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Very few of the things I do are not frugal. So when I begin writing a Frugal Friday post, sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees, so to speak.
So, today I am giving you the recipe I am making for dinner tonight. Fair warning, this isn’t health food. Well, maybe in comparison with a cheeseburger, fries, and a shake from Jack-*-*-Box this might qualify. But it is frugal and will feed about 10 hungry people, just remember to serve a large green salad or a big bowl of steamed broccoli with it.
Spaghetti Mac Bake
1 jar (24 oz) spaghetti sauce (we like Paul Newman’s, but that’s not frugal)
12 oz pkg elbow macaroni (I use medium size)
1 lb bulk sausage, cooked (see, not health food)
3 C water
½ – ¾ lb grated cheese (mozzarella or cheddar or colby)
Pour sauce into your 9 X 13 and add the water and stir, then add the pasta and cooked sausage. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Now carefully take it out of the oven and remove the foil, DO NOT LET THE STEAM BURN YOU! Give it a stir and spread the cheese over it, put it back in the oven for 8 minutes.
This is the current favorite at our house, as long as I leave the cheese off of one corner for The Squid. 
So here’s the breakdown of what it cost me to make this dinner.
Sauce – $1.69 for the Paul Newman’s (store brand costs $0.89)
Pasta – $0.83
Sausage – $1.18
Cheese – $1.92
Total – $5.62
And since there are 8 of us and it feeds about 10, we will have leftovers for lunches.
By the way, there are 2 giveaways this month. Click here and here to enter each one.
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OOOH! That sounds great! I’ll have to try that!
yum, I made this for dinner again tonight. I added about half a jar of alfredo sauce too…made it into a pink sauce. So good! Thanks again for the recipe
Marvelous…simple, inexpensive, easy ingredients and something everyone will eat. =) We’ll be trying this soon!!
~ Cheaper still if you make your own spaghetti sauce with a can of crushed tomatoes and spices. &:o) This looks a lot like one of our fave recipes. I LOVE your blog, btw! Your header is so cool! We have 6 pirates and 4 princesses at our house, so my eye is grabbed by anything frugal. So glad I stumbled upon you this morning!
Wow this is one recipes I need to save. It looks so easy to make too. Thanks for sharing it.
I love this recipe. We have made our lasagna this way (not cooking the noodles first) and it’s wonderful, but I never thought to do this. Do you think spaghetti noodles would work? Maybe since the noodles are ‘bigger’ I could add more water. I’ll have to try it. Maybe for dinner tonight?
Thanks for the recipe,
Robyn
thanks:)
I forgot to add that I make my own spaghetti sauce, so I’ll be able to cut out some of the expense. YEAH!
Sounds yummy! I may have to cut it in 1/2 for our family since we only have three people.
Yup, any of the small type pasta will work. I have used penne, ziti, bowties, wagon-wheels, and probably others I have forgotten about. The reason you don’t have to pre-cook the pasta is the water you add to the sauce. You can up the amount to 4 Cups if you want softer pasta. This is truly an easy super, try it, fiddle around with it, add frozen (thawed) veggies or a can of sliced mushrooms, or some chopped black olives. Yummy!
Relax and have fun with this recipe. I find it to be so easy, frugal and delicious that I serve this at least once a week.
uh oh, I just realized I don’t have any elbow noodles. Do you think penne or bowtie noodles will work? Will they cook okay w/o being boiled first?
Thanks for the easy recipe. I read it last week and I’ve got the sausage cooking right. Love that I can get it ready a little ahead of time, while the kids nap. Thanks for the cheap, easy dinner idea.
I’m so sorry I left out the temperature setting. I use 400 degrees for 40 minutes plus a little more after you add the cheese just to melt it. You could also use 350 degrees, but I would give it a little longer.
Did I miss the temperature setting. This sounds great. I am going to make this tonight I think. Thanks
This looks like a winner – I’ll be trying it out at my house. Thanks!
Blessings,
Nancy
I was also going to ask if you cooked the pasta first. I read the comments and its no. ha.
Great new recipe to use up all of that free Farmland sausage I have gotten with sales/coupons. Thanks!
I am with you…. there are so many things that we already do that are considered “frugal”… I cook from scratch, buy VERY few convenience items, garden, etc. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh hey! Yum! I’ll have to try that one.
Looks yummy to me! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Audra,
No, you don’t have to cook the pasta first. That’s the easy part!
Do you cook the pasta first? I love your cool blog header!