One Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs takes a dish that has the potential to create a few hours of work and streamlines it into a delectable dish that tastes like it simmered for hours and created at least two dirty pots and one dirty skillet to handle afterwards. Guess what? It’s totally not necessary and this is one of the most flavorful and satisfying spaghetti dishes I’ve ever made. When I first got married well over a decade ago, I made spaghetti at least once a week and it couldn’t hold a candle to the flavor of this dish. It also had nowhere near the nutrient density this recipe carries.
When I tasted flavors this rich and the labor was this easy, spaghetti and meatballs went back onto my regular menu and my family is thrilled. THRILLED, I tell you. And guess what? The meatballs have no fillers, just flavor and it’s all totally gluten free. I also love that it utilizes something that I keep around in abundance: grassfed ground beef. When I order a quarter or side of a grassfed, pastured cow from a really great farmer, I get a lot of it made into ground beef for quick dinners just like this.
Let’s get started!
Ingredients (Makes 6-7 servings. Time: 37 minutes)
Meatballs:
1lb ground beef (I used grassfed that is around 85/15 – 80/20 in fatty ratios)
1 pastured egg (can be found through eatwild.com)
1 t Italian Seasoning (here)
1t garlic powder (here)
a tiny sprinkle of cayenne (here)
1/2t mineral-rich salt (here)
The rest of the ingredients:
1 cup unsalted broth ( I used bone broth that I take about 7-10 minutes of hands on time every week to prepare for my family. Beef [here] or chicken [here] works beautifully)
2 25oz jars of your favorite sauce (I used organic sauce in glass jars from Costco [read about all the Real Food they have here])
1 12 oz box Jovial gluten free pasta (Can be found here or in high-end grocery stores as well as on their website. It’s the best pasta I’ve ever had, gluten free or not)
2T olive oil divided 1T increments
Instructions:
Place your ground beef into a bowl with all of the seasonings, salt and the egg and mix really well with your hands.
Form into meatballs directly in the bowl. I used a tablespoon and took a heaping scoop with it (so about 1.5 T of meat/meatball)
Place your broth into a stockpot. I use a 5 qt enameled cast iron. Add in 1T of your olive oil on top of it.
My current favorite sauce has no sweeteners or anything sour to balance out the flavor like many conventional sauces do. If yours does, skip this. At this time I add in a pinch of coconut sugar (doesn’t taste like coconut) and a tiny splash of apple cider vinegar and stir it directly in the jar with a butter knife.
Pour in one jar of the sauce.
Break your pasta in half and place on top of the sauce and pour in your last 1T of olive oil. Just right on top of the pasta is fine. No stirring needed yet.
Place your meatballs in on top of the pasta.
Pour over your last jar of sauce.
Bring to a boil then lower the heat to medium low and cover with a lid to cook for 25 minutes. At this point, remove the lid and gently mix all of the ingredients well and put the lid back on for another 7 minutes.
Remove the lid and mix gently again. My sauce is already salted, but if yours isn’t, salt to taste at this point.
The noodles will be perfectly cooked, the meatballs cooked through yet tender and don’t forget to grate some fresh parmesan or other hard cheese when plated.
Enjoy!
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