If you’re looking for a quick, simple and frugal meal that everyone will love… Spaghetti Pie is it! Not only can you make it ahead if you’re short on time, you can also make several at a time and freeze them for later!
Guest post from Brigette:
Spaghetti Pie Recipe with Cottage Cheese!
Spaghetti pie has been one of my Mom’s go-to recipes for as long as I can remember (so long that none of us can remember where the original recipe came from).
And it still is!
Any time we visit my parents for more than a few days, Spaghetti Pie will most likely be on the menu at some point. It’s another one of my Mom’s crowd-pleasing recipes that can be made up ahead of time and frozen – perfect for company!
Although Spaghetti Pie is similar to lasagna in taste, it’s cheaper to make and quicker to assemble!
My Mom usually serves this with a tossed salad, a fruit salad, and fresh homemade bread (Dill Bread is especially yummy with this!)
Baked Spaghetti Pie Ingredients
- 6-8 oz. spaghetti noodles
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1 lb. ground beef or bulk pork sausage
- ½ cup onion, chopped
- ¼ cup green pepper, chopped (optional)
- 1 (8 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Ingredient FAQs:
Yes, any type of pasta could work for this recipe — however, it’s easiest to form a “crust” with spaghetti, fettuccini, or angel hair pasta noodles.
Gluten-free noodles could also be substituted.
Certainly! You can substitute any of your favorite store-bought (or homemade) pasta sauces in place of the dice tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, oregano, and salt. You may choose to still add the cooked ground beef and onion mixture to your store-bought sauce.
You could even try store-bought pesto or alfredo sauce to mix up the flavors a bit.
Yes! Simply omit the ground beef and sautee some mushrooms or additional veggies of choice to add to the sauce. You could also add in more cheese to increase the protein.
Most Italian herbs, like parsley, basil, and oregano, will boost the flavor of your pasta sauce. Also, make sure you add enough salt — along with a little sugar to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes.
This is probably a personal preference more than anything else. Ricotta cheese has much smaller “curds” and a smoother texture. Cottage cheese is usually less expensive, lower in calories, and higher in protein.
How to Make Spaghetti Pie with Cottage Cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. Cook spaghetti al dente and drain.
3. Stir butter into hot spaghetti; stir in beaten eggs and parmesan cheese.
4. Press this mixture into a greased 9 or 10-inch pie pan to form a “crust.
5. Spread cottage cheese over spaghetti crust.
6. In a skillet, cook the meat, onion, and green pepper until meat has browned and vegetables are tender.
7. Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, oregano, and garlic salt. Heat through.
8. Spread meat mixture over cottage cheese.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
10. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.
Easy Spaghetti Pie Variations
If you boil the noodles and cook the ground beef ahead of time, you can dump all the ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours or until all the cheese is melted. It will not resemble a “pie” but the flavors will still be delicious!
This recipe is so delicious, you’ll want to make a double batch! You can either use 2 pie pans or put it all in a 9″x13″ pan (with the “crust” on the bottom). You’ll probably want to increase the baking time by 5-10 minutes as well — just keep watching so the cheese doesn’t burn!
How to Store this recipe for Spaghetti Pie
It works best to freeze this recipe after you assemble the pie but BEFORE you bake it. When you want to serve it, simply defrost it overnight in your refrigerator and bake as directed in the recipe.
Easy Spaghetti Pie
Ingredients
- 8 oz spaghetti noodles (uncooked)
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 2 eggs; beaten
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1 lb ground beef or bulk pork sausage
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup green pepper, chopped (optional)
- 8 oz can diced tomatoes
- 6 oz can tomato paste
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Cook spaghetti al dente and drain.
- Stir butter into hot spaghetti; stir in beaten eggs and parmesan cheese.
- Form this mixture into a crust in a greased 9 or 10-inch pie pan.
- Spread cottage cheese over crust.
- In a skillet, cook the meat, onion, and green pepper until meat has browned and vegetables are tender.
- Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, oregano, and garlic salt. Heat through.
- Spread meat mixture over cottage cheese.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
- Sprinkle with cheese and bake 5 more minutes, or until cheese melts.
Notes
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Reader Interactions
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Could you use mozzarella instead of cottage cheese and would this freeze well?
Yes, you can!
This may be a silly question but can you taste the cottage cheese? I don’t like it but if you can’t tell it’s there I would use it.
I can’t speak to this recipe specifically but my experience is when cottage or ricotta cheese are used in dishes like this you can’t taste them. I hope that helps! -Jordan, MSM Team
I have used this recipe since I was married almost 30 years ago, and I still have it on the original card it came on. It was in one of those sets they send you in the mail hoping you will pay for the rest of the sets they will mail every month. I just kept the free cards and have used it ever since. There was no company name on the card I have, so I don’t know that information.
I know it would add to the cost but could ricotta be used in place of the cottage cheese? My dh doesn’t like cottage cheese but I would like to try this recipe.
Absolutely! I’ve also seen recipes that use sour cream instead.
Think it would work ok without the cottage cheese? We are not fans.
I have a similar recipe that we really like. We use Ricotta instead of cottage cheese.
I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Has anyone tried making this minus the egg, and if so, how did it turn out? We have egg allergies at our house, we don’t put them in lasagna either.
I use the recipe from Mel’s kitchen cafe. It doesn’t call for eggs.
I never use eggs. I use the recipe from Mel’s kitchen cafe which doesn’t call for egg.
My husband and I make baked spaghetti. It’s similar, we would just make it with leftover sauce and noodles, no eggs. You mixed the sauce and noodles, meat is optional. Top with cheese and bake.
…”and another on the way…” Congrats! I wondered if all those diapers might have been for a reason 😉
Thanks! 🙂
My family loves this! When I make it, I do a triple batch and have one that night and stick two right in the freezer. Love pulling it out later!
This is one of my family’s favorite recipes!
We love to eat a similar spaghetti pie recipes (ricotta, jarred sauce, sausage mixed with ground beef are the major differences). One of the best things I think is that you can whip up a bunch of them (as many as you have pie plates!) and FREEZE them. 🙂 (They freeze really well, but do take a long time to thaw). I actually used to freeze in rectangular casserole dishes as well. This recipe is on my “to try” list now that our house is gluten-free, but I’m sure the gf pasta will work just as well.
Is it better to freeze this before or after cooking? Would the cooking instructions need to be altered when reheating it from frozen?
Thanks for sharing!! Looks delish!
I’ve only frozen it before cooking, so I am not sure about freezing it after. I let it thaw and then cook it the same as written. If you start baking it before it is completely thawed, then you would need to add more cooking time. Hope this helps!
I freeze spaghetti pie after cooking it all the time. I usually make two 9×13″ pans at a time & freeze a covered pan or individual servings I reheat individual servings either frozen or thawed. I’ve also frozen just the meat % sauce to speed making it the next time.
This was one of my kids’ favorite meals when they were young. It’s quick and fun to make, too!
I wonder if this would work with spaghetti squash. With lentils, it would make a great vegetarian entree!
Spaghetti squash is a great idea! Although I haven’t actually tried it in this recipe, I LOVE spaghetti squash, and I am pretty confident it would work fabulously. 🙂
This is on the menu tonight… I’ve never made it before, so we’ll see how it goes!
Hope you like it!
P.S. Also curious as to what type of fruit salad you would serve with this…my mind goes blank! 🙂 Thanks for all the awesome ideas!
My mom would just do a mix of whatever fresh fruit was in season/on sale!
Hi! Looks yummy! Knowing me and my cutting skills, I would botch the serving of this for company. How do you “neatly” serve it? 🙂
It works best if you let it sit 5-10 minutes before cutting it. I use a pie server, and haven’t had any problems getting it out neatly (and I don’t have the greatest cutting skills either ;)).
It was so neat to see this post, I have this on the menu for tonight and it is a great tasty inexpensive dinner. I like to buy the jarred sauce with italian sausage (prego) and that saves on the cost because you don’t have to buy the meat. I usually make it with the bread sticks recipe from Money Saving Mom too.