6 easy recipes to spice up weeknight spaghetti dinners
Sometimes weekends get busy, so I whipped this up at 9PM. Just 5 ingredients, 20 minutes, and a dinner that feels way fancier than it is. Perfect for a last-minute girl dinner situation. Cheesy, saucy, and so delicious ✨
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 24 oz cherry tomatoes 🍅
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1 Boursin cheese, garlic & herb
- 8 oz pesto
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- 1/2 box (8 oz) spaghetti
- 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
Instructions
1. Add olive oil to a large pan over medium heat.
2. Add cherry tomatoes, season with salt and black pepper, and cook for a few minutes.
3. Stir, then cover with a lid and let cook another 10 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and bursting. 🍅
4. Mash the tomatoes gently with a wooden spoon to release their juices.
5. Stir in the pesto and parmesan cheese 🧀 Lower the heat.
6. Add cooked spaghetti and a splash of reserved pasta water. Toss until the sauce coats the pasta evenly, adding more water if needed.
Creamy Mushroom Spaghetti
If you’re a mushroom lover, this one’s your dream. If you’re not, maybe skip… or maybe take the risk. It’s buttery, garlicky spaghetti coated in creamy Boursin and parmesan and imo honestly kind of impossible to hate.
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 8 ounces white mushrooms, diced (or any kind you like)
- Olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1–2 garlic cloves, minced (or 2 tablespoons dried garlic)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/3 packet spaghetti
- 1 shallot & chive Boursin cheese (5.3 ounces)
- 1–2 cups pasta water
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
1. Dice the onion and mushrooms. In a large pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and mushrooms and sauté for a few minutes, until they start to soften and brown.
3. Stir in the garlic, salt, and Italian seasoning. Keep cooking until the mushrooms are golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes total.
4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti until al dente.
5. Add the Boursin cheese to the mushroom mixture and let it melt down, stirring until smooth and creamy.
6. Pour in 1 cup of pasta water and stir to combine. Add the Parmesan cheese and mix until melted.
7. Add the spaghetti directly to the pan and toss to coat in the sauce, adding more pasta water as needed to keep it silky and creamy.
8. Serve right away with extra Parmesan on top.
Caramelized Onions, Steak Bites and Spaghetti
Hardest part about this dish is babysitting the onions while they caramelize, otherwise it’s super easy to make and the taste is 10/10 ⭐️
Ingredients
- 10 oz (284g) ribeye steak. Cut up into bite size pieces
- 3 tbs butter
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 3 yellow onions, sliced
- 2-3 tbsp balsamic glaze
- 2/3 lbs (300g) spaghetti
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 to 1.5 cup reserved pasta water
- 0.75 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp grated Parmesan
- 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
Instructions
1. Heat up a large pan on the stove over medium heat. Once hot, add 1 tbsp butter and some olive oil. Once melted, throw in steak. Season with salt and pepper and cook 2 minutes per side or until cooked through. Remove from pan.
2. In the same pan, add remaining butter and some olive oil, add onions and season with salt and pepper. Let cook on low heat for 20-25 minutes until almost fully caramelized. Stir a lot to make sure onions don’t burn or stick to pan. After 20-25 minutes, add balsamic glaze to pan and stir. Cook for another 5 min. Remove from pan.
3. While onions are being caramelized, add water to a large separate pot and add spaghetti. Cook until al dente.
4. To the same pan, add wine and heavy cream. Stir, scrape the pan, and add 1 cup of water form the pasta, add Parmesan and stir. Add parsley, stir, then add back onions and steak. Stir, then add spaghetti. Stir everything to make sure pasta is covered in sauce. Add more of the pasta water if necessary to keep the sauce sauce-y
Caramelized onion and Boursin Pasta
Serve this at a party and watch it disappear. Caramelized onion spaghetti with Boursin cheese cause why not. Just 7 simple ingredient, rich, savory and sooo yumm
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 yellow onions, sliced 🧅
- 2 tbsp balsamic glaze
- 1 Boursin cheese
- 1/4 parmesan cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
- 1/2 lbs spaghetti
Instructions
1. Add olive oil to a large pan over medium heat, along with the butter. Let melt, then add onions. Add salt and pepper. Cook for 30-40 minutes, start off with medium heat then turn to low. Stir often. Once almost fully caramelized and golden brown, add balsamic glaze and stir.
2. While onions are cooking, boil water and cook spaghetti until al dente. Reserve some water.
3. Add Boursin cheese and thyme to onions, let melt and stir to combine with onions. Add pasta water and cheese, stir to coat pasta. Salt to taste, and serve 🍽️
Buttery Shrimp Scampi Spaghetti
Seriously don’t sleep on this Butter with Parmesan and garlic and herbs from TJ though! I can think of so many delicious uses for this butter and it makes this meal so EASY to make 🫶
Ingredients
- 16 oz (450g) raw shrimp
- 4 oz (113g) butter with Parmesan, garlic and herbs (or used a different infused butter) @traderjoes
- 1/2 lbs (225g) spaghetti
- 1 lemon
- Optional: Parmesan and red pepper flakes for serving
Instructions
1. Boil salted water and add spaghetti. Cook until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of water 💦
2. In a large pan, add half (2 oz) of the butter. Let melt a bit and add defrosted shrimp to pan. Cook for about 2 minutes before flipping and cook the other side until golden brown. Add the juice of 1/2 the lemon. Add the remaining butter, throw in a few slices of lemon, and mix.
3. Add cooked spaghetti to pan along with the water saved from the pasta. toss to combine. Squeeze remaining lemon juice over the dish. Serve it more Parmesan and red pepper flakes if you want to ✨
If you’ve never made spaghetti using hummus instead of cream or tomato sauce, you need to know: it works. The hummus turns silky when mixed with a bit of pasta water and coats the spaghetti perfectly. This dish has this subtle, nutty flavor that makes it feel rich without being heavy. So unexpected but definitely a keeper!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 3/4 cup hummus
- 1/2 cup reserved pasta water (plus more if needed)
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 200 g spaghetti
Instructions
1. In a large pan, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. 2. Add the sliced onions and cook slowly for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 3. Add the ground beef to the pan. Break it up with a spatula and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and cumin. 4. Cook until the beef is browned and fully cooked through, mixing it with the onions. 5. Stir in the hummus and pasta water to create a creamy sauce. Add more pasta water as needed to reach your desired consistency. 6. Mix in the feta cheese, stirring until slightly melted and combined. 7. Add the cooked spaghetti and toss until everything is evenly coated.
