Creamy Baked Spaghetti

Creamy baked spaghetti with cream cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream, layered with beefy marinara and topped with cheddar. An easy spaghetti casserole that feeds a crowd.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Total Time 50

Servings servings

Calories 545kcal

Author Karly Campbell

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 9x13 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.

Video

Notes

Pasta: I love the twirly strands of spaghetti in this one, but penna, rigatoni, or ziti also hold up really well.

Cheese: The sharp cheddar is a little unexpected for a pasta dish, but it just works! Feel free to swap for mozzarella if you want more of a classic flavor.

Cottage Cheese: If you have a family of cottage cheese haters, you can either blend the cottage cheese so they don't notice the curds or you can swap in ricotta. Although, honestly, the cottage cheese really melts in nicely as is.

Make ahead: Assemble, cover, and refrigerate until ready to bake. Add an extra 10 minutes to the bake time.

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