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Baked Spaghetti

by Tiana Yamamoto
Overhead shot of spaghetti in bread load, pot of spaghetti, fork on wooden table.

Happy New year everyone! We hope you had a great holiday season. We’re off to our usual here at WWWW, bringing the party and joy to you. What’s more joyful than food?! Did you know It’s national spaghetti day? They have ‘food days’ for everything nowadays, but hey I’m not complaining.

As a child, I hated spaghetti. I would dread it when my mom made regular spaghetti. My older self today loathes that child. The child, that could have carbs and cheese without consequence. I did, however, eat my mom’s baked spaghetti. She would make giant foil pans of them and take them to church. Everyone loved it. My version isn’t the giant version I remember. It does come in a bread bowl, which is far superior to a foil pan.

Baked spaghetti is like putting sprinkles on your ice cream. Sprinkles add more depth and color and make the ice cream fun! Because ice cream, isn’t fun by itself? I’m extra, so my ice cream needs to be extra with sprinkles. And so does my spaghetti.

This is one of my semi-homemade meals. I don’t make my sauce. I don’t grate any fresh cheese – although I know that would take it up another level – so you can choose. This meal comes together so quickly it’s amazing. For on-the-go people or people who want a good meal but not much effort, use this. Trust me. I cooked it after work, after sitting in traffic for an hour without slaving over the stove all night. The key is in the seasoning and the additional ingredients from the regular spaghetti meat sauce and noodles.

Baked Spaghetti

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: Easy
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An easy dinner you can whip up in no time. After a long day nothing says  comfort like some pasta, bread and wine of course. 

Ingredients

  • 1/3 box spaghetti noodles
  • 1 lb ground beef (meat of your choosing)
  • 1 jar spaghetti sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tbsp onion powder
  • 2 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 2 tsp dried minced onions
  • 2 tsp white pepper (or black pepper)
  • 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 1/2 cup Italian blend shredded cheese + more for topping
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup cream cheese
  • Salt to taste
  • 1-2 Loaves of bread

Directions

  1. Boil water to a rapid boil -add salt. *your water should taste like the sea. Following timing on the box – or until noodles are al dente. 10ish minutes. 
  2. While waiting for water and noodles to cook – make your bread bowl or load. Cut the top off, about 1/2″ down. Leaving enough to stuff your bread. Then just start digging out the bread to hollow it out.
  3. Once noodles are done cooking empty them into a colander and drain them. In the same pot heat about 1/2 tbsp oil and cook meat. 
  4. Once the meat is browned and cooked, add in sauce and seasonings. 
  5. Pre-heat oven to 350
  6. Lower heat and let sauce and meat simmer for 5 minutes. Add in cooked noodles and stir.
  7. Add in shredded cheese, sour cream, and cream cheese. Stir until completely combined. 
  8. Remove from heat.
  9. On a foil-lined cookie sheet, place bread and fill with spaghetti mix.
  10. Top with extra shredded cheese. And sprinkle Italian seasoning. 
  11. Bake for 10 minutes until cheese is melted. 
  12. Slice up and serve!

Tips & Tricks:

Sauté garlic while cooking the ground beef, adds more flavor and depth.

If you have some time, you can roast a garlic clove (cut the top off a bulb of garlic, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil and roast in oven at 400 degrees for 40-60 minuets) and spread that on your bread bowls.

As mentioned earlier – you can use fresh grated cheese instead of already shredded cheese.

I only made one bread loaf with tons of leftovers, so you could make two loaves for your family easily. The creaminess of the noodles and the crunchy top you get from baking is unlike any other. The additional spices and cheese additions are the sprinkles to the regular spaghetti dish. I don’t know what’s better than some pasta, bread and vino. This is comfort food to the max. Let us know what your favorite comfort food is!

 

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