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Move over boring spaghetti night because there is a new dish in town tonight! This Million Dollar Spaghetti Squash Bake is taking over!
Spaghetti is always one of those dishes in our house that divides at dinner time. My oldest LOVES spaghetti while my youngest and husband are not a fan. Like my husband hates it so much, he whines when it gets put on the menu and called is bland noodle and ketchup. Yea, that's from a thirty-five-year-old, haha.
I am not even going to say what he calls spaghetti squash, lol. Let's just say he's not usually a fan of that either.
However, this Million Dollar Spaghetti Squash Bake dish is something the whole family LOVES. Like they are lucky if anyone has leftovers for lunch the next day. If there isn't much left after dinner, they argue over who gets it, haha.
I guess that's a good thing? Lol, at least for whoever gets the leftovers.
What makes it so good?
This dish is almost like spaghetti and lasagna had a baby. SO good but beyond easy to make.
- Spaghetti Squash
- Ground Beef (or ground meat of choice)
- Marinara Sauce
- Bell Peppers
- Onions
- Mushrooms
- Sour Cream
- Cream Cheese
- Butter
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Parmesan Cheese
- Spices
Tips and Tricks
Spaghetti Squash - Cook and shred the spaghetti squash ahead of time for easier assembly. Don't like spaghetti squash? You can easily sub in your favorite gluten-free noodles. I find the palm heart noodles work great and keep their texture in this dish.
Marinara Sauce - You can use whatever one you like. When I want to up the veggies in this, I will use a batch of my vegetable marinara.
Bring you cream cheese and butter to room temperature. This simple step will make it easier to toss the spaghetti squash with it.
Can you make this vegetarian?
Yes, you can! Just make your marinara sauce without meat, I promise it's still delicious.
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Making it Ahead of Time
I make it ahead of time a lot. I've made and assembled it at lunch or even the night before and baked it off when we were ready to eat.
I have even had luck freezing this and then baking it off later. I did notice the spaghetti squash held onto some more liquid doing this, so I would recommend your sauce being a little bit thicker, or you can add an egg or two to the cream cheese mixture to help it stay thicker if you are going to freeze it.
Just let it defrost in the fridge until you are ready to bake it off.
Let's Make Dinner
- Cook and shred your spaghetti squash, or cook and drain your pasta of choice.
- In a skillet, cook and drain the ground beef. Add the bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms and let them cook until softened.
- Add the marinara sauce and spices and put it aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the butter, cream cheese, sour cream, and half the parmesan and mix.
- Toss the spaghetti squash into the cream cheese mixture.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Layer a small amount of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a casserole dish. Then put a layer of the spaghetti squash. Top with a layer of mozzarella and parmesan. Repeat until the dish is filled, and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the cheese starts to bubble and gets slightly golden.
- Allow it to cool for a few minutes before serving, and enjoy!
More Dinners to Enjoy!
The Best Slow-Cooked Shredded Chicken Enchiladas
Easy Weeknight Skillet Chili Mac and Cheese
Million Dollar Spaghetti Squash Bake
Ingredients
- 1 LB Ground Beef or ground meat of choice
- 1 Spaghetti Squash 4 C Cooked or GF Noodles of Choice
- 1 C Mushrooms Chopped
- 1 Small Green Bell Pepper Diced
- 1 Small Onion Diced
- 1 28 OZ Jar Marinara Sauce of Choice
- 2 TBS Butter
- ½ C Sour Cream
- 8 OZ Cream Cheese
- 1 C Parmesan Cheese Divided
- 2-3 C Mozzarella Cheese Shredded
- 2 TSP Salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon Pepper
- 2 Cloves Garlic Minced
- 1 teaspoon Thyme
- 1 teaspoon Sage
- 2 teaspoon Parsley
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- ½ TSP Onion Powder
Instructions
- Cook and shred your spaghetti squash, or cook and drain your pasta of choice.
- In a skillet, cook and drain the ground beef. Add the bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms and let them cook until softened.
- Add the marinara sauce and spices and put it aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the butter, cream cheese, sour cream, and half the parmesan and mix.
- Toss the spaghetti squash into the cream cheese mixture.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Layer a small amount of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a casserole dish. Then put a layer of the spaghetti squash. Top with a layer of mozzarella and parmesan. Repeat until the dish is filled and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the cheese starts to bubble and gets slightly golden.
- Allow it to cool for a few minutes before serving and enjoy!
Let me know what you think or if you have any questions.