cheesy spinach casserole

 
Here’s a quick and easy one for you from our family cookbook. My sister, Sherry, submitted this Cheesy Spinach Macaroni Casserole and I’m sure when her two kids were young and at home she used this as a weeknight standby recipe.

It’s good and filling and slips a little spinach in there in a way the kids would like!

I didn’t have any macaroni in the house, so I used penne. Any short pasta would probably work fine with this one.

This actually seemed to get better the longer it stayed in the refrigerator! If you’re looking for an easy throw-together recipe that tastes good too, this would be the one to try.

Don’t forget to smother this Cheesy Spinach Macaroni Casserole with warm pasta sauce and the extra sprinkle of Parmesan!

Cheesy Spinach Macaroni Casserole

Yield: 8

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Inactive Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Hearty, cheesy, easy weeknight pasta casserole

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Ingredients

• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1/2 C chopped onion, (I used a tsp of onion powder)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 8 oz macaroni, cooked and drained
• 1 pkg. frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 C milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 C shredded mozzarella
• 4 tbsp Parmesan, (fresh, not canned)
• 1 regular-sized jar pasta sauce, heated

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a skillet, lightly brown the beef, onion and garlic.  Drain the grease.  
3. In a large bowl, stir together the beef mixture, cooked macaroni, spinach, milk, eggs, mozzarella and 2 tbsp. Parmesan. 
4. Pour into a greased glass baking dish and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.
5. Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Cut into squares and spoon about 1/2 C. heated pasta sauce over the top.  Sprinkle with additional Parmesan if desired.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

You can also use about 4 cups of fresh baby spinach and saute it along with the beef.

My sister said it's good without the ground beef, too!

The recipe says to cover while baking, but I forgot to do that.   It browned nicely without covering it.

You know what?  I love Prego Healthy Start pasta sauce - the taste is terrific without adding a bunch of stuff to it and it was really good on this casserole.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 250Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 90mgSodium: 315mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 18g

Nutrition Values are Approximate