Easy Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti Pie is a cozy, satisfying meal the whole family will love, time after time. Quick and budget-friendly, this easy recipe is perfect for weeknights, or for when you need a dependable, low-stress dinner to serve to casual company.

Jump to:

• Why You Will Love Spaghetti Pie
• Spaghetti Pie Ingredients
• How to Make this Easy Spaghetti Pie Recipe
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top Tips
• More Budget-friendly Recipes
• What to Serve with Spaghetti Pie
• Baked Spaghetti Pie

Why You Will Love Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti pie was one of the first meals I learned to make that wasn't from my mother's kitchen. I was just 19 when my BFF shared her spaghetti pie recipe with me, and we both thought it was brilliant.

Spaghetti pie is classic 1980s comfort food. Basically a spaghetti pie casserole; layered with cheese, sauce, and spaghetti noodles. It tastes a lot like lasagna, but without all the expense and prep time.

This easy, budget-friendly recipe is easy enough to throw together after a long workday, and also works great as a low-stress main dish when company is coming for dinner. It can even be prepared well in advance, and then popped in the oven when you're ready to eat.

You can adjust the size of your spaghetti pie casserole to meet the needs of the group you are feeding, and prep it in anything from a pie plate to a lasagna pan.

The best thing about spaghetti pie, though, is that everyone seems to love it: toddlers, grandmas, and everyone in between. That's what's kept in on my short list of quick, easy, budget-friendly meals for decades now.

Spaghetti Pie Ingredients

• Pasta: We prefer using thin spaghetti, but any type of spaghetti (e.g., angel hair, thin, regular, or even spaghettoni) will work.
• Sauce: Use any thick vegetarian or meaty spaghetti sauce. Making this spaghetti pie with no meat is as easy as using a meatless sauce.
  • Tip: Spaghetti pie is a great way to use up leftover pasta and spaghetti sauce.
• Cottage cheese: You can make this spaghetti pie recipe with cottage cheese of any size or milk-fat content (e.g., large curd, small curd, 4%, 1%); however, we get the best results using regular curd 4% cottage cheese. Using 1% can result in a thinner set and a watery pie.
• Parmesan: Use any one, or a combination of Parmesan, Asiago, or Romano cheese.
• Mozzarella: For best results, grate mozzarella by hand. Pregrated cheese is covered with an industrial cellulose to keep it from clumping, and this affects its melting properties.
• Basil: Fresh basil is best, but if you don't have any, use 2 teaspoons of dried basil in the spaghetti crust.

How to Make this Easy Spaghetti Pie Recipe

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Spray a pie or casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. You can also use butter, but the pie is more likely to stick to the dish if you use butter.

Heat at least 2 quarts of water in a large pot on high heat. When the water boils, add 1 teaspoon of salt and a splash or two of olive oil. Reduce heat to simmer and add the spaghetti.

Cook, stirring occasionally, according to the package directions, until al dente. (Just barely done.)

While the spaghetti is boiling, mix the eggs and parmesan together in a small bowl. Set aside.

When the spaghetti is cooked, drain it in a colander and (A) immediately return it to the cooking pot.

Use tongs to stir in 2 tablespoons of butter, and then (B) slowly drizzle in beaten eggs as you toss them into the hot spaghetti.

Continue stirring with tongs until the butter completely melts and the egg mixture thickens and clings to the spaghetti noodles (C). Add the basil and toss to mix in evenly (D).

Spread the sauced noodles in the prepared pie dish. Cover the top loosely with a sheet of plastic wrap. Gently press the down on the plastic wrap, guiding the spaghetti against the sides of the dish and forming a recess in the middle like a pie crust.

Remove the plastic wrap and spread the cottage cheese into the recess, and then spread spaghetti sauce over the top.

Bake uncovered at 350°F (175°C) for 20 minutes.

Top with mozzarella and bake an additional 10 minutes; until the cheese on top just begins to brown.

Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting.

Substitutions

• Pasta: Objectively, you can use just about any pasta to make "spaghetti" pie - in any form that will create a bed for the rest of the ingredients.
• Cottage cheese: You can sub in ricotta for the cottage cheese.
• Mozzarella: We occasionally make spaghetti pie with cheddar or a mexican cheese blend, and it tastes great. Use whatever cheese you have on hand.
• Basil: Fresh basil is best, but if you don't have any, use 2 teaspoons of dried basil in the spaghetti crust.

Variations

The basic spaghetti pie recipe can be made into a number of easy variations, and Spaghetti Meatball Pie is one of our favorites! This is a satisfying, company-worthy casserole is easy to make ahead, and always a crowd-pleaser.

• Make the pasta "crust" and fill with cottage cheese as directed in the recipe.
• Spread a a thin layer of sauce over the cottage cheese.
• Cover the top with precooked Italian meatballs.
• Top with more sauce and cheese, and bake.

Equipment

We like to make spaghetti pie in either a Pyrex basic deep dish or Pyrex fluted deep-dish pie plate. It can also be layered into a 9x9 baking dish, large casserole dish, or even a springform pan.

Storage

To store baked spaghetti pie, first allow it to cool completely, then wrap it tightly in plastic film, and cover tightly.

Baked spaghetti pie will last 4-5 days in the refrigerator, or up to 3 months in the freezer.

How to Pre-prep Spaghetti Pie

Refrigerator: Spaghetti pie can be prepped and refrigerated before baking for up to two days.

Assemble the spaghetti pie up to the point where it is ready to go in the oven. Cover with parchment and foil, and refrigerate for up to two days.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and place the pie in the oven with the foil cover still on. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly. Remove the foil and parchment, top with mozzarella, and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Freezer: You can also prep spaghetti pie and freeze it (unbaked) for up to three months.

To freeze, cover the pie with parchment and foil, and then slip it into a gallon-size resealable bag, or vacuum-seal the entire pie. (You can also wrap it in more plastic wrap, but I don’t find this to be a great option because it tends to get freezer burn.)

Defrost the pie in the refrigerator and bake covered at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly. Uncover, top with mozzarella, and bake an additional 10 minutes.

To cook directly from the freezer, start by putting the frozen pie into a cold oven. Set the oven temperature to 350°F (175°C) and bake the pie for about 90 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the internal temperature is at least 165°F (74°C). Uncover, top with mozzarella, and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Top Tips

Spaghetti for Breakfast‽ Yes!! Fried spaghetti and eggs is probably Mr B's favorite breakfast, and spaghetti pie with eggs is even better!

To make this fabulously delicious combo, slice cold leftover spaghetti pie into 1-inch thick "sticks." Fry the sticks of leftover spaghetti pie on medium heat in a nonstick pan with just a little olive oil, turning as needed until the cheese begins to brown a bit and some of the edges are crispy. (It's ok if they fall apart a little in the process.)

Plate the fried spaghetti, and then fry your eggs in the same skillet. Enjoy!

More Budget-friendly Recipes

Check out more of our easy, budget-friendly, family approved pasta recipes, including Sun-dried Tomato Carbonara, Cheesy Vegetable Orzo, and Cincinnati Chili.

What to Serve with Spaghetti Pie

Serve spaghetti pie alone, with homemade meatballs, or accompanied by simple sides like garlic bread, salad, soup, or roasted vegetables (e.g., green beans, broccolini, Brussels sprouts, etc.).

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