{"id":166,"date":"2025-01-23T06:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T22:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/2025\/01\/23\/million-dollar-ravioli-casserole-recipe\/"},"modified":"2025-01-23T06:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T22:58:12","slug":"million-dollar-ravioli-casserole-recipe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artoz.xyz\/index.php\/2025\/01\/23\/million-dollar-ravioli-casserole-recipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Million Dollar Ravioli Casserole Recipe"},"content":{"rendered":"

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My family loves a simple 4-ingredient ravioli casserole so much that I wanted to see if I could give it a million-dollar makeover. No, I\u2019m not talking about spending that much on ingredients by adding gold leaf or renovating our kitchen!\n<\/p>\n

Instead, I was inspired by the viral Million Dollar Spaghetti that made its rounds on Tiktok and Instagram last year. That meant adding lots of meaty flavor and four types of cheese to amp up this casserole’s decadence and make it large enough to feed a crowd of neighbors or my extended family.\n<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, there are quite a few different million dollar casseroles\u2014from the viral spaghetti to a chicken casserole topped with buttery crackers. The idea is simply to make your diners (or yourself) exclaim \u201cWow, this tastes like a million bucks!\u201d while eating.\n<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easiest to do this by adding flavor at every part of the cooking process. Here, a baked ravioli casserole that can be assembled with just fresh ravioli, jarred sauce, some browned sausage, and a bag of shredded cheese gets sizably upgraded with more meat, more sauce, and a layer of ricotta, cream cheese, and sour cream as well as a double cheese topping.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

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Simply Recipes \/ Photo by Rachel Vanni \/ Food Styling by Tiffany Schleigh<\/p>\n

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The Building Blocks of Million Dollar Ravioli Casserole <\/span> <\/h2>\n
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  • Start with premade ravioli. <\/strong>I prefer fresh because it has a slightly shorter cook time than frozen. Frozen works well too, though. You can keep things simple since there is already a lot of meat in the sauce and use cheese ravioli or choose a beef version.\u00a0<\/li>\n
  • Use two kinds of meat. <\/strong>In a weeknight ravioli casserole, Italian is a shortcut for flavor. A million dollar version has to have Italian sausage plus ground beef as much for richness as for general heft.<\/li>\n
  • Add a creamy, decadent cheese layer. <\/strong>The money layer, if you will allow me to be so cheesy, is a combination of ricotta, softened cream cheese, and a little sour cream that goes in the middle of the ravioli layers. It\u2019ll bake ultra creamy and help this casserole taste like a long-baked, lovingly prepared lasagna.\u00a0<\/li>\n
  • Big layers help with flavor and structure. <\/strong>Unlike a lasagna, this casserole has just four main layers\u2014about a third of the ravioli tossed in the marinara sauce, the ricotta layer, the remaining two-thirds ravioli, and the meat sauce. There\u2019s also a crown of mozzarella and Parmesan on top, so four cheeses total in this dish.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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    Make It Ahead <\/span> <\/h2>\n

    This casserole takes about 25 minutes to assemble and bakes for 35 to 45 minutes so it can <\/strong>come together for a relatively quick night dinner. It can also be assembled up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated or frozen.\n<\/p>\n

    If freezing, thaw overnight in the fridge. Bring your refrigerated casserole to room temperature while you preheat the oven and bake as directed, giving a few extra minutes if needed until the casserole is bubbly and browned.\n<\/p>\n

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    Simply Recipes \/ Photo by Rachel Vanni \/ Food Styling by Tiffany Schleigh<\/p>\n

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