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Homemade Spaghettios

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These Homemade Spaghettios are the perfect combination of sentimental nostalgia and cozy comfort food! They're an easy 30-minute meal that brings your childhood memories back to the dinner table…but with REAL food instead of the canned stuff. This is a tradition worth passing on to your children!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 12 oz. large rings pasta
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 (28 oz.) cans crushed tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 22 oz. bite-size (1/2 oz. each) meatballs
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese + more for garnish
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • Kosher salt
  • fresh cracked pepper
  • fresh chopped parsley, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Toss in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
  3. Add crushed tomatoes, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, sugar, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
  4. Stir frozen meatballs into the sauce.
  5. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
  6. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low or low, and gently simmer for 12-14 minutes or until meatballs are heated through.
  7. Stir in grated Parmesan and heavy cream.
  8. Stir in cooked pasta and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until heated through.
  9. Garnish with grated Parmesan and fresh chopped parsley if desired.

Notes

No crushed tomatoes? No problem. Use a can of tomato sauce in place of crushed tomatoes. It will give you a smoother consistency overall. If you have picky kiddos (who maybe don't want to see ANY chunks of tomato) tomato sauce will likely please their taste buds better because of the smoother texture.

Prefer to make your own meatballs? If you have the time and you’re into it, making your own meatballs is a really simple way to elevate this a bit. You can even make them ahead of time and freeze them for later. Check out my recipe for homemade meatballs if you want to give it a try. Just pan fry homemade meatballs in a bit of olive oil and then add them the pot to finish cooking in the tomato sauce!

If you'd rather make this dish vegetarian, you can omit the meatballs all together! This will make the overall dish slightly more saucey so you could either use 16 oz. of pasta or just enjoy a little added sauce!

Consider grating your own Parmesan. Pre-grated cheeses includes preservatives that keep the shreds from clumping together on the shelf. Those same preservatives, however, mean the cheese doesn’t melt together quite as smoothly when cooking. For the best creamy texture, get a wedge of Parmesan and grate it yourself. The food processor works really well for grating Parmesan also!

Nutrition

Find it online: https://midwestfoodieblog.com/homemade-spaghettios/