Lazy One Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

EASY pasta dish called lazy one pot spaghetti recipe with jar sauce and meat. Use just one pot to make this easy 15 minute spaghetti that you and your kids will absolutely love. Like our Ninja Foodi spaghetti but made on the stove.

One Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

This lazy spaghetti costs less than $15 total, it feeds all 5 of us easily with leftovers for lunch the next day. My oldest daughter does the dishes so she REALLY loves this easy pasta recipe because she literally has only one pan to clean!

Next to our Instant Pot spaghetti and Instant Pot penne pasta (just smaller noodles), They’re the easiest way to make this favorite dish fast. You need sauce, noodles, meat, and spices and just one pot!

The two main items, that are the most important, are the sauce and noodles. At Ralph’s they have a whole line of Tuscan Inspired noodles and of course our favorite style of Bertolli® sauce….olive oil & garlic!

Easy Lazy Spaghetti

For this one pot spaghetti meal I use the long pasta spirals from the Taste of Italy pastas they have to choose from there…such a fun shape and great taste too. 

Now let me show you step by step how easy this is. This is the only way I make spaghetti nowadays! First you will want a pot that will fit it all. Typically the pot you use to boil your spaghetti noodles in will fit all of the above ingredients.

One Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs

You could add a few cups of frozen meatballs into the mix too like we do with our slow cooker spaghetti and meatballs. Add them in with the sauce at the beginning so they can begin to thaw and get tender. Then put a few tbsp. of olive oil in the bottom of a deep pot or can be a great Dutch oven Recipe too.

In the same pot you can brown your meat if you like. Once that is done you will want to get your onion and fresh garlic diced up so it can all simmer together for a bit. If you are really running low on time just add dehydrated onion and minced garlic out of the jar (been there done that).

When your air fryer ground beef or turkey is cooked it is time to add 2 cups of water and your slow cooker spaghetti sauce! One jar is just the right amount for this easy recipe and we love the bold flavors this olive oil & garlic style brings.

Can you cook raw spaghetti in sauce?

YES! When you try this for the first time you will surely wonder why it took you so long to try it this way! SO much better than making it separate. Once your meat/water/sauce mixture has come to a full boil then you add your pasta. They will have so much more flavor as they soak up sauce instead of water.

These spiral ones are our favorite! What’s great about this meal, other than the fact it is super fast and easy to make, is that you break up the noodles into thirds before cooking.

How much spaghetti do I need for one jar of sauce?

8 oz. is just about right! You can just use half of this package at a time. That means it’s just 50 cents per batch. You don’t have to use the typical straight long noodles either. If you prefer shells or penne you can use that too, the timing or directions don’t really change.

Kids will have a much easier time eating this too (no super messy faces or long noodles dropping on the table). I like to add a few sliced mushrooms at this point too! 😉

From start to finish this only takes me about 20 minutes to do. Pair it with a quick salad and you’ve got yourself a quick, delicious, and inexpensive meal that I guarantee your whole family will love.

One Pot Spaghetti with Jar Sauce

You can certainly make homemade sauce from scratch but a jar of Ragu is quicker and tastes amazing. I typically always add some fresh garlic too (can’t get enough), an onion, and about a pound of ground beef are all you need. Here’s a quick rundown on how to make it. A printable recipe card is at the bottom of this post.

How do you cook spaghetti in a pot?

1. Brown your ground beef, Italian sausage or ground turkey in your one pot with a bit of olive oil. Add your diced onion and garlic and cook together about halfway thru until they are nice and tender.
2. Then add 2 cups of water (or beef broth is better) and pasta sauce. Wait until that boils. (red pepper flakes can be added for heat)
3. Add about 8 oz. of long pasta spiral noodles broken into thirds into the pot
4. Submerge into the sauce. Smaller noodles could be used too, same amount. Reduce heat to a slow rolling boil, medium heat.
5. Add sliced mushrooms on top if desired at this point. Cook stirring once for about 15 min. or until you cook pasta to tender to your liking.

Top with lots of parmesan cheese and enjoy your spaghetti with meat sauce. One pot pastas are so easy friends!! For another one pot meal, you can try Ninja Foodi spaghetti, seen below, if you have that machine. Both are easy and delicious when done.

What’s a good side for spaghetti?

There are tons of options really. We usually veer towards a green salad and definitely we always want some garlic bread with it. If you don’t want to turn on your oven give our air fryer rolls a whirl.

How do you keep leftover pasta from drying out?

You definitely want to make sure there is enough sauce on the noodles. Toss a bit more with it before putting it into containers and into the fridge. When reheating in the microwave add a bit more homemade Instant Pot spaghetti sauce, spoonful of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce or chicken broth on top too.