Nothing beats a bowlful of classic Skillet Spaghetti and Meatballs when you're looking for an easy meal the whole family will love. Fully cooked homemade meatballs make this one pan pasta dinner a snap to whip up.
If you love the idea of tasty one pot meals, then add our Chicken Broccoli Casserole and Sausage, Peppers, and Rice to your menu rotation.
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Make Spaghetti and the sauce in the same pot
We're used to making marinara sauce in it's own pan while we boil noodles in their own pot. But why? That's extra work. Sure this may not be the most authentic Italian dinner cuisine, but it is a great dish, and so much better than many other recipes out there.
When it comes to cast iron, there's a few misconceptions about what you can and cannot cook in it.
Boil water in cast iron
If your bare metal cast iron has been properly and well seasoned, boiling water is not a problem.
A prolonged rolling boil in an unseasoned or improperly seasoned cast iron is not recommended. If you don’t feel comfortable with bare iron or aren’t sure, you can use enameled cast iron.
Cooking tomatoes in cast iron
Another misconception is that you should not cook tomato-based recipes in cast iron. You absolutely can, again provided your cast iron is properly and well seasoned.
However, we do not recommend keeping any tomato-based recipes in bare metal cast iron once done cooking. There are two reasons for this.
First, the acidity in tomatoes can erode the well developed seasoning in bare metal cast iron. Second, the recipe could develop a slight metallic flavor when left in an unseasoned or improperly seasoned cast iron.
We here at Dutch Oven Daddy cook any and everything we can in cast iron, but respect your discretion when it comes to cooking for you and your family.
Recipe Ingredients
- Crushed tomatoes — canned crush tomatoes make the bulk of the pasta sauce instead of using tomato sauce, tomato paste, and/or canned diced tomatoes. Also you get the perk of making a homemade spaghetti sauce instead of using jarred sauce.
- Water — just like boiling pasta in a large pot, making this one pot spaghetti dinner will require water as well.
- Spaghetti — we used regular dried spaghetti. You will not have to break the uncooked spaghetti in half as long as you use a 12-inch skillet or larger.
- Seasonings — here's where the flavor truly begins. Diced onion, oregano, basil, Italian seasoning blend, red pepper flakes, Parmesan cheese, granulated garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper are what we used.
- Meatballs — precooked meatballs are best for this recipe. Ours were homemade. You can get our fabulous skillet meatballs recipe to use for this recipe!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Notes for making one pan spaghetti and meatballs
- We recommend to review recipe completely in the detailed instructions below or in the recipe card before beginning to cook.
- Cooking the spaghetti in the skillet will result in a thicker than normal pasta water. This is perfect for thickening up the spaghetti sauce later.
- Do not cook the pasta above medium heat. Cooking at medium high heat will cause it to boil over and splatter.
- This recipe will feed 4-8 people depending on portion size. For grandma's Italian servings, you'll get 4 hearty and overly generous servings. However, you'll get 6-8 servings if you're being more modest.
- Depending on the size of the meatballs, you'll want 2-3 meatballs per person/serving.
- This is not a stirring occasionally recipe, this recipe does require stirring frequently.
- You can substitute granulated garlic for fresh garlic or garlic powder, same with the onion, you can use dried onions or onion powder.
How To Make Skillet Spaghetti and Meatballs
Step 1 — In a 12-inch skillet add the uncooked pasta, water, onion, garlic powder, and salt together over medium heat, stirring frequently until the pasta cooks to al dente.
Step 2 — Once the spaghetti has fully cooked, remove one cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain the remaining water using a fine colander or sieve to prevent losing the onions.
Step 3 — Return the spaghetti to the skillet and add all the remaining ingredients, including the reserved pasta water. Stir well, add the meatballs, and reduce heat medium low until well combined and the meatballs are heated through. Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy.
Serving suggestions
- A green salad loaded with all the fixings like cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, carrots, and more.
- Great recipes like these fancy salads: Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Keto Wedge Salad, or Roasted Cauliflower Salad.
- Garlic bread is our favorite to serve with easy spaghetti dinners, but bread sticks, bread knots, and pull-aparts are all delicious options too.
- If you're partial to it, red wine is always a wonderful addition to a pasta dinner.
- Topping your spaghetti meatballs with grated Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley or basil is a tasty touch.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, just allow them to thaw first or the recipe will take longer to cook.
Yes you can, any large and sturdy pasta will work.
Absolutely. You'll want to use a large Dutch oven, at least 5 quarts if using spaghetti as your pasta, otherwise it will not fit in the pot correctly and be submerged.
Yes, you can, but the sauce will be a bit thinner.
Other Related Italian Inspired Recipes
If you tried this Skillet Spaghetti and Meatballs or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Get the Recipe
Skillet Spaghetti and Meatballs
Equipment
- 12" Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
- 16 oz spaghetti
- 8 cups water cold
- 1 cup onion diced
- 2 tablespoon garlic powder divided
- 3 teaspoon salt divided
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ½ tablespoon basil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes crushed
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese more for garnish if desired
- 18 oz meatballs cooked
Instructions
- In a 12 inch skillet add spaghetti, water, onion, one tablespoon of granulated garlic and 1 ½ teaspoons salt together and cook noodles until al dente over medium heat.
- Once the spaghetti has fully cooked, remove one cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain the remaining water.
- Return the spaghetti to the skillet and add all the remaining ingredients, including the reserved pasta water, granulated garlic, and salt.
- Stir well, add the meatballs, and cook on medium low until well combined and the meatballs are heated through.
- Top with optional grated extra Parmesan cheese and parsley or basil.
Notes
- We recommend to review recipe completely in the detailed instructions below or in the recipe card before beginning to cook.
- Cooking the spaghetti in the skillet will result in a thicker than normal pasta water. This is perfect for thickening up the spaghetti sauce later.
- Do not cook the pasta above medium heat. Cooking at medium high heat will cause it to boil over and splatter.
- This recipe will feed 4-8 people depending on portion size. For grandma's Italian servings, you'll get 4 hearty and overly generous servings. However, you'll get 6-8 servings if you're being more modest.
- Depending on the size of the meatballs, you'll want 2-3 meatballs per person/serving.
- This is not a stirring occasionally recipe, this recipe does require stirring frequently.
- You can substitute granulated garlic for fresh garlic or garlic powder, same with the onion, you can use dried onions or onion powder.
- A green salad loaded with all the fixings like cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, carrots, and more.
- Garlic bread is our favorite, but bread sticks, bread knots, and pull-aparts are all delicious options too.
- If you're partial to it, red wine is always a wonderful addition to a pasta dinner.
- Topping your spaghetti meatballs with grated Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley or basil is a tasty touch.
Nutrition
Dutch Oven Daddy is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Dina Miller says
This is such a great recipe! So easy and so delicious for the family. We love one pan meals.
D says
Tasty!!
Edward says
This is one of my favorite spaghetti and meatball recipes! It is so awesome I can make it all in one skillet. Saves a ton of time cleaning up.