Cheese Lover’s Spaghetti Casserole

You have never had a spaghetti casserole better this this one! It’s layered with an easy mozzarella cheese sauce that takes it over the top. DELICIOUS! 

I have this obsession with all things cheesy. Cheesy food, cheesy movies, cheesy shirts…. My late husband even picked me up with a cheesy pick-up line when we were teenagers – ‘Drop the zero, go with the hero’.  Yup, he totally used that one on me! Swoon, right? 😉

I don’t even want to admit to you all how much of my grocery budget goes to cheese. Most other people go to Whole Foods to purchase organic produce & such… but me? I go there for the awesome cheese selection. I look so out of place when I’m checking out.  Everyone else has their buggies filled with produce, vitamins, & other healthy options – and then there’s me…. buggy loaded up with lots of cheese & a few freshly made pizzas. When pizza is from Whole Foods, that makes it good for you – right?  That Bacon Cheeseburger pizza with extra cheese sure did taste good for me.

Almost everything is better with cheese. Am I right?  Of course I am.  I’m a woman…. 😉

I created this recipe for those card-carrying cheese addicts like me & it’s ah-mazing. There are no words in my vocabulary to express to y’all how fabulous & delicious this dish is!  This is no typical spaghetti casserole – far from it!  I had the idea to pair my homemade 4-ingredient cheese sauce with my favorite spaghetti casserole recipe, & I must say it’s one of the best ideas I’ve ever had. I’m so helplessly hooked on it.  It’s impossible not to be hooked on it though – it’s such a perfect dish!

Any doubts you have about how utterly mouthwatering delicious this spaghetti casserole is should be cleared up instantaneously just by looking at these pictures.

Tastebud tantalizing perfection, that’s what this is.

I could barely even get pictures of this dish – it was gone so fast.  My entire family raved & continue to rave.  Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe how good this one is!

Here’s what you need…. the cat looking on is optional.

Brown up 1 pound of ground chuck with 1 medium diced onion. You can throw in a couple cloves of minced garlic too if you’d like.

Once the beef is browned, drain off any grease.  Stir in a 28oz jar of spaghetti sauce, 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning, & 1 tablespoon of garlic powder. Cook on low for 10 minutes.

Cook 12oz of spaghetti noodles until al dente; drain. Mix in 8oz of softened cream cheese while the spaghetti noodles are still hot.

Add the spaghetti noodles to the pan with the spaghetti sauce.  Any cream cheese that’s not yet mixed in yet will melt in this step. Mix it all up to combine.

Meanwhile, make the Mozzarella cheese sauce.  This is the easiest cheese sauce ever!  In a saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter.  Once melted, whisk in 1/4 cup of all purpose flour.  Cook on medium heat for about 60-90 seconds, stirring occasionally. Whisk in 1 cup of milk.  It should get thick pretty fast.  Once thickened, add in your other cup of milk.  Cook, whisking often, on medium heat until it’s thickened enough to lightly coat your whisk – about the thickness of heavy whipping cream. Add in 8oz of shredded Mozzarella cheese. Whisk it until the cheese is completely melted & throughly combined – the cheese sauce should be beautiful now! I have photos of the cheese sauce making process here.

Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.   Layer half of the spaghetti in the bottom of the dish.

Pour half of the cheese sauce on top. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.

Layer on the other half of the spaghetti & meat sauce mixture.  Then top it off with the rest of the cheese sauce & another 1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese. My mouth is already watering, y’all 😉

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.