Spaghetti Pie
Honestly, this spaghetti pie meal can’t be beat. It’s easy enough for a weeknight frenzy but delicious and satisfying enough for company.
When I announce that spaghetti pie is for dinner, I wish you could witness the reaction on all five (yes, counting my husband) of my boy’s faces. They jump and spin around me like mini tornadoes, hugging and kissing me like there’s no tomorrow, all because I made them spaghetti pie.
I’m kind of afraid they are going to find out just how simple this meal is and decide the hugs and kisses should be reserved for more time-intensive family favorites, but for now, I’ll take it.
If you aren’t familiar with spaghetti pie, please acquaint yourself immediately! We’ve been eating it for years and years and like the title of this post indicates, it truly is a family favorite.
The reason I haven’t shared it with you yet (I know, I know, I feel a bit guilty) is because I’ve been spending the last five years on my life’s greatest work: perfecting spaghetti pie. And here it is! In all it’s perfected, spaghetti pie glory.
Honestly, this meal can’t be beat. It’s easy enough for a weeknight frenzy but delicious and satisfying enough for company. (And talk about the perfect take-in meal – this one’s a winner.)
Think delicious, tender noodles suffused in a combination of creamy and red sauces and baked to perfection – saucy enough to eliminate tough, dried out noodles, and sturdy enough to hold it’s shape in delightful pie-shaped pieces. I’m telling you – it’s spaghetti pie perfection, people!
I can breathe a huge sigh of relief knowing I’ve finally posted this baby. Hope you love it as much as we do!
It’s one of those meals I could serve all week and come the seventh night, my boys would still be cheering. However, I would be gagging. Not because I don’t love me some spaghetti pie but because I, for one, need a little diversity in dinner, no matter how glorious the meal is.
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: Save Recipes to Your Own Personal Recipe Box!
Two Years Ago: Orange Sweet Rolls
Three Years Ago: Steak Hoagies with Mushrooms, Onions and Peppers
Spaghetti Pie
Ingredients
- 12 ounces thin spaghetti or vermicelli noodles
- 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey
- 1 small white or yellow onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (16-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 4 ounces light cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup lowfat cottage cheese
- ¾ cup Parmesan cheese, divided
- ¾ cup mozzarella cheese, divided
Instructions
- Lightly coat a deep 9 or 10-inch pie plate with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the noodles until al dente according to package directions. While the noodles boil, heat a large 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat and add the ground beef or turkey, breaking it into pieces with a wooden spoon. Add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally and continuing to break up the meat, until the meat is cooked through, 5-7 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and drain the excess grease, if any. Return the skillet to medium heat and stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, dried basil and oregano. Simmer the sauce over medium or medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
- When the noodles are done cooking, drain and return to the pot. Immediately stir in the cream cheese and toss the noodles by lightly lifting them up and over with tongs until the cream cheese is mostly melted. Stir in the cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Toss until the noodles are evenly coated. Stir in 2 cups of the red sauce. Keep the remainder of the red sauce warm on the stove.
- Scrape the noodles into the prepared pie plate and using a flat spatula, press the noodles evenly into the dish so they are tightly pressed together and evenly flat across the top. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese across the top.
- Bake the spaghetti pie for 20-22 minutes, until it is hot and bubbly and the cheese is golden on top. Let the dish rest for 10 minutes. Cut into slices and serve with remaining red sauce.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
I have made this for years and it has been a regular on our rotation menu. I highly recommend it! The cottage cheese and cream cheese added into it plus the way it is baked makes it a great yummy twist on the spaghetti dish. My kids get sick of spaghetti but they will eat this version.
Quick question: when the recipe calls for mozzarella, do you use the soft, fresh kind? Or the slightly harder/less watery kind? Does that make sense?
I use part-skim mozzarella from the block (and grate it on a box grater) – I don’t use fresh, soft mozzarella, but you could experiment and try if that is your preference!
Raises spaghetti dinner to the next level for sure. Thanks!!
I’ve been looking at this recipe for almost ten years and tonight was the night. So glad I finally made it. Just the right amount of sauce in the pie for those who aren’t wild about sauce, and plenty of sauce to spoon over the servings for those who want more. The pie is filling and the perfect meal with a green salad and cheese bread. Mel, you never disappoint!
This was delicious! Thanks for sharing your talents.
Thanks for highlighting this recipe in your “Recipes the World Forgot” post. I discovered it for the first time and it was such a nice change of pace for Pasta night. I only had a shallow pie pan, so we split it between two pans (using some mild italian sausage instead of ground beef for extra flavor) and it was great for our family. Thanks for the winner!
I learned to make this slightly different but I will have to try your way too! What I do is mix the spaghetti with an egg, some butter and parmesan. And then I put that in the casserole dish and then layer the cottage cheese, jar of pasta sauce and mozzarella on top.
I don’t usually add sausage because 1) I don’t like to cook it 2) it hurts my stomach and 3) I cook what I like first. 🙂
It’s more of the bargain discount way but the kids still like it and it’s so easy!
Just made this again at the request of my son, we love this recipe! It’s always a winner.
This is one of our favorites and very make ahead/freezer friendly! I usually use an entire 16oz box of barilla spaghetti and add in a little extra sauce and cheese mixture. Stretches it farther. Then bake in 9×13 pan for crowd/potluck or split in 9×9 pans to freeze or deliver for take in meals. The sauce is so easy to make and has become my go-to sauce for other dishes too! Thanks for another keeper!
Ok. In an effort to save hands on time, do you think your IP spaghetti recipe could be the base for this? I have that one memorized. And I was just thinking, add the cream cheese, etc after the sauce thickens a bit, transfer to pie plate sprinkle and bake….?
Thanks for the many delicious years. You have been my go-to food blogger for a while now.
Certainly worth a try, Vanessa!
I made this for a mini Pi Day party. I doubled it and put it in 2 9” cake rounds and it worked great. It was delicious and the leftovers have held up great, too. Kids and adults thought it was yummy. I’ll make it again!! Thanks!
how does this work for freezing? I want to use it as a freezer meal. Do i just combine everything, then freeze. Thaw and then cook? or cook then freeze…then rewarm? I don’t want to dry it out or have the cottage cheese do strange things in the freezer.
I would suggest assembling, freezing, and then baking from frozen (add time) or thawing and then baking.
My family loves this meal! It’s so easy and tastes so good. My kids always beg for me to make this. We make it all the time!
This was a mega hit tonight! I made a few lazy changes: I just used your Home canned Spaghetti Sauce instead of making the red sauce and omitted the meat because: didn’t want to thaw meat. I can’t believe how good it was and so simple too. Whoa! So happy about this.
I may or may not have had this recipe in my to try folder for…. Um… (Cough) at least 4 years? Uh, ya. What was I thinking? It’s really great. Thanks again!
Yay! Glad you loved it, Natalie!
Mel, you’ve done it again!
instant family favorite over here! I have been eyeing this recipe on your blog for years and finally decided to try it.
So much creamy flavor and love going on those noodles! We will be adding this to our list of favorites STAT around here!
Yay, yay!
I love this recipe. Its so delish
This is one of my absolute favorite meals. However, my kids are not fans of red sauce. Any chance you have a white spaghetti pie version? I tried to google search one and did not find anything.
Darn, I don’t have a version like that! Sounds yummy though.
This recipe is AMAZING! My 7 year old bean pole had 4 helpings. I had to cut him off when he started complaining his tummy hurt but “I still want more.” This will definitely be entering the family favorite rotation! Thank you!
Looks perfect for a company meal! Can I use the full-fat versions of the cheeses? Thanks!
Sure!