Baked Spaghetti!

When it comes to Spaghetti I always think of the boring noodles and meat sauce. My mom made spaghetti about once a week. Needless to say when I got older I was not a fan of it. (no offense mom) My husband loves spaghetti! So when I found this recipe on Pinterest. I tried it and it was pretty good but needed a little tweeking. After a few minor tweeks I love this recipe! When making my weekly menu I bring up this recipe more often then my husband now. One of my favorite parts is you can do all the prep work and then put it in the fridge or freezer for a later time. That is a big plus for me since its hard to cook with a 7 month old. So recipes I can make while my husband is home but then throw in the oven later are great!
Here is the original recipe. It wasnt bad just in my opinion a little bland.


Onto my version of the recipe:


what you need:

• 1/2 box of spahetti (which is about 7 oz)
• 1 pd hamburger
• 1 Jar Spaghetti sauce (I used 24 ounces but you might want a little more depending on how much cream cheese you want to taste)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• Grated Parmesan
• French Fried Onions
• Seasonings: Parsley, Basil, chopped onion, salt, pepper

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cook spaghetti as directed.  Drain and set aside.
3. Cook hamburger. I seasoned with a little salt and pepper and a palmful of chopped onion. Drain grease
4. Add spaghetti sauce to hamburger and heat through. (taste as you go)  I wanted to add more flavor so I added basil and parsley.
5. While that is heating through on stove, Nuke cream cheese until soft enough to spread. Add melted butter to it and stir.
6. Layer in 8x8 glass dish
• Little meat sauce (after you put a lil meat sauce across the bottom mix the cream cheese in with the rest)
• Noodles
• Cream cheese/meat sauce mixture
• Parmesan cheese 
7. Put in the oven at 350 for 25 minutes
8. Add french fried onions. cook another 5 minutes.

Before cooking

Finished product

Like I said I love this recipe! It tastes great and is a good alternative to the usual spaghetti!
Let me know what you think!

Tips and tricks:

• If you do not have a big enough pot just break the noodles in half before cooking.
• Always salt the water you cook pasta in, to prevent it from sticking together.
• Be careful not to burn french fried onions! They make this recipe.
• Try whole grain spaghetti to make it healthier.
• My favorite type of sauce to put in this recipe is definitely creamy vodka!
•  If you want to prep it in advance stop at step 6, cover and refridgerate.
• You can also freeze this recipe before cooking as well.