Baked Mexican Spaghetti

Name: Baked Mexican Spaghetti
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1 lb spaghetti (cooked); 1 lb ground beef; ½ cup onion (finely diced); 2 tsp cumin (ground); 2 tsp chili powder; 1 tsp oregano (dried); 1½ tsp granulated garlic; ¼ tsp salt (+/- to taste); ½ tsp black pepper (+/- to taste); 28 ounces crushed tomatoes; 24 ounces Mexican cheese blend; ¼ cup fresh cilantro (chopped); 2 scallions (chopped); sour cream; salsa

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Give your next spaghetti dinner a twist of fusion and flavor by making this Baked Mexican Spaghetti in your cast iron skillet.

Using pantry staples and your spice rack, this Mexican spaghetti casserole comes together quickly. You might also love our other large skillet meals like this Chicken Spaghetti, Mexican Chicken Sweet Potato, and Cilantro Lime Chicken recipes to feed your hungry family.

Baked Mexican Spaghetti served on white plate with a salad off to the side.

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Why we love this baked Mexican spaghetti
Ingredients for this Recipe:
Variations
How to Make Baked Mexican Spaghetti
Serving Suggestions
Expert Tips
Recipe FAQs
Other Related Pasta and Noodle Recipes
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Why we love this baked Mexican spaghetti

This delicious Mexican spaghetti bake or what some might call taco spaghetti casserole is generally budget-friendly can be made ahead of time and tossed in the refrigerator overnight to be baked later. And the leftovers are even better.

This almost one pan meal is versatile as it is easy. The possibilities of mix-ins and flavor tweaks are nearly endless.

Ingredients for this Recipe:

Ingredients to make Mexican baked spaghetti.

Spaghetti — cook one minute less than package directions or just before al dente in a large pot of salted water; drained and set aside.
Ground beef — we used 85% lean ground beef.
Crushed tomatoes — this will be the basis of the sauce.
Produce — yellow or white onion for cooking with the meat. Fresh cilantro and green onions as toppings.
Herbs and spices — granulated garlic, cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt, and pepper.
Mexican cheese blend — shredded and packaged is easiest.
Optional Toppings — sour cream and salsa.

Variations

We love easy recipes with little prep time that can be adapted in so many ways. Here's a few suggestions.

Meats — swap out the beef for ground chicken, turkey, or even pork. Or you could use a blend of fresh Mexican chorizo and lean ground beef.

Mix-ins — add a can of diced green chiles (or is it green chilies?) or diced peppers, black beans that have been rinsed and drained, corn (frozen or canned), and chopped mushrooms.

Go vegetarian — omit the meat and add 4 cups of minced mushrooms like button, baby bellas (cremini or brown) or portobellos.

Additional toppings — hot sauce instead of salsa, guacamole, additional cilantro, diced onions, and queso fresco (fresh Mexican white crumbly cheese.)

How to Make Baked Mexican Spaghetti

Ground beef and onions cooking in the skillet.

Step 1 — Preheat the oven to 350° F and begin cooking the pasta. Brown the ground beef and diced onions together over medium heat. If you're using really lean meat you may need to add a bit of olive oil to prevent scorching and sticking.

The spices being added to the partially cooked ground beef and onions.

Step 2 — Halfway through cooking the meat and onions, drain off any excess renderings. A little is fine. Add the herbs and spices, stirring well to combine and finishing cooking the meat mixture until it is no longer pink.

Cooked beef and onions with excess fat drained off.

Step 3 — Drain any remaining excess fat.

Crushed tomatoes being added to the seasoned cooked meat mixture.

Step 4 — Stir in the crushed tomatoes.

Cooked spaghetti added to the saucy meat mixture.

Step 5 — Incorporate the cooked spaghetti noodles.

Step 6 — Mix in between a third and a half of the cheese blend. Stir really well.

Mexican cheese blend completely covering the pasta dish.

Step 7 — Add the remaining shredded cheese mixture over the top of the casserole.

Freshly chopped cilantro and green onions sprinkled on the top.

Step 8 — Sprinkle chopped fresh cilantro and green onions over the top of the cheese. Cover with the lid or aluminum foil, toss it in the oven, and bake for 20 minutes.

Lid/foil removed during the last 5-10 minutes of cooking to melt the cheese.

Step 9 — After 20 minutes, uncover and continue to bake for 5-10 more minutes or until the cheese is melted. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with your favorite toppings like sour cream and salsa.

Two slices of Baked Mexican spaghetti on white plates with a salad and the remaining pasta in the skillet in the background.

Serving Suggestions

This baked Mexican spaghetti is so delicious out of the oven and just as good reheated. Here are a few recipes you can serve along side to make it a complete meal:

Start this delicious meal out with a few appetizers like these Dutch oven jalapeño poppers or cream cheese stuffed mushrooms.

Serve it along side this easy oatmeal skillet cookie, this popular skillet cookie or even with a decadent chocolate pecan pie!

Expert Tips

This is an excellent recipe to make while camping.

We suggest that you make the pasta and meat mixture with some of the cheese mixed in. Reserve some of the cheese for topping. Add it all to the camp oven when you're ready to cook. Top with cheese and cook for 20 minutes.

Recipe FAQs

Why do I have to drain the fat before it's fully cooked.

Using higher fat ground beef like 73% renders a lot of grease. We want the meat to be fully seasoned so adding the spices before it's fully cooked helps infuse the seasonings into the meat. Once the meat is done cooking and drained, some of the seasonings will go with it, so draining before it done helps retain full flavor.

Why do you say to cook the spaghetti one minute less than the package says to, won't it be uncooked?

We stop cooking the spaghetti a minute early because it will finish cooking in the oven. If the pasta is fully cooked when it goes into the oven, it may become chewy or slightly mushy by being overcooked.

I have everything but the cheese blend, how can I still make this?

Mexican cheese blend has standard cheeses you're used but also has quesadilla cheese which is a little bit harder to find. If you want to make this, make your own blend of cheese using Monterey jack, cheddar cheese, pepper jack cheese, and mozzarella. Colby can be used as well.

What can I use instead of crushed tomatoes.

While we love the texture crushed tomatoes give this recipe, you can substitute two undrained cans of petite diced tomatoes and 4-8 ounces of tomato sauce.

Can I use a taco seasoning packet instead of all the individual herbs and spices?

Yes you can. Add taco seasoning packet at the same step as all the spices. at the same step as all the spices.

I don't have a cast iron skillet, how do I make this?

Use your regular frying or sauté pans to make the meat mixture. Boil the spaghetti in a large pot, and then combine everything and cook in your favorite oven proof baking dish

What do I do with the leftovers?

Store leftovers, which will be even better later, in an airtight container for up to 5 days. There may be some liquid that has leeched from the sauce, but once rewarmed, it will be delicious.