An easy pan fried spaghetti dinner with crispy cheese, made with leftover spaghetti pasta with tomato sauce and onions. A crispy texture just like pizza, a satisfying dairy free yet high carb meal made with 4 ingredients, ready in 15 minutes.
This pan fried spaghetti pasta recipe, is a delicious vegetarian and vegan pasta dish made with just 4 basic ingredients, including pasta, onions, tomato sauce and seasonings.
Pan-fried to give it crispy cheesy edges, this filling comfort dinner is a wonderful main meal served with steamed vegetables. The perfect way to use left-over pasta! Serve with steamed vegetables or even a healthy chickpea salad.
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Why You'll Love This
An energizing high-carb meal. With the delicious crispy cheese in every bite, you'll love this high carb past meal whether you are training for a marathon, or are just hungry for a delicious easy pasta comfort meal.
Easy to make with simple ingredients. This pan fried spaghetti recipe is so flexible, you can either boil fresh pasta and toss in tomato sauce, or use leftover tomato sauce pasta that is up to 2 days old and refrigerated. You can even use restaurant take-out pasta if you feel it is plain enough. Fry it up with onions and spices - an easy peasy meal!
Perfect for all diets. The ingredients are suitable for those who eat dairy free, eggless, vegan, vegetarians, and paleo.
Ingredients
Spaghetti. Boiled spaghetti, tossed in your favorite tomato or marinara sauce. Use freshly made or leftover pasta.
Cheese. I used a combination of parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella. To keep the dish dairy free and vegan, I used dairy free cheeses.
Onions. Chopped onions to stir fry for flavor. Use yellow onions, shallots or green onions (scallions).
Seasonings & oil. Ground basil, ground oregano, garlic powder, fresh chopped parsley, salt and pepper, and olive oil or butter.
See the recipe card at the bottom for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions
Thin spaghetti is best, but this recipe can be made with other forms such as fettuccine, linguini or even non-string forms of pasta such as rigatoni or bowtie.
To make the recipe dairy free and vegan, use dairy free cheeses or swap the parmesan cheese for nutritional yeast.
Other cheeses can be used including cheddar, jack, gouda or provolone.
Expert tip: Boxed spaghetti is best; bagged or gourmet spaghetti tends to be too moist to achieve crispy pan fried spaghetti textures.
Step by Step Instructions
For more detail, visit the complete and printable recipe at the bottom of this post, but here are general steps.
Step 1: Boil the spaghetti and toss with your favorite tomato sauce. (or use leftover spaghetti)
Step 2: Heat a large non-stick skillet, frying pan or wok to medium high heat. Add oil and chopped onion, and pan fry the onions until limp and slightly browned, then toss in the leftover spaghetti.
Step 3: Sprinkle on the parmesan cheese, spices and shredded mozzarella. Toss everything in the hot pan until the cheese is melted.
Step 4: Stop stirring the pasta for a few minutes at a time to allow the cheese to brown beneath, about 2-5 minutes in all. Lift with a fork often to check that the cheese is browning and crisping, not burning.
Step 5: Sprinkle with parsley and serve with a salad.
Recipe Tips
Spread the pasta all around the pan, and push some of the cheese to the bottom so it makes contact with the hot pan and becomes brown and crispy, kind of like browning the top of a pizza or lasagna.
Storage. You can refrigerate fried spaghetti in a sealed container for one night but I would eat it within 24 hours or the crispy bits will soften. To reheat, microwave in bowls for up to 1 minutes.
Add-ins for Fried Spaghetti
Peas or broccoli
Olives, green or black
Parsley or basil leaves
Mushrooms. Try adding my sauteed mushrooms or my oven roasted mushrooms.
Crushed red pepper or a bit of hot Gochujang sauce.
Marinated artichokes
FAQS
Yes, if you've taken home spaghetti tossed in marinara sauce from a restaurant, and it has been refrigerated and is no older than 48 hours old you can use it for this recipe.
Don't eat leftover pasta that is older than 48 hours and that has not been fully refrigerated the entire time.
Yes, this recipe is very flexible. If you want more pasta sauce on your spaghetti, add that before you begin to heat it in the pan. You can also add more cheese and more spices based on your taste.
No, it would only end up burning and not cooking into anything edible.
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📖 Recipe
15 Minute Pan Fried Spaghetti
Equipment
- large skillet
- large pot to boil spaghetti
- colander (to strain the pasta)
Ingredients
- 5 cups spaghetti tossed in tomato or marinara sauce.
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup onions chopped
- ¾ cup mozzarella shredded I used dairy free
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese. I used dairy free.
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasonings
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
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Instructions
- Boil the spaghetti according to the box, and toss with your favorite tomato sauce. (or use leftover spaghetti)5 cups spaghetti tossed in tomato or marinara sauce.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet to medium high heat. When it is sizzling, add the chopped onion and seasonings and pan fry the onions until limp and slightly browned.2 tablespoon olive oil, ½ cup onions, 1 tablespoon Italian seasonings, 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper
- Add the spaghetti, sprinkle on the parmesan cheese, and shredded mozzarella. Toss the spaghetti and cheese in the hot pan until the cheese is melted.¾ cup mozzarella, ¼ cup parmesan cheese. I used dairy free.
- Stop stirring the pasta for a few minutes at a time to allow the cheese to brown beneath. Lift with a fork often to check that the cheese is browning and crisping, not burning.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve right away with a large serving of steamed vegetables or a fresh salad.¼ cup fresh parsley
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