One-Pot Italian Spaghetti Recipe With Ground Beef Tomato Sauce (7 Ingredients, 25 Minutes) by Donna John

If it's a busy night and I see that a recipe will have a lot of pots and pans to wash up afterward, I will often save that recipe for another night. When I found this quick and easy one-pot spaghetti recipe with meat sauce, I was thrilled. One pan! Ready in under 30 minutes. Minimal prep – just chopping an onion, mincing garlic and tearing a few basil leaves. Done. It was in my dinner recipe rotation.

Did I mention it has a short ingredient list, too? Here is your shopping list for this easy high-protein, high-fiber spaghetti dinner recipe: ground beef, an onion, garlic, a can of crushed tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, pasta and Parmesan cheese for serving. The ingredients all cook up in one pan on the stovetop. No fuss, no muss. Plus, check out the health benefits of tomatoes and the health benefits of fresh basil. To add more fiber to this spaghetti recipe, use high-fiber pasta.

Photo credit (all photos): under license from BigStock

Serve this meaty Italian spaghetti with a salad, hot bread or a steamed vegetable on the side. Enjoy a glass of wine as you wash the one pot after dinner. Like this recipe? Try this dump-and-bake meatball pasta or dump-and-bake linguine recipe.

Cuisine: Italian / American
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 28 ounces (1 can) crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup torn basil leaves
• 10 - 12 ounces spaghetti noodles

Here's how to make it: 

1. Heat a heavy bottom skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and onions. Cook, breaking up the meat as you stir into small pieces, until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. (Try this recipe with ground chicken or Italian sausage instead of ground beef.)
2. Add the tomatoes, water and basil. Stir. Add the spaghetti noodles and push them down into the liquid until covered. (You could try this recipe with other types of pasta that cook in the same amount of time. Add even more flavor by adding in some dried Italian seasoning. For a gluten-free dinner, use gluten-free pasta.)
3. Cover the skillet, reduce heat to medium-low and cook until the water is absorbed into the pasta (don't uncover it while cooking!), about 18 to 20 minutes. (Don't uncover the pasta as it simmers. You don't want the moisture in the pan to escape because that's what cooks the pasta.)
4. Uncover, stir and top with Parmesan cheese before serving. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat in the microwave.

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