This vegetarian baked spaghetti casserole is a favorite meal at our house, especially when the kids come to visit! A zesty sauce is combined with diced tomatoes, plant-based meat, and spaghetti noodles. There's a middle layer of cheese, and topped with more cheese.
There's around 30 minutes of prep and stove-top cooking before it slides into the oven.
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Jump to:
- ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- 🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
- 🔪 Recommended Equipment
- 📝 Instructions Overview
- ⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- 💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- 🥬 Make it Vegan
- 🥬 Keep it Vegetarian
- 🥩 For the Meat Eaters at the Table
- 📇 More Casseroles You Might Like
- Vegetarian Baked Spaghetti Casserole
Just like this One-Pan Meatball Casserole and Cheesy, White Bean, and Tomato Bake, this dish is a hit with families and is a perfect weeknight dinner. Casseroles are one of the best kinds of dishes on those busy nights. For more casserole ideas, check out this post on back-to-school vegetarian casseroles for a week's worth of meals.
All you need is garlic bread and a Lemony Romaine and Avocado Salad to complete the meal. Easy-peasy.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Easy recipe with ingredients you may already have on hand.
- Perfect dinner for kids.
- Easy to add chicken for meat eaters at the table.
- Great pot-luck dish.
- Make ahead, and warm it up just before serving.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
For all of the ingredients, measurements, and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Spaghetti noodles - I used bucatini, a fatter spaghetti noodle, but regular spaghetti works too.
- Yellow onion
- Red bell pepper
- Garlic - either garlic cloves or garlic paste in a tube.
- Dried oregano
- Dried red pepper flakes
- Plant-based meat - I used a combination of Beyond Beef and Morningstar Chorizo crumbles - but sometimes I use seitan or whatever I have on hand.
- Diced tomatoes
- Pasta sauce - store-bought, or make your own. If purchasing, you can go with a marinara sauce, are kick it up a little with an arrabiata pasta sauce.
- Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
- Deep sauté dish
- Chef's knife
- 9" X 11" casserole pan
📝 Instructions Overview
Detailed instructions for making this baked spaghetti casserole are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!
Step 1
Cook the noodles. Follow the directions on the package.
Step 2
Sauté. Sauté the onions, red bell pepper, garlic, herbs, and spices in a large skillet. Add the plant-based meats and sauté until cooked. Add the tomatoes and pasta sauce. Fold in the noodles.
Step 3
Layer and bake. Pile half of the pasta into a baking dish and top with half of the cheese. Then, arrange the remaining pasta over the cheese and top it with the rest of the cheese. Bake until the cheese is all melted.
⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- Use a purchased pasta sauce.
- Make the sauce ahead of time.
- Cook the pasta ahead of time.
- Assemble the entire casserole in advance, and bake when ready to serve.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- If you prefer it spicier, you can use 100% plant-based chorizo, use arrabiata pasta sauce, and/or use more dried red pepper flakes.
- If you prefer not to use plant-based meat substitutes, feel free to use chickpeas. When I do that, I like to smash them a bit so they mix into the pasta sauce better.
🥬 Make it Vegan
Use plant-based cheeses in place of the mozzarella and Parmesan.
🥬 Keep it Vegetarian
If you want to keep this dish truly vegetarian, be sure to purchase mozzarella that's vegetarian. This means it uses a vegetable rennet. Other mozzarella cheeses use an animal rennet. Either eliminate the Parmesan, look for a Parmesan-style cheese that uses a vegetable rennet, or use a plant-based Parmesan-style cheese.
🥩 For the Meat Eaters at the Table
Add 1 ½ cups of ground sirloin or roast chicken to the casserole in place of the plant-based meat substitutes.
📇 More Casseroles You Might Like
Mexican Stuffed Pepper Casserole (Vegetarian)
Cauliflower Tetrazzini with Poblano Peppers
Curried Mac and Cheese with Cauliflower
Don't have time to run to the grocery store? Order the ingredients for this recipe using Instacart (affiliate link). Just click on the Instacart button in the recipe card below, and the ingredients will all be organized for you on their site. Plug in your zip code, choose the store you prefer, and select the ingredients you want delivered to your home.
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Vegetarian Baked Spaghetti Casserole
Equipment
- 9" X 13" baking dish
- box grater
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spaghetti noodles I used bucatini spaghetti
- 1 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup diced yellow onion ½ large onion
- 1 red bell pepper stemmed, seeded, coarsely chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano flakes
- ¾ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- ½ pound Beyond Beef or Impossible Meat or seitan
- ¾ cup plant-based chorizo crumbles such as Morningstar
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes and their juices
- 2 cups pasta sauce either marinara or arrabiata sauce
- 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
- Cook the pasta in well-salted water according to the package directions. Drain.
- Prep the onion and red bell pepper. Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and add the onion and red bell pepper to the skillet. Sauté until they begin to soften, about 5 - 7 minutes.Add the salt, oregano, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Stir and cook another 2 minutes.
- Add the plant-based beef and chorizo crumbles. Break up the plant-based beef and cook for 6 - 7 minutes. Stir in the diced tomatoes and pasta sauce and bring to a simmer. Fold in the cooked pasta.
- Divide the pasta in half, and pile half of it into the baking dish. Cover with half of the cheeses. Layer the other half of the pasta on top of the cheese, and finish with the remaining cheeses.
- Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and lightly browned. Cook longer if you like a more browned cheese topping. Cut into squares to serve.
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