Leftover Spaghetti Bake is an easy way to really transform leftover spaghetti into a different meal the second night. You can use spaghetti with meat sauce or with meatballs in this recipe too! The sky is the limit.
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This Baked Spaghetti recipe was born from the desire to have something besides leftover spaghetti the second night.
Spaghetti is a favorite around our house, and we eat it frequently.
But it makes a lot, and there’s always enough for another night’s dinner.
Sometimes I just want to do something different than warming up the leftover spaghetti in the microwave though.
So, this is how I throw the spaghetti together in a casserole dish to make it an entirely new meal.
This is a very popular recipe on our blog so I hope you enjoy it too!
Disclosure – I may get a small commission for purchases made through affiliate links in this post.
🔑 Key to Success #1 – Choose Your Own Adventure
This basic leftover spaghetti dish can be customized a zillion different ways but it all starts with your favorite spaghetti recipe.
My son, Noah, loves spaghetti and meatballs. He insists on the meatballs.
So my leftover spaghetti almost always has meatballs in it.
First, combine your spaghetti noodles and your sauce if not already done so.
You can add additional meat or additional vegetables to your spaghetti if you’d like.
You can add onions or peppers or carrots if you’d like but make sure they’re already cooked/soft before you add them since this is a quick-cooking pasta dish.
The amount of pasta you have is not super important either.
If you have at least 3-4 servings of pasta, I wouldn’t change the amount of the other ingredients listed in the recipe.
🔑 Key to Success #2 – Bake Covered
After you add the Italian seasoning, eggs, butter, and Parmesan cheese, spread the pasta into your greased baking dish and cover the whole thing with aluminum foil. (Does anyone still call it tin foil?)
You’ll bake the pasta for about 30 minutes covered with foil.
Make sure the foil is fully covering the pasta so that it doesn’t dry out in the oven.
If you reach 30 minutes and you feel like your pasta is not warm enough, pop it back into the oven covered for up to 15 minutes more.
🔑 Key to Success #3 – Sprinkle on the Cheese
I like to top this Spaghetti Bake with freshly shredded cheddar cheese but you could also use mozzarella cheese for a more traditional Italian spaghetti dish.
However, I’m a big lover of cheddar cheese on spaghetti, so I hope you’ll give it a shot.
After you’ve sprinkled the cheese on top of the oven-warmed spaghetti bake, return it to the oven for another 10 minutes or so, uncovered, until the cheese is melted and gooey.
You may also use a broiler to melt the cheese on top of this dish if you have one.
Just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t become too brown!
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that you can make this dish with fresh pasta as well.
I’d suggest using a half-pound of cooked pasta noodles (does not have to be spaghetti!) and a jar of prepared sauce.
I prefer the Prego Traditional pasta sauce but you can use your favorite variety or even homemade spaghetti sauce.
📌 Save this Leftover Spaghetti Bake to your favorite Easy Meals Board!
Leftover Spaghetti Bake
Ingredients
- your favorite spaghetti recipe with sauce
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 eggs beaten
- 2 Tbsp butter melted
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9X13 inch baking dish.
- Combine prepared spaghetti with sauce, Italian seasoning, eggs, butter, and Parmesan. Spread into greased baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.
- Remove foil and add shredded cheddar. Cook uncovered 10 minutes until cheese is melted.
Notes
- Cheddar cheese is our favorite cheese to use in this leftover spaghetti casserole recipe.
- You can substitute mozzarella or mozzarella and Parmesan cheese for the cheddar cheese.
- Or any cheese that you prefer will be great.
- If your spaghetti does not have a lot of sauce, you may need to add a little bit of water. Start with 1-2 tablespoons and then add more as needed.
- This spaghetti recipe can be customized by adding cooked vegetables or other sauces.
- Start by cooking the hot dish covered with foil to retain moisture.
- Remove the cover at the end of cooking to brown the cheese for a pretty presentation.
- Top with chopped parsley, if desired.
Equipment
Nutrition
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Tammyd
Sunday 24th of March 2024
Tried this last night with some leftover meatsause and spaghetti noodles and it was delicious!!! Simple to make and a recipe I'll be using again for sure
Monica Caplin
Thursday 8th of February 2024
It would be fun to add pepperoni to make it more like a pizza spaghetti
Jennifer
Thursday 8th of February 2024
I think adding pepperoni is a great idea! I used to make pizza spaghetti occasionally and the family loved it.
anon
Saturday 6th of January 2024
Eating this now as I write this review. Halved the recipe and made some cheese substitutions since I had limited parmesan and no cheddar. I ended up using a mix of provolone, parmesan and bits of brie. It was still all v. delicious! Thanks for the recipe! :)
Patricia Bethke
Tuesday 12th of September 2023
I live alone and eating leftovers is not my favorite, even spaghetti. I really like spaghetti. Sometimes I make meatballs also, but its still spaghett. I decided to try your recipe today just for something different. and I love it! It's spaghetti with a twist, a delicious twist. I'm looking forward to leftover Leftover Spaghetti tomorrow!
Atomsk
Wednesday 5th of July 2023
This wasn't a college essay with a three-thousand word requirement. I only need the ingredients and time to cook.