Oven baked spaghetti with bell peppers, onions, and seasoned ground turkey is bursting with flavor. You don't have to boil the pasta first, it all cooks right in the baking dish and finishes with a perfect texture.
PREP TIME 10 minutesminutes
COOK TIME 50 minutesminutes
TOTAL TIME 1 hourhour
YIELD 6
Ingredients
1poundspaghettido not substitute with another shape or it will affect the water-to-pasta ratio and not cook well
1(16 oz) jar of tomato sauceor 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
3cupswater
1cupshredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Preheat the oven 375°F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. If you have not already browned your ground turkey, do it now before you begin assembling the spaghetti.
Place the uncooked spaghetti in the bottom of the baking dish. Drizzle the olive oil over the top and add the minced garlic. Sprinkle with the Italian herb blend, salt, and pepper. Use a pair of tongs to toss the pasta and seasonings together until well coated with the olive oil.
Sprinkle the chopped bell peppers and sliced onion over the top. Spoon the ground turkey over the vegetables and spread it out evenly. Pour the tomato sauce over the top.
Pour the water into the dish, use a spoon to gently nudge the tomato sauce and water together to combine without disturbing the position of the noodles below.
Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes.
Use the tongs to gently turn and stir the spaghetti. You'll find it has cooked unevenly in the water at this point and some noodles will still be quite stiff. Use the back of a spatula to submerge the pasta in the cooking liquid as much as possible. Cover the dish tightly with the foil and bake for 20 minutes more.
Give the pasta one last gentle stir to ensure all the noodles have cooked through. Spread into an even layer and top with the shredded mozzarella. Bake the pasta uncovered for 5 - 8 more minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Recipe Notes
Make Ahead Freezer Meal Kit Tips:
Ground turkey comes in 1-pound packages, if you brown the entire pound once you can use half in one baked spaghetti and freeze the second half for using to make a meal kit for your freezer.Chop enough peppers and onions to make two baked spaghetti casseroles. Freeze half of them with the remaining half of ground turkey.Thaw the frozen ground turkey, bell peppers, and onions in the fridge over night and use them to quickly assemble the recipe on a busy night.