This easy Fried Spaghetti is made with 4 simple ingredients that come together in 1 pan to make a delicious and hearty dinner in about 20 minutes. Use freshly cooked spaghetti, or turn your leftover pasta into crispy noodles made extra flavorful after being pan-fried in tomato sauce and topped with melted mozzarella.
This is a simple and fun twist on a classic spaghetti dinner! Add meatballs made in the slow cooker for a heartier meal that's totally kid-approved. My kids love helping to toss the noodles and listen to them sizzle up while they're frying!
Table Of Contents
Why You'll Love Fried Spaghetti
Fried spaghetti is one of the best comfort food recipes (in addition to traditional spaghetti of course!). You'll love the crisp texture and crunchy taste of the toasted noodles. When leftover spaghetti is fried in a seasoned marinara sauce, the noodles become packed with flavor, taking your classic stovetop spaghetti from great to amazing.
Ingredients
Just 4 pantry-friendly ingredients are needed to make fried spaghetti:
- Al dente cooked spaghetti noodles: either leftover or freshly cooked
- Jarred marinara sauce: use your favorite spaghetti sauce or our homemade crockpot spaghetti sauce. You can also try our pressure cooker marinara sauce. I keep these homemade sauces stocked in the freezer so I always have pasta sauce on hand when I need it...and they taste so much better than store bought sauces!
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Mozzarella cheese
Kristina's tip
How To Get Crispy Noodles
Don't overcook the pasta. The best fried spaghetti noodles are cooked al dente, then fried til they just begin to turn golden brown and crispy but don't burn. Don't toss the noodles too often. This is hard when you're first making fried spaghetti, because it's easy to think they might burn. But if you toss them too often, they won't have a chance to toast.
How To Make Fried Spaghetti
- Cook the spaghetti noodles in salted water until al dente, as the package instructs. If you have leftover spaghetti, go to step 2.
- In a large nonstick frying pan or cast iron skillet, heat the extra virgin olive oil on high heat. Turn down to medium heat and add the cooked noodles. Add 4 tablespoons of the marinara sauce and toss to coat the noodles. Spread the sauced noodles in an even layer across the pan and let fry for 4-5 minutes, until the bottom begins to brown and become crisp.
- Cover the top of the noodles with another 4 tablespoons of marinara sauce, then flip the noodles using a spatula. Fry for another 4-5 minutes, until the bottom begins to brown.
- Add the remaining marinara sauce and toss to coat thoroughly. You can season with salt and black pepper here if you'd like.
- Remove from the heat and toss with parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Mix until the cheese is melted.
Serve topped with extra parmesan and fresh basil or parsley if desired. Enjoy!
How To Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave, the oven or in a frying pan until heated through.
What To Serve With Fried Spaghetti
- Crusty bread, like cheese bread, garlic bread or Italian bread
- Meatballs
- Caesar salad or garden salad
- Garlic knots
Recipe Variations
- Spicy: add red pepper flakes to your marinara sauce, or even a dash of cayenne pepper.
- Make an extra cheesy fried spaghetti: add in lots of cheese at the end, right after cooking is done. You can use mozzarella cheese, feta cheese, extra parmesan cheese, or specialty cheeses like shredded asiago. Toss the toasted crispy noodles with the cheese and let it sit for a few minutes to melt.
- Baked fried spaghetti: turn your cheesy fried spaghetti from above into a baked spaghetti by topping it with cheese and popping into the broiler for a few minutes to melt and caramelize the cheese (transfer to an oven safe pan of course)
- Add proteins like diced chicken or ground beef. Cook any meat in the pan before frying the pasta. Scrape up the brown bits, remove the meat to a dish and fry the spaghetti as the recipe instructs. Then toss the meat with the pasta and marinara sauce. You can make a similar spaghetti and meat sauce in the crockpot and ground beef spaghetti in the pressure cooker, too.
- Add vegetables: such as roasted red peppers, mushrooms, artichokes, broccoli, or spinach.
Recipe
20-Minute Fried Spaghetti
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 oz cooked spaghetti *see recipe for using freshly cooked spaghetti
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ¾ cup marinara sauce
- ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Cook the spaghetti noodles in salted water until al dente, as the package instructs. If you have leftover spaghetti, go to step 2.
- In a large nonstick frying pan or cast iron skillet, heat the extra virgin olive oil on high heat. Turn down to medium heat and add the cooked noodles. Add 4 tablespoons of the marinara sauce and toss to coat the noodles. Spread the sauced noodles in an even layer across the pan and let fry for 4-5 minutes, until the bottom begins to brown and become crisp.
- Cover the top of the noodles with another 4 tablespoons of marinara sauce, then flip the noodles using a spatula. Fry for another 4-5 minutes, until the bottom begins to brown.
- Add the remaining marinara sauce and toss to coat thoroughly. You can season with salt and black pepper here if you'd like.
- Remove from the heat and toss with parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Mix until the cheese is melted.
- Serve topped with extra parmesan and fresh basil or parsley if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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