I love this recipe but I made a few changes. First I used half the butter. Secondly I seasoned the cheese mixture with italian seasoning and garlic for flavor. Finally instead of just using meat mixture on top I layered it noodles, cheese mixture, meat, and cheddar& mozzarella cheese and repeated That a second time. It came out delicious and my family absolutely loved it. Will definitely make this again!!!!!!
It was allright but I think it needs a lot more tomato sauce and half of the cream cheese mixture is enough. I started with sauce so you do not need the butter. With these modifikations it is probably really good!
LOVED this recipe! I make it with rigatoni noodles and instead of 1 lb. of ground beef I do 1/2 lb. ground beef and 1/2 lb. sausage... it adds TONS of flavor and send it over the top!! I have VERY picky eaters in my house so I buy extra spaghetti sauce and mix the cheese mixture in with the spaghetti sauce REALLY WELL, so that they don't know there's cream cheese in it. I add a little extra sauce because we like it really saucy.
This was a disappointment for us. I didn't really understand the need for the butter so I didn't use it all. I assembled the casserole as directed and baked it 30 minutes uncovered, as it did not say to cover but it really should have been covered. Some of the noodles on top got too dried out. I topped with Mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar. The layer of cream cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese was just that, a layer of rich cheese with little to no flavor - the top was dry - the middle too cheesy, yet bland. The kids might like this with more sauce added to it. Overall, we weren't thrilled. Sorry, I wanted to like this recipe.
I have made this dish several times, and it is absolutely delicious. I have to stop myself from eating the entire pan. My mom said that this is the best spaghetti she has ever eaten. It's actually better the second day. I use mild Italian sausage and add minced garlic and onions to the meat. I mix in a bit of Italian seasoning and grated parmesan to the cheese mixture. I skip the butter and cover with foil for 30 minutes, add the cheese and then bake for another 15 minutes.
This recipe is great and we use it often. My suggestions: it DOES NOT need all that butter. I reduce butter by half, sometimes more, and it is just as good. Also, it is key to use cheddar cheese in this recipe, as stated. I was skeptical with it being a spaghetti recipe. However, the cheddar cheese really changes the flavor and is critical to the recipe. finally, if you find the creamy mixture too bland, add some garlic and/or Italian seasonings. Overall delicious!
I tried this a second time because I've had it when someone else made it and really like it. The second time I paid better attention to the recipe and it called for an 8 once box of noodles not 16. The typical box is a pound so when I made it the first time it was dry because I used twice the noodles. Also, I always cook my beef in onions and add garlic and seasoning. It was good.
I made SO many modifications... I added 3 tbs. of dried italian seasonings to the sour cream mixture to give it flavor and I used a larger jar of spaghetti sauce. Also, I didn't use cheddar cheese, I used shredded parmesan cheese (cheddar cheese on spaghetti didn't make sense to me from the beginning!) and it was great. I had this dish at a friend's house and they gave me the recipe so I knew what modifications I would make when I cooked it for my family. With these modifications, I would give it a 5 stars - also, spray a large piece of foil and put on top of the dish while it's baking to keep it from drying out, remove before adding the parmesan cheese and then pop it back into the oven to bake the cheese, about 10-12 minutes. And as always, it's better the next day. USE SMALL CURD COTTAGE CHEESE!!! :)
