70 Spaghetti Recipes That Go Way Beyond Just Pasta & Meatballs (2024)

70 Spaghetti Recipes That Go Way Beyond Just Pasta & Meatballs (1)

It's true, is a classic for a reason, but sometimes you want to upgrade the classic weeknight pasta dinner. Whether you're preparing for a fancy date night or a dinner party night amongst friends, we've rounded up 70 ways you can liven up your spaghetti game.

When there are so many classic Italian pasta dishes, it can be hard to choose. Especially when choosing is between pasta puttanesca, carbonara, pasta pomodoro, spaghetti Bolognese...the list goes on. We've got all the classics here, plus lots of tips for making them just as tasty as your favorite local red-sauce joint. Whatever you choose, just make sure you don't skimp on the Parmesan cheese.

Speaking of, are you more of a cheese-head than a tomato fan? We 100% support that. In that case, it doesn't get any better than our lemon ricotta pasta, our creamy three-cheese spaghetti, or our brie spaghetti. Our best pro-tip no matter how you dress your spaghetti: Save that pasta water! The starchiness of the pasta water, when tossed with your spaghetti, allows for the sauce to slick every noodle.

And hey, we won't knock you if you really do just want to curl up with a bowl of spaghetti & meatballs. We've got plenty of recipes for the best homemade spaghetti sauce, best jarred pasta sauces you can find at the store, and even how to properly cook pasta and make homemade pasta dough to guarantee yours is the easiest or best it can be. Go classic, or swap in different meatballs to jazz things up (our French onion chicken meatballs or our Thai-style red curry meatballs would be incredible).

Looking for even more pasta recipes? Check out our best baked pasta recipes, our favorite summer pasta dishes, and all our top pasta salad recipes too.

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1

Creamy Tomato Pasta With Burrata

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Here, a classic tomato sauce is made even better with a bit of cream and a delicious topping of burrata. The cherry tomatoes add a bit of sweetness to the sauce and make it feel fresher too.

Get the Creamy Tomato Pasta With Burrata recipe.

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2

Spaghetti & Meatballs

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Meet your new favorite comforting, no-frills bowl of spaghetti and meatballs that you can take in any direction. Enjoy it as is, or use it as a jumping off point for swapping in different pasta sauces and meatball recipes.

Get the .

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3

Dirty Martini Pasta

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This pasta takes inspiration from a classic pasta al limone by using heavy cream as the base for the luscious and decadent sauce. And, just like a dirty martini, we supplement the dish with olives and brine (and booze, of course). The best part? It comes together in under 30 minutes.

Get the Dirty Martini Pasta recipe.

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4

Chicken Spaghetti

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If you didn’t grow up with this comfort food, allow us to introduce you to your new favorite weeknight dinner. Chicken, spaghetti, and veggies combine with a creamy, cheesy sauce for a baked and bubbling casserole that’s just as perfect for busy weeknights as it is for parties. The best part? The leftovers are even better.

Get the Chicken Spaghetti recipe.

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5

Pasta Alla Gricia

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Along with carbonara, cacio e pepe, and amatriciana, pasta alla gricia completes the four classic pasta dishes of Rome. It's a classic for good reason: With only four ingredients, it's simple to make and easy to indulge. Don't have guanciale? It won't be quite the same, but you can use thick-cut bacon instead.

Get the Pasta Alla Gricia recipe.

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6

Taco Spaghetti

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One-pot taco spaghetti is a fast-as-can-be weeknight dinner that pairs all your favorite taco fixin’s with spaghetti rather than taco shells. It's perfect for those nights when you just cannot stand the thought of a sink full of dirty dishes too, because everything comes together in one pot.

Get the Taco Spaghetti recipe.

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7

Pasta Al Limone

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This is a rich, creamy dish that’s sure to satisfy everyone, given it’s perfect balance of acidity and cream – and it can be whipped up as quickly as it takes to boil your pasta.

Get the Pasta Al Limone recipe.

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8

Brie Spaghetti

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It’s gotta be said—brie can be costly. We used a BIG wheel for our video above, but don’t worry: You can get away with a wheel about (or a little over) half the size. A little bit of brie goes a long way, and your pasta will still be delicious.

Get the Brie Spaghetti recipe.

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9

Tuscan Chicken Pasta

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We've incorporated Tuscan flavors into countless of our weeknight dinners, including one of our most popular recipes of all time: creamy Tuscan chicken. We turn to this recipe so often, we decided to transform it into a pasta dinner to shake up your dinner rotation.

Get the Tuscan Chicken Pasta recipe.

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10

Garlicky Spaghetti

Anchovies are totally optional in this recipe; The garlic, however, is not! If you're a major garlic fan, you gotta top this with our garlic butter meatballs, too.

Get the Garlicky Spaghetti recipe.

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11

Cacio E Pepe

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Cacio e pepe literally translates to “cheese and pepper." These two ingredients are usually thought of as small components to a dish but in this pasta recipe, they take center stage. The fruity bite of freshly ground pepper adds complexity, and is earthy, sweet and spicy all at once.

Get the Cacio E Pepe recipe.

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12

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

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If Julia Child taught America how to roast chicken, Marcella Hazan taught us how to make good pasta sauce. Her version is a little unconventional; the onion isn't sautéed, the sauce simmers for less than an hour, and there's a lot of butter. It's the easiest and, most likely, best red sauce you'll ever make at home.

Get the Homemade Spaghetti Sauce recipe.

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13

Spaghetti Carbonara

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Though many people travel to Rome to experience the Colosseum, for us, there’s only one reason to make the trip: carbonara! Like other Italian classics bucatini all'Amatriciana and cacio e pepe, eating a bowl of silky, rich, perfectly salty carbonara is life-changing, and now you can make it right at home.

Get the Spaghetti Carbonara recipe.

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14

Easy Carbonara

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This pasta dish with Roman origins is a sure win, calling for just 5 ingredients and done in 20 minutes. It’s basically a pantry dive—spaghetti, bacon, garlic, eggs, and Parmesan are all ingredients that are easy to have on hand and make this the ultimate comfort food.

Get the Easy Carbonara recipe.

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15

One-Pan Tuna Pasta

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Using canned or jarred tuna in pasta is a cheap and delicious way to add some protein to a meal. Italians do it with pasta al tonno, and Americans do it (in our own way) with tuna noodle casserole. This recipe is a bit of a riff on pasta puttanesca, using familiar ingredients such as capers, anchovies, and olives.

Get the One-Pan Tuna Pasta recipe.

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16

Creamy Lemon Pepper Shrimp Spaghetti

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Spaghetti and meatballs is the classic you've probably turned to a little too often. Switch it up and make this creamy, fresh, lemon- pepper shrimp spaghetti that's bursting with flavor.

Get the Creamy Lemon Pepper Shrimp Spaghetti recipe.

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17

Pasta Puttanesca

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The super-fragrant sauce is made with a lot of garlic and anchovies that will have you begging for seconds. It's definitely a break from the classic , especially with the capers and olives adding a briny saltiness to this classic dish. Serve it with the best garlic bread ever and call it a day.

Get the Pasta Puttanesca recipe.

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18

Lemon Ricotta Pasta

70 Spaghetti Recipes That Go Way Beyond Just Pasta & Meatballs (37)

This is the perfect summertime dish. It's fresh and light, and it instantly had us in love. If you can't find fat bucatini, use any long pasta like spaghetti or linguine instead!

Get the Lemon Ricotta Pasta recipe.

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19

Instant Pot Spaghetti

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Yes, you really can throw all your spaghetti ingredients in the Instant Pot. It's a win-win: You get dinner on the table fast, but with a homemade marinara instead of the jarred stuff. We bet it will soon be the meal you turn to as often as Tuscan butter salmon or Instant Pot chicken noodle soup.

Get the Instant Pot Spaghetti recipe.

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20

Bucatini all'Amatriciana

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What makes this Roman pasta dish so special is pancetta, which adds extra saltiness and flavor to the otherwise classic tomato sauce. If you're really in a pinch, you can sub bacon for the pancetta but we think it really does make a difference in the final dish if you do seek it out.

Get the Bucatini all'Amatriciana recipe.

70 Spaghetti Recipes That Go Way Beyond Just Pasta & Meatballs (2024)

FAQs

How to make spaghetti for a lot of people? ›

Learn how to cook spaghetti for huge crowds with stress-relieving, time-saving tricks.
  1. Prep and Store Key Ingredients. ...
  2. Cook Enough Noodles. ...
  3. Use Less Water for the Noodles. ...
  4. Store Cooked Noodles in the Freezer. ...
  5. Use a Slow Cooker. ...
  6. Freeze Your Spaghetti Sauce. ...
  7. Prep Toppings a Day Before. ...
  8. Pre-Soak Spaghetti Noodles.

What to put on pasta when you have no sauce? ›

Cheese is an excellent way to add flavor to your pasta without having to rely on sauce. Try mixing your angel hair pasta with goat cheese, and toss in sun-dried tomatoes to make an amazing meal with just a few ingredients. Garlic butter is a terrific way to season all types of noodles.

What is the one ingredient that makes spaghetti sauce so much better? ›

Nutmeg. Nutmeg is the key to boosting earthiness and adding a touch of nuttiness to your spaghetti sauce. Nutmeg also has a slightly sweet flavor, which we know goes great with acidic canned tomatoes. Overall, it accentuates the other ingredients in the sauce and adds complexity.

How to make spaghetti like a pro? ›

The best method for cooking spaghetti pasta:
  1. Start with a large pot of COLD water. ...
  2. Use a large pot (this is the one I use) to boil water and cook pasta. ...
  3. Make sure you have plenty of water in the pot. ...
  4. Salt your pasta water generously! ...
  5. Bring the water to a full boil, or rolling boil, before adding the Spaghetti or pasta.
Apr 20, 2022

What is the spaghetti rule in Italy? ›

A common rule that Italians uphold when cooking pasta is never to break it so that it would fit the pot. Pasta is produced in a specific size for a reason. When you put the pasta in boiling water, gently push them down, so it does not break. Use the right pasta shape for the right sauce.

What to put in spaghetti instead of meat? ›

Here are the key ingredients you'll need to make The Best “Meat” Sauce for Vegan Spaghetti. The two-star ingredients to this recipe are walnuts and mushrooms and they offer you a decent amount of protein so this vegan meat sauce recipe will fill you right up! Walnuts have so many great benefits.

Why shouldn't you break spaghetti in half? ›

This is because spaghetti is meant to be twirled around a fork in a way that also gathers up sauce. With shorter, snapped-in-half pieces of spaghetti, this twirling becomes more difficult or impossible: The spaghetti may be too short to twirl, or the sauce might weigh it down, causing it to fall off the fork.

What can you put on spaghetti instead of tomato sauce? ›

Pasta with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and whatever veggies you want is a deceptively delicious way to pasta. Also known as “Aglio e Olio” (garlic and oil) pasta, this easy alternative to tomato sauce is quick, easy, and delicious.

What is a broken pasta sauce? ›

What does it mean when a sauce breaks? A broken sauce is generally caused by the separation of sauces into two components: a watery liquid and an oily film on top. This happens when there's too much fat or liquid in the mixture.

What not to do when making spaghetti? ›

14 Mistakes Everyone Makes With Spaghetti
  1. Buying a bargain basem*nt spaghetti brand. ...
  2. Not salting the water. ...
  3. Not putting enough water in the pot. ...
  4. Not using a big enough pot to boil the pasta. ...
  5. Adding oil to the water. ...
  6. Adding spaghetti before the water reaches a rolling boil. ...
  7. Not stirring spaghetti to keep it from sticking.
Aug 31, 2022

What does adding milk to spaghetti do? ›

It sounds unconventional to use milk in a meaty red sauce, but upon further investigation, it makes total sense why Italians swear by it. According to our Food Director Amira, not only does milk add a rich flavour to the bolognese, but it also “helps cut through the acidity of the tomatoes and red wine”.

What does adding butter to tomato sauce do? ›

The addition of butter really rounds out the flavor of the sauce and helps to temper the acidity. It also gives the sauce a nice sheen, which is a fun bonus.

How do you keep spaghetti warm for a large group? ›

Use a chafing-dish

So that it is not necessary to use electric sources to heat the pasta, some powers can keep the food heated for more than two hours without having to replenish the fuel, which is why this equipment is one of the most suitable for parties where you need to keep the food heated away from an outlet.

How much spaghetti do I cook for 20 people? ›

When you cook pasta, 2 ounces of dry pasta per person is a good rule of thumb to follow.

How much spaghetti do I need to feed 25 people? ›

How many pounds of pasta do I need for 25 people? 1 pound feeds 4 people. 6 pound feeds 24 people and a quarter of a pound will feed the 25th person. Six and a quarter pounds of pasta is needed.

How much spaghetti do you need to feed 50 people? ›

When you cook pasta, 2 ounces (56 g) of dry pasta per person is a good rule of thumb to follow.

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