Spaghetti Pie Recipe
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Have you ever tried a spaghetti pie? It’s a delicious alternative to the same ol’ spaghetti night, and makes a terrific weeknight meal!
The Italian dinner table is the epicenter of everything that happens in the lives of the people who sit at it.
Often large and welcoming, this table, with all its comfortable chairs, seems to call out to you…
“Mangia!! Mangia!!” (Eat!! Eat!!) And typically, you do just that.
Italian meals are an experience unto themselves. There is a whole world of excitement, emotion, and hands waving passionately in the air with every word. You come away from a meal feeling as though you’ve experienced a lifetime of emotion in one evening’s dinner. You feel a strong sense of family and contentedness. It’s a fabulous experience. I highly recommend it.
What Is Spaghetti Pie?
Spaghetti pie is basically a casserole. Although, many people bake this in a round dish and cut it like a slice of pie.
But this isn’t essential to the recipe. I make mine in a regular casserole dish and cut it into squares and it works just fine.
It’s basically all of the things that make Italian pasta a totally comforting experience. It’s a mix of pasta, sauce, cheese, spices, and, if you so choose, some meat as well.
Can I Use Ground Beef In Spaghetti Pie?
I use ground turkey in this recipe, but you can easily substitute with ground beef, or leave it out completely for a vegetarian meal. It will cook up the same with or without meat.
Baked Spaghetti Pie
Sometimes, you need something a little different from your regular bowl of spaghetti. And that’s where this baked spaghetti pie comes into play. It’s a great way to mix things up for pasta night, and it pairs well with a simple green salad and a side of crusty garlic bread.
You’ll take all that spaghetti, mix it with some egg, sauce, spices, and cheese and bake it like a casserole. So really, this could be called a baked spaghetti casserole.
Want It Cheesier?
If you love a cheesy casserole, here are some cheesy additions you can stir into the mixture before baking.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Cottage cheese – yes, it works well! It’s also great in lasagna!
- Ricotta cheese
You can mix these in, or create a top cheese layer over the casserole. This works best with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
What You’ll Need For This Easy Spaghetti Pie
Oil – This can be any oil you feel comfortable cooking with. I used coconut oil, but grapeseed, safflower, or olive oil will work well too.
Ground turkey – You can use regular ground turkey, lean ground turkey, or ground beef. You can even use a combination of ground beef and pork if you prefer.
Red onion – You don’t have to worry too much about getting a fine chop here unless you prefer the texture. A rough chop will work just as well. And if you don’t have red onions, a yellow or white onion will work just as well.
Garlic powder – If you prefer to use fresh garlic, use about 6 medium cloves and mince them.
Onion powder – It might seem like a lot to have both onions and onion powder, but I promise, it’s not.
Canned fire-roasted tomatoes – You can use regular diced tomatoes too. Look for tomatoes with no sugar added.
Balsamic vinegar – You can use the vinegar as is, or if you prefer a deeper vinegar flavor, make a balsamic reduction by boiling some vinegar down by half and using a tablespoon of that.
Eggs – If you prefer to use just egg whites, use 8 of them.
Italian Seasoning – You can use store-bought or make your own. The link is above.
Whole grain spaghetti noodles – Cook the pasta separately to package directions. The flavor will be greatly improved if you salt the water. Cook spaghetti to al dente.
Parmesan cheese – Grated is best here. Shredded will work, but it won’t do the same job of “gluing” the pasta together with the egg.
Note: If you have a spaghetti sauce that you prefer, use a 30 oz. jar of it (or as close as you can get to 28 oz.) and omit the fire-roasted tomatoes. Also, reduce the vinegar to 1 teaspoon.
How To Make Spaghetti Pie
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Warm the oil in a large skillet.
Add the onions.
Fully cook the meat and onions and set aside to cool slightly.
Crack your eggs in a large bowl.
Whisk until mostly smooth.
Add the crushed tomatoes to the eggs.
Add the grated parmesan to the eggs and tomatoes.
Add the spices to the mixing bowl too.
Whisk all ingredients in a large mixing bowl until well combined.
Add the cooled meat to the egg mix.
Add the pasta to the mix.
Stir everything well so the pasta is well coated in the mix.
Transfer the spaghetti mixture to a 9×13 baking dish.
Flatten the noodles with the back of the spatula and compress the noodles gently.
Sprinkle parmesan over the top of the spaghetti pie. If you want, you can add extra shredded mozzarella cheese as a top layer.
Bake for 50-60 minutes. There should be no liquid (egg white) visible when you cut into the middle of it.
Storage
Keep this in the dish you baked it in, and after it has cooled down, wrap it with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store it in the fridge. If you need to remove it from the baking dish, simply transfer it to an airtight container. This will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezing Spaghetti Pie
This will freeze well, if packed well, for up to 2 months.
Reheating Spaghetti Pie
If frozen, thaw for a full 24 hours in the fridge first.
Reheat servings in the microwave or in the oven. If using the oven, you’ll want to cover the dish with aluminum foil.
Recipe Supplies For This Spaghetti Pie Recipe
You’ll need a casserole dish or a good pie plate. My recommendations are these:
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Equipment
- 9 x 13 casserole dish (or close to that size)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. oil
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 1 cup chopped red onions
- 1 tbsp. garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp. Italian Seasoning (recipe link above or found in the spice aisle)
- 4 large eggs
- 28 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes (or diced tomatoes – no sugar added)
- 1 cup parmesan cheese (+ extra for topping)
- 1 lb. whole grain spaghetti (cooked and drained)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350℉.
- Warm the oil in a large skillet.
- Add the meat to the warmed pan.
- Add the onions.
- Fully cook the meat and onions and set aside to cool slightly.
- Crack your eggs in a large bowl.
- Whisk until mostly smooth.
- Add the crushed tomatoes to the eggs.
- Add the grated parmesan to the eggs and tomatoes.
- Add the spices to the mixing bowl too.
- Whisk all ingredients in a large mixing bowl until well combined.
- Add the cooled meat to the egg mix.
- Add the pasta to the mix.
- Stir everything well so the pasta is well coated in the mix.
- Transfer to a 9×13 baking dish.
- Flatten the noodles with the back of the spatula and compress the noodles gently.
- Sprinkle parmesan over the top of the spaghetti pie.
- Bake 50-60 minutes. There should be no liquid (egg white) visible when you cut into the middle of it.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe from the Gracious Pantry archives. Recipe originally posted on 1/12/11.
I'm Tiffany, a writer for MSN and the AP Newswire, a cookbook author, digital publisher, food lover, and mom. I create healthy, clean eating recipes for everyday living.
Love the sound of this one! I need some GF spaghetti noodles and then I’ll have everything I need for it. I can’t wait to try this!
Paulissa – Yes! GF noodles would work perfectly! Enjoy!
I LOVE spaghetti, and this pie sounds like heaven, thanks for the recipe I will try it soon
Trude – Fabulous! I look forward to your feedback!
Hooray! I grew up eating lots of spaghetti (my mom is half Italian), so I do get tired of it. My husband, on the other hand, is so pleased when I serve him a big plate of noodles. This dish seems so perfect for the two of us!
Sarah – Wonderful! I grew up with a lot of spaghetti myself. But I never get tired of it. It’s one of my all-time favorite meals!
I’m a newbie. Can you tell what brand is “jar clean spaghetti sauce” ? Thanks!!!
Robin – I don’t know what stores you have in your area, but usually it takes a little label reading to find one that’s clean. There should be absolutely no added sugar (in the ingredients, not in grams – there is natural sugar in tomatoes, that is fine), and you should recognize every single ingredient as something you would cook with in your own kitchen. I buy mine at Trader Joe’s. Whole Foods also has several. A health food store is typically your best bet. Hope this helps!
Rao’s Marinara Sauce is my favorite no sugar added …the ingredients are just what you would use if making it yourself…which I could do but sometimes it is nice to just pull that out of the pantry! It isn’t available in most grocery stores…not specialty stores like Whole Foods.
That should have said It IS available in most stores!
Judi – Yes!! They have wonderful sauce! A bit pricey here in my area, but on occasion, totally worth it.
can’t wait to try this. I make my own spaghetti sauce, and it’s pretty clean. i changed the sugar to agave, and you can’t tell the difference!!
Lisa – Sounds wonderful!
I can share it if anyone is interested.
Lisa – Feel free! More recipes are a good thing around here!
Forgive me, some of the things I just guess on.
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 cans of tomato paste
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoon agave
i usually add some garlic
celery salt
onion
mix together and simmer on the stove for 30 min or so
Lisa – Sounds yummy!
Has anyone tried making this without the parmesan? My daughter is allergic to all dairy and I have been looking for a way to change up some of our go-to dinners.
Jennifer – Yes! The one pictures above is without any dairy (parmesan). I can’t have dairy any longer, so all my current recipes for the past few months are dairy free, including this one.
Hi! I love your site, and this sounds great. Do I need to cover this with foil while baking? I’m new at cooking clean. Thanks.
Elisha – No. Not unless the top starts to get to brown for your liking.
It is just me and my husband and I was wondering if this is freezable.
Jennifer – It would probably freeze okay, but it would most likely be better if you just cut the recipe in half.
If you leave the pasta just shy of cooked when you freeze it, it’ll finish cooking when you heat it and turn out as if it’s freshly made.
Jaime – Great tip!! Thanks!
Hey Tiffany!
Love your website and all the wonderful information and recipes! Do you actually use a regular size pie dish to bake this recipe?
Thanks!!
Jen
Jen – I used a 9×13 lasagna pan. Works like a charm!
Super, thank you! On the list for this week:=
Jen – You’re welcome! Enjoy it!
I just started in on a one-month challenge of eating clean yesterday, and this was the first dish I made myself. I love it! I used grass-fed lean beef instead of turkey, it’s wonderful. Here’s hoping one month turns into two months… etc
Cara – If you enjoy the process, it will! You can do it!!
Do you think that it might be possible to use spaghetti squash with this?
Mandy – It actually might work! It’s worth a try!
oh my goodness im getting more and more excited looking at all your recipes! my so has a lot of, les say, food “issues” so i was getting overwhelmed. clean eating seems to work best for him. i even bought the eat clean cook book awhile ago but things were soooo complicated. i love ur site. u have made my day
Andrea – Awwwe, thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Alilgranola – Did you cook the pasta before making the spaghetti pie? It’s not supposed to be raw. The eggs are what binds the pasta, so if you feel you need more, add another 1 or 2 to get the proper amount of binding. Hope that helps!
Christine – Sure! That should work fine!
Anybody use a different type of noodle?
Sbweeks – Like what?
I see. I would think most types of pasta would work for this.
Sure!
Will this work without meat? I eat fish (and bacon, though I know it’s not clean) occasionally. But not other meats.
Dr C – Should be fine.
Thanks for this great site. I made this recipe with Brown Rice Spaghetti and it came out mushy. Was it the spaghetti or did I do something else wrong? (I’ve never used rice pasta before). Thanks!
Yes, rice pasta is mushy. Sorry about that. I hope it at least tasted good!
Can you use gluten free pasta for this recipe?
I’ve never used it, but I would have to say that as long as it doesn’t get too mushy with cooking, it should work just fine.
I made this for dinner tonight with 16 oz. shirataki noodles instead of the pasta and it turned out great and saved lots of calories!! Thank you for the recipe!
Cherrie – Interesting! I don’t think I’ve ever had those. Glad it turned out well!
Hi, we’re just starting on the clean eating diet…random question…what do you do with all those egg yolks??
Patricia – You can save them for other recipes, or you can use half the number of eggs, but use the whole egg.