Uh oh, spaghettios. This healthy homemade spaghettios recipe tastes even better than the real thing!
The original SpaghettiOs
More than 150 million cans of Campbell’s SpaghettiOs are sold each year, many of which are consumed by children.
There’s just something about those cute little os in the cheesy tomato sauce that’s impossible to resist.
SpaghettiOs were a common sight in my own elementary school lunchbox, much to the bemusement of my traditional Italian grandmother.
I remember her once picking up a can, reading the label, and saying to me, “This is NOT food.”
When Campbell’s introduced the idea of canned spaghetti back in 1965, I think she may have cried.
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Above, watch the homemade spaghettio recipe video
Easy homemade spaghettios recipe
With kids still in school for a few more weeks, it seemed like a good time to try and create a homemade spaghettios recipe.
But this one has no high fructose corn syrup or ingredients you can’t pronounce.
Healthy spaghettios! And yes, they fit perfectly into a lunchbox thermos.
Pack them up alongside a few healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookies, Black Bean Brownies, or these Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Healthy spaghettios ingredients
I used anellini pasta for a traditional Spaghetti Os shape, but you can easily substitute whatever small pasta shape you have on hand.
The spaghetti Os can be dairy free, egg free, soy free, vegan, low fat, low calorie, and added sugar free. For gluten free homemade Spaghettios, just use a gluten free pasta.
They even make gluten free quinoa anellini if you want a true SpaghettiOs shape but wish to keep it gluten free.
Nutritional yeast is a completely natural, and very healthy, product that can be found at Whole Foods, on Amazon, or in the natural food section of many regular grocery stores. It is high in protein and boasts an impressive list of vitamins.
Don’t get it confused with brewers yeast or the yeast you’d use for bread. Here, nutritional yeast is used as a vegan alternative to Parmesan cheese. It gives the homemade spaghettios a deliciously cheesy flavor.
For vegan spaghettios, use dairy free butter and plant based milk. I have not tried the recipe with oil instead of butter. We did try a fat free version and were not fans. So we do not recommend omitting it.
These homemade Spaghettios are Italian-grandma approved!
How to make homemade spaghettios
Combine the onion powder, paprika, sweetener, nutritional yeast or Parmesan, salt, milk of choice, no salt added tomato sauce, and butter in a small saucepan.
Bring the pasta sauce to a boil. Then lower the heat and cook on low, stirring occasionally, until hot.
While the red sauce is cooking, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil.
Once the water starts to boil, throw in the pasta and cook according to package directions or until desired pasta texture is reached. (I like al dente pasta.)
Drain, then pat dry with a towel. Pour the pasta into the sauce, and stir to coat the spaghettios. Serve hot.
Leftover spaghettios can be stored in an airtight covered container in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Reheat leftovers on the stove top or in the microwave, adding a little milk of choice as needed to get the sauce creamy again.
Although you technically can freeze pasta, it will change the texture of both the noodles and the sauce. So I do not recommend freezing leftover pasta in general.
Using a food scale
If you wish to use gram measurements instead of the cups and tablespoons listed further below, here are the amounts to use in grams:
130 grams of pasta, 425 grams of tomato sauce, 12 grams of Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast, 30 grams of milk (plant based milks work too), 10 grams butter spread, and 12 grams of sweetener.
Also remember to add in the onion powder, salt, and paprika.
Homemade Spaghettios
Ingredients
- 15 oz no-salt-added tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp milk of choice
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 3/4 tsp to 1 tsp salt, as desired
- 1 tbsp butter (vegan brands work too)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast or Parmesan
- 1-2 tbsp any sweetener of choice
- 1 cup uncooked tiny pasta of choice (If using a larger pasta, such as elbows, increase to 2 cups)
Instructions
- Homemade SpaghettiOs Recipe: In a small saucepan, stir together all ingredients except the pasta. Bring to a boil, then lower and cook on low until the butter spread melts completely. Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, throw in the pasta and cook until desired texture is reached. Drain, then pat dry with a towel. Pour the pasta into the sauce, and stir to combine. Serve. Before reheating any leftovers, stir and add a little milk of choice as needed.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
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So easy and super tasty! Have made this twice now with a veggie hot dog. I use ditalini pasta
THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing this receipe. I’m gluten free and dairy free and have REALLY missed the flavour of canned spaghetti.
I made this recipe using gf pasta and almond milk and it was absolutely delicious and tasted VERY similar to store bought canned spaghetti. And best of all it was easy to make. Thank you again for giving me this simple pleasure back.
I grew up in the 1960’s when convenience food was making its place in grocery stores. My mother was a fabulous cook and made most everything from scratch. One of the things that was popular at our house, though, was Franco American Spaghetti with hamburger and onions. It is still popular at my house BUT Franco American is now Campbell and is very difficult to find in the store. This is the spaghetti and sauce (no meatballs or franks or spaghetti-o’s). So I turned to Amazon and holy cow $25 for 6 cans? Say what!!! Next I turned to copy cat recipes and my always well-stocked pantry, and this is what I found and MAN is it tasty. I made a triple batch so I could freeze it. Thanks so much Katie.
P.S. Simply sautee diced onion in butter, add 1 pound of crumbed hamburger to brown. All it needs to finish is the spaghetti noodles and sauce.
Great recipe! It had a little too much sweetener for me, but I’m definitely making this again. I substituted the pasta with penne shiritaki noodles cut up to look like Os. Cuts the carbs way down!!
My 2-year old, myself and my fiancé all devoured this.
Spaghetti O-s don’t really exist in my country, so we didn’t know what to compare it to, but we decided to give it a try anyways.
We used alphabeto pasta, and used maple syrup as a sweetener. Will definitely make this again.
Thank you so very much for making it 🙂
Really yummy and super easy to make!!
I can’t have Parmesan or nutritional yeast. Does it change the texture to leave these out? Should I replace with anything?
Texture will be fine, but we don’t know how it will taste because it adds a lot of flavor. Be sure to report back if you experiment with substitutions!
Really good, I’ve made this two times and both times my two sons and my husband ate it voraciously! The second time I threw in some sliced veggie dog and it came out great!
I followed the recipe exactly as written, using almond milk, nutritional yeast, Country Crock vegan butter, and white granulated sugar.
Thank you so much for making them!
Why do you towel dry the pasta before adding to the sauce?
What type of quinoa comes in small O shapes? I’ve never seen that…
Why can’t the pasta be cooked in the sauce?
Other than probably having to add some extra liquid at the beginning.
Those asking about “cheesy” flavor without nutritional yeast or dairy, some miso might work instead. I recommend putting the miso in a separate bowl and adding a little of the hot noodle water or the sauce, whisk it really well then add to the sauce. Don’t add any salt if using miso, at least until after you have tasted it. Miso is very salty, you may not need to add any.
I used a diced can of tomatoes (also tried crushed), added about 1 1/2 cups of broth, (was able to cook the noodles in the pot this way). I had some gluten free spaghetti (Tinkyada white rice), broke it into eighths, enough for a very full cup.
I’m not completely vegan so I used chicken broth and sauteed some hotdogs and carrots before adding the liquids. Had some fresh peapods and green / yellow beans from the garden, tossed some of those in too. It was pretty good. Have made a few times now. Think I have just enough spaghetti left for one more pot for this weeks menu. Looking forward to it! 🙂 I may have doubled the nutritional yeast too. Added some pepper, dried thyme, and a pinch of turmeric (just because).
I also had to double the milk and reduce the onion powder (it was too strong, & eliminate the garlic, allergy). I have tried oat milk (unsweet) and canned coconut. Both worked. I don’t think I’ve tried soy.. I can’t get unsweetened here and usually find it too sweet for soups/ sauces.