Million Dollar Spaghetti

Name: Million Dollar Spaghetti
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 1 16 ounce package spaghetti; 1 pound lean ground beef; 1 24 ounce jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce; 1/4 cup unsalted butter (divided into 8 slices); 1 16 ounce container cottage cheese; 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened; 1/4 cup sour cream; 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese; Salt for pasta water; Cooking spray for the casserole dish

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It’s like spaghetti in meat sauce and lasagna had a baby!

Million Dollar Spaghetti. Oh my. It is so rich, so decadent, and so delicious that you’ll be happy about how easy it is to make since once you’re family tastes it, you’ll be making it all the time. At least that’s what happened to me. And I have no problem giving into their pleas for Million Dollar Spaghetti because I always have ground meat in the freezer, pasta and jars of marinara in the pantry, and all the dairies all the time (because we consistently eat cottage cheese for lunch, cream cheese on our bagels, and sour cream on our tacos). The other reason I have no problem saying, “Yes, ok, I’ll make Million Dollar Spaghetti tonight. Again” is because I really love it, too.

Ah, the irony. A dish this inexpensive to make should be called Ten Dollar Spaghetti but it tastes like a million bucks! And you won’t hear anyone complaining about that. The tender spaghetti topped with that creamy cheese mixture and then the browned ground beef smothered in your favorite marinara, and then the whole thing topped with shredded cheddar cheese that gets melty and golden brown in the oven. All the ingredients settle into these soft, intensely flavorful layers and, oh baby, what a beautiful result!

Million Dollar Spaghetti is very simple to make: the hard part is giving it the 15 minutes to rest after it comes out of the oven before you can slice it and dig in. And when you do…well, it’s irresistible (just be careful not to burn your mouth). That combination of the tangy sour cream and cottage cheese mellowed out by the cream cheese and then topped with the browned ground meat and slight sweet/slightly acidic marinara is just perfect. And let’s not forget the butter.

A dish this rich pairs beautifully with a healthy salad, either Kale Caesar Salad or Healthy Brussels Sprouts Salad but it’s also just fine with a side of crusty bread.

Is there any way Vegans can eat Million Dollar Spaghetti?

Of course! Because we live in a time when genius cooks have found ways to create vegan versions of nearly everything. Replace the ground beef with plant-based crumbles (brown them up and you won’t know the difference) and be assured that all of the dairy–cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, shredded cheddar, and butter–all come in vegan versions. These vegan products are so delicious that I’d bet a million dollars if you make a plant-based version of Million Dollar Spaghetti, your family will never know it’s vegan! And, of course, use gluten-free spaghetti if you want or need to be gluten-free.

Ingredients

1 16 ounce package spaghetti
1 pound lean ground beef
1 24 ounce jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup unsalted butter divided into 8 slices
1 16 ounce container cottage cheese
1 8 ounce package cream cheese softened
1/4 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
Salt for pasta water
Cooking spray for the casserole dish

How to Make Million Dollar Spaghetti

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray to prevent sticking.

Step 2: Fill a large pot with water, add a pinch of salt, and bring it to a rolling boil. Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions until al dente (the pasta will continue to cook in the oven so best to keep it slightly firm), usually about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain well and set aside.

Step 3: While the spaghetti is cooking, place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until it’s no longer pink (about 5 to 7 minutes). You can break it apart with a spatula as it cooks and drain any excess grease for a healthier dish.

Step 4: Turn off the heat and stir in the spaghetti sauce with the cooked beef. Mix well to ensure the meat is thoroughly coated with the sauce. Set aside.

Step 5: In a medium bowl, blend together the cottage cheese, cream cheese and sour cream until smooth.

Step 6: Place half of the butter slices on the bottom of the baking dish. Add half of the cooked spaghetti, creating an even layer. Spread the cheese mixture over the spaghetti. Then, layer the remaining spaghetti on top and dot with the remaining butter slices.

Step 7: Pour the meat sauce over the top spaghetti layer and spread it out evenly.

Step 8: Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Step 9: After 30 minutes, remove the foil, sprinkle the Cheddar cheese evenly over the top, and return to the oven. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. The cheese should be melted with a light golden crust.

Step 10: Let the casserole rest for about 5 minutes before slicing. You need to allow the layers to set to serve neat portions. Cut into squares and serve warm.

FAQs & Tips

How to Make Ahead and Store?

You can prep Million Dollar Spaghetti through Step 8, cover it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and store it in the refrigerator for 24 hours; then just follow the remaining recipe instructions (you can freeze it at this point, too; then just thaw it overnight in the fridge and follow the instructions in Steps 9 and 10). Cooked Million Dollar Spaghetti, also covered in plastic wrap or foil, can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months (thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before reheating).

Different Strokes for Different Folks

Feel free to change out the spaghetti for other kinds of pasta–fettuccine, rigatoni, penne, even elbow macaroni–and the ground beef for less fatty meats (ground turkey or ground chicken) or more deeply flavored ones (ground sausage or ground pork). And, of course, you can make this dish gluten-free by using any gluten-free pasta, and vegetarian by substituting the ground meat with sauteed mushrooms or even crumbled sauteed tofu.

Don’t throw away your pasta water…yet

After you’ve cooked your pasta al dente (because, remember, it will continue to cook in the oven), save a cup or so of the pasta water; you might find the cheese mixture too thick and a bit of that salty pasta water will improve the consistency and add another little salty bite.

Those slices of butter

Here’s a really useful tip. Slice the butter when it’s cold and then put the slices on a plate and into the fridge until you need them; as you have probably already discovered yourself, it’s very difficult to cut room temperature butter into slices.

We all need our rest

And Million Dollar Spaghetti is no exception. No matter how good it smells when you pull it out of the oven (and it will smell so good), it needs to rest for 15 minutes before you slice it. This little nap lets the layers set and ensures it will cut into perfect squares.

Serving Suggestions

We’ve already established–and everyone knows it, anyway–that Million Dollar Spaghetti’s favorite companions are salad and bread. But let’s get creative with flavors. The rich tanginess of this dish pairs beautifully with something a little sweet and earthy, like Grilled Corn Salad with Fresh Herbs or even something sweet and veggie-forward, such as Best Zucchini Bread. Add more vegetables to your meal by serving Million Dollar Spaghetti with Ratatouille on the side. And when we have leftover Million Dollar Spaghetti (which doesn’t happen that often, I must admit), we cut it into side-dish portions and serve it with Spiced Tomatoes and Chickpeas on Homemade Flatbread or (and this may sound a little crazy) Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups (don’t knock it til you’ve tried it because, really, can you ever have too much pasta?).