Cheesy Baked Spaghetti with Garlic Knots

Cheesy Baked Spaghetti with Garlic Knots

Cheesy baked spaghetti with garlic knots recipe has a stunning family style presentation and is even more incredible in taste!

Spaghetti night around here is a family favorite, but with just a few extra steps it’s even more amazing.

The addition of the cream cheese and mozzarella cheese makes the spaghetti extra creamy and decadent.

And the garlic knots are super simple, but the kids absolutely loved how they were baked into the spaghetti.

This was our easy and very popular weeknight dinner.

But if you’re sending dinner to someone’s house, this is a complete all-in-one meal that they can bake and enjoy hot and fresh from the oven.

Ingredients for the spaghetti dish Cheesy Baked Spaghetti with Garlic Knots

How to make cheesy baked spaghetti with garlic knots

First set a large pot over medium heat for a few minutes and once hot add some olive oil.

Then a diced onion along with kosher salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning.

This will cook for a few minutes, stirring a few times.

Onions with seasoning in a skillet for Cheesy Baked Spaghetti with Garlic Knots

Next add in a pound of ground Italian sausage along with six cloves of minced garlic.

My sausage came in the casing so I simply cut it off and put the ground sausage into the skillet.

Adding ground sausage and garlic to the skillet before cooking

This will cook about 6 minutes or so, and break it apart and stir with the spatula several times.

Warning… your kitchen will smell absolutely ahhhhh-mazing!

Cooked sausage in a skillet with garlic

Then add a 24 oz jar of pasta or marinara sauce along with 1/2 cup of either water or chicken broth.

Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes to let all these gorgeous flavors come together.

Adding tomato sauce to the sausage

For the garlic knots we are using a tube of pre-made pizza crust keeping this easy peasy lemon squeezy.

I unrolled the tube of pizza dough, cut it horizontally down the center, and then vertically to create 16 strips of pizza crust.

Cutting the pizza crust into 16 smaller strips

As the pasta sauce was bubbling away and doing its thing on the stove I cooked a pound of spaghetti, or in my case actually Angel hair pasta, according to package directions in salted water.

Once the pasta is done toss it in with the sauce until evenly coated.

Adding the cooked pasta to the sauce

After the pasta sauce is cooked put an 8 ounce block of cream cheese and a cup of mozzarella cheese into the sauce and stir until evenly combined.

Adding cheese to the cooked sauce

Then pour the pasta and sauce into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.

Tie each of the 16 slices of pizza crust into garlic knots and nestle them into the side of the dish around the pasta.

Brush the garlic knots with some melted butter that has been mixed with more garlic, kosher salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning.

Then sprinkle more mozzarella cheese over top and into a 375 degree oven for 18 to 24 minutes, depending on how much you like your garlic knots cooked.

Cheesy Baked Spaghetti with Garlic Knots before baking in the oven

It’s perfectly acceptable to do a happy dance when taking cheesy baked spaghetti with garlic knots out of the oven because this is a phenomenal dish!

A little fresh basil or parsley over top will make this even prettier but it is certainly not needed.

Try to have enough patience to let it cool slightly before serving but I will not judge you if you dig in right away đŸ˜‰

Cheesy Baked Spaghetti with Garlic Knots

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Cheesy Baked Spaghetti with Garlic Knots

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Cheesy Baked Spaghetti with Garlic Knots

If you like cheesy baked spaghetti with garlic knots, you might also like these recipes…

Chicken Bacon Ranch Baked Pasta

Chicken Bacon Ranch Baked Pasta

Pizza Dip with Garlic Knots

Pizza Dip with Garlic Knots

Easy Cheesy Meatball Calzones

Easy Cheesy Meatball Calzones

Air Fryer Cheesy Garlic Bombs

Air Fryer Cheesy Garlic Bombs

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Cheesy Baked Spaghetti with Garlic Knots

Cheesy Baked Spaghetti with Garlic Knots has an Italian meat sauce with spaghetti and cheesy goodness baked in the same pan with garlic knots

Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian
Keyword Baked, Easy Dinner, Garlic Knots, One Pan Meals, Pasta, Recipe, spaghetti
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 623 kcal
Author Cheri Renee

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion diced
  • kosher salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning
  • 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 pound ground Italian sausage
  • 1 24 oz jar pasta or marinara sauce
  • 1/2 cup water or chicken broth
  • 1 8 oz block cream cheese
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1 package/ tube pizza crust
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • Optional: fresh basil or parsley for garnish

Instructions

  1. Set a large pot over medium heat and once hot and the olive oil, onions, kosher salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning.

  2. Add 6 cloves of the minced garlic and the ground Italian sausage. Cook 6 to 7 minutes stirring and breaking apart the sausage as it cooks.

  3. Add the jar of pasta or marinara sauce, water or chicken broth, and more kosher salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes stirring a few times.

  4. Break apart the block of cream cheese and add it to the sauce along with half of the mozzarella cheese. Stir until melted and evenly combined.

  5. Cook the pasta according to package directions in salted water. Then drain the pasta and toss it in with the sauce.

  6. Transfer the pasta to a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.

  7. Unwrap the tube of pizza crust and cut into 16 smaller strips (I cut mine in half horizontally and then into smaller strips, picture example in post above).

  8. Tie each strip in a knot and arrange in the 9 x 13 dish around the edge, pushing the spaghetti down some to make room for each garlic knot.

  9. Combine the melted butter with the remaining two cloves of minced garlic , kosher salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning. Brush this mixture evenly over the garlic knots.

  10. Sprinkle the remaining one cup of mozzarella cheese over the spaghetti and place in a 375 degree oven for 18 to 24 minutes, depending on how done you want the garlic knots. Just keep checking during the last few minutes and remove when the garlic knots are cooked how you prefer.

  11. Sprinkle with fresh basil or parsley for garnish if desired.

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