This recipe for Spaghetti with Meat Sauce cooks in – you guessed it – only one pot! And you only need THREE INGREDIENTS! The dried spaghetti cooks directly in a mixture of ground beef, jarred sauce, and water, resulting in an almost absurdly easy dinner with only one pot to clean. As a bonus, all of the starch from the pasta stays in the sauce, resulting in a luxuriously thick sauce that sticks to every piece of spaghetti – no watery spaghetti here!
One pot pasta recipes are some of my favorite things to make on busy weeknights. Of course, there is the bonus of only having one pot to clean. But you also take a lot of the fuss out of cooking pasta – no straining, no saving pasta water to stir in the sauce, and it’s a much more hands-off approach.
I’ve already shared a few one pot pasta recipes here – one pot taco pasta, one pot sausage and spinach pasta, and one pot sausage and broccolini orecchiette. I’m excited to add this incredibly simple one pot spaghetti with meat sauce to the collection – especially because you only need THREE ingredients for it!
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How to make One Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
First, brown the ground beef in some olive oil, breaking it apart until its crumbled and fully cooked. Add a jar of marinara sauce, salt, some water, and dried spaghetti. It’s easiest if you break the spaghetti in half so it fits in the pot (gasp! the horror! calm down, pasta police). Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick. When it’s almost done, cover and let it sit with the heat turned off to finish cooking. That’s it!
- If the pasta seems a bit dry toward the end of cooking, you can add more water. I have found that the exact amount of water doesn’t matter much with this recipe – you should be able to eyeball this pretty effectively and the exact amount may depend on the brand of pasta used.
- Do make sure you let the pasta finish cooking off-heat. One pot pasta has a tendency to stick, but turning off the heat and covering the pot to let the pasta finish can prevent sticking toward the end!
Ingredients Needed and Substitutions
You only need three ingredients for this one pot spaghetti with meat sauce!
- Spaghetti – the dried boxed kind, not fresh. And honestly, cheaper brands work great here. More expensive brands tend to have more starch, which is great for traditional pasta dishes, but since all the starch stays in the pot, I find it can be a little *too much* starch with some of those “fancier” pasta brands. Barilla is my go to for decent quality without too much starchiness for one pot pasta! You can also use another pasta shape – see more on that below.
- Jarred marinara sauce – or homemade marinara sauce, if you want! I almost always go for Rao’s for the jarred stuff.
- Ground beef – since everything is staying in one pot, I recommend a leaner ground beef, like 90% or 93% lean. That way, it won’t be too greasy. You can also use ground turkey or ground sausage for this recipe, or a vegan/vegetarian ground meat substitute if you prefer.
That’s it! You’ll also need some pantry staples – olive oil, salt, and pepper. You can top with some parmesan cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, parsley, and/or crushed red pepper, if you want.
The Faster, BETTER Way to make Spaghetti & Meat Sauce (25 Mins!)
FAQ
Can you cook pasta and sauce together?
Should you separate spaghetti and sauce?
Can you cook raw spaghetti in sauce?
Can you cook meat and sauce together?
How do you make Spaghetti Sauce?
Simple is the name of the game here. To make this spaghetti sauce, you’ll saut é chopped onion, minced garlic, lean ground beef, and classic Italian spices like dried oregano and red pepper flakes in a large skillet until the meat is browned and cooked through.
Can I eat a small amount of spaghetti sauce with gurd?
Reasons why you should not eat pasta with reflux esophagitis are that it is not well digested and uses a lot of oil. Using a lot of garlic is also not good. Therefore, it is okay to eat a small amount of pasta if you are careful about how you prepare it, for example, using less oil and no garlic.
Can You Cook Pasta directly in sauce?
In theory, you will be able to cook or boil pasta directly in the sauce but you will have very little control over how the pasta cooks. For example, the sauce may dry out before the pasta is fully cooked or the pasta may become overly mushy with a lot of the water still remaining in the pot. Another point to consider here is the added starch.
How do you make a good pasta sauce?
Add liquids: Add tomato sauce, 2 cups beef broth and balsamic vinegar. Stir well. Add pasta and cook: Add spaghetti top the pot, submerging in sauce. Add a couple of basil sprigs, if desired. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cover with lid. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring from time to time. Gradually add more broth as needed.