This Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole is super easy to put together and has a center layer of creamy, gooey cheese. This is one of my favorite ways to serve spaghetti and people just can’t get enough of it!
When I think of family dishes, I think of casseroles. Big, hearty casseroles are perfect for feeding a whole hungry horde—which is basically what a family is anyway. When you’ve got a ravenous family to feed, breaking out an old classic might be the only way to go. My go-to family casserole is a great recipe for Million Dollar Spaghetti.
If you’ve never had Million Dollar Spaghetti before, you simply must give this recipe a try. Imagine an easy combination of baked spaghetti and lasagna. Sounds good, right? This million dollar spaghetti is always a crowd pleaser, and I’ve found it especially useful for potlucks or large family gatherings.
A quick scan through the list will reveal that cottage cheese is used as one of the ingredients. I find that many people haven’t ever used cottage cheese in their cooking, and they think that using it will give their final dishes a cottage-cheese taste. That isn’t the case.
In fact, frankly, I’m really not all that fond of plain, cold cottage cheese. The taste….the texture…..not really my thing! But as an ingredient, mixed with other cheeses, then baked in a casserole it’s seriously incredible! It gives the whole dish a great creaminess. Not to mention that it’s a wonderful source of protein! You’ll notice that you can also use ricotta cheese, and I discuss that further in the recipe notes below.
I love that this recipe is budget friendly. It yields a lot of casserole—enough to feed 6-8 people. And the ingredients aren’t fancy or complicated or expensive. That’s one of the beauties of a casserole: simplicity in ingredients, and yet still achieving bold, fantastic flavor that believes me, your whole family will be begging you to make again and again.
And the leftovers… well, they’re awesome. Just awesome. Casseroles are known for reheating well, and this one is no exception. The pasta gets a little softer when you reheat it, but the flavor is still tremendous. I love serving those leftovers as an easy lunch.
SAVE THIS MILLION DOLLAR SPAGHETTI
TO YOUR CASSEROLE OR PASTA BOARD FOR LATER
LET’S BE FRIENDS ON PINTEREST! WE’RE ALWAYS PINNING TASTY RECIPES!
And you’ll find with this million dollar spaghetti recipe, calories don’t have to be a huge concern because the dish is so filling. A medium sized slice will fill you up no question.
In a comparison of recipes, I’ll say that with million dollar spaghetti casserole, Facebook is a place where lots of people find the recipe. There are a few of those little cooking videos going around for this recipe. I’ve watched some of them, and haven’t found that the recipes shown come close to this one. Honestly, this recipe is just slightly different than a lot of the recipes out there. But it’s those small tweaks and little extras in this recipe that add a huge amount of flavor without requiring much extra effort!
This ooey-gooey casserole is a rich, hearty comfort food. I love serving it to new moms, sick friends, or as a thank-you to anyone and everyone. It’s popular and delicious. I hope you give it a try for yourself!
Feeling More Like Eating A Million Dollar Chicken Dinner?
Our Million Dollar Chicken lives up to its name, with rich satisfying flavors – a golden roasted skin and juicy – tender meat! One of my favorite ways to make a comforting, simple roasted chicken.
What About Million Dollar Pie for Dessert?
Our Million Dollar Pie literally takes 5 minutes to put together! It’s actually said to have been given its name because it’s so delicious it taste’s like a million dollars!
Million Dollar Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 16 Ounces Dried Spaghetti Noodles
- 1 Cup 1 Medium Yellow Onion, Chopped
- 4 Cloves Garlic Minced
- 1 1/2 Pounds Sweet Italian Sausage Casing Removed
- 2--24 Ounce Jars Spaghetti Sauce-Divided
- 8 Ounces Cottage Cheese or Ricotta Cheese
- 8 Ounces Cream Cheese
- 1/4 Cup Sour Cream
- 3 Teaspoons Dried Italian Seasoning
- 3 Cups Mozzarella Shredded-Divided
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1/2 Cup Butter Cut Into Slices-Divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bring a large pot of water, with 1 Tablespoon of salt, to a boil. Cook pasta according to the package. Drain well, then return pasta to original pot, and add 1 jar of prepared spaghetti sauce and combine. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat until it shimmers. Add onion and garlic and cook until they begin to soften about 5 minutes. Add sausage to skillet, and brown, crumbling sausage with a wooden spoon. Cook until there is no longer any pink in sausage. Drain well. Add 1 jar of spaghetti sauce to skillet. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine Cottage cheese or ricotta cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, 1 cup mozzarella, and Italian seasoning. Set aside.
- Place half the sliced of butter in the baking dish. Spread half the spaghetti in the dish, then spread cheese mixture evenly over spaghetti. Top with the remaining butter slices. Spread remaining spaghetti over cheese mixture. Pour tomato meat sauce evenly over top layer of spaghetti.
- Top with remaining mozzarella and bake in preheated oven until casserole is heated through, about 35-45 minutes.
Nutrition
Recipe Notes For Million Dollar Spaghetti:
Cheese: My recipe here calls for you to make this delicious, family-style pasta with cottage cheese as one of the main ingredients. However, you can absolutely make million dollar spaghetti without cottage cheese. Now, I love the cottage cheese in this dish. I think it really contributes to the unique taste and creaminess of the final casserole. (If you look up million dollar spaghetti, Betty Crocker uses cottage cheese!) But, as I said earlier, if you’re adamant about serving baked spaghetti without cottage cheese, you can substitute in ricotta cheese. Use the same amount as the cottage cheese.
As is traditional with pasta dishes, a healthy sprinkling of parmesan cheese is a great final touch to this dish. Some families have a big parmesan cheese shaker in the middle of their table, which allows everyone to pick how much they want.
Pasta: Spaghetti noodles aren’t the only kind of pasta that can go into this dish. It works pretty darn well with a bunch of other shapes of pasta. My favorites with this dish are ziti or rigatoni.
Meat: I use Italian sausage in my recipe, and man, is it good. The extra flavor added by that sausage is simply outstanding, and really makes this recipe a true crowd pleaser. If you or your audience are not particularly fond of sausage, you can absolutely use ground beef instead, but I don’t think the final flavor is as robust.
Baking and Serving: Million dollar spaghetti is a fantastic combination of spaghetti and Italian sausage and cheese and a whole host of other goodness. As you might expect from the ingredients list and type of dish, garlic bread and salad are a fantastic first course for this dish. Unless I’m really in a rush, I try to always throw in a few slices of garlic bread and whip up a quick salad to accompany this dish.
One of the things that are great about this dish is that you can make it ahead of time. It’s a great dish to prep the day before or early on the day of serving. Just assemble the dish, and refrigerate. A covered pan of million dollar spaghetti can last 24 hours without drying out. Just before dinner you can pull the dish out of the fridge and bake. I would strongly recommend that you let the pasta sit out on the counter for 30 minutes or so after pulling it out of the fridge. Do not put a cold glass or ceramic baking dish in a hot oven or it might break. I usually pull the pasta out and set it on the counter while I fix the garlic bread and salad.
If necessary, you can use two 8×8 baking pans. Sometimes I’ll bake one small pan and freeze the other for a later meal.
After baking, this casserole needs to sit for a little bit before cutting. I usually give it 10 full minutes of cooling before I dig into it with a knife or spatula.
Baking Sheet: Place the casserole on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any spillovers!
Freezing: You can absolutely freeze million dollar spaghetti. In fact, I find it to be one of my favorite make-ahead-then-freeze dishes. Here are the freezing/thawing instructions:
- Assemble the recipe through step 5.
- Wrap the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap first, then aluminum foil. (Remember, plastic wrap sticks best to itself. Start with a long piece of plastic wrap that goes all the way around the baking dish.)
- Thaw the casserole overnight in the fridge.
- Bake it!
- Enjoy ♥
More Recipes You May Enjoy!
- Slow-Roasted Tomato Sauce and Spaghetti -Infused with flavors of the caramelized tomatoes and garlic, simply delicious!
- Crock Pot Spaghetti – Family favorite easy to make a meal, coated with a hearty meat sauce!
- Dorito Casserole – Dive into a delicious, Dorito-studded casserole layered with a zesty beef filling– This Dorito Casserole has all the flavor of our favorite orange chips.
- Italian Sunday Gravy – will get your family to the table like nothing else. Rich, hearty tomato sauce spiked with wine, succulent cuts of pork and meatballs.
- Five Cheese Ziti Al Forno– Our recipe for Olive Garden Five Cheese Ziti Al Forno is a delicious version of this wonderful meal. Uber Cheesy, warm and comforting – truly delightful!
- Chicken Spaghetti– This Super Easy Chicken Spaghetti is definitely going to be a favorite at your dinner table. A few pantry staples and some leftover chicken is all you need for this fast, fabulous weeknight fare!
- Authentic Ragu Bolognese Sauce – is unbelievably rich, has a tremendous depth of flavor, and has a sublime, natural sweetness to it, that is amazing!
- Baked Ziti– Baked Ziti with homemade mini meatballs, fresh basil, and three Italian cheeses coming out of the oven all hot and bubbly is Italian comfort food supreme!
- Baked Mostaccioli– When you need a creamy, cheesy pasta dish, Baked Mostaccioli is your answer. It combines sausage, alfredo & spaghetti sauce and more for an amazing dish.
- Macaroni and Cheese – a buttery golden breadcrumb crust top coupled with a rich, gooey inside and three different cheeses.
Source: Gonna Want Seconds–Originally Posted on Spend with Pennies
Carla Asper says
July 14, 2019 at 6:26 pmQuestion
..isthe nutrition info per serving?
Kathleen says
July 16, 2019 at 6:25 amHi, Carla, I just updated the nutrition facts per serving. Thank you, and I hope you like this recipe!
EJ says
May 29, 2019 at 4:02 amSuper easy and delicious! I used ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese and I used ground beef and Italian sausage for my meat lovers!
Kathleen says
May 29, 2019 at 2:18 pmHi, EJ! Great tweak! Glad you like this 🙂
Bee says
March 12, 2019 at 1:59 pmAbsolutely amazing! My son loved it…didn’t tell him all of the ingredients. Perfect with homemade garlic toast. Definitely will make again
Kathleen says
March 12, 2019 at 10:59 pmThanks so much Bee! So glad your son loves it <3
RR rOSENA says
March 8, 2019 at 11:10 pmThe BOMB made it twice I tweeked it a lil bit but very very delish. My family loved it. They wanted more and more. I do not even have left overs grand kids and all. They do not want regular spaghetti anymore.I give you 5 stars plus. Thankful for the recipe……..
Kathleen says
March 10, 2019 at 5:46 pmI’m so happy to hear that! My family is the same way now. No regular spaghetti only Million Dollar Spaghetti. LOL
Mary Hubbard says
February 11, 2019 at 2:48 amI have made this twice now and it is a big hit every time, I use a larger casserole dish to make it in though because it makes to much for any 8×8 I have
Kathleen says
February 11, 2019 at 5:42 amHi, Mary! Yay, so glad you like it! 🙂 <3
Janell says
January 20, 2019 at 4:43 pmI have made this before and it is delicious. We are iced in and I don’t have any cottage or ricotta cheese. Can this be made without it and still be good?
Kathleen says
January 21, 2019 at 6:50 pmHi Janell! Well, to be honest, I don’t think it will have that delicious creaminess! <3
Arlene says
November 19, 2018 at 12:32 amWow! I made this just now and the amount is HUGE! I kept checking the recipe to make sure I had the right measurements. I had to put my 9×13 on a cookie sheet pan because I knew it was going bake over.
The recipe says for 6 servings, but it definitely is more like 16. Lol
Also prep time and cook times are a little different. Takes some time to make this crazy goodness!
Kathleen says
November 20, 2018 at 6:22 pmHi Arlene! So glad you liked the Million Dolar Spaghetti. I agree with you it’s Crazy Good! <3
Jen says
October 26, 2018 at 2:54 amHi! I am planning on making this recipe for a large crowd tomorrow and just wanted to make sure that it is recommended to use 2- 24 oz sauce jars for recipe. Does it make it too saucy? Thanks
Kathleen says
October 26, 2018 at 2:51 pmHi Jen. I don’t think it’s over sauced at all. Hundreds of other people have made this and no one has commented that they thought it was too saucy. I hope you enjoy it!!
Debbie says
September 29, 2018 at 1:10 amHi Kathleen… just wondering what spaghetti sauce you used for this recipe
Kathleen says
October 13, 2018 at 4:31 pmHi Debbie I think I used “Classico-Tomato and Basil”
Cindy says
August 28, 2018 at 7:01 pmHow would this be with zoodles and not spaghetti?
Kathleen says
August 31, 2018 at 5:03 amHi Cindy! I love zoodles. I just worry about the water content of the zucchini noodles. I haven’t made Million Dollar Spaghetti with zoodles but I’m afraid the whole thing might come out on the watery side. Hope that helps.
Lisa says
August 27, 2018 at 5:37 pmEveryone loved this meal. I had to double the recipe for the amount of people and it was a bit of work. However, it was absolutely delicious!
Kathleen says
August 27, 2018 at 9:28 pmYay! So happy everyone loved it! Thanks for sharing! <3
Jeremiah says
August 18, 2018 at 4:10 pmGreat recipe! A little bit of work but well worth it.
Kathleen says
August 18, 2018 at 4:22 pmSo glad you liked the Million Dollar Spaghetti, Jeremiah!
Kathy thomas says
August 6, 2018 at 5:08 pmCan I freeze the portion that’s baked and didn’t get eaten? I baked the whole 9 x 13
And we have quite a bit left. I didn’t know if it would work to freeze the leftovers and reheat them later.
Kathleen says
August 12, 2018 at 9:15 pmHi Kathy. I do often. That said, the freeze makes the pasta a lot softer and some people don’t like it that way.
Ashley says
August 3, 2018 at 11:51 amI found this recipe via pinterest. I was a little hesitant because I’m not a huge fan of cottage cheese, but I thought I would try it and I could always change it next time. It was AMAZING!!! It is our new favorite meal. My husband even requested it as our Christmas dinner last year.
We have family coming into town tonight. When I asked my husband what he thought I should make for dinner, he instantly said Million Dollar Spaghetti! Thanks for sharing such a yummy recipe.
Kathleen says
August 3, 2018 at 3:53 pmOh, Ashley, you made my day!! I’m so happy that your family likes our Million Dollar Spaghetti and I really appreciate you sharing your experience with our community. I hope you give some of our other recipes a try and find some more family favorites <3
Kathleen Pratchen says
July 25, 2018 at 10:17 pmI made this and actually used plain yogurt, cream cheese and sour cream and goat cheese. Turned out great!!! Oh and cheddar cheese 😉
Kathleen says
July 27, 2018 at 1:31 pmSounds delicious, Kathleen! Thanks for sharing.
Miranda says
May 20, 2018 at 11:35 amIt turned out delicious. It was like making lasagna but i like this better. It even looked like your pics. I already shared the recipe with my sister. Thanks
Kathleen Smith says
May 21, 2018 at 4:00 amHi Miranda! So glad you enjoyed the Million Dollar Spaghetti. I’m thrilled to hear that your finished dish looked like the photos on the post. I always try to make the food look as realistic as possible so you know what your actually going to get when you make it! <3
Rachel says
April 23, 2018 at 4:19 amI would like to make this tmrw night. What size dish would you recommend if I would like to halve the recipe?
TIA
Kathleen Smith says
April 24, 2018 at 8:10 pmHi Rachel, I would recommend an 8×8 size dish, hope you enjoy this recipe!
Danielle Tynan says
April 30, 2018 at 3:49 amI made it and it was a freaking hit so cool!
Kathleen Smith says
May 1, 2018 at 6:32 pmYay! I am so happy you loved this recipe and thank you for sharing with us how this turned out for you!
Sharon says
April 17, 2018 at 11:08 amI will cook this tonight, but I mainly want to thank you for taking the time for the detailed explanation. A lot of people without someone like family to teach them do not have that. I will be cooking this with my 12-year-old grandson. Thankss.
Kathleen Smith says
April 20, 2018 at 11:35 pmThank you so much Sharon. I love hearing that you think its helpful. Sure hope you enjoy!
Amanda says
April 10, 2018 at 6:48 pmThis looks amazing! How many people does this recipe feed usually?
Kathleen Smith says
April 13, 2018 at 6:21 pmHi Amanda, 8-10 🙂
Kelly says
March 13, 2017 at 4:09 pmThis looks so amazing! Your pictures are stunning! Can’t wait to try it!
Kathleen Smith says
March 15, 2017 at 5:00 pmThank you Kelly! <3
Sonja says
March 3, 2017 at 3:18 pmEasy and so good! Ths
Kathleen Smith says
March 6, 2017 at 5:08 pmThank you Sonja. I totally agree with you!