Million Dollar Spaghetti is a spaghetti casserole with layers of noodles, cheese, and homemade meat sauce. It’s budget friendly, easy to make, and a meal the whole family will love.

Looking for more pasta recipes? Try my Shrimp Alfredo, Sun-dried Tomato Pasta, or American Goulash!

A slice of million dollar spaghetti served on a plate with a side green salad.

Why I love this meal:

  • Family Friendly – The perfect marriage between my favorite Spaghetti Pie and a classic Lasagna. The entire family enjoys this easy casserole.
  • Budget Friendly – Feeds a big group with inexpensive ingredients. What else could you want?
  • Delicious – It truly tastes like a million bucks! The homemade meat sauce takes the flavor to the next level.

How to Make Million Dollar Spaghetti:

Make the Sauce: In a large skillet cook and crumble the ground beef and Italian sausage and season with salt and pepper. Remove most of the grease. Add onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes until onion is translucent. Add all but ½ cup marinara sauce (reserve for later), to the mixture and stir to combine. Set aside.

A skillet with homemade red spaghetti meat sauce.

Prep the Noodles: Boil a package of spaghetti noodles, drain the water, and toss them in a bowl with some butter and a little marinara sauce.

Hot noodles in a bowl with butter on top.

Make Cheese Layer: Mix together cream cheese, sour cream, and cottage cheese in a bowl.

Cream cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese mixed in a bowl for the cheese layer of million dollar spaghetti.

Assemble Casserole: Pour half the noodles into a 9×13” pan. Smooth cheese layer on top. Add remaining noodles. Then, layer the meat sauce.

Three process photos for assembling million dollar spaghetti.

Top with Cheese, and Bake: Sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan cheese over top and bake at 350 degrees F until cheese is melted and bubbly. I love it when the cheese on the edges get golden. Yum!

A pan of million dollar spaghetti casserole cut into pieces, ready to serve.

Make Ahead And Freezing Instructions:

To Make Ahead: You can prepare this spaghetti casserole 1 day ahead of time.  Follow recipe instructions up to step 8 (just before baking).  allow it to cool, cover it well with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator until ready to bake. Or, prep the sauce, noodles and cheese layer 1-3 days ahead of time and assemble right before baking.

To Freeze:  Prepare recipe right up until the baking step. Cover well with greased aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days, then bake for about 20 minutes, covered, and then 20-25 minutes uncovered. If baking from frozen, bake covered for about 40 minutes, then uncover and bake at least 30-40 minutes longer, or until bubbly and warm.

Recipe Variations:

  • Vegetarian Million Dollar Spaghetti: leave out the meat entirely or substitute plant based meat.
  • Ground Beef vs. Sausage: I like to use both ground beef and ground pork sausage in this recipe but you don’t have to use both. If you do, consider saving the leftover ½ pound of sausage to make Baked Ziti or Pizza Casserole.
  • Ricotta: if you prefer ricotta cheese to cottage cheese, feel free to substitute at a 1:1 ratio.
  • Pasta: we use spaghetti for million dollar spaghetti but feel free to use your favorite kind of pasta.

Serve With:

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Recipe

A slice of million dollar spaghetti served on a plate with a side green salad.
Prep 30 minutes
Cook 30 minutes
Total 1 hour
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Ingredients
 
 

  • 16 ounces spaghetti noodles
  • 1/2 pound ground beef
  • 1/2 pound ground Italian sausage or pork sausage
  • salt and pepper , to taste
  • 1 small onion , chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic , minced
  • 24 ounces marinara sauce
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • 8 ounces cream cheese , softened
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Make Meat Sauce: In a large skillet cook and crumble the ground beef and Italian sausage and season with salt and pepper. Remove most of the grease. Add onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes until onion is translucent. Add all but ½ cup of the marinara sauce (reserve ½ cup for later) to the mixture and stir to combine. Set aside.
  • Prepare noodles: Cook Spaghetti according to package instructions, just until “al dente”. Drain, and place hot spaghetti in a large mixing bowl with butter and ½ cup reserved marinara sauce and toss to combine.
  • Make Cheese layer: Combine cream cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese in a bowl and mix well. Smooth over noodles in the pan. 
  • Assemble: Pour HALF of the pasta into a 9×13’’ pan. Smooth cheese layer on top. Top with remaining noodles. Add meat sauce on top and smooth into an even layer. Top with mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. 
  • Bake for 30-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Check it around 20 minutes and if the cheese is browning too quickly, tent a piece of tinfoil over it. Wait at least 15 minutes before cutting and serving, to allow it to set up. Enjoy!

Notes

To Make Ahead: You can prepare this spaghetti casserole 1 day ahead of time.  Follow recipe instructions up to step 8 (just before baking).  allow it to cool, cover it well with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator until ready to bake. Or, prep the sauce, noodles and cheese layer 1-3 days ahead of time and assemble right before baking.
To Freeze:  Prepare recipe right up until the baking step. Cover well with greased aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days, then bake for about 20 minutes, covered, and then 20-25 minutes uncovered. If baking from frozen, bake covered for about 40 minutes, then uncover and bake at least 30-40 minutes longer, or until bubbly and warm.
Vegetarian Million Dollar Spaghetti: leave out the meat entirely or substitute plant based meat!
Ground Beef vs. Sausage: I like to use both ground beef and ground Italian sausage in this recipe but you don’t have to use both. If you do, consider saving the leftover ½ pound of Italian sausage to make Baked Ziti or Pizza Casserole.
Pasta: we use spaghetti for million dollar spaghetti but feel free to use your favorite kind of pasta.

Nutrition

Calories: 350kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 17gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 605mgPotassium: 356mgFiber: 2gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 640IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 163mgIron: 1mg

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I originally shared this recipe February 2017. Updated February 2022.

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Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Comments

  1. This is an excellent recipe. Love the flavors. Pretty easy to make, too! Reminds me of lasagna. SO GOOD and so cheesy!

  2. 5 stars
    It’s an easy recipe and something for everyone to enjoy. I like using Italian sausage, Rao spaghetti sauce, and angel hair pasta. I had unexpected company, and they loved it too. This is a can’t

  3. 5 stars
    I had to trust the process with this one. But I’m so glad I did.

    I wasn’t sure at first if the 16 ounces of spaghetti were before they were cooked or after because when I measured out the 16 ounces before they were cooked I was shocked by the amount of spaghetti I had to cook so I thought you meant 16 ounces of cooked spaghetti. So, I boiled 8 ounces instead of 16 and it was clear that I had to boil the spaghetti again when I started to assemble.

    Overall, this recipe is extremely tasty but it might be a bit too hard for me to try again (also it was more expensive than I thought lol). Most of the things I’m unhappy with the recipe were not the chef’s fault so I’m giving 5 stars!!!

  4. 5 stars
    Great techniques seasoning the pasta in the eggs and parm! Good directions. I wouldn’t change a thing! I am 65 and I cook for family every day! This was a nice surprise with the cottage cheese.

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