I have an easy spaghetti recipe for you guys that’s cooked in just one pot! It takes an already simple meal and makes it even quicker with less clean up!
Growing up, spaghetti was always a go to recipe for my parents.
It was actually never one of my favorites, probably because we ate it fairly often.
My parents went with the route of a box of spaghetti noodles, a bit of ground beef, and a jar of spaghetti sauce.
That’s fine. It tastes okay. I’m not needing anyone to spend 30 hours slaving over a pot of simmering tomato sauce, but I just don’t get super excited about that recipe, you know?
My kids, however, LOVE spaghetti and would happily eat it all the time.
We do a lot of my baked spaghetti. It’s full of cream cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream. Sounds weird, but it’s so decadent.
I just like to doctor things up, including spaghetti!
But, sometimes you need a really quick easy spaghetti recipe and you don’t want to bust out a jar of sauce or dirty any extra dishes. Totally cool. I get it.
Boiling water for pasta is actually one of my least favorite things to do in the kitchen, which I know is silly. It just seems to take forever when you’re waiting on water to boil.
This spaghetti recipe is extra easy because everything happens in one pot. Don’t you love recipes like that?
I always use ground beef in my spaghetti, but you can use a mix of beef, veal, sausage – whatever you like.
Onions, garlic, and Italian seasoning add flavor to this recipe. Feel free to add more or less to your personal tastes. I sometimes go way crazy on the garlic. It’s tasty, but we all stink for the next couple of days. 😉
This easy spaghetti recipe is cooked in just one pot for minimal clean up and maximum flavor.
I use canned tomato sauce and canned diced tomatoes to keep things simple. If you have homemade tomato sauce, it should work just fine here.
Dried noodles get added right into the spaghetti sauce and boiled.
I love the way the noodles soak up the flavors of the spaghetti sauce as they cook. It really helps amp up the flavor of the whole dish.
My kiddos love this easy spaghetti recipe.
My daughter especially likes spaghetti recipes, because she saw a video on Facebook where a man used a pair of scissors while eating long noodles to avoid having to slurp them up into his mouth.
She now requires scissors on the table at pasta night.
Kids are weird. And pretty entertaining, to be honest.
Anyway, whether you slurp your noodles or not, I hope you enjoy this simple one pot spaghetti!
Have you tried my chicken spaghetti? It’s a favorite around here too and it’s full of spinach.
It’s not quite as simple as this one pot spaghetti, but it’s a nice way to use up those boxes of spaghetti noodles you have lurking in your pantry!
If you try this easy spaghetti recipe, I hope you’ll let me know what you think! 🙂
One Pot Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 pound 85/15 ground beef
- 1 sweet onion diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 15 ounces canned tomato sauce
- 15 ounces canned diced tomatoes
- 2 3/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 12 ounces dried spaghetti noodles
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Add the ground beef and onion to a large dutch oven over medium heat and cook until browned. Drain the grease.
- Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 30 seconds, stirring.
- Stir in the tomato sauce, undrained canned tomatoes, and water. Add the Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Once boiling, break the spaghetti in half and add to the pot. Stir to submerge the noodles in the liquid.
- Return to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-12 minutes or until noodles are cooked through.
- Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese and parsley over the top and stir to combine.
- Serve immediately.
Carla says
Oh, that looks so delicious. I can use GF spaghetti. However, can I use more of the jarred sauce instead of the canned tomatoes, as I have diverticulosis and cannot have anything with seeds?
Karly says
Hi Carla, I’d probably add in an extra 1/2 cup of sauce or so to make up for the liquid from the tomatoes, but please know I haven’t tested this myself and that’s just what my starting point would be.
Amanda says
You inspired me to finally go and buy a Dutch oven. Wow! Can’t believe I waited this long! This recipe is hands down the best ever, the all in one definitely got it over the line too. One question, would it work with fresh pasta?
Karly says
Hey Amanda! So glad you enjoyed the recipe and you’ll love that Dutch oven! We use ours often. 🙂
We haven’t tried this with fresh pasta, but my guess is that it will take a lot less time to cook. I think you’d need to make some adjustments.
Carla says
I loved your recipe, but as an “old bat,” I do things the easy way.
I used “doctored” Prego Sauce.
I cooked about 3/4 pound of hamburger until it was no longer pink.
I set that aside as I boiled the water for the Linguini or Spaghettate waiting for that water to boil.
I cooked the Spaghetti,
or whatever noodles I chose to use, to be “al dente.”
I set that aside, drained, and with some olive oil added to keep it from sticking together.
I opened a jar of Prego, doctored it, and brought it a low simmer, and added the cooked hamburger.
I kept the sauce and the pasta separate, as some of the folks who were coming like more sauce, others like just a small amount of sauce.
See, Karly, I told you that I was a lazy cook, but after 63 years of cooking, you may, too. LOL
Kelly says
You changed so much that it isn’t this recipe anymore. Just doctored up sauce and pasta cooked separately like any other of the same. They cooking method is what makes this recipe what it is; a one pan, easy, heathy and quick pasta dish.
Mary says
I’ve made this as is and it is absolutely delicious! I wanted to try using red lentil penne as a replacement for the spaghetti. Would this adjust the cook time at all?
Karly says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! I’ve never cooked with that type of pasta, so I can’t say how it will affect cook time.
Mary Donahue says
I will not make any other spaghetti recipe or sauce again. And I did use Italian sausage and liked that flavor too. Thank you!!!
Karly says
Love to hear that!
Jessica Nechita says
My daughter is a vegetarian so I used a little over a lb of Impossible beef, and you wouldn’t even know the difference thanks to these simple but delicious flavors. It was so easy to make. I used a bit more than 3 cups of water in my Dutch oven, and let the tomato and seasonings simmer longer before adding the pasta. The pasta cooked for about 20m, and it was a hit! I will be making this a staple from here on out!
Karly says
Thanks, Jessica!
Deb says
Only spaghetti I make now. Delicious. I’ve learned to cheat a lil w some added tomato paste n water for the extra 8 oz of tom sauce, I usually jus have small cans on hand, but I like the richness it adds. I just add it to taste.
Karly says
So glad you like the recipe!
Carla says
You are a great Mom to cater to your vegetarian daughter.
Janine says
I have a question…if I use prepared sauce do I eliminate the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes?
Karly says
Yes you would, but I’m not sure if the amount of water will still be the same using prepared sauce.
David Jones says
I just finished eating 2 plates – this hit the spot. My first time trying 1 pot spaghetti and it is a game changer! Have a quick spaghetti dinner anytime, or for lunch as I did. Used grass fed 85/15 ( the ratio is important for taste and drained as instructed. All I changed was adding a couple extra garlic cloves, increased spices to taste, a little less salt and omitted sugar (personal preference). This really hit the spot, so quick and easy and easy cleanup. Would feed 4 hearty eaters, 6 regular portions, I can’t wait to put this in regular rotation and may not go back to traditional separate pot pasta, Took me more like 15 minutes until I got it to al dente perfection, next time I would break noodles into thirds. I used Kroger 25% reduced calorie thin spaghetti ( all I had on hand) and it worked perfect.
Karly says
Thanks so much for sharing what worked for you, David! So glad you enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
David Jones says
Any idea if this can be doubled or has anyone tried it? Made again last night and definitely is 6 regular portions with salad and garlic bread. Was curious if could double for a larger party or would need to fix 2 pots?
Karly says
I haven’t tried doubling this one, so I’m not sure. My guess is that it will double fine. 🙂
Ann Winters says
This was wonderful! I am a 24/7 care giver for my husband so I cheated a little with purchased frozen meatballs (he loves meatballs) which made it even easier. Thank you!
Karly says
Great idea!
Julie says
Where do we get the recipe for the Monterey Chicken Spaghetti?
Karly says
Here you go: https://www.bunsinmyoven.com/chicken-casserole-recipe/ There’s a search bar in the upper right corner as well. 🙂
RAYMOND MAXWELL says
I loved your recipe very much also can you tell me where I can get recipe converter. Thank you
Karly says
Hi Raymond! So glad you like the recipe! I don’t use a recipe converter, so I really don’t have one to recommend. You should be able to google and find plenty of options though.