Colorful Pasta Bake With (Yes) Rice Krispies!

Submitted by SaraBellaBean

"I know what you are thinking. "What are rice krispie cereal doing in a pasta dish?" Well I promise you I thought the very same thing. With much hesitation I tried this recipe 13 years ago and to my disbelief and excitement it turned out FABULOUS! This is one of my most favorite recipes to take to a neighbor. Not only is it very tasty but its a great conversation maker! I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and children do, they love it!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 cup sliced onion
• 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups diced zucchini
• 2 cups Rice Krispies
• 1⁄3 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

directions

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
2. Brown ground beef, garlic and onions over medium heat, stirring frequently. Drain juices, if necessary.
3. Once browned add tomato sauce, tomatoes, bouillon cube, Italian seasoning, salt, zucchini and rice krispies cereal, mixing until combined.
4. Cover and cook over medium heat until mixture starts to simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Place half of meat sauce in bottom of 9x13 casserole dish coated with cooking spray. Spread spaghetti evenly over sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Spread remaining sauce over spaghetti.
6. Cover casserole.
7. Bake at 350° F about 30 minutes or until heated through.
8. Sprinkle with Mozzarella cheese and return to oven, uncovered, 5 minutes longer or until cheese melts.

Reviews

[Mustang Sally 54269]

I like trying different ingredients (like rice krispies) so tried this dish. It was funny to hear the snap crackle pop when you put them into the tomato/beef mixture. The disappointing part was that, after the cooking time, the texture from the krispies was not apparent. Not sure what flavour it served, didn't notice anything real different. Having said that it was a nice dish & pretty easy to make. Due to Paperdoll's review, I decided to use a few Tbsp of liquid beef broth instead of bouillon & found it worked great. For personal preference I increased the beef. Nice recipe, thanks for sharing.

 

[Ppaperdoll]

Made this for Pac Spring '08 and really liked it. MInd turned out a little more dry than I'd expected, so I might add water or a little more tomato sauce, but otherwise very good. Thanks SaraBellaBean!

 

[Charlotte J]

Well, I can't say I heard the Rice Krispies go 'SNAP' 'CRACKLE' 'POP' the tomato sauce must have weighed them down. But I can say, THIS SAUCE IS GRRRRREAT, like Tony the Tiger would say. lol I did not have the tomato sauce so I used tomato puree with about 1/4 cup of water. I will be making this for the family again. Thank you for post this. I made this for the Spring PAC 2007 game.

 

[Chocolate Nut]

I thought adding rice krispies was a funny idea, so had to try it. It was yummy! Will definitely make this again. Everyone in the family loved it!