Skillet Baked Spaghetti {One Pot, 30-Minute Meal}
This one pot, 30-minute baked spaghetti recipe is sure to please even the pickiest eater! It is simple to prepare and super delicious.
Don’t you think Mondays just call for an easy breezy dinner solution? Something quick and delicious that requires very low levels of brain activity and even lower levels of cleanup?
Say, a skillet baked spaghetti made start-to-finish in one skillet, for example?
I do.
This dinner is a perfect weeknight what’s-for-dinner solution. It’s uncomplicated and incredibly tasty
. And while you might be cursing my name for the extra-full skillet (don’t worry, if you stir carefully, you’ll be juuuust fine), the fact that you only have to clean one skillet will have you thanking me later.
I have nothing against regular, old spaghetti. We eat it often, in fact. But everyone needs a couple spaghetti variations in their menu planning archives, wouldn’t you agree? And this is a keeper.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I carry a lot of love around in my heart for one-pot/one-skillet meals.
What To Serve With This:
Divine Breadsticks or Cheesy Garlic Bread
Steamed vegetable like broccoli or peas
Simple green salad (or something more fancy like this Gourmet Green Salad)
One Year Ago: Sweet Baked Ham {The Most Unique and Delicious Ham I’ve Ever Had}
Two Years Ago: Easter Dinner Make-a-Menu 2012
Three Years Ago: Crispy Oven-Baked Chicken
Skillet Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef or turkey
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 12 ounces spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces (see note)
- 3 (15-ounces each) cans crushed tomatoes
- 3 cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 4 ounces light cream cheese, softened and cubed
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large 12-inch nonstick skillet (see note above) that is oven-safe, cook the ground beef or turkey with the garlic and red pepper flakes over medium to medium-high heat, breaking the meat into small pieces, until the meat is cooked through, 5-6 minutes. Drain any excess grease, if needed.
- Stir in the oregano, basil, thyme, spaghetti, crushed tomatoes, water, salt and pepper. The skillet will be very full! You are going to want to curse my name. It’s ok. I still love you. If you stir carefully, you’ll be fine. Just kind of lift the pasta up and over to get everything well combined.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and cook, covered, stirring every once in a while to prevent sticking and break up the noodles, for 12-14 minutes, until the pasta is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. It’s ok if it still looks quite liquidy as it will continue to thicken while it broils and rests. While the pasta cooks, preheat the broiler.
- Stir in the cubed cream cheese until it has melted and combined with the pasta. Sprinkle the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the top and broil until golden and bubbly, 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from the oven and let it sit for 5 or so minutes before serving.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: inspired by a recipe in America’s Test Kitchen Best of 2009 (changed all the ingredient amounts to better feed our family as well as changing the liquid ingredients, some of the spices, cheese, etc.)
66 Comments on “Skillet Baked Spaghetti {One Pot, 30-Minute Meal}”
A family favorite! We have been making this for years in regular rotation. I always have the ingredients on hand.
This is a great recipe! I have it listed in “Recipes I have Made on Pinterest”. Not a lot of recipes get listed there with a 5 Star rating!!! This is one! I made this recipe in a large sauce pan and it wasn’t messy. It’s delicious and children should like it as well. Leftovers go in the freezer. Thanks, Mel!!! @cantstopcooking
Thanks, Marilyn!
I love this dish. I even made a few batches to freeze for after I had my baby. They heated up great!
My skillet is not oven safe. Could I do the first part on the oven and then transfer it to a baking dish for the oven part?
Absolutely!
I made this last night for the family and it was a hit. Plus it was easy to make, and I love a one-pot meal.
I had great success making this in the Instant Pot! After browning the meat with the garlic and red pepper flakes on Sauté mode, I added everything else, just reducing the water to 1 and ½ cups and the crushed tomatoes to 2 (15-ounce) cans. Cooked on High for 5 minutes. Quick release and stirred in the cream cheese. Sprinkled the cheeses over the top and put the the lid back on for a couple of minutes. It was delicious and an even easier version of this family favorite!
That’s amazing! Thanks for reporting back!
So this was awesome….even after I dumped most of it into the oven, cried over it, then put it back in the pan and ate it anyway. 🙂
Oh no!!
Hey, Mel, this looks yummy! My broiler has a Hi and Low setting. What do you recommend?
Thanks!
Molly
Probably low, just so it doesn’t burn.
Made this last night, our family loved it!!! Will definitely be making again. My 10 year old son is very picky, and even he loved this dish! Chunks of tomato and all:) another winner from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe! love this website!
Any tips for making this in the instant pot? Just trying to figure out how much water would be needed…
Hmmm, I’m not sure as I haven’t tried it, and pasta can be a little tricky in the IP. If you experiment, let me know how it goes!
I stumbled upon this on your blog looking for quick pasta dishes and made it tonight. Very easy and quick to make and my husband, 3 kids and myself all loved it! Thank you for continuing to save dinner at our house 🙂
Just made this and will definitely be making it again. So easy and so yummy. Thanks!
Made this for the second time last night. Everyone loved it again. I’ve made it with ground beef and ground turkey breast. I felt like ground beef had more flavor (although ground turkey thigh would probably be a better turkey option instead of the breast). I love how quickly this comes together!!
I made this last night and it was a huge hit! I will definitely be making it again. How could I adapt this to make as a meal to take to someone?
Possibly just transfer it to a serving dish after it finishes cooking (a disposable aluminum dish) and take it that way.
To tack onto this… Could I freeze this once in a disposable tin? This is a family favorite here and I’d love to bring this so they could freeze if needed.
That should work just fine!
Loved this even with the slight variations I had to make (diced tomatoes, fettuccine noodles and Italian seasoning). Thanks!
This last step to broil really deepened the flavor of this dish, I have tried other skillet options and this is my favorite so far. I served with crushed pepper flakes instead of adding for those who like ( and dislike) spice.
Wow! Another keeper. Two things I love…..noodles and cheese! I add cream cheese to a lot of recipes. So this grabbed me immediately. I only had one large can of crushed tomato so I added a third cup of tomato sauce to make up for the liquid ounces. I did add the full pound of dry pasta because I prefer my spaghetti on the dryer side. It was freaking yummy and so simple. I will definately be making this one again. As always, thanks so much for sharing this one. ♡
Okay, I was cursing a little, even after being warned and using a 12″ skillet. Ended up with a super messy stove but a delicious hit meal, of course. I preferred cleaning the stove to washing a million pots and bowls anyway! Hearty and cheesy and plenty of leftovers!
This is one of my top 10 freezer meals now. I love this recipe. It is great to pull from the freezer with all the prep work and measuring done. I put all sauce ingredients in a gallon ziplock, with cheeses in a separate bag and pasta on hand (can keep the box in freezer too if you like, but not necessary.) It is an easy meal without being a freezer meal, but I am a nurse and I have zero energy left when I get home and 4 other hungry people to feed. I love the ease of thaw and dump. Thanks for a great recipe!
Yum!!! We really enjoyed this for dinner tonight. To make it even easier than it already is, I used Barilla Cut Spaghetti noodles. The pieces are 1″ instead of 2″, but nobody here seemed to mind and I loved saving the step of having to break the noodles!
Thanks for sharing, Mel! When I saw this recipe in Cook’s Illustrated I looked online for the recipe and could find nothing, so I started tweaking it myself. This has become a family favorite for sure. We eat it several times a month. Next time I will have to try your version, because, hello-cream cheese. I make mine in my wide Le Creuset ‘French Oven’
Love, love loved this!! Huge hit with the whole family. Was shocked how well the pasta baked given how full the pan was. To answer Paige’s question, it works wonderfully in a cast iron pan. It was full, but worked great. This recipe is going into heavy rotation. Thanks Mel!
It’s been a long time since I left a comment, but I just wanted to say that this was a delicious dinner. I made the garlic cheese bread to go with it and it was WAY too yummy. I didn’t use all of the 3 cups of water. More like 1 3/4 cups. Turned out fantastic!
Looks great! We need a spaghetti variation. I don’t have any non stick skillets, though. Do you think I could use a cast iron skillet?
Paige – I think cast iron would work pretty well as long as it is big enough. This completely fills up a 12-inch regular skillet.
Is it okay to put tomato sauce in a cast iron skillet?
I’m not sure…I’ve never used a cast iron skillet for this recipe.
I have to admit I had my doubts when I saw only 1/4 of pan left above the mixture but it all worked out great and tasted wonderful. One question though, mine turned out kind of pink (like you would expect from a Vodka Sauce. Could this have been from my substituting regular cream cheese for the light version? I can’t think of any other reason it was not rich and red like your photos.
Mike – I am not sure… but it could be because of the cream cheese. Did you use more cream cheese than it called for? Also, pictures can sometimes be a bit deceiving. The pics make it look slightly more red than in person. I am glad you liked it though!
This was delicious. Now I need to make sure I get an oven safe skillet with a lid. THANKS as always!!
I love my Best Skillet cook book! Made this recipe for dinner tonight and it’s so good. I think you deserve some type of reward because all THREE of my kids loved it. That hardly ever happens!
So happy Mel to see the Side Dish suggestions at the top of the recipes! I’ve noticed it on a few recipes as I’ve made my menu for the week. THANK YOU!!
This was excellent! I was afraid my 12″ skillet wasn’t deep enough, so I just cooked it in a larger short stockpot with a lid. The only change I made was add five slices of some tasty Whole Foods pepperoni (chopped) I had left over from making pizza. It was a great addition (I used ground turkey, too). I just sprinkled the cheeses over the top of the pasta in the stockpot and stuck the whole thing under the broiler–delicious, Mel!!!
LOVED, we make all of your recipes…and now I have my mother making all of your recipes. My husband raved about this one for many reasons. 1. it tastes amazing and the sauce is so creamy, it just gives a different spin on an old dish. 2. he hasn’t had anything with noodles in it forever. 3. he is on clean up duty, so he was loving the one dish. love your site.
We made this tonight and it was super easy and quick. My husband and son loved it. Used turkey and diced tomatoes instead of crushed. We’ll make it again! Trickiest part was folding in the noodles bwith the other liquids but we managed! Thanks!
“Better than regular spaghetti.” “I loved it!” “That’s a winner!” (my husband) These quotes from my family mean that this will definitely be added to my recipe repertoire. Thanks, Mel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What brand oven safe skillet do you own? I don’t have one but have been wanting to buy one.
Brittany – THIS page will show you my favorite oven safe skillet, #6 in the cookware section.
Do you think I could make this in a cast iron dutch oven or would that make it too “thick” to cook properly? I know I wouldn’t be able to broil it to melt the cheese but could put it in the oven and get it all melty and gooey…..
Niki – Yes, I think that would work just fine.
What an amazing recipe!
http://www.verasawicki.com
Could the broiling be optional? I don’t know if any of my pans are oven-proof, but it seems like I could possibly just cook it/cover it for an extra couple of minutes
Diane – Sure. You won’t get the golden, crispy cheese but that’s ok if it means you don’t ruin one of your pans!
Made this for dinner last night, it was perfect for a busy Monday! Thanks for saving dinner at my house yet again. 🙂
Grreat recipe, that looks delicious 🙂
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
When I saw this I thought, spaghetti? Really? But after reading the recipe, it sounds delicious and different than other recipes I’ve tried. And I love the ‘what to serve with this’ addition ~ thanks for sharing your ideas!
I have some sick kids in our home and no time to head to the store….but I have all the items in my stockpile to make this for dinner tonight. Thank you for saving the day Mel!
Made it tonight..we are in Europe— all LOVED it. A friend rec’d your site and we have made so many of your recipes- love that they use real ingredients since there are no shortcuts here.
Thanks so much!
Yay for 1 skillet! I seem to recall you liking a one skillet/pot cookbook – what was the name of it?
Kathy – It is called The Best Skillet Recipes by Cook’s Illustrated.
Oh, I love this! What an easy dinner!
I’m SO excited about this recipe (as I am about all of your recipes)! I have a food storage product that’s called “Spaghetti Bites” that I bought and this recipe will be perfect to try them out. The “Bites” are just basically noodle pieces as you’ve described. It’s going on the table tonight!
I’m also a fan of skillet pastas. So easy and so good. I’ve done skillet baked ziti and skillet lasagna, but I’m really loving this spaghetti version!
Where were you and this gem last night, when I was scrambling to get something on the table fast, Mel? *sigh* This looks perfect!
LOOOOOOVE easy dinners like this. And the boys seem to be allergic to spaghetti without cheese melted on top, so this is basically perfect.
Oooh…I LOVE one skillet dinners! I make a similar dish with penne pasta, but love the addition of the cheeses in this recipe! Thanks to you and ATK, whenever I make a pasta dish I am always thinking how I can make it a one skillet dish. This method makes for quick and easy clean up (eliminates a separate pot and colander to cook and drain the pasta) but more importantly- the pasta tastes amazing because it absorbs all of the flavors of the sauce it is cooked in!
Yea, a one-pot wonder that looks and sounds delicious! Thank you so much for including the cool and unique tip to break the noodles.