TikTok Viral Spaghetti Recipe
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and have your 9-by-13-inch baking dish ready to go. Start by dicing an onion, a green pepper, and a red pepper. Mince at least two cloves of garlic. Add veggies to a preheated saute pan with a bit of olive oil, cook until fragrant, and add a pound of ground beef and a pound of Italian sausage. If you don’t eat red meat, you can substitute ground turkey, ground chicken or even plant-based sausage crumbles. Season with salt and pepper. Brown the meat with veggies, ensuring the meat is in small crumbles. Once the meat is browned, add a jar of your favorite pasta sauce.Meanwhile, boil water and cook one pound of spaghetti until al dente, about two minutes less than package directions. It’s fine if the pasta is a little stiff, because it will finish cooking in the oven.In a large pot, you’ll make your alfredo sauce. Melt one stick of unsalted butter with two cups of cream, and season with salt and pepper. On low heat, stir in two cups of grated Parmesan cheese until well combined. Add cooked spaghetti and stir until pasta is coated. In a baking dish, spread out the spaghetti. Top with meat sauce. Sprinkle 2-3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese and bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and let sit for at least 5-10 minutes before serving. Top with fresh basil or parsley.
Recipe Upgrades
Ready to make it your own? This recipe is ready for plenty of variety and renditions, as seen on TikTok, of course. Naturally, you can use store bought meat sauce and alfredo sauce for one or both components of the recipe, to make it faster and easier. Frozen onions and peppers can also be subbed in to cook the meat with. Thin jarred alfredo sauce out with a few ladles of starchy pasta water for it to cling to the pasta. Amp up your homemade or jarred alfredo sauce by stirring in roasted garlic or garlic powder for a garlicky flavor, or add some shakes of Italian seasoning for a flavor boost. Spaghetti also isn’t essential for this recipe—you can use another long noodle, like linguine or fettuccine, or go for a tubular pasta like ziti or penne. To add a bit of fiber and protein, use a whole wheat noodle or try gluten-free pasta for the recipe to suit those with allergies.The meat sauce can also be wholly plant based, and use products like Impossible crumbles to substitute in for beef. Mushrooms work too! Blitz a pound of mushrooms, such as cremini, in a food processor and brown instead of beef for a veggie substitute. Add chili flakes or Calabrian chili paste to the mushroom mixture for a bit of a kick. If you want to add more veggies, stir baby spinach into the alfredo pasta or meat sauce, or throw in frozen peas for an added serving of greens. Some TikTok-ers have also put various types of cheese on top, like shredded provolone or Italian blends. You can also use rounds of fresh mozzarella for a gourmet-looking pasta bake, or add dollops of fresh ricotta when serving the spaghetti. If you’re in a smaller household, you can of course cut the recipe in half so you’re not stuck with a week’s supply of TikTok spaghetti. Buon appetito!
