Get ready to make dinner a breeze with this One-Pot Spaghetti! With everything cooking together in just one pot, you’ll save time, dishes, and effort. But don’t let the simplicity fool you—this sauce tastes like it’s been simmering all day, soaking into the pasta for maximum flavor. Plus, it’s made with wallet-friendly ingredients, so you can keep everyone happy without breaking the bank. Perfect for busy weeknights, this easy dinner is sure to become a family favorite.
Have guests coming for dinner? Serve up all of the courses with our Classic Ceasar Salad and Garlic Bread.
Why Our Recipe
- One Pot – that’s it. Everything cooks together in one pot, saving time and dishes.
- A sauce that tastes like it’s been simmering all day.
- Wallet-friendly ingredients so you can stick to your budget.
One Pot recipes are the easiest way to have a delicious homemade meal and not have to spend the rest of the night cleaning the kitchen and doing dishes. You’d think with the amount of cooking that we do that we’d be used to doing dishes, but like everyone else, washing dishes is one of our least favorite chores. And that makes this One Pot Spaghetti a yummy dream come true! If you’ve ever made a pot of spaghetti noodles and dumped in a jar of spaghetti sauce, this is just as easy but gives you a depth of flavors that soaks right into the pasta while it cooks. Delizioso!
Ingredient Notes
- Ground Beef: Use leaner beef (93/7) for less grease.
- White Onion: Wear goggles while dicing an onion and you can avoid the tears, though we don’t promise that your family or friends won’t post a picture of you.
- Beef Broth: Keep bullion cubes and you can make your own broth whenever you need it.
- Tomato Sauce: Use a low-sodium option if you’re trying to reduce your salt intake.
- Diced Tomatoes: Found next to Tomato Sauce in the grocery store aisle. You can substitute with a can of Crushed Tomatoes if your family is finicky about visible tomato chunks.
- Italian Seasoning: Purchase this powdered blend in the salad dressing aisle or easily make your own with our Homemade Italian Seasoning recipe.
- Spaghetti Noodles: Just toss them from the box or bag directly into the pot.
Noodle Breakage
Some people prefer to break their spaghetti noodles in half before cooking them. This can help the noodles fit more easily into the pot and ensure that the pasta is evenly cooked, but for ultimate noodle twirling, leave them whole.
Al Dente
Most al dente cooking is 7-8 minutes, but because you’re cooking the noodles in all this delicious meaty sauce, set your heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes when you add your noodles. This will give you the perfect al dente texture without risking burning your sauce.
Variations
Vegetable Boost: Add some chopped bell peppers, mushrooms, or spinach to the pot along with the onions for extra flavor and nutrition. You can also toss in some zucchini or carrots for a slight sweetness and extra color.
Protein Swaps: Switch up the protein by using Italian sausage, ground turkey, or ground chicken instead of ground beef.
Cheesy Upgrade: Stir in a cup of shredded mozzarella or Parmesan cheese right before serving for a creamy, cheesy twist. You can also sprinkle some on top after serving for that extra cheesy goodness.
Spice It Up: If you like a little heat, add a pinch of red pepper flakes or some chopped fresh chili when adding the garlic. You can also use spicy Italian sausage for a kick.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
Freeze leftover portions in an airtight container or resealable plastic freezer bag. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Reheat portions in the microwave for 1 minute on 50% power, use a fork to stir & twirl the noodles around, then repeat heating and stirring until heated through.
I really hate to say this since I usually love all your recipes, but this is NOT the way to cook spaghetti. It was impossible to get the noodles down into the sauce, and then every time you stir it and spaghetti noodles kept popping back up out of the sauce. The more it cooked the less sauce there was to try to cover the noodles for the cooking process. This recipe is an epic fail!
oooo, thank you for the feedback! We’d love to troubleshoot this more for you. There is definitely supposed to be less sauce at the end because you don’t want to end up with a watery sauce. We have two theories as to what went wrong.
1. It could be the size of the pot you use. We left our pasta whole because it can easily fit into a 6 quart enameled cast iron pan easily. Smaller pans may need to break their pasta in half. We’d love to know what size of pot you used to help us know if we need to update the recipe to reflect that.
2. Based on your description, this option is less likely, but it could also be the amount of heat you applied. A rapid boil is going to evaporate the liquid more quickly than a simmer over a medium low heat. If it evaporates too quickly, you might end up with pasta popping back out.
We’ll test again and let you know!