9 One Pot Spaghetti Recipes for Busy Weeknights

These one pot spaghetti recipes for busy weeknights skip the pot of boiling water entirely, and the spaghetti cooks right in the sauce.

From a classic one pot spaghetti with meat sauce to a creamy chicken spaghetti, a tomato basil spaghetti, a garlic parmesan spaghetti, and a taco spaghetti, the noodles soak up the sauce as they cook and the starch they give off thickens it.

Here are the nine we make on repeat!

Spaghetti in one pot is a little different from short pasta, because the strands need to be pushed under the liquid as they soften and stirred a few times so they don’t fuse into a raft.

Once you’ve done it once you’ll never boil a separate pot for a weeknight spaghetti again, and the sauce ends up better for it.

1. One Pot Spaghetti

Ground beef browns with onion and garlic, then crushed tomatoes, broth, seasoning, and dry spaghetti go in and simmer until the noodles are tender and the sauce clings to them.

It’s the spaghetti dinner everyone grew up on, made in one pot in half an hour with one thing to wash.

Break the spaghetti in half so it fits under the liquid from the start.

Parmesan on top, and it’s Tuesday.

2. Creamy Chicken Spaghetti

Chicken, spaghetti, broth, cream, and a lot of cheese cook together into the church potluck chicken spaghetti without the oven or the canned soup.

The spaghetti cooks in the broth and cream, and the cheese goes in at the end and melts into a sauce.

A can of diced tomatoes with green chiles gives it the flavor people remember.

It feeds a crowd and my kids ask for it by name!

3. Creamy Tomato Chicken Spaghetti

Chicken and spaghetti simmer in a tomato sauce with garlic and Italian seasoning, and cream and parmesan go in at the end for a pink, silky sauce.

It’s the vodka sauce idea without the vodka, and it’s done in about twenty-five minutes.

Fresh basil torn over the top if there’s any in the house.

4. Tomato Basil One Pan Pasta

Dry spaghetti, cherry tomatoes, sliced onion, garlic, basil, olive oil, and water all go into a wide pan raw, and nine minutes of boiling turns them into spaghetti in a glossy tomato sauce.

It’s the recipe that started the whole one pot pasta idea, and it still works.

The tomatoes burst and the starch from the pasta thickens the water into a sauce.

Parmesan and a drizzle of good olive oil at the end.

5. Garlic Parmesan Spaghetti

Spaghetti cooks in broth and milk with garlic and butter, and parmesan goes in at the end for a creamy, garlicky sauce with five ingredients.

It’s the side dish that became a dinner in my house, with a bag of frozen peas or a rotisserie chicken stirred in.

Grate the parmesan yourself so it melts smooth.

Cracked pepper on top, and it’s on the table in fifteen minutes.

6. One Pan Spaghetti and Meatballs

Meatballs brown in the pan, then tomatoes, broth, and dry spaghetti go in around them and simmer until the pasta is done and the meatballs have cooked through in the sauce.

It’s spaghetti and meatballs with one pan to wash, and the sauce is better because the meatballs cook in it.

Frozen meatballs work on a weeknight and go in straight from the bag.

Basil and parmesan, and garlic bread if there’s time.

7. One Pot Taco Spaghetti

Ground beef, taco seasoning, salsa, tomatoes, broth, and spaghetti simmer together, and Monterey Jack melts over the top at the end.

Taco night and spaghetti night in one pot, and the kids don’t have to choose.

Sour cream, cilantro, and crushed tortilla chips on top.

It’s the one dinner on this list nobody at my table has ever complained about!

8. One Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Three ingredients, ground beef, a jar of marinara, and spaghetti, plus water, and it’s a full spaghetti dinner in twenty minutes.

The jarred sauce thins out with the water, the pasta cooks in it, and the starch thickens it back up.

It’s the recipe for the nights when the fridge is empty and the pantry isn’t.

A little parmesan and a bagged salad, and it’s done.

9. Thirty Minute One Pot Spaghetti

Ground beef, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, broth, and spaghetti, with a splash of cream stirred in at the end to round out the sauce.

The cream is the difference between this and the classic above, and it makes the sauce cling to the noodles a little better.

Stir the spaghetti every couple of minutes so it cooks evenly.

Parmesan and parsley on top, and the leftovers are lunch.

Notes on Spaghetti in One Pot

Break the spaghetti in half before it goes in, or lay it in whole and push it under as it softens, since any strands above the liquid line won’t cook.

Stir it a few times in the first five minutes, because that’s when the strands stick together, and after that it can mostly be left alone.

The liquid should just cover the pasta, and a splash more broth goes in if it looks dry before the noodles are tender.

A wide, deep saute pan or a Dutch oven gives the spaghetti room to lie flat and cook evenly.

Tongs are easier than a spoon for stirring long pasta and for serving it.

Cheese and cream go in off the heat at the end so the sauce stays smooth, and a microplane makes the parmesan melt faster.

A jar of bouillon base covers the extra liquid these need without buying cartons of broth every week.

The leftovers thicken overnight, and a splash of water when reheating brings the sauce back.

More Pasta Dinners on the Site

When I’m not home to stir a pot, my crockpot chicken alfredo pasta does the same job in the slow cooker.

The quick crockpot dinners with ten minutes of prep post has more dinners that need almost nothing from me.

And the hearty crockpot beef stew with root vegetables is where the ground beef’s bigger cousin ends up on a weekend.