Easy One Pot Spaghetti Dinner
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Hi y’all! This Easy One Pot Spaghetti Dinner is the king of easy dinners! I know this is probably one of those things that people are either going to love or they will skip over. Mostly because spaghetti? Who needs a recipe for spaghetti? Most of us can make spaghetti in our sleep! It’s the number one go to meal when I don’t know what to make for dinner or when I fail at dinner and don’t want to feel completely defeated and order pizza.
I have to admit I probably would have never of thought to put a good ol’ trusty spaghetti recipe on here, but a lot of my sweet readers have been requesting for just that over the last several months. I kept putting it off, and putting it off, and putting it off because it’s one of those things that literally I throw together effortlessly and it’s one of those things I throw together because we’re in emergency dinner mode so I wasn’t finding the time to make AND photograph said spaghetti dinner. Plus, it’s getting darker earlier these days so Spaghetti Night around here means we had a super busy day and I still want to throw something healthy and homemade on the table.
Unfortunately, It also means bath night for Pepper. If you have a child who loves spaghetti night you REALLY do know what I am talking about. So, spaghetti dinner, photograph spaghetti dinner, sit and eat dinner, clean up dinner, and bathe child covered in sauce, meat, cheese, and noodles. I had to plan to actually do this when I wasn’t in emergency dinner mode and I did just that yesterday afternoon!
This absolutely isn’t your average spaghetti recipe. You know the one, the one where you brown a little meat, add a jar of sauce, boil noodles and pour said meat sauce over noodles. Nope, this is better. One thousand times better. First of all, it’s full of tons of flavor and the sauce is made from scratch in minutes. Second of all, It is all done in just one pot. Yep, ya heard that right. All you’ll need is one stock pot with a lid. No colander, no second pot to boil noodles. Just one trusty pot with a lid (and a spoon!) and you’ll have dinner on the table in under 30 minutes and very few dishes to clean up after you and your family happily devours this big ol’ pot of goodness. (especially if you make them eat with their hands. Pepper has absolutely no trouble with this!)
Let’s get in the kitchen..
Throw a pound of lean ground turkey or lean ground beef in a pipin’ hot stock pot. I usually use ground turkey unless Eric is declaring that he needs red meat in his life then I use ground beef. Super delish either way!
When the turkey is broken up add one chopped onion and 2-3 cloves of minced garlic. (Sorry I snoozed on taking a photo of the chopping of the onion and garlic!) Season it up with some pepper, kosher salt, and Italian seasoning. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until the meat is cooked and the onions soft.
Next add low sodium beef broth (or vegetable broth) beef broth gives it a much richer flavor in my opinion so I normally use it unless I just don’t have any on hand. Also! Add your cans of tomaters (diced and crushed), Worcsetchire sauce (I seriously hate spelling that word so much), dried basil, and dried oregano. (Don’t forget a pinch or two of crushed red pepper)
Mix her all up! (This really comes together quicker than it’ll take ya to read these directions. I promise.) Bring the mixture to a boil.
Getting this photo was NOT easy. Steam everywhere, but I got it. Yay! Add those noodles to the sauce and let’m mingle awhile. Cover that pot too!
(AKA let’m simmer, covered for about 10-12 minutes stirring occasionally until the noodles are cooked!)
When the noodles are cooked you’ll have somethin’ really delicious in that ol’ pot and you’ll be able to feed your hungry family in under 25 minutes! Don’t forget to Salt & Pepper to taste.
Plop it in a bowl… Also, I was at Target the other day and found these bowls for like $1.37 and I am obsessed with them. Naturally, I bought 17 because a girl can never have too many dishes! I mean, what if I lose one? or *gasp* one breaks?!
Garnish with a little parsley and/or basil if that’s your thing..
….and maybe sprinkle on a little (or a lot) of parmesan cheese to really make it extra special.
(This might be my favorite meal that I’ve photographed to date.)
The ultimate QUICK weeknight dinner includes One Pot Spaghetti Dinner, Fresh Bread, and a green salad to round it out.
As a food blogger, I make a lot of food, y’all. A LOT. Much, much more than you even see me post, trust me. And I’m going to be completely honest when I say that this is one of my favorite meals to make. There’s nothin’ fancy about it whatsoever. It’s just delicious and simple. It reminds me of my younger years because I don’t think there was ever a week that went by that we didn’t have Spaghetti Night in my house! So I’m carrying on the Spaghetti Dinner tradition just a little differently and it is just perfectly delicious.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! This is hands down, Miss Pepper’s favorite recipe!! I make it almost every single week for her.
With love from my kitchen to yours,
Star
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground turkey, 93/7 uncooked
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 1-28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1-14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes (I use fire roasted)
- 2 cups beef low sodium beef broth chicken or vegetable works fine too
- 8 ounce spaghetti dry
- 3 tbs Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1-1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp basil
- a pinch red pepper flakes
Instructions
- In a large pot with lid add ground turkey and break apart. When the turkey is mostly broken up add chopped onions, minced garlic, some kosher salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Continue to cook until meat is cooked and onions and garlic are soft.
- Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, basil, oregano, pinch of red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir together well and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer. Add dry spaghetti noodles to pot and press down on them enough so the sauce covers them. Cover with lid and continue to cook for 10-12 minutes or until noodles are cooked stirring every once and awhile.
- Mix together well, salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with some fresh parsley, basil, and parmesan! Enjoy!
Notes
WW Points: 8
Hi there…..silly question but is it supposed to be fresh basil or have you used dried?
I usually use dried! Fresh when I have it, but middle of winter/spring/fall I rarely have it or can find good stuff at the grocery store
We love this recipe! I usually use chicken broth because that’s what I usually have, and it is just as good. We also love adding fresh spinach at the end – just put it in a little at a time til it wilts. Adding more veggies is almost as good as adding more cheese!
Love this spaghetti!! In the past I rarely cooked spaghetti because I couldn’t find a sauce I liked. I’ve tried other recipes, tried “doctoring” different jars and all were yuck. I make in the instant pot and have used Rotel when I didn’t have fire-roasted tomatoes on hand. My hubby really likes spaghetti and is super glad I found this. Thanks Star!!
Yay! I’m so happy you loved this one. Thank you for letting me know, Susan!
Could you make with this penne pasta?
Should be just fine! Same amounts of everything, but time might be just a little different. I would pull out a noodle a test a couple minutes before to see if its done.
I can’t believe I’m so late to the game in trying this recipe. It’s so good!! And one pot…how awesome is that?! Don’t wait any longer. Try it!!
I love how easy this spaghetti is to make! It is a truly one pot recipe. It is also very customizable.
This didn’t make the #top2021 but it’s definitely one of my favorites!
Love the one pot spaghetti! My husband said it was the best spaghetti he’d had in a long time. #top2021
So delicious and ridiculously easy!!
We have been making this dinner for almost two years and my family absolutely loves it. I don’t even usually give reviews but wanted to make sure that everyone knows how amazing this is. We use 93% ground beef instead of turkey but we have made it for friends and family and they all rave about it!! Thank you!!
My husband had one request for his birthday – spaghetti with red sauce…Star to the rescue with this recipe! I used lean ground beef instead of turkey, and the flavors were overall outstanding! When I mentioned heating up the spaghetti for dinner a couple nights later my husband lit up with enthusiasm. Needless to say, this will be a regular in our dinner rotation, and will now probably be his go-to birthday dinner request.
Made this last night, it was sooooo yummy!! Used Rotel for the diced tomatoes (it’s what I had♀️). With the Rotel, I may have “pinched” to much red pepper flakes, it had an extra kick but we loved it! My hubby likes spaghetti but it has never been a fav for me because I couldn’t find a sauce I liked…problem solved!! Thank you so much for this recipe.
I made this with Prego Spaghetti Sauce and the petite diced tomatoes instead of tomato sauce and followed recipe. This was delicious!!! And so easy, my husband loved it. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes.
Love this delicious one-pot meal! Whenever I make this it is always a crowd pleaser! Will always come back to this recipe.
I’m so happy you enjoy it Meghan!! Thanks for stopping by to let me know
Made this last night & the family LOVED it! Super delicious & so easy! My husband is still talking about today. He took it to work, said he ate it & craved for more 30 min. later. Told him credit goes to The Skinnyish Dish, I just made it correctly, lol. This will be a staple recipe in our home for sure!
Do you have an idea about adjusting this recipe for an instant pot? I love it so much and I just got an instant pot and I would love to try it! Thank you and your recipes are fabulous!!
Hey Elise! I am actually working on a post for Instant Pot spaghetti RIGHT now. I’ll have it up this weekend!
If I already have your homemade sauce made how could I just use that?
Yep you could use that, but I do the additions I’ve made so I would add those in along with the marinara! enjoy!
What if I made your marinara sauce? What else would you suggest I add to it?
Hi Star, first want to tell you I LOVE your recipes! Keep up the good work!
Question about the One Pot Spaghetti. What makes the serving 7 freestyle points? Besides the pasta, I’m trying to figure out where the other points come from. Help?
Thanks again for your awesome recipes!
Renee’
Hi Renee! I actually use lean ground turkey and not 99% fat free extra lean ground turkey. Lean ground turkey (93%lean 7/%fat) still has points. My family is just personally not a big fun of the extra lean kind so I don’t use it very often in recipes. I hope that helps! I’m so happy you are loving the recipes!
This was seriously so easy and delicious I was able to throw it together and have dinner on table in about 1 hour or less. Great for busy weeknight and I bet it will be even more delicious tomorrow night!! Thank you….patiently awaiting your print cookbook—wink wink 🙂
I think if we ever met, we’d get along;) So many things you write about remind me of me and my life. The comment about your hubs declaring he needs red meat ! Man, So true!
I’ll give this recipe a shot!
Awe! That’s great. Maybe someday we will. I hope you love this recipe as much as I do!
So delicious and easy too! My teenage daughter had friends over on Friday. I made this one pot spaghetti for dinner. One of the girls is vegetarian, so I omitted the meat and used veggie broth. The girls loved it! In fact, one of them said, “not to suck up or anything but this is the best pasta I’ve ever had.” Suck up or not…it’s nice to hear and a mom win for sure.
Thank you for all your hard work Star!
ahahahaha. “not to suck up or anything” that made me laugh. I’m so happy I helped ya have a mama win, Traci!
So delicious and easy too! My teenage daughter had friends over on Friday. I made this one pot spaghetti for dinner. One of the girls is vegetarian, so I omitted the meat and used veggie broth. The girls loved it! In fact, one of them said, “not to suck up or anything but this is the best pasta I’ve ever had.” Suck up or not…it’s nice to hear and a mom win for sure.
Thank you for all your hard work Star!
ahahahaha. “not to suck up or anything” that made me laugh. I’m so happy I helped ya have a mama win, Traci!
I don’t think I’ll ever need another spaghetti recipe. I definitely won’t buy any more spaghetti sauce! THE BEST!
I don’t think I’ll ever need another spaghetti recipe. I definitely won’t buy any more spaghetti sauce! THE BEST!
I know this is going to sound like a silly question, but too often I have days where I didn’t prepare anything for dinner in advance. This would be a perfect recipe to make, and I usually have all of these ingredients on hand, however, I always keep my ground turkey frozen! What is the best way to quickly defrost it if it’s a “dinner in a pinch” kind of night?
Thanks so much!
Hi Lori! If you put the frozen meat between two pans (think skillets) it’ll thaw SUPER quick like 20-35 minutes depending on how thick the package is. With that being said, I would also freeze your ground turkey in freezer bags and push them flat and into a square so that when you’re thawing it is a quick process!
I know this is going to sound like a silly question, but too often I have days where I didn’t prepare anything for dinner in advance. This would be a perfect recipe to make, and I usually have all of these ingredients on hand, however, I always keep my ground turkey frozen! What is the best way to quickly defrost it if it’s a “dinner in a pinch” kind of night?
Thanks so much!
Hi Lori! If you put the frozen meat between two pans (think skillets) it’ll thaw SUPER quick like 20-35 minutes depending on how thick the package is. With that being said, I would also freeze your ground turkey in freezer bags and push them flat and into a square so that when you’re thawing it is a quick process!
Our FAVORITE family dinner, hubby asks for it all the time. Got some Sanmartzano (sp!? Lol) tomatoes and they were a game changer!!! I can’t remem where you posted about them but seriously, who knew a simple swap could be so delicious!! 🙂
**remember haha
I know, right?! Normally, I don’t buy into the fancier ingredients to make things better. I use regular ol’ stuff, BUT I will say they make somethin’ that’s already really tasty NEXT level. I’m So happy you and your family enjoyed, thanks for letting me know!!
Our FAVORITE family dinner, hubby asks for it all the time. Got some Sanmartzano (sp!? Lol) tomatoes and they were a game changer!!! I can’t remem where you posted about them but seriously, who knew a simple swap could be so delicious!! 🙂
**remember haha
I know, right?! Normally, I don’t buy into the fancier ingredients to make things better. I use regular ol’ stuff, BUT I will say they make somethin’ that’s already really tasty NEXT level. I’m So happy you and your family enjoyed, thanks for letting me know!!
Would I be able to make this with a whole box of pasta? Would that change the points per serving?
If you make the whole box of pasta you will probably want to double everything else because you’ll be left with very,very little sauce. There also won’t be enough liquid to cook all of the noodles properly.
Would I be able to make this with a whole box of pasta? Would that change the points per serving?
If you make the whole box of pasta you will probably want to double everything else because you’ll be left with very,very little sauce. There also won’t be enough liquid to cook all of the noodles properly.
This recipe was a HUGE hit in my house! Totally going on my rotation, and I’m not even a big pasta person! Only question is, the recipe seemed to make a lot, how did you measure out six servings? Did you measure it or approximate? Can’t wait to try Chicken Con Broccoli next 🙂
I am so happy you enjoyed! I weighed it out and then divided it. I then measured it by measuring cups. It’s 1.5 cups per serving and i believe 11 ounces if weighing. I hope you love the Chicken Con Broccoli!!
Thank you!!! 🙂
This recipe was a HUGE hit in my house! Totally going on my rotation, and I’m not even a big pasta person! Only question is, the recipe seemed to make a lot, how did you measure out six servings? Did you measure it or approximate? Can’t wait to try Chicken Con Broccoli next 🙂
I am so happy you enjoyed! I weighed it out and then divided it. I then measured it by measuring cups. It’s 1.5 cups per serving and i believe 11 ounces if weighing. I hope you love the Chicken Con Broccoli!!
Thank you!!! 🙂
This was really good. Thank you for an easy dinner.
This was really good. Thank you for an easy dinner.
Haven’t had a bad recipe yet!! U are my go to girl. Love ya!!!
Haven’t had a bad recipe yet!! U are my go to girl. Love ya!!!
How do you adjust this recipe if I use your crockpot marinara sauce?
Sometimes I use marinara to be extra quick. I still season the meat with spices, salt, and pepper, but I use three cups of my marinara and none of the spices/tomatoes for that part of the recipe. I still use same amount of noodles/beef broth.
How do you adjust this recipe if I use your crockpot marinara sauce?
Sometimes I use marinara to be extra quick. I still season the meat with spices, salt, and pepper, but I use three cups of my marinara and none of the spices/tomatoes for that part of the recipe. I still use same amount of noodles/beef broth.
Can’t wait to try this tonight! I plan to use 97% lean ground turkey for 0 points on the freestyle plan so the whole dish should only come in at 4sp per serving! I can have an extra helping 😉
Sounds great! I hope you enjoy!
Can’t wait to try this tonight! I plan to use 97% lean ground turkey for 0 points on the freestyle plan so the whole dish should only come in at 4sp per serving! I can have an extra helping 😉
Sounds great! I hope you enjoy!
Made this for lunch this past week. I added 1\4 cup of reduced fat sour cream and it was super yummy. Keep all your good recipes coming!!
Made this for lunch this past week. I added 1\4 cup of reduced fat sour cream and it was super yummy. Keep all your good recipes coming!!
First of all, your recipe looks wonderful! I was wondering how you measure the dry spaghetti. Appreciate your input! Oh and, just found out about you today! I’ll be coming back!
I forgot……Love the bowls!
Thank You!! =)
Hi there! Welcome. So happy ya found me. I put the dry spaghetti in a large drinking glass to weigh them out the scale easier! You can also “eyeball” half go a 1 lb package of spaghetti noodles. The drinking glass for sure makes it SO easy to weigh them out!
First of all, your recipe looks wonderful! I was wondering how you measure the dry spaghetti. Appreciate your input! Oh and, just found out about you today! I’ll be coming back!
I forgot……Love the bowls!
Thank You!! =)
Hi!! This recipe looks amazing! Do you have any suggestions for a substitute for the Worcestershire sauce? I REALLY hate it.
Hey Meagan! If you truly hate it, I’d just leave it out. It’s my not so secret ingredient to make it so savory, but we all have things we hate so I totally understand. I’m sure it will taste yummy without it!
Hi there! Welcome. So happy ya found me. I put the dry spaghetti in a large drinking glass to weigh them out the scale easier! You can also “eyeball” half go a 1 lb package of spaghetti noodles. The drinking glass for sure makes it SO easy to weigh them out!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was awesome. Glad there’s only two of us so there’s lots of leftovers. Tomorrow iwe’re having your Italian Beef and I can’t wai for that too. Your recipes are fabulous.
Thank you so much for stopping by to comment, rate, and compliment! You’re so kind! I’m very happy y’all enjoyed and hope you enjoy the Italian Beef just as much as we do. =)
I made this for dinner tonight and it was awesome. Glad there’s only two of us so there’s lots of leftovers. Tomorrow iwe’re having your Italian Beef and I can’t wai for that too. Your recipes are fabulous.
Thank you so much for stopping by to comment, rate, and compliment! You’re so kind! I’m very happy y’all enjoyed and hope you enjoy the Italian Beef just as much as we do. =)
I love pasta and this recipe looks good to me.
I love pasta and this recipe looks good to me.