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Grandma Barb’s recipe, from an old North Denver family
Some nights, only an old family recipe will do for dinner. This one is my husband’s Grandma Barb’s baked spaghetti pie, and we made it straight from her own recipe notes.
Spaghetti pie is a casserole dish that actually originated in Colorado – specifically in the Italian-American neighborhoods of North Denver, where my husband’s grandmother grew up. My grandpa went to the old Manual High School in that same part of town!
Grandma Barb was particular about this recipe, and we’ve kept it close to her original notes rather than “improving” it into something else. It’s a filling, hearty meal that works just as well on a cold winter night as it does eaten outside in early summer.
Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.
At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
Table of contents
Why This Recipe Works
- The egg-and-parmesan crust isn’t a real pie crust — it’s a binder. Mixing warm, just-cooked spaghetti with beaten egg and parmesan while everything is still warm and pliable is what lets it hold a pie shape once baked. If the noodles cool too much before mixing, the egg won’t coat them evenly and the “crust” won’t hold together as well when you slice it.
- Resting the pie for 10 minutes before cutting matters. Straight out of the oven, the egg binder and cheese are still setting. Cutting immediately gives you a looser, messier slice; the rest lets it firm up into clean wedges.
- Sour cream, not just tomato sauce, is what gives this its richness. It’s a distinctly Denver-style touch compared to a straight red-sauce baked spaghetti — it adds tang and a creamy layer between the noodle crust and the meat sauce instead of an all-tomato filling.
How To Make Spaghetti Pie
- Spaghetti (6 oz): any spaghetti or bucatini works, but skip angel hair or thin spaghetti – it gets mushy as the casserole bakes.
- Eggs (2): the binder for the “crust,” adding structure, lift, and richness.
- Parmesan cheese (¼ cup, plus 1 tablespoon): the ¼ cup goes into the crust mixture; the extra tablespoon is for topping before baking.
- Butter (2 tablespoons): adds richness and helps the onions cook down without sticking.
- Onion (½ cup, chopped): cuts through the richness of the cream, cheese, and tomato sauce with a bit of sharpness.
- Ground beef (1 lb), or half beef/half Italian sausage: pork, lamb, or chicken all work too, for a heartier, meatier filling.
- Sour cream (1 cup): adds tang and a rich, thick layer that keeps the dish from tasting flat or one-note.
- Italian seasoning (1 teaspoon): the herbal backbone – thyme, basil, oregano, and marjoram round out the sauce.
- Garlic powder (1 teaspoon): concentrated garlic flavor in every bite, more evenly distributed than fresh garlic would be here.
- Tomato sauce (8 oz can): use one you actually like the flavor of – it’s a big part of the dish’s base. If tomato sauce gives you heartburn, a lower-acid variety works fine here.
- Shredded mozzarella (6 oz): part-skim melts best and keeps a neutral, milky flavor similar to what you’d use on a pizza.
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, we’re going to follow this method:
How to Make Spaghetti Pie
Prep
Beat two eggs.
Spray the bottom of your pie pan with non-stick spray.
Saute onions and butter together in a pan until soft and lightly browned.
Brown the meat and drain off the excess oil. Add the seasonings, and the tomato sauce to the meat and simmer for 3-4 minutes to cook together.
Spaghetti, Egg, Cheese Base
In the bottom of your pie pan, mix noodles, ¼ cup of parmesan cheese and beaten eggs, while the eggs are still warm and pliable.
Mix
Gently press down the noodles into the pan to make the “crust”.
Onions & Sour Cream
Add the onions, and 1 cup of sour cream on top of the noodles.
Meat Sauce
Add the sauce mixture on top of the onions and sour cream in the pie pan.
Cheese
Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top of the pie. Add the last two teaspoons of parmesan cheese on top.
Bake
Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350F until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.
Enjoy!
Let rest for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Letting the noodles cool before mixing in the eggs. Warm noodles coat evenly with egg; cooled noodles don’t bind as well.
- Skipping the rest before cutting. It’s tempting to serve right away, but 10 minutes makes the difference between a clean slice and a mess on the plate.
- Using angel hair or thin spaghetti. It breaks down and turns mushy in the bake – stick with regular spaghetti or bucatini.
- Guessing on the parmesan split. Use ¼ cup in the crust mixture and save the remaining 1 tablespoon for the top – this exact mix-up has tripped up readers before (see the comments on the live post).
Tips and Tricks to Perfect Baked Spaghetti Pie and FAQs
You don’t have to use a pie pan. You can use any glass baking dish – round, square, or rectangular.
Larger pans, cook more pasta – If you’re using larger than a 10” pie pan, I’d recommend using half a pound of pasta, which is approximately half a box of dried pasta. Add an extra egg and additional tablespoon of parmesan cheese to the binder mixture.
This dish freezes incredibly well. Go ahead and double (or triple!) the recipe and freeze an extra pie for a later day. We’ve found that this is a great way to always have a mercy meal on hand! Just prepare as normal but cook and store in disposable aluminum baking pans.
Tastes even better the next day. Like many soups, sauces and casseroles, this often tastes even better the next day, after the flavors have some time to meld together.
Storage, Reheating, and Freezing
- Fridge: store leftovers covered for up to 4 days – like most casseroles, the flavor improves by day two.
- Reheat: in the oven at 350°F until warmed through, or in the microwave in short bursts.
- Freezer: freezes well for up to 2-3 months. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then foil, and label with the date. Thaw in the fridge before reheating. For make-ahead dinners, assemble and freeze unbaked in a disposable pan, then bake straight from frozen, adding extra time as needed.
Baked Spaghetti Pie Recipe FAQs
Yes! Baked Spaghetti pie often tastes even better the next day. Go ahead and cook a day or two ahead.
Substitute traditional spaghetti with rice pasta. Be sure to follow the pasta cooking directions included on the packaging. With gluten free pasta, it’s smart to keep it al dente as you’ll be cooking it longer in “pie form” and gluten free pasta gets mushy fast.
Spaghetti pie actually originated in Denver – while there are lots of baked spaghetti casseroles, the first mention of “spaghetti pie” as a dish was from North Denver neighborhoods – likely where my husband’s grandma (and my grandpa, who went to the old Manual HS!) grew up.
There is no real crust to this spaghetti casserole – the spaghetti just bakes in a pie plate to take a pie shape.
Yes, you should cook the spaghetti noodles until they are al dente (firm to the bite) before using them in the recipe. This ensures that they don’t become mushy during baking.
While spaghetti is the traditional choice, you can experiment with other pasta shapes like fettuccine, penne, or rigatoni if you prefer. However, the dish might be called something different if you deviate from spaghetti.
Yes, you can prepare spaghetti pie in advance and refrigerate it for a day or two before baking. Just cover it tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. When ready to bake, remove it from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking.
Yes, you can freeze spaghetti pie. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. Label it with the date and contents. It can be frozen for up to 2-3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator before reheating.
Yes, spaghetti pie is often enjoyed by kids due to its familiar spaghetti and cheese components. You can customize it with ingredients your kids like, such as mild cheeses and vegetables, to make it even more appealing to them.
What to Serve With Spaghetti Pie
A nice fresh and light green salad goes well with this meal. Something like my Poppyseed Spinach fruit salad would be a nice addition on a summer day to lighten this up.
You can’t serve spaghetti – even in pie form – in my house without a side of fresh bread. My kids LOVE a fresh slice of bread with their pasta.
If you love this video than you will enjoy my cheesy Italian meatball skillet!
I’d recommend my Easy No Knead Bread with lots of butter.
If you want something a little more zippy, Easy Jalapeño Cheese bread is a fun side. The zesty spice from the Jalapeno goes well with the rich flavors of Grandma’s Spaghetti Pie!
For more simple salad ideas, find our salad recipes index or some of our recipes below:
What Readers Are Saying
“We have been making this recipe for years because my mother made it while we were growing up! The only difference is that we sauté chopped (diced) green peppers with the onions. Very good!” – Mary Beth
“OMG! The baked spaghetti pie was awesome!… I did not have parmesan cheese, so I used cottage cheese mixed with noodles. Turned out awesome! This is a keeper.” – Michelle L Martin
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Easy Baked Spaghetti Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 oz of spaghetti
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese plus 1 tablespoon
- 2 tbsp butter
- ? cup onion, chopped
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 lb of ground beef or mix ½ ground beef and ½ pound of Italian sausage
- 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning, oregano and basil
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- salt and pepper
- 8 oz can of tomato sauce
- 6 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Bring 3-4 quarts of water to a boil, break spaghetti in half and cook as directed by the packaging, probably around 9-11 minutes. Strain when done.
- Beat two eggs
- Spray the bottom of your pie pan with non-stick spray.
- In the bottom of your pie pan, mix noodles, ¼ cup of parmesan cheese and beaten eggs, while the eggs are still warm and pliable. Gently press down the noodles into the pan to make the “crust”.
- Saute onions and butter together in a pan.
- Add the onions, and 1 cup of sour cream on top of the noodles.
- Brown the meat and drain off the excess oil. Add the seasonings, and the tomato sauce to the meat and simmer for 3-4 minutes to cook together.
- Add the sauce mixture on top of the onions and sour cream in the pie pan.
- Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top of the pie. Add the last tablespoon of parmesan cheese on top.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350o until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.
- Let rest for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.
Notes
- Use warm, just-drained noodles for the crust mixture — cooled noodles won’t bind as well with the egg.
- The parmesan splits two ways: ¼ cup into the crust, 1 tablespoon on top.
- Don’t skip the 10-minute rest — it’s what gives you clean slices instead of a loose scoop.
- Freezes beautifully for up to 2–3 months; double the recipe and freeze one for later.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Easy and fabulous ! So good.
I used fresh herbs.
Thk u for this.
G. Speed
so glad you loved it!
I made your baked spaghetti tonight and it was so delicious!! The flavor was the best!
So glad you loved it!
We have been making this recipe for years because my mother made it while we were growing up! The only difference is that we sauté chopped (diced) green peppers with the onions. Very good!
Hi….just came across your spaghetti pie recipe on Pinterest. It calls for 1/4 + 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese….is that the correct amount? We’re eager to try your recipe. Thanks so much
Thank you for pointing out how confusing that looks, I updated the recipe card, you want to use 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese in the bake and the remaining 1 tbsp is for the topping. Hope you enjoy it!
OMG! The baked spaghetti pie was awesome! I had sauce left from 2 days prior, we were going to have spaghetti again and freeze the rest. My husband suggested baked, so I looked it up on Pinterest and chose this. The only difference is, I did not have parmesan cheese, so I used cottage cheese mixed with noodles. Turned out Awesome! This is a keeper.
Thanks for the comment!