti fix without actually baking it! This million dollar pasta is ready in just 20 minutes!
FAQs:
Of course! This is a great recipe to modify to suit your own tastes. Swap the cottage cheese for ricotta, use mozzarella instead of cheddar, brown up Italian sausage instead of ground beef, and use whatever shape of pasta you like.
Absolutely! Like most pasta recipes, this dish is even better the next day. Store, tightly covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. We like to reheat ours in the microwave.
Most million dollar spaghetti recipes include a full stick of butter melted in the bottom of the baking dish before adding the spaghetti and there’s certainly nothing stopping you from doing that. We’ve just tested this recipe both ways and we can never even notice the butter. It doesn’t seem worth the extra 800 calories added to the dish.
MORE BAKED PASTA RECIPES!
I’ve got lots of baked pasta dishes! Actually, I have a whole category devoted to pasta where you can find many of those recipes.
Check out this taco spaghetti recipe if you are looking for a Mexican themed pasta dish.
And of course I’ve got a version of the viral TikTok favorite recipe feta pasta!
This chicken spaghetti is another easy baked pasta recipe!
Cutting carbs and craving pasta? You’ll love my cream cheese zoodles! Even my kids eat zucchini noodles when they’re covered in this sauce!
Try my spaghetti squash casserole like this too! I hope you give this one a try and your family enjoys it as much as mine does.
And if you need a side dish to go with all this baked pasta then my creamy onion garlic bread is definitely worth trying!
I’m not sure how anyone could dislike all this creamy cheesy goodness, to be honest! 😉
Creamy Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 16 ounces spaghetti
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 24 ounces marinara sauce
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick spray.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook spaghetti for 1 minute less than the package directions state. Drain the water from the pasta.
- While the spaghetti is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat and brown the beef, crumbling it as it cooks. Drain the fat and add the marinara sauce to the meat. Simmer over low heat until the spaghetti is ready.
- In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, and garlic until smooth, creamy, and well combined. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Place half of the cooked spaghetti in the bottom of the baking dish. Dollop half of the cream cheese mixture over the spaghetti and spread as evenly as possible. Spread with half of the meat mixture. Repeat the layers once and top with cheddar cheese.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let set for 5 minutes before serving.
Gina says
I wanted to slim it down a bit, so used greek yogurt to replace the sour cream, and used both lowfat cottage cheese and cream cheese. I don’t think anyone would have noticed the difference. It turned out AMAZING!
Karly says
@Gina,
Brilliant idea to swap out the sour cream with greek yogurt! You get some extra protein in there too! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it!
Neil says
Awesome. Made with adding ricotta replacing cottage cheese (only because I didnt have cottage cheese!). Turned out fantastic
Amy says
Love your recipe. Tweeked it for my family a little. I don’t eat ground beef anymore, so I use a ground turkey/ ground sausage mix. They love it. We also added some spinach, corn and zucchini in there for added veggies. Went over great! Definitely made it to the family recipe book
Alison@the barefoot home says
Awesome!I made this for my women’s group at church tonight. Huge hit! Everyone loved it. This will be a regular at my house
Thanks so much for sharing your recipe!
Karly says
Yay! Glad y’all enjoyed it!
Stephanie @ Macaroni and Cheesecake says
Oh my word! This looks so comforting!
Alicia says
Hi Karley, I was just wondering if you could make this ahead of time and freeze it once it been cooled and baked to have as a meal once my new arrival comes. Please let me know when you can! Thanks in advance! Alicia.
Karly says
Hi Alicia!
I’ve never tried freezing this, but I imagine it work just fine. It’s so similar to lasagna that I think it would be great! I think that I might try freezing it before baking, though. Then again, I very rarely freeze foods like this, so if you’re more of a pro, do what you think is best! 😉
Karly
Bill aka "ArizonaBill" says
This recipes is fantastic ! And it’s going to the Pot-Luck dinner at my church this next weekend.
Karley, thanks. I’m always looking for great recipes. I am starting up my own little (not for Profit) cooking site and would love to feature some of your recipes, full credit would be given to you should you grant me permission to publish.
Bill, aka “ArizonaBill”
Kathy Faberge says
I made this yesterday. Only one word to describe it – DELICIOUS!
Meghan @ The Tasty Fork says
You really were holding out!! This looks so good!! I’ve pinned the recipe, so I can make this in the fall…. or if we get a random cold summer day. Which in Chicago, we probably will! (I hate using my oven when it gets warm outside.)
Krysten says
Made this tonight using spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti and it was DELICIOUS!!!!
Kim Beaulieu says
This is one of our faves too. Your version is spectacular. I just want to dig right in.
Joanne says
I rarely feel like making lasagna so hello perfect dinner solution!
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
Why have I never tried baked spaghetti?! I’m in love with this creamy version!
Cathie Hardy says
Replaced the cottage cheese with ricotta and the Cheddar cheese with fresh mozzarella. Yummo!
YinMom YangMom Allie says
Oooooh, man, that looks so good, Karly! So satisfying! I will have to bookmark this one. 😉